SXSW Diary—An Afternoon with the Hypnotic Songstress Zella Day
Growing up in the tiny town of Pinetop, Arizona, where her parents owned a coffee shop that doubled as a performance space, Zella Day was constantly surrounded by music. "There were always musicians around, and I was always singing—the Jackson 5 was my thing," she remembers. "But everyone encouraged me to play guitar so I wouldn't ever have to depend on anyone to make music, they really pushed me." She began playing at the age of nine, and learned by listening to the classics—Bob Dylan, The Beatles, Joni Mitchell. "I was lucky that my parents liked good music and passed that on."
After high school, she moved to sunny Los Angeles, where she has been writing and recording for the past three years, honing her own dreamy rock'n'roll sound. "There is so much amazing music coming out of LA right now, I love being so close to it." With her debut album, Kicker, set for release on June 2nd, Zella is getting ready to hit the road and introduce the world to her sound. "My music doesn't exist if people aren't listening to it," she says. "I don't want it for myself, I want to share it."
We spent an afternoon with Zella during Austin's SXSW music festival, catching one of her killer performances and dodging the rain between sets. Her live show is amazing—she sounds even better than on her recorded tracks—and her captivating spirit immediately draws you in, on stage and in conversation. After spending just a few hours with the talented artist, we'll be Zella Day fans for life.
1/8Bringing sunshine on a cloudy day.
2/8"I learned to play the guitar when I was nine years old, and the first song I ever learned was "Blowing in the Wind" by Bob Dylan. I still have the piece of paper with the sheet music on it, and I have all the lyrics written out in my handwriting. That was the first song I ever learned and I've been playing ever since."
3/8"I think now I'm in a place where I'm very comfortable performing. I almost feel more comfortable performing than I do having a conversation with somebody. It's an at-home place for me—like I'm just hanging out with the audience, sharing my music."
4/8"When I first started playing with the band I was playing acoustically, and it just became time for me to switch over to electric because that's just where the sound was headed. I went to pick one out and was immediately drawn to the shiny orange one—it was so different. And it has all of these cactus and cattle in-lays that reminded me of home. It's a very intimidating guitar, I was kind of scared of it at first, like I wasn't good enough for it. But now we're definitely becoming friends."
5/8"Now that I've finished the album, I almost feel like I've shed a skin. It was a really tumultuous time in my life, and I think you definitely hear me going through that on the album. There is a lot of emotion."
6/8"I feel like I've always had the same style—sort of southwestern mid with California hippie—all rolled up into Zella Day. I go to a lot of flea markets and do a lot of vintage shopping. I'm really into turquoise because it reminds of Arizona."
7/8"I'm entering a new phase with the record where it's done and we're starting to play it and will be touring. It's like getting to know the songs in a completely different way. I'm really ready to share it and get out on the road."
8/8"The great thing about South by Southwest is that I get to be around so many other artists I know and love. You see bands like Spoon walking down the street, and they've got their equipment and you're just in it together. It is all about the music here, which is so refreshing."
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