“Whenever He Asks”: Gatlin’s Late Night Guitar Sessions and Self-Worth Discoveries

With inspirations ranging from Stevie Nicks to Taylor Swift to Bob Dylan, meet Gatlin – the 22-year-old LA/Nashville-based artist who combines her heartful songwriting abilities with her melodic voice to give listeners a raw inside look at who she is. Her sound interweaves between 70s pop/rock with folk/country, giving listeners a sweet taste of the best of both worlds. Leaving us wanting more in 2020 with her debut EP Sugarcoated, she is beginning to introduce a new era of her musical journey with her first released single, “What If I Love You”, off the upcoming EP. Gatlin’s sophomore EP touches on more mature themes as she is an artist who grows along with her music. Throughout her discography, she shines a light on themes of self-worth and discovery through the ups and downs of romantic relationships. On her upcoming single, “Whenever He Asks”, Gatlin unhinges the raw reality of an unhealthy relationship where everything is on his terms. She comes to the realization that she is not being loved as should be so something has to change – producing a very powerful message for her listeners, as well as standing as a strong role model for other young female artists.

[UNPUBLISHED]: How did you first get introduced to music?

[GATLIN]: Both of my parents aren’t very creative, they are pretty big business people, but my dad always loved music and he always had it playing in the house. He would make me a playlist of 10 songs a week of just the classics and then he would print out the lyrics and have me study them! I always loved performing and he said ‘you should try songwriting’. When music is just playing in the house, you just gravitate towards it. I would definitely say it was my dad for sure.

[UNPUBLISHED]: When I first listened to your music, I believe the first songs I played were “Talking to Myself” and “never been in love” and I instantly got an early Taylor Swift vibe. Who would you say are your musical inspirations?

[GATLIN]: I grew up on 1989, it is one of the best albums there is! I was always really gravitated towards early Katy Perry but I think I grew up on a lot of bands too. I loved Coldplay, Fleetwood Mac, No Doubt, Queen, just anything that was really dramatic. Then later I got really into folk songwriters, where the lyrics in Joni Mitchell and Bob Dylan songs, I’m just like woah! I would say I like to blend the two.

[UNPUBLISHED]: Could you walk us through what your creative process looks like when writing?

[GATLIN]: To me, I believe I have two main processes. There are some times where I wake up in the middle of the night, sit down with my guitar and a song comes out in like 10-20 minutes. That’s happened a few times for “Grown”, “Curly Hair” and a new one called “Hospital” also came up like that. Normally songwriting is a craft right, I’m doing it every day and it’s not always going to be a great song. I’ve been co-writing and collaborating a lot so that will look like a producer being in the room and another writer, then I just talk about what I’m going through and what kind of vibe I want to create that day. Then we’ll just come up with some melodies and concepts, sometimes a song comes out of it, and sometimes it doesn’t.

[UNPUBLISHED]: Can you tell us about your upcoming single “Whenever He Asks”?

[GATLIN]: That one took a long time! I originally wrote for about 10 minutes, just me and my guitar back in January of 2020 – and then I really didn’t do anything with it. That summer my producer, Nick Lobel, started teaching me how to produce a little bit and make sounds in different aspects of production. So I took parts of that song and put it into this new song. It’s a little more dream-pop, synthy now than when I wrote it back in January. I was at a very low point in my life, not really believing in my work. I just didn’t have a lot of self-worth and I think I was scared to go to my friends with that because I was like ‘Man, I’m kind of letting this boy walk all over me and that’s not a good look’! I think getting all of that out definitely helped me be aware that at this point I’m begging for this person to love me and he’s not treating me well, so something has to change. That’s what [“Whenever He Asks”] is about, a song of everything’s on his terms.

[UNPUBLISHED]: If there is one message you would like listeners to take away from “Whenever He Asks” what would it be?

[GATLIN]: I think it’s in the culture that it’s hard to admit that you’re “simping” over someone and not being a bad bitch. You’re in that place, and you’re going to hit a point where it’s like ‘I’m not going to get treated like this anymore’ and only you can decide that.

[UNPUBLISHED]: Have you run into any difficulties with writer's block during the year of being in a pandemic or has it inspired you?

[GATLIN]: I definitely experienced writer’s block in the beginning! I think especially because everything turned to Zoom, like all the writing sessions. This is going to make me sound like such a hippie but I’m such an energy person. I want to be with actual people in the room so I can read your expressions, body language and actually connect over a song. I think I just didn’t write for a while in the beginning because I didn’t like Zoom and I felt like there was nothing to write about, there weren’t shows to kind of fill me up either. So then I was thinking ‘I’m going to make more music because I love performing’. It was definitely hard but I got into the swing of things and we all adjusted to life.

[UNPUBLISHED]: Is there a song off of To Remind Me of Home that best represents you as an artist in 2021?

[GATLIN]: It’s a four-song EP which I’m very excited about! I love all of them and I’m very proud of them all! There are two tracks that stick out the most to me, that feels like the two different sides of me. “What If I Love You”, which I released last month, is heavily 1989 Taylor Swift vibes, good feelings, and very powerful! Then there’s another track called “Hospital” – it’s pretty self-explanatory but it definitely shows the side of me that really struggles with mental health, feeling a lot, and just going through some dark things in life.

[UNPUBLISHED]: Do you have any advice for other young female artists who want to make it into the industry?

[GATLIN]: I still feel like a young female artist trying to make it in the industry! I would say surround yourself with people you admire. I feel like the way I have been the most filled up is by my artist friends. I have female artist friends who are older than me and have gone through exactly what I’m going through right now. Just having them pour into me, giving me advice, and encouraging my songwriting. Just finding people that know what they’re talking about but also having more life experience. I think that’s helped me most and where I’ve seen the most growth in my personal life and career for sure.

[UNPUBLISHED]: I read in an interview that you described Sugarcoated as a coming-of-age EP, how would you describe this next era in your life – is it still a coming of age piece?

[GATLIN]: I would say a little bit but honestly I feel like it captures – like all of us, I had a really rough, really dark year – it definitely feels a little heavier. I think it takes you through that a little bit but it also has a hopeful tone overall on it and it just feels a little more mature if that makes sense. It’s all a bit like ‘Oh, she knows who she is a little bit more’!

[UNPUBLISHED]: Did you also have a hand in producing the upcoming EP?

[GATLIN]: It was definitely Nick absolutely killing it on that but I feel like he has been like a big brother to me and I think he thinks of me as a little sister. He walks me through things and I’m learning how to say things in producer terms that I want something in a song or don’t want something. I’m getting more and more involved which is super nice and he lets me have a big say in what all of it sounds like. This new single, “Whenever He Asks”, has another producer on it, Aaron Steele, who played drums on the tracks and it was absolutely killer.

[UNPUBLISHED]: I noticed in a lot of your music videos, there’s a lot of 70s-80s dream-pop vibes in the way they’re filmed, edited, and overall thematic aesthetic. How did you discover that the 70s dream-pop aesthetic matched so well with your sound?

[GATLIN]: This is so basic but it’s so true, Stevie Nicks is everything - I love her, she is my mom! A lot of how I dress, my hair, and I think she inspires me a lot. I just like that style of old movies, I really like the vintage feel and aesthetic. I found a great videographer who matches that as well so it’s so much fun coming up with concepts with them.

[UNPUBLISHED]: If you could perform a collaboration with any artist, dead or alive, who would it be?

[GATLIN]: Stevie Nicks – duh – Harry Styles, Paul Simon and I just would want to talk to Johnny Cash and pick his brain.

[UNPUBLISHED]: If there was one spot you could go to right now to perform, anywhere in the world, where would you go?

[GATLIN]: I really want to play Red Rocks in Denver. I feel like that’s a really, really big one.

[UNPUBLISHED]: From your first EP Sugarcoated and moving into this new era, how do you feel like you’ve evolved as an artist?

[GATLIN]: Yeah, I feel like on the production side of things I definitely had way more of a hand in. I’m becoming more developed in sound and having an ear for what I like. I think [Sugarcoated] may come across like ‘This is who she is, this is what she sounds like and this is her’. Where [the up-coming EP] feels deeper.

[UNPUBLISHED]: Do you feel like you have found your sound with this sophomore EP, or is that something that is constantly evolving?

[GATLIN]: The cool thing about music is that it is constantly changing along with an artists’ sound and who they are. For this era, this is definitely who I am right now and what I’m like and I think that is captured a lot better. I was a little more wishy-washy with the first EP and listened a lot more to other people’s influences of what they thought I should sound like. But I think they both still go well together.

You can follow Gatlin on Instagram and stream her music here!

Regan CharterisMay 14, 2021batch 2