Gatlin Meditates on Mourning and Heartbreak in 'I Sleep Fine Now'
Indie songstress Gatlin’s music captures the fullness of existence – meditating on life’s pain while celebrating the joy and allowing for a communal catharsis. “Whatever emotion you’re feeling? Feel it deeply. Don’t numb it out.” says the Florida-raised, LA-based singer-songwriter. She has released I Sleep Fine Now EP, a thematic walk through the stages of grief and a symbolic way for Gatlin to take a step back from her breakup and observe the mourning process and every emotion associated with grief.
Introspective and scathing, I Sleep Fine Now is a collection of songs that highlights the five stages of grief: denial, anger, bargaining, depression, and acceptance. After years of emotional processing and unlearning unhealthy coping mechanisms after the end of a past relationship, Gatlin's upcoming EP is a unique clash of anguish and elegance – a tour de force of powerful vocals, glittering production and stunningly personal lyrics. The tracks spiral through the process of heartbreak in real-time, oscillating between confidence and doubt, spite and reverence. The EP ends with Gatlin's realization that after moving through the grief, she finds she can, indeed, sleep fine now.
The single “Paris” represents anger and tells a tale of heartbreak and resentment against the backdrop of a celestial and faraway Paris. It is the third release off of the EP, which takes the listener on a journey through the stages of grief over a past relationship, with each song on the EP encapsulating a different stage in this process.
“Paris” offers a sardonic glimpse into Gatlin's grieving process through the heavenly meeting of easy-breezy pop tune and despondent confessional. Opening with twinkling synths and a gentle piano, the single quickly surges with a resentful energy that is laden with all the emotions of loving someone who is in love with someone else. As if she were staring across the table at the partner she knows is leading her on, Gatlin sings “Cause you're still in love with a girl, other side of the world, and pretending my love is hers.” Amidst head-bopping snare, richly layered harmonies, and warm guitar, Gatlin admits the inevitable, sorrow-struck conclusion: “I wouldn't have to care if you were in Paris.”
“‘Paris’ is a song I wrote about a very niche situation I was in – dating a long-time friend who was in love with their ex-girlfriend who lived in Paris throughout their relationship,” Gatlin says. “I wrote it at a time of being fed up with feeling always second to her and how I wish they would just get on a plane to Paris, go be with her, and leave me alone. It has an undertone of anger, so I definitely wanted the production to bring lots of energy to the track.”
Soothing ballad “Lonely Life” explores the acceptance of solitude as Gatlin sings “it’s all good, wouldn’t fall if I could.” The sweeping “When You’re Breaking My Heart” dives deep into the emotion of denial as Gatlin attempts to hide from her own feelings of love.
Uninhibited and bursting with emotion, “When You’re Breaking My Heart” exemplifies Gatlin’s knack for anthemic indie-pop. Gatlin thrives on telling intricate stories born of small moments, and making the ordinary seem grand. “When You're Breaking My Heart” follows a string of successful releases, most recently the EP To Remind Me of Home.
Gatlin combines instinctual humanity with daring vulnerability to craft musical moments of meaning and melody. Consistent through her range, Gatlin’s music brims with confessional lyricism and raw storytelling. Her songs blend a vast internal world of feelings and thoughts with a rich external world of people and places – bringing listeners to the girl who stands at the intersection, Gatlin.
[UNPUBLISHED]: Thank you for sitting down and talking to Unpublished Magazine. Our readers would love to get to know you and your music more. For any readers who aren’t yet familiar, what inspires your artistic style and creative persona?
[GATLIN]: I really love the 70s and the 80s. I feel like I really operate out of a place of romanticizing everything and I think especially now, moving to California and being really close to Laurel Canyon, that vibe is super inspiring. Growing up listening mostly to women powerhouses, I've just always wanted to be a girl with a guitar who writes powerful songs with big feelings and cool vibes.
[UNPUBLISHED]: Your EP I Sleep Fine Now is set to release this month and a huge congratulations is in order. I absolutely adore the creative aesthetic and celestial imagery you chose to highlight for this EP. What was the creative inspiration behind the choice?
[GATLIN]: I think a lot of the songs evoke a nighttime feel for me. They're very reflective and very heavy, even more of the upbeat ones just have a grief undertone. I think what's cool about doing a project with who I am as a person – it’s my first name – a lot of the time will be my brand. I was just in a phase where I got my black hat, watching a lot of Sabrina the Teenage Witch and getting into tarot and astrology. Stevie Nicks has always been a huge inspiration to me growing up. I feel like all these themes of nighttime and sleepiness and the celestial imagery is everything I’ve always gravitated towards.
[UNPUBLISHED]: I Sleep Fine Now touches on various stages of grief. What is the inspiration behind the project?
[GATLIN]: In the beginning of all this, I thought I wanted to be a songwriter and then an artist project started to come up because I realized I became obsessed with being on stage. I was collecting songs that I love and was looking through all of them and was sorting the ones that were telling a story and taking a step back after they were all written and realized I was walking through this relationship that I just went through. The songs were written over a year and a half and I can see this process of me letting go of this five year long relationship and the romantic and friendship aspects of it, just that they were my comfort person and the process of losing that. It was all written for me to take a step back and grieve throughout this project.
[UNPUBLISHED]: I Sleep Fine Now starts with your single “Really Funny.” Why did you choose “Really Funny” to be your lead track and do you think it sets the tone for the rest of the project?
[GATLIN]: I think it's the lightest and it's quirky. I use a lot of humor as a defense mechanism. I think it sets a light tone and I feel like it's very me and encapsulates who I am as a person, like the sounds in the lyrics and the very essence of it. I just thought it was a great way to start it off.
[UNPUBLISHED]: Your single “Paris” is accompanied by a music video and I absolutely adore the vintage feel and the wedding dress you wore. What is the inspiration behind the music video and how was your experience filming it?
[GATLIN]: I wanted to go to the Eiffel Tower in Vegas because it’s an anger-filled song and feels kitschy. I’m being extra and dramatic which in a way is who I am as a person and how I would react a lot of times in this relationship with overreactions. I was on the Vegas Strip and everyone was recording me because they thought I was a street performer. I was running around like a crazy person wearing a wedding dress. For the wedding dress, I went on Facebook marketplace and picked it up on the way to the shoot. It’s pretty identical to my mother’s wedding dress – a little spooky and weird. It was also my first time wearing a wedding dress and I looked just like my mom.
[UNPUBLISHED]: You also shot a music video for “When You’re Breaking My Heart” and it has a more ethereal energy to it. What is the inspiration behind the music video?
[GATLIN]: I think like when I listened through it, I imagined a chase scene and pictured a labyrinth. I really wanted to do a music video that felt like Alice in Wonderland and I was pulling a lot of inspiration from that. I wanted it to feel magical. It feels indie-pop and reminiscent of Taylor Swift’s 1989 era. “When You’re Breaking My Heart” feels like you’re stepping into a fairytale land.
[UNPUBLISHED]: Say if someone hasn’t heard of your music yet. Which song would you show them that best captures your artistic maturity and style?
[GATLIN]: Maturity-wise I would say “How Do You Sleep At Night?” is very vulnerable and emotive. I feel like I was really pushing myself when writing that song. I wrote it with two of my pals Liza and Ethan and I did not want to write that day. I came in crying to them and was in a really bad place and they encouraged me. I am so thankful that they did that because hopefully you can feel everything I was feeling when you listen to that song.
[UNPUBLISHED]: What is your favorite song off the EP and why do you love it? Is there a certain lyric or element that stands out to you the most?
[GATLIN]: “Really Funny” because I wrote that one with my guitar on my bed, so it just felt very much like coming back to my roots.
[UNPUBLISHED]: You are going on your headlining tour this fall to celebrate the EP release. What are you looking forward to the most while on tour?
[GATLIN]: It's so exciting because I've done a good amount of touring in the last two years and I’ve always been the one opening, but now I’m the headliner and it’s a different mindset. This tour, everyone in the room is on my team and is rooting for me and singing my songs. I’m excited to experience that and it’s a little nerve wracking, but I’m really excited.
[UNPUBLISHED]: What is your favorite song to perform live and why?
[GATLIN]: “Masterclass” is more heavy rock and I love looking out in the audience and collectively everyone is rocking their heads back and forth and I get to live out my rockstar dream and feel like a badass.
[UNPUBLISHED]: If you can describe I Sleep Fine Now in three words, which would you choose and why?
[GATLIN]: Cathartic, ethereal, and healing.
[UNPUBLISHED]: How are you feeling in this current era of your career and what does the rest of the year look like that you would like to share with Unpublished Magazine?
[GATLIN]: After this tour, I am going to be writing what will hopefully be my debut album. I feel really hopeful. I feel like I've been working nonstop for the past four years and seeing it pay off is really exciting. This is the first project where I feel so proud. I'm getting to go on my first headline tour, and it’s amazing to see that growth. I'm definitely wanting to do this for the rest of my life. I'm very good with the slow and steady and working away and building fan by fan and being really intentional. I just want to build a really awesome community of people.
