Madilyn Bailey Encourages Healthy Coping Mechanisms on “Tattoos & Therapy”
There are a lot of unhealthy vices in the world and it’s almost too easy to turn to destructive habits when experiencing chaos and distress.. Rising pop songstress Madilyn Bailey explores healthy, alternative ways to navigate destructive behaviors and feelings of anxiety in her latest single “Tattoos & Therapy.”
“Tattoos & Therapy” combines a danceable rhythm with Bailey’s powerful vocals as she gets vulnerable about the bad habits that signal an impending downward spiral. Her charming candor makes “Tattoos & Therapy” effortlessly relatable and totally judgment-free as she boldly admits, “I’ve got this self-destructive energy / Text my ex and regret it immediately / End up in somebody’s bed / And wake up hating me / Instead I’ll get tattoos and therapy.”
“It's almost too easy to turn to self-destructive behaviors like texting an ex late at night or drinking too much and then buying dumb shit off the internet,” Bailey says. “I've found it helpful when self-destructive tendencies kick in to have a healthy alternative for all that angst, enter 'Tattoos and Therapy.’ Wanna text an ex? I'll call my therapist instead. Want to go out? Go get a tattoo instead.”
[UNPUBLISHED]: Thank you for sitting down and talking to Unpublished Magazine. Our readers would love to get to know more about your latest release “Tattoos & Therapy.” I love that it has a very affirming and self-validating energy and encourages healthy coping mechanisms. What is the inspiration behind the single?
[MADILYN]: The inspiration behind the song was a celebration of manic energy, but also recognizing that when you're a person who has an anxious type of personality, you have to find good ways to channel that energy. In the song I propose an interesting alternative to the self-destructive behaviors that come along with anxiety and panic attacks, which is tattoos and therapy. If you're not into tattoos, you could replace tattoos with anything. It could be taking a bath, therapy, reading a book – whatever people’s cup of tea is. I think universally, it can be related to whatever sort of self-destructive tendencies you have and then replace them with something more positive.
[UNPUBLISHED]: What did the creative process look like for you?
[MADILYN]: That morning, I was actually having a manic, panicky morning, but I just have this thing with writing sessions where I absolutely never, ever, ever cancel them. I found that when I'm really going through stuff and I go into the session, sometimes I write the best songs ever. I never cancel sessions. I went into this session and I was like, what if we write a song that literally feels like a panic attack, but in a way that has a positive message to it.
[UNPUBLISHED]: What messages, emotions or story do you hope listeners can take away from “Tattoos & Therapy?”
[MADILYN]: I hope that when people listen to “Tattoos & Therapy,” they can feel validated that it's not just them when they start having these panicky, manic moments in their life, that it's not just them. That spiraling, I go through this, everybody goes through this. I think the first step in getting better is just recognizing that those traits are there, what your self-destructive habits are and what the triggers are. For those, the first step is recognizing that you have them and then introducing healthy alternatives.
[UNPUBLISHED]: The song touches on a lot of aspects of healing throughout chaotic times. Has “Tattoos & Therapy” helped you process any emotions?
[MADILYN]: In writing the song I actually found a lot of positivity that can come from that anxious energy. I know anxiety gets kind of a bad reputation as being something negative, but because I'm an anxious person, it's made me somebody who works really hard and writes good music and never stops. It also comes with this double-edged blade. You have to learn how to control the anxiety for it to be able to be a superpower.
[UNPUBLISHED]: “Tattoos & Therapy” is a sneak peek off your upcoming debut album Hollywood Dead. I would love to hear anything you would like to share about the album?
[MADILYN]: I feel like” Tattoos & Therapy” is an out there kind of track for me. It's exciting, chaotic, and then “Doomsday in LA” is a love song, but about dying with the person you love. There's a lot of really beautiful themes on Hollywood Dead that have to do with figuring out who you are, figuring out what you want out of life, out of my career, and moving to a chaotic city, but finding yourself within that chaos.
[UNPUBLISHED]: What is your favorite song from Hollywood Dead and why do you love the song? Is there a specific lyric or message that you gravitate towards the most?
[MADILYN]: I think “Doomsday in LA” is my favorite song off the Hollywood Dead album. “Doomsday in LA” is a really sweet song even though it's technically about dying with the person I love, but it's like if you can find somebody that you want to do life with, you'd also watch the end of the world with them. You just can't ask for more of a person.
[UNPUBLISHED]: What has been your most rewarding experience throughout the creative process of Hollywood Dead?
[MADILYN]: I think the most rewarding part of this process is actually just putting it together from start to finish. I think up until this point, I really only released singles, which is really fun, but when you're putting together an album it really makes you take a look at who you are as an artist because from start to finish. This album has to tell a story and show who you are and represent multiple different types of songs and music because you can't have the same song for 11 tracks, right? It really made me take a deeper look at myself as an artist and what I wanted to say, what I wanted to share and I think it's a really good exercise for all artists who are questioning like, who am I and what am I? What's my sound? What do I want?
[UNPUBLISHED]: What can listeners expect from you in this new era of music?
[MADILYN]: A lot of raw honesty and some bops. There's some real bops on this album. There's also some really emotional songs on it that I really love. There's even some really angry songs on this album too, so a little bit of everything.
[UNPUBLISHED]: If you could describe Hollywood Dead in three words, which would you choose and why?
[MADILYN]: Almost embarrassingly honest.
[UNPUBLISHED]: How are you feeling in this current era of your career and what does the rest of the year look like for you that you would like to share with Unpublished?
[MADILYN]: I feel like this era of my life is just me doing what I want, how I want, and that's a big theme with Hollywood Dead. The name of the album Hollywood Dead represents an inside joke for me when I just turned 30, and I think maybe I'm Hollywood dead because females age in the industry differently than they do in real life. 30 is relatively young, but in Hollywood it’s more shocking and almost looked down upon. Hollywood Dead also represents the death of who I thought I needed to be in this industry, and basically the resurrection of who I actually want to be, who I'm supposed to be and letting go of all those old ideas to let the new ones in. That's the whole theme of the album. I'd say it's where I am in my life because I feel like I'm in a very confident, strong place in my life.
