Emma Ogier Talks About Her Debut Single ‘First Base’ And Teases Her Upcoming Releases

A new artist you need to know!

We are so glad that singer-songwriter Emma Ogier has joined the music industry. She recently released her debut single titled ‘First Base’. And spoiler alert: it’s a bop!

We had the amazing honor of talking with Emma about the music scene in Houston, going on tour with Michaela Slinger, and more

When did you first realize that you wanted to pursue a career in music?

E: “Well, I grew up in a pretty musical family. There was a grand piano and acoustic guitar in our
living room that belonged to my dad. He played music in college and me and my brothers tend to credit
the beginning of our love for music to him. My brothers and I were always creative people. My younger and older brother are both self on taught piano, guitar (and basically any other instrument they pick up) and they are two of the most talented instrumentalist I know. I was never very savvy with instruments, but I loved to sing. I knew I couldn’t always have my dad or big brother to accompany me when I wanted to sing at home. So I learned to play piano and guitar for that reason.

Most of my creative energy, however, was put into musical theater. That’s where I found my love for storytelling and expressing myself through song. From a young age, I had written poetry, some that I would play around with on piano and attempt to turn into songs but never considered myself a songwriter. I honestly thought I’d pursue theater as a career. My older brother Aidan was the first to really dive into music in the form of songwriting. I remember when he started writing songs just being infatuated by the way he was able to say something real that I could understand but in the same way would never fully understand. I really liked that and he inspired me to express myself that way. I wrote my first few songs with no knowledge of how if fit into them. They were just stories to me, but over the years I began to recognize myself in the work. I recently looked back at the first piece I’d ever written and could almost pinpoint the exact feelings and thoughts I was having at that time. I realized songwriting for me had been and still is the way I cop with hurt, exhaustion, joy, etc. I have never been well spoken, but my songs have allowed me to be. They say the words I have a hard time finding in the moment. They give me a voice that I hope others will confide in.”

Tell us more about your amazing debut single ‘First Base’.

E: “First Base has actually been written twice. Originally by myself when I was stuck in my room with
Covid-19 over winter break in 2021. The lyrics were a representation of my longing to have deeper
connections with people. I felt that my mind was and is hard to understand, but there weren’t a lot of
people willing to try and understand it. This idea bleeds into the concept of the version of “First Base”
being released this month. That no matter what first base is for you “kissing”, “holding hands”, “sex”, the
idea is that deeper relationships are being longed for.

This was the first time in a song I was able to relay this feeling and since it has been a muse in many of
my songs. It is special to me that it is the first and I haven’t been able to say it better. I hope listeners will also find comfort in knowing that they aren’t alone in this feeling, and I want to give them the words to say something I think we all have a hard time saying.”

What is your songwriting process usually like?

E: “My songwriting process is quite simple. I tend to write alone. Any free chance I get, I sit down with my
guitar and just start playing it. I will turn on a voice memo to record myself then will just start singing what comes to my head. It’s usually a bunch of gibberish with an unsure melody, but then I will listen
back to the memo and take from it what I like and leave the rest. I’ll take bits of melodies and lyrics I like,
then repeat the process of just playing and singing until I’ve pieced together an outline of a song. After
that, I revise the structure, melody, and lyrics to be cohesive and fulfilling to sing/play. Because I don’t
initially write from concepts, I’ve come to understand that my songs written this way are simply a release
of thoughts coming from my conscious/subconscious. A lot of the time it takes me a few days to figure
out what I was expressing in a song because when it was written, I didn’t think about it, my mind was
just saying things I feel and observe in a certain time in my life.

This way of writing makes co-writing a bit harder to navigate. I have yet to figure out how to let my
subconscious be the driver when I write with other people. I think it’s hard to be vulnerable quickly- I
have never been well-spoken, so having to talk about what we’re writing is hard and feeling a real
connection to what’s being curated is tough. However, I’ve been leaning to just appreciate cowrites, its
such a great practice and opens me up to new perspectives.”

You recently went with Michaela Slinger on her tour! What was that experience like?

E: “Tour with Michaela was incredible and I learned so much. I’ve said, since I began writing music seriously, that my biggest dream is to go on tour. I’m beyond grateful to her my team and my parents for making that tour possible for me. Understanding how much support I’m surrounded by was so moving and I’m just so glad to have experienced it. Touring was fun and exhausting. I relearned how bad my tendency to miss people was because for the first leg, I was solo and didn’t have anyone around me who I knew. I found myself missing my friends in Nashville and in Houston, my family, specifically, my big brother who usually plays with me, and my home. It was so rejuvenating however to see new places and wake up in new cities every morning. Michaela and her friend/photographer, Sydney, made it really easy to feel comfortable and safe. They are both so kind and personable, because they are Canadian, and they inspired me to be so passionate and work hard. Props to Michaela for setting up the whole tour herself. I think it’s incredible.”

If you could collab with any music artist, who would it be and why?

E: “That is a super difficult question because I am super indecisive and I could confidently say like 10 different people I’d die to collab with and could give you a billion reasons why, but if I had to say one right now I’d have to say Dijon. He creates dangerous music that evokes feelings in me that I’d want to reflect onto others. He’s super raw and probably my favorite artist to see live. I think it would be cool to collaborate with him because of how much I could learn and experiment. The music he makes has a different soul than mine, different sound, and I want to understand how a song like his is made. It would be sick to get the chance to just watch him create and to work with him in that. Whatever we make together, Im sure it would be interesting and unique and super swaggy.”

What is the music scene like in Houston?

E: “The music scene in Houston is pretty interesting and I think there’s some really great artists coming in and out of there. I went to an arts high school, so I was lucky to spend a lot of my time around creative people, but I didn’t have a chance to connect with a lot of other singer-songwriters in Houston. The hip-hop/rap scene in Houston is pretty awesome and I love watching my friends flourishing through that. I didn’t find a lot of venues in Houston to play at, but I was in a rock cover band with some of my buddies that gigged around a good bit. overall, Houston’s definitely got talent and creativity. the city rocks.”

Can we expect more music from you this year?

E: “So yeah, “First Base” is out on the 30th (out now!), and then in the months following that, I’ll be rolling a couple more singles out. The next track is called “Consider Me a Winner” and it’s available to presave now! After the singles, a focus track and the EP will come out. I am excited to have music out for everyone to hear. I’m super excited about the new music I’ve been working on and hope to go on another tour in the future!”

Where can we follow your amazing journey?

E: “All platforms really! All social links are here: https://emmaogier.komi.io/.”

Make sure to stream ‘First Base’, available now on all music platforms!

Je’Kayla Crawford– Founder and Director– Je’Kayla has been a journalist for years and decided to start a publication of her own, New Scene. When not helping her team and working on the monthly issues, you can find her watching a movie on Netflix or baking using a viral Tasty recipe.