January 23, 2026 • 26 mins
On the Friday In Service Of we continue to introduce you to exciting new artists. Dutch singer/songwriter Isabel Van Gelder is a thrilling young talent who joins Steve Baltin to discuss her new EP, her inspirations, playing live, baking and more.
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Listen
Watch
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:08):
Hey, it's Steve Balton and welcome to the Friday episode
of In Service sub And this week is a really
great one and a very special one to me because
part of what started me on this whole journey of
music discovery and championing new artists was finding Isabelle van
Gelder on social media. I saw her stuff on Instagram,
(00:30):
who was like, holy shit, reached out to her.
Speaker 2 (00:33):
We've become friends. She is insanely talented.
Speaker 1 (00:37):
I did her first big American story, this is her
first big American podcast, and if her EP comes out today.
She is so immensely talented, wonderful person. Hope you enjoy
getting to know her as much as I did. So
welcome to In Service of with the insanely talented Dutch
(00:57):
artist Isabelle van Gelder, one of your favorite new music
discoveries of twenty twenty six.
Speaker 2 (01:13):
Thanks for being here today on your song release day.
Speaker 3 (01:16):
You know, of course I couldn't imagined a better way
to celebrate my release.
Speaker 2 (01:22):
Well, I'm gonna say, well, you could be out partying,
but you'll do that later on because it's still early
in Amsterdam.
Speaker 3 (01:28):
Yeah, well it's not that it's six pm, but I
don't think I'm gonna be partying tonight. I will have
some drinks with a couple of my friends. Tomorrow we're
gonna have some glue glue line. You know. Glue line
is like the kind of warm wine with like spices
from Germany. They drink it at the Christmas Bird.
Speaker 2 (01:45):
I've never had.
Speaker 3 (01:46):
Oh, it's amazing. If you're ever in Amsterdam, I'll take you.
It's really great.
Speaker 2 (01:50):
Okay, But what I was gonna ask you first? It's
so funny, right because you can see, just as this starts,
you're so happy and like uh as Nick Kve who's
one of my favorite songwriters of all time, once sold
me that you always write what it is you're longing for.
That when he's happy, he writes a sad song. When
he's sad, he writes a happy song. So do you
(02:13):
think that's true for you? Because it's so funny because
you're like the most uppy person and you write the
saddest fucking songs.
Speaker 3 (02:22):
I know. I Well, I feel like in some instances
maybe yes, But I also think that in general, I'm
a pretty happy, uppy person, like you just said, But
I do feel like I feel things very deeply, whether
that's for myself or for someone else so to jump into.
For example, the song that I released today, that's a
(02:45):
song that I didn't even write for my own perspective.
It's not my story, but it's the story of my
best friend who was back when I wrote it, going
through a very intense heartbreak. And I feel like I'm
someone who can very much feel that too, you know,
like it made me so upset and so angry to
hear that like that, and that gave me so much
(03:06):
I guess, fuel and like emotion to write the song
that I did. So I just feel like I feel
things pretty intensely, and I'm also maybe I can also
kind of imagine what it's like to go through certain
things easily in a way where I don't know if
that's being empathetic or just like being able to feel
what other people are feeling. I don't know if that
(03:28):
makes any sense.
Speaker 2 (03:29):
But absolutely, and I mean I think every artist. It's funny.
I don't know if you know Maggie Lindamann, but her
new album is called it I Feel Everything, and we
were talking about that. Whether it's a gift or a
curse to feel everything.
Speaker 3 (03:41):
Yeah, I think it's a gift personally, I mean, I
feel like I would rather feel loads of things have
high highs and low lows than just be kind of
like flatlining, you know, And I feel like that's what
the place where great art comes from. So, you know,
I went through something like a couple of days ago,
which is a little bit private, souf. I'm not sure
(04:02):
if I want to hopefully talk about it, but I
just remember thinking like, oh, you know, at least I'll
get to write some amazing songs about things, which is
always nice.
Speaker 2 (04:12):
Yeah there, I mean, you know, it's funny. One of
my favorite lines of all times from Paul Westerwards song.
Paul Westerberg was the lead singer for The Replacements. They
had a song called Things. It's a laundry list of
things like things that you know, things that will happen,
things just can talk about, things you can't talk about,
he said, and things I can never tell you. One
(04:33):
day you'll be a song I sing a thing I
give away. And I always love that line so much
because I think that just sums up the idea of
being an artist.
Speaker 3 (04:42):
Definitely definitely like kind of being able to turn every
experience in person and all the hurt or beauty, turn
it into something that is like that you can pass
on and hopefully pass on and like have other people
relate to or you know, I comforted by or I
don't know. It's really the most beautiful thing there is,
(05:03):
I guess, right, all.
Speaker 2 (05:06):
Right, so we're gonna come back to this, but now
we're saying the last couple of weeks have been insane, so,
you know, and the Friday podcast that I do. So
I do two podcasts, now, well there's interns of which
is the Wednesday one where I talk with like, you know,
big huge artists like Lenny Kravitz, and I had asked
me to do a Friday one and I wanted to
make that one more free for him and also talk
(05:28):
with new artists because you know, again if if no
one covers, if I don't cover new artists, knowing will so.
But I mean, talk about for you, Well, first of all,
what have you been insane with the last couple of weeks?
Speaker 3 (05:43):
Yeah, So the last couple of weeks for me have
been a lot of traveling. So I went to the States. Obviously,
I mean that's been that's a little that's like a
month ago, a month and a half ago, I suppose,
but I went to the States. I was there for
quite a while, and then I went to Germany, and
I've been in London. I was in London last week,
and I've just been like also back home, been in
(06:07):
between all the cities because my management is in a
different city, and we've just been working at talking to
so many labels and people, like all of a sudden
there was like some interest and then everybody just kind
of wanted to talk. So we've been doing so many
zoom calls and things, which is very exciting. And at
the same time, I've been you know, finishing the EP
and also doing a bunch of writing sessions for the
(06:28):
new project that I'm working on, and since I'm obviously
not signed yet, I kind of do everything by myself,
so all the visuals, the like videos for socials, the
cover arts, the promotion, everything like. I come up with
it together with my team, who like my team's great,
but it's very small, so it's a lot of work,
(06:49):
you know, and a lot of things that are like
going on in my mind. While at the same time
being in a new room with the new writers every
day trying to you know, make new things for the
for the hopefully fingers crossed album that's coming after this EP,
and then also, you know, I did my first tour meanwhile,
and I have been starting to make a set list
(07:10):
and rehearsing for the EP release show and the tour
that I'm starting in February. So it's just been a
bunch of different things all comeing together. And it's all
things that I'm doing for the very first time, which
is so exciting and scary at the same time. So
it's just a lot of emotions and feelings and things happening.
But it's all been very great. It's all been very great.
(07:32):
It's just been very busy, and I don't think it's
going to get any less busy becoming year if I'm
looking at my schedule right now. So yeah, but it's
been great. It's been great. It's really what I've always wanted,
so it's very exciting.
Speaker 2 (07:47):
Yeah, it's an interesting thing. It's funny you say it's
what we've always wanted, you know, because I was just
talking about this with someone the other day, and it
could be something you always want and then it's different
than you expect. So how is it like different? You know,
like I mean how is it different good ways and
bad ways because you have your idea of what it's
going to be like. And then, of course, you know,
(08:07):
and the other thing that we talked about before, I'm
not a fan of fame. I think fame is an
awful thing.
Speaker 3 (08:14):
Yeah, no, so well, first of all, obviously I'm still
a very small beginning artist, so I don't know what
it will eventually be like if I hopefully do breakthrough
a little bit more or have a little bit more
of a successful career. But so far it's really just
been fantastic. Like I love it so much. I feel
like people are starting to take me a little bit
(08:36):
more serious than they did prior, and I feel like
I'm really building a community of people that resonate with
the things I make, and I'm in the studio more
and I'm writing more. And then also it's not just
the music that I love, like, I also really love
the marketing thing, and I love thinking about visuals and
I love thinking about branding in general, you know, so
(08:57):
everything about it has been very exciting. I don't really
think there's anything that I haven't liked so far. Since
I'm still I feel like in the in the early days,
and everything just feels very fun and great. Still, it
has been different, maybe in the way that I would
maybe think that my world would get bigger, feel bigger,
but it's actually felt way smaller because I have so
(09:18):
little time to like social time. It's all like music related,
which is great, but it also just means that I'm
mainly just talking to my manager and my parents and
my two best friends and that's kind of it, and
my boyfriend. But apart from that, it's like very much
like focus on one thing. So it all feels a
lot smaller in a way, which is funny, I guess.
(09:38):
But yeah, and would.
Speaker 2 (09:41):
Have been your favorite parts of it? Sorry, would have
been your favorite parts about it?
Speaker 3 (09:48):
The shows? Performing live and having people that actually are
there to listen to you and to listen to your
story and your music. That has literally been the most
insane thing I ever. And I've only done a couple
of small shows right now, but I also announced my
ip really show, which sold out in a day, which
is to me insane, and it's going to be in
(10:10):
my hometown in Amsterdam and Bahisa, which is a beautiful
venue and I'm so excited about it. And the other
favorite products have just been I suppose like everything feels
like it's finally kind of falling into place because we're
nearing the end of this project, Like the EP is
almost finished, and the songs that I've been holding on
(10:30):
to for so long are finally taking shape and really
in the best, like better that I could have imagined.
I'm really so proud and happy with all the songs
that are on this EP, and they are turning out
exactly how I hope they would, which is such a
satisfying thing to go through, you know. And you know,
(10:51):
like today I released Bathroom Florence. That's also one of
the really exciting parts to me is finally being able
to share this music that I've been setting off for
so long and having people, you know, love it and
like really relate to it, and having people kind of
moving feeling like I'm I can mean something to somebody else,
or like maybe be a moment in someone's day where
(11:12):
they feel like, oh, I can really relate to this,
or it makes me very happy, or it makes me
feel understood, or that's just like why I want to
do it, you know. So the fact that it's happening
on a very small scale right now, but it's starting
to happen. Is is really just so exciting to me.
Speaker 2 (11:27):
Well, it's interesting though too, because you know, I Died
for You was the song that kind of you know,
first broke and kind of got everybody to be aware
of you. But it's funny because once you have that song,
did you find that everything you released after that, like people,
there's like an audience that was waiting for it, or
like knew your name when you were at least like
(11:49):
my silly boyfriend, you know, yeah, or like bathroom for
you know.
Speaker 3 (11:56):
Yeah, yeah, I mean I obviously since it's funny because
when we're talking traditional media like radio or even like
you know, different things like that, nobody has really like
I've never done a radio thing, you know, it's all
not really happening. So everything that's happening right now is
online on my own platforms, which is kind of strange
(12:18):
because that way it feels a little surreal because it's
only happening in your world in bubble. But at the
same time, I am hearing that people are seeing that
there's something happening there, you know. So sorry, what was
your question? Oh?
Speaker 2 (12:35):
Yeah, did you find that like there is an audience
for it now.
Speaker 3 (12:38):
Yeah. Yes. With Die for You, it was like just
a couple of people were like what I really said?
They were like cool, whatever. But then once it started
taking off, I feel like with every release I'm doing
now it's building and building, and there's more and more
people who are responding to it and waiting for it.
And you know, my following is growing as well. But
also my monthly listeners, even though less in the last month,
(13:01):
I feel like I've gained over one hundred thousand monthly
listeners on top of what I had. And then the
same is, you know there for my Instagram show, it's
really translating, and I feel like the people that are there,
they really are staying there at least for now, and
and really coming along with me on the on the journey,
which is really really nice, such a nice feeling.
Speaker 2 (13:21):
Well, it's funny then, because that comes back to what
we're talking about the beginning. You know, you talk about
your Instagram and you know, you do these like silly
dances on there. I want to show yourselves out, you
do the baking stuff, and it's funny. Are you finding
that people are a little surprised because again, you have
like the saddest songs of the world and then you're like, hey,
come hang out with me. I'm a fucking blast.
Speaker 3 (13:43):
Yeah. I don't know if people necessarily like they might
be surprised. I'm not sure, like, but I do think.
Speaker 2 (13:53):
Why I've seen you do a lot of answering questions
on there. You definitely interact with your face ants quite
a bit.
Speaker 3 (14:01):
Yeah, I mean, I feel like nowadays it's so important
and also the part about it that I really really enjoy.
I really love also going live on TikTok and talking
to people and meeting people after this show, and it's
really one of my favorite parts about the whole thing.
And I don't know if people necessarily are surprised by it,
but I do think I do think they. I hope
(14:23):
like it that I'm like showing who I really am,
and I feel like, for example, for me, I've always
been a utibile Eilish fan, and she's always, to me
been the most like silly, quirky, outgoing person ever when
you see her in interviews or with her brother or
but it never I mean, her music still feels very
authentic and very real, So I feel like both of
those things can kind of exist at the same time.
(14:44):
And I'm not sure how the people that perceive me
online feel about that, but I think the same.
Speaker 2 (14:49):
I hope, well, no, it's not a bad thing. It's
just an interesting thing because you know, again, I agree
that juxtahposition absolutely is there. I don't know if Billie's
music is as sad. I don't know. When I've interview Billy,
we talked about horror films, she's a little darker. I
think the neo.
Speaker 3 (15:06):
Definitely definitely, yeah, she definitely definitely is. But I do remember,
like her first record there were I mean, she was
kind of this voice for this generation that was kind
of depressed in a way about a lot of things.
But then at the same time, she was also always
very silly and like didn't really give a fuck about anything,
you know, And I just yeah, I just also, I
(15:29):
just try to be as me as I can online
because I do feel like branding wise, maybe initially I
wouldn't have thought that that would be make the most
sense when you listen to my music, But at the
end of the day, I feel like what I really
want to try to do is just be as authentic
and as real as I am, because that's the only
real thing that I have. You know, at the end
of the day of the day, there's always going to
be a better writer, or a better singer or a
(15:51):
better performer. The only thing that I really have is
that I'm who I am and that there's no one
like me, which sounds very corny, but it's the truth.
So I just try to stay as close to that
as I can.
Speaker 2 (16:12):
Would have been the most fun thing. Have you been
baking anything.
Speaker 3 (16:17):
I haven't been baking. No, I haven't had any time
to bake, but I'll definitely I have to bake something
for bathroom floor because it's kind of a tradition now
that I've baked something every time, so I'll be baking
very soon. The most fun things that I've been up to,
I mean, like I said, the tour has been fantastic.
I was in London and I did a gig there
which was really really fun. It was like at a
(16:38):
private club, so it wasn't a show, a full show,
but it was amazing and we got to have like
the most amazing food and an amazing why. It was really nice,
And I mean, everything has really been so fun, Like
all the meetings I've been doing with my manager and
like the people that were speaking to have been really
inspiring and fun. But I would just say, like, my
(16:58):
absolute favorite thing is the show. It's just it's nothing
that's better than that to me. Maybe writing songs, but
the shows are like so so incredible, and I can't wait.
We're planning on doing a whole lot of touring next year.
I'm so excited for that. It's gonna be great, I think,
I hope.
Speaker 2 (17:18):
No, I'm sure it will be. And it's interesting though,
because you know, one thing, I've talked so many artists
about this, right, and people think, like, you know, your
kind of breakthrough moment where you feel like you've made it.
You know, it is when you get a Grammy or
you're playing a TV show or whatever. Ninety nine percent
of artists have said when people sing their songs back
(17:38):
to them, that's when they kind of feel like, you know,
they've made it. So, what have been the songs live
that people have been singing back to you? And do
you remember that first moment wherever you were where people
were singing it back to you?
Speaker 3 (17:53):
Yeah? I think definitely. I feel my silly boy and
run as well and feel again, even which is like
of all my songs, I feel like that's a song
that is least me sonically. But it's really fun to
play life because it's like a very upbeat, like fun
song to perform. And I think the first, I mean
(18:14):
the first time that people sang it back to me
was the first show that I did, my own first
headline show, which was which was in Zulo, which is
a city in Holland, and it was the first show
of the tour that we did and my first show
that I ever did, and I just remember taking out
my little in air and kind of starting the song
(18:37):
and everybody was singing along like my city, but like
the first couple of lines, and I just couldn't sing
because I was just smiling so much, like, oh my god,
what the hell you know? The lyrics to this song?
It's insane and it just felt I mean, it's just crazy, right,
you write something in your bedroom and then there's like
a room full of people singing along to it. It's
it's the most insane thing ever. It's the most insane
(18:59):
thing ever. So fun. It just made me super super
happy and feel and feel like wow, for the first
time I could really see I was seeing the numbers
grow online and the streams grow. But that's the first
time that I really felt like, wait, this is actual
people that are listening to my music and that know
the lyrics, and that's just very surreal.
Speaker 2 (19:20):
So have you had the like you know, you said
you've met fans on you know, afterwards the shows and stuff.
Have you had the quote unquote celeb encounters where people
come up to you and tell you how much the
songs mean to them, or like, you know, especially like
you know what the song like My Silly Boy or
I Die for You where people come up and tell you,
(19:41):
oh my god, that song they got me through a breakup,
or yeah, my boyfriend's an asshole too. I know your
boyfriends on an asshole, but they you know, they feel
like they understand you and they're like, yeah.
Speaker 3 (19:52):
Yeah, definitely, definitely. I actually had after I released My
Silly Boy. There was because I do, I don't I
feel like people come up to me that much. What
I have more often is that people will send me
a DM and say hey, I just saw you there
and there, and then I'm always like, why don't people
come say hi to me? But I actually, when I
(20:13):
had just released My Silly boy. I went into the
train to go to Zola, the other city, and there
was I wasn't like the silence part, like there's a
coupe in the train where you can't speak, you know,
because people want to read or work or whatever. And
there were like four girls who came up to me
and they were like, oh my god, Isabel, we love you.
Can we get a picture? And I was like, oh
my god, yes, of course. And everybody in the train
(20:34):
was so pissed off because we were making so much one. Yeah,
so there's been little little things like that happening more
like it's gradually happening more often, but still I feel
like relatively not that often at all, but yeah, and
I think it's amazing. I love it. I'm always actually
really sad if people send me a message afterwards saying
(20:56):
like I saw you there, then I always thinking, like,
just come up to me and say hello, you know.
But I feel like Dutch people are also very very
like you know, they don't really I feel like in
the States people will probably come up to you more
like more easily, but back here, everybody's like very much
I don't know what the word is, but they don't
just like reserved definitely. Yeah, yeah, a lot more reserved.
Speaker 2 (21:22):
What about the other parts of Europe Are people bolder?
Speaker 3 (21:27):
Well, I haven't experienced anyone coming up to me because
they knew my music yet, but I do think. I mean,
when I was in Nashville or even La, I feel
like people just in general are way bolder. You know,
they're way bolder. They're way quicker to come up to you.
I remember going to a bar for the first time
when I was in Nashville, and I was so taken
(21:48):
aback by the fact that if I would just stand there,
like there would be people coming up to me every
couple of minutes, like girls, boys, like whatever, but just
saying like hey, who are you, what are you? What
do you do? You know that doesn't really happen back home.
If you're unless they're your friends, people will not really
speak to you. You know. Everybody just kind of sticks
to their own group, which is I actually love that.
(22:09):
I really love that because it didn't it. Also, I
feel like Europeans have the tendency to say like the like,
especially in Nashville at like Southern charma, like it's kind
of fake, but it really I didn't experience it, like
that at all. It felt very genuine and people felt
very genuinely interested in me and what I had to
what I had to say, you know, which was actually
(22:30):
so great because I feel like it makes it a
lot easier to travel by yourself and be by yourself
because you just meet people a lot quicker than you
want to back here depends on where you are, I suppose,
But then for Nashville, at least in my experience.
Speaker 2 (22:48):
It's funny Nashville's coming a lot lately, but it's it's
an interesting place. It is definitely a very interesting place.
Speaker 3 (22:57):
I really like it.
Speaker 2 (22:58):
I really like it. So what are your touring plans
in States next to year? Finally, Yeah, So.
Speaker 3 (23:05):
I'm working right now with UTA United Talent Agency. They're
helping me set up the tours and we don't have
them finalized there, but we're trying to have a small
tour in the States end of next year, and we're
working on some Europe dates as well, like a bunch
of cities, but it's we're all working on it, so
(23:28):
nothing has been finalized yet the only thing that I'm
announcing on Monday is that we're doing four bigger shows
back here, back home and one show in Belgium as well,
and that's all that we have, like set in Stone,
but for the most part, we're still figuring it out
right now. They're very like, they're very enthusiastic and like
very thrilled to set up as much as they can.
(23:51):
So we'll probably be doing a lot, a lot of shows,
all right.
Speaker 2 (23:55):
So again the obvious question I asked you last time,
and now this time you know the answer'd be different,
especially now. I'm sure Europe and America would be different.
What would you love to do with in each place?
Speaker 3 (24:10):
I can't recall what I said last time, but don't
tell me. Don't tell me. So I would love to
tour the States with I mean, either of the States.
I would love to do the States with Greasy Abrams
and the UK with Olivia Dean. I'm gonna say, all right, fair,
(24:34):
I feel like that would be a good I feel
like they're both very inspiring and I love them. And
then I also feel like their audience would probably be
a good audience for me, you know what I mean.
I feel like they're like the people that listen to
their music, I hope, and I think they might also
enjoy what I have to what I have to offer.
Speaker 2 (24:53):
All right, So for you, what's the you know again,
you're meeting audiences for the first time, they're kind of
getting to know you your music. What do you want
people to know about you as an artist? Like you're
doing all these meetings. How are you like you know,
so the.
Speaker 3 (25:13):
Meetings with the like business people, you mean, Well, what
I want people that I potentially will work with, what
I would want them to know is that I'm very
hands on about everything. My manager knows this. He tends
to call me a micro manager every now and then,
because I want to be involved in everything, in every decision.
I want to be in every meeting, and I certainly
(25:34):
want to have not the final call. I mean, I
would love to have the final call about you know,
the music, the visuals, everything. I'm very I care a
lot about everything, you know, I want to know. I
want to know what to never deal. I want to
know what the plans are, what the marketing plans are,
what everything will look like, what things will sound like,
(25:55):
because it's all very important to me and I want
to be the type of artist that knows everything that's
going on. So I think that's for the people that
I'm looking for, like the teams that we're speaking to
right now. That's one of the most important things to me.
And also that I'm very open to try as much
as I can and write as much as I can,
and toward as much as I can, and get the
(26:17):
most practice and get all the hours and really work
as hard as I can, so that in a couple
of years I can really look back and say, oh,
I really did everything I could. And right now I
feel like I'm at a place where I'm really onto
something great, you know.
Hey, it's Steve Balton and welcome to the Friday episode
of In Service sub And this week is a really
great one and a very special one to me because
part of what started me on this whole journey of
music discovery and championing new artists was finding Isabelle van
Gelder on social media. I saw her stuff on Instagram,
(00:30):
who was like, holy shit, reached out to her.
Speaker 2 (00:33):
We've become friends. She is insanely talented.
Speaker 1 (00:37):
I did her first big American story, this is her
first big American podcast, and if her EP comes out today.
She is so immensely talented, wonderful person. Hope you enjoy
getting to know her as much as I did. So
welcome to In Service of with the insanely talented Dutch
(00:57):
artist Isabelle van Gelder, one of your favorite new music
discoveries of twenty twenty six.
Speaker 2 (01:13):
Thanks for being here today on your song release day.
Speaker 3 (01:16):
You know, of course I couldn't imagined a better way
to celebrate my release.
Speaker 2 (01:22):
Well, I'm gonna say, well, you could be out partying,
but you'll do that later on because it's still early
in Amsterdam.
Speaker 3 (01:28):
Yeah, well it's not that it's six pm, but I
don't think I'm gonna be partying tonight. I will have
some drinks with a couple of my friends. Tomorrow we're
gonna have some glue glue line. You know. Glue line
is like the kind of warm wine with like spices
from Germany. They drink it at the Christmas Bird.
Speaker 2 (01:45):
I've never had.
Speaker 3 (01:46):
Oh, it's amazing. If you're ever in Amsterdam, I'll take you.
It's really great.
Speaker 2 (01:50):
Okay, But what I was gonna ask you first? It's
so funny, right because you can see, just as this starts,
you're so happy and like uh as Nick Kve who's
one of my favorite songwriters of all time, once sold
me that you always write what it is you're longing for.
That when he's happy, he writes a sad song. When
he's sad, he writes a happy song. So do you
(02:13):
think that's true for you? Because it's so funny because
you're like the most uppy person and you write the
saddest fucking songs.
Speaker 3 (02:22):
I know. I Well, I feel like in some instances
maybe yes, But I also think that in general, I'm
a pretty happy, uppy person, like you just said, But
I do feel like I feel things very deeply, whether
that's for myself or for someone else so to jump into.
For example, the song that I released today, that's a
(02:45):
song that I didn't even write for my own perspective.
It's not my story, but it's the story of my
best friend who was back when I wrote it, going
through a very intense heartbreak. And I feel like I'm
someone who can very much feel that too, you know,
like it made me so upset and so angry to
hear that like that, and that gave me so much
(03:06):
I guess, fuel and like emotion to write the song
that I did. So I just feel like I feel
things pretty intensely, and I'm also maybe I can also
kind of imagine what it's like to go through certain
things easily in a way where I don't know if
that's being empathetic or just like being able to feel
what other people are feeling. I don't know if that
(03:28):
makes any sense.
Speaker 2 (03:29):
But absolutely, and I mean I think every artist. It's funny.
I don't know if you know Maggie Lindamann, but her
new album is called it I Feel Everything, and we
were talking about that. Whether it's a gift or a
curse to feel everything.
Speaker 3 (03:41):
Yeah, I think it's a gift personally, I mean, I
feel like I would rather feel loads of things have
high highs and low lows than just be kind of
like flatlining, you know, And I feel like that's what
the place where great art comes from. So, you know,
I went through something like a couple of days ago,
which is a little bit private, souf. I'm not sure
(04:02):
if I want to hopefully talk about it, but I
just remember thinking like, oh, you know, at least I'll
get to write some amazing songs about things, which is
always nice.
Speaker 2 (04:12):
Yeah there, I mean, you know, it's funny. One of
my favorite lines of all times from Paul Westerwards song.
Paul Westerberg was the lead singer for The Replacements. They
had a song called Things. It's a laundry list of
things like things that you know, things that will happen,
things just can talk about, things you can't talk about,
he said, and things I can never tell you. One
(04:33):
day you'll be a song I sing a thing I
give away. And I always love that line so much
because I think that just sums up the idea of
being an artist.
Speaker 3 (04:42):
Definitely definitely like kind of being able to turn every
experience in person and all the hurt or beauty, turn
it into something that is like that you can pass
on and hopefully pass on and like have other people
relate to or you know, I comforted by or I
don't know. It's really the most beautiful thing there is,
(05:03):
I guess, right, all.
Speaker 2 (05:06):
Right, so we're gonna come back to this, but now
we're saying the last couple of weeks have been insane, so,
you know, and the Friday podcast that I do. So
I do two podcasts, now, well there's interns of which
is the Wednesday one where I talk with like, you know,
big huge artists like Lenny Kravitz, and I had asked
me to do a Friday one and I wanted to
make that one more free for him and also talk
(05:28):
with new artists because you know, again if if no
one covers, if I don't cover new artists, knowing will so.
But I mean, talk about for you, Well, first of all,
what have you been insane with the last couple of weeks?
Speaker 3 (05:43):
Yeah, So the last couple of weeks for me have
been a lot of traveling. So I went to the States. Obviously,
I mean that's been that's a little that's like a
month ago, a month and a half ago, I suppose,
but I went to the States. I was there for
quite a while, and then I went to Germany, and
I've been in London. I was in London last week,
and I've just been like also back home, been in
(06:07):
between all the cities because my management is in a
different city, and we've just been working at talking to
so many labels and people, like all of a sudden
there was like some interest and then everybody just kind
of wanted to talk. So we've been doing so many
zoom calls and things, which is very exciting. And at
the same time, I've been you know, finishing the EP
and also doing a bunch of writing sessions for the
(06:28):
new project that I'm working on, and since I'm obviously
not signed yet, I kind of do everything by myself,
so all the visuals, the like videos for socials, the
cover arts, the promotion, everything like. I come up with
it together with my team, who like my team's great,
but it's very small, so it's a lot of work,
(06:49):
you know, and a lot of things that are like
going on in my mind. While at the same time
being in a new room with the new writers every
day trying to you know, make new things for the
for the hopefully fingers crossed album that's coming after this EP,
and then also, you know, I did my first tour meanwhile,
and I have been starting to make a set list
(07:10):
and rehearsing for the EP release show and the tour
that I'm starting in February. So it's just been a
bunch of different things all comeing together. And it's all
things that I'm doing for the very first time, which
is so exciting and scary at the same time. So
it's just a lot of emotions and feelings and things happening.
But it's all been very great. It's all been very great.
(07:32):
It's just been very busy, and I don't think it's
going to get any less busy becoming year if I'm
looking at my schedule right now. So yeah, but it's
been great. It's been great. It's really what I've always wanted,
so it's very exciting.
Speaker 2 (07:47):
Yeah, it's an interesting thing. It's funny you say it's
what we've always wanted, you know, because I was just
talking about this with someone the other day, and it
could be something you always want and then it's different
than you expect. So how is it like different? You know,
like I mean how is it different good ways and
bad ways because you have your idea of what it's
going to be like. And then, of course, you know,
(08:07):
and the other thing that we talked about before, I'm
not a fan of fame. I think fame is an
awful thing.
Speaker 3 (08:14):
Yeah, no, so well, first of all, obviously I'm still
a very small beginning artist, so I don't know what
it will eventually be like if I hopefully do breakthrough
a little bit more or have a little bit more
of a successful career. But so far it's really just
been fantastic. Like I love it so much. I feel
like people are starting to take me a little bit
(08:36):
more serious than they did prior, and I feel like
I'm really building a community of people that resonate with
the things I make, and I'm in the studio more
and I'm writing more. And then also it's not just
the music that I love, like, I also really love
the marketing thing, and I love thinking about visuals and
I love thinking about branding in general, you know, so
(08:57):
everything about it has been very exciting. I don't really
think there's anything that I haven't liked so far. Since
I'm still I feel like in the in the early days,
and everything just feels very fun and great. Still, it
has been different, maybe in the way that I would
maybe think that my world would get bigger, feel bigger,
but it's actually felt way smaller because I have so
(09:18):
little time to like social time. It's all like music related,
which is great, but it also just means that I'm
mainly just talking to my manager and my parents and
my two best friends and that's kind of it, and
my boyfriend. But apart from that, it's like very much
like focus on one thing. So it all feels a
lot smaller in a way, which is funny, I guess.
(09:38):
But yeah, and would.
Speaker 2 (09:41):
Have been your favorite parts of it? Sorry, would have
been your favorite parts about it?
Speaker 3 (09:48):
The shows? Performing live and having people that actually are
there to listen to you and to listen to your
story and your music. That has literally been the most
insane thing I ever. And I've only done a couple
of small shows right now, but I also announced my
ip really show, which sold out in a day, which
is to me insane, and it's going to be in
(10:10):
my hometown in Amsterdam and Bahisa, which is a beautiful
venue and I'm so excited about it. And the other
favorite products have just been I suppose like everything feels
like it's finally kind of falling into place because we're
nearing the end of this project, Like the EP is
almost finished, and the songs that I've been holding on
(10:30):
to for so long are finally taking shape and really
in the best, like better that I could have imagined.
I'm really so proud and happy with all the songs
that are on this EP, and they are turning out
exactly how I hope they would, which is such a
satisfying thing to go through, you know. And you know,
(10:51):
like today I released Bathroom Florence. That's also one of
the really exciting parts to me is finally being able
to share this music that I've been setting off for
so long and having people, you know, love it and
like really relate to it, and having people kind of
moving feeling like I'm I can mean something to somebody else,
or like maybe be a moment in someone's day where
(11:12):
they feel like, oh, I can really relate to this,
or it makes me very happy, or it makes me
feel understood, or that's just like why I want to
do it, you know. So the fact that it's happening
on a very small scale right now, but it's starting
to happen. Is is really just so exciting to me.
Speaker 2 (11:27):
Well, it's interesting though too, because you know, I Died
for You was the song that kind of you know,
first broke and kind of got everybody to be aware
of you. But it's funny because once you have that song,
did you find that everything you released after that, like people,
there's like an audience that was waiting for it, or
like knew your name when you were at least like
(11:49):
my silly boyfriend, you know, yeah, or like bathroom for
you know.
Speaker 3 (11:56):
Yeah, yeah, I mean I obviously since it's funny because
when we're talking traditional media like radio or even like
you know, different things like that, nobody has really like
I've never done a radio thing, you know, it's all
not really happening. So everything that's happening right now is
online on my own platforms, which is kind of strange
(12:18):
because that way it feels a little surreal because it's
only happening in your world in bubble. But at the
same time, I am hearing that people are seeing that
there's something happening there, you know. So sorry, what was
your question? Oh?
Speaker 2 (12:35):
Yeah, did you find that like there is an audience
for it now.
Speaker 3 (12:38):
Yeah. Yes. With Die for You, it was like just
a couple of people were like what I really said?
They were like cool, whatever. But then once it started
taking off, I feel like with every release I'm doing
now it's building and building, and there's more and more
people who are responding to it and waiting for it.
And you know, my following is growing as well. But
also my monthly listeners, even though less in the last month,
(13:01):
I feel like I've gained over one hundred thousand monthly
listeners on top of what I had. And then the
same is, you know there for my Instagram show, it's
really translating, and I feel like the people that are there,
they really are staying there at least for now, and
and really coming along with me on the on the journey,
which is really really nice, such a nice feeling.
Speaker 2 (13:21):
Well, it's funny then, because that comes back to what
we're talking about the beginning. You know, you talk about
your Instagram and you know, you do these like silly
dances on there. I want to show yourselves out, you
do the baking stuff, and it's funny. Are you finding
that people are a little surprised because again, you have
like the saddest songs of the world and then you're like, hey,
come hang out with me. I'm a fucking blast.
Speaker 3 (13:43):
Yeah. I don't know if people necessarily like they might
be surprised. I'm not sure, like, but I do think.
Speaker 2 (13:53):
Why I've seen you do a lot of answering questions
on there. You definitely interact with your face ants quite
a bit.
Speaker 3 (14:01):
Yeah, I mean, I feel like nowadays it's so important
and also the part about it that I really really enjoy.
I really love also going live on TikTok and talking
to people and meeting people after this show, and it's
really one of my favorite parts about the whole thing.
And I don't know if people necessarily are surprised by it,
but I do think I do think they. I hope
(14:23):
like it that I'm like showing who I really am,
and I feel like, for example, for me, I've always
been a utibile Eilish fan, and she's always, to me
been the most like silly, quirky, outgoing person ever when
you see her in interviews or with her brother or
but it never I mean, her music still feels very
authentic and very real, So I feel like both of
those things can kind of exist at the same time.
(14:44):
And I'm not sure how the people that perceive me
online feel about that, but I think the same.
Speaker 2 (14:49):
I hope, well, no, it's not a bad thing. It's
just an interesting thing because you know, again, I agree
that juxtahposition absolutely is there. I don't know if Billie's
music is as sad. I don't know. When I've interview Billy,
we talked about horror films, she's a little darker. I
think the neo.
Speaker 3 (15:06):
Definitely definitely, yeah, she definitely definitely is. But I do remember,
like her first record there were I mean, she was
kind of this voice for this generation that was kind
of depressed in a way about a lot of things.
But then at the same time, she was also always
very silly and like didn't really give a fuck about anything,
you know, And I just yeah, I just also, I
(15:29):
just try to be as me as I can online
because I do feel like branding wise, maybe initially I
wouldn't have thought that that would be make the most
sense when you listen to my music, But at the
end of the day, I feel like what I really
want to try to do is just be as authentic
and as real as I am, because that's the only
real thing that I have. You know, at the end
of the day of the day, there's always going to
be a better writer, or a better singer or a
(15:51):
better performer. The only thing that I really have is
that I'm who I am and that there's no one
like me, which sounds very corny, but it's the truth.
So I just try to stay as close to that
as I can.
Speaker 2 (16:12):
Would have been the most fun thing. Have you been
baking anything.
Speaker 3 (16:17):
I haven't been baking. No, I haven't had any time
to bake, but I'll definitely I have to bake something
for bathroom floor because it's kind of a tradition now
that I've baked something every time, so I'll be baking
very soon. The most fun things that I've been up to,
I mean, like I said, the tour has been fantastic.
I was in London and I did a gig there
which was really really fun. It was like at a
(16:38):
private club, so it wasn't a show, a full show,
but it was amazing and we got to have like
the most amazing food and an amazing why. It was really nice,
And I mean, everything has really been so fun, Like
all the meetings I've been doing with my manager and
like the people that were speaking to have been really
inspiring and fun. But I would just say, like, my
(16:58):
absolute favorite thing is the show. It's just it's nothing
that's better than that to me. Maybe writing songs, but
the shows are like so so incredible, and I can't wait.
We're planning on doing a whole lot of touring next year.
I'm so excited for that. It's gonna be great, I think,
I hope.
Speaker 2 (17:18):
No, I'm sure it will be. And it's interesting though,
because you know, one thing, I've talked so many artists
about this, right, and people think, like, you know, your
kind of breakthrough moment where you feel like you've made it.
You know, it is when you get a Grammy or
you're playing a TV show or whatever. Ninety nine percent
of artists have said when people sing their songs back
(17:38):
to them, that's when they kind of feel like, you know,
they've made it. So, what have been the songs live
that people have been singing back to you? And do
you remember that first moment wherever you were where people
were singing it back to you?
Speaker 3 (17:53):
Yeah? I think definitely. I feel my silly boy and
run as well and feel again, even which is like
of all my songs, I feel like that's a song
that is least me sonically. But it's really fun to
play life because it's like a very upbeat, like fun
song to perform. And I think the first, I mean
(18:14):
the first time that people sang it back to me
was the first show that I did, my own first
headline show, which was which was in Zulo, which is
a city in Holland, and it was the first show
of the tour that we did and my first show
that I ever did, and I just remember taking out
my little in air and kind of starting the song
(18:37):
and everybody was singing along like my city, but like
the first couple of lines, and I just couldn't sing
because I was just smiling so much, like, oh my god,
what the hell you know? The lyrics to this song?
It's insane and it just felt I mean, it's just crazy, right,
you write something in your bedroom and then there's like
a room full of people singing along to it. It's
it's the most insane thing ever. It's the most insane
(18:59):
thing ever. So fun. It just made me super super
happy and feel and feel like wow, for the first
time I could really see I was seeing the numbers
grow online and the streams grow. But that's the first
time that I really felt like, wait, this is actual
people that are listening to my music and that know
the lyrics, and that's just very surreal.
Speaker 2 (19:20):
So have you had the like you know, you said
you've met fans on you know, afterwards the shows and stuff.
Have you had the quote unquote celeb encounters where people
come up to you and tell you how much the
songs mean to them, or like, you know, especially like
you know what the song like My Silly Boy or
I Die for You where people come up and tell you,
(19:41):
oh my god, that song they got me through a breakup,
or yeah, my boyfriend's an asshole too. I know your
boyfriends on an asshole, but they you know, they feel
like they understand you and they're like, yeah.
Speaker 3 (19:52):
Yeah, definitely, definitely. I actually had after I released My
Silly Boy. There was because I do, I don't I
feel like people come up to me that much. What
I have more often is that people will send me
a DM and say hey, I just saw you there
and there, and then I'm always like, why don't people
come say hi to me? But I actually, when I
(20:13):
had just released My Silly boy. I went into the
train to go to Zola, the other city, and there
was I wasn't like the silence part, like there's a
coupe in the train where you can't speak, you know,
because people want to read or work or whatever. And
there were like four girls who came up to me
and they were like, oh my god, Isabel, we love you.
Can we get a picture? And I was like, oh
my god, yes, of course. And everybody in the train
(20:34):
was so pissed off because we were making so much one. Yeah,
so there's been little little things like that happening more
like it's gradually happening more often, but still I feel
like relatively not that often at all, but yeah, and
I think it's amazing. I love it. I'm always actually
really sad if people send me a message afterwards saying
(20:56):
like I saw you there, then I always thinking, like,
just come up to me and say hello, you know.
But I feel like Dutch people are also very very
like you know, they don't really I feel like in
the States people will probably come up to you more
like more easily, but back here, everybody's like very much
I don't know what the word is, but they don't
just like reserved definitely. Yeah, yeah, a lot more reserved.
Speaker 2 (21:22):
What about the other parts of Europe Are people bolder?
Speaker 3 (21:27):
Well, I haven't experienced anyone coming up to me because
they knew my music yet, but I do think. I mean,
when I was in Nashville or even La, I feel
like people just in general are way bolder. You know,
they're way bolder. They're way quicker to come up to you.
I remember going to a bar for the first time
when I was in Nashville, and I was so taken
(21:48):
aback by the fact that if I would just stand there,
like there would be people coming up to me every
couple of minutes, like girls, boys, like whatever, but just
saying like hey, who are you, what are you? What
do you do? You know that doesn't really happen back home.
If you're unless they're your friends, people will not really
speak to you. You know. Everybody just kind of sticks
to their own group, which is I actually love that.
(22:09):
I really love that because it didn't it. Also, I
feel like Europeans have the tendency to say like the like,
especially in Nashville at like Southern charma, like it's kind
of fake, but it really I didn't experience it, like
that at all. It felt very genuine and people felt
very genuinely interested in me and what I had to
what I had to say, you know, which was actually
(22:30):
so great because I feel like it makes it a
lot easier to travel by yourself and be by yourself
because you just meet people a lot quicker than you
want to back here depends on where you are, I suppose,
But then for Nashville, at least in my experience.
Speaker 2 (22:48):
It's funny Nashville's coming a lot lately, but it's it's
an interesting place. It is definitely a very interesting place.
Speaker 3 (22:57):
I really like it.
Speaker 2 (22:58):
I really like it. So what are your touring plans
in States next to year? Finally, Yeah, So.
Speaker 3 (23:05):
I'm working right now with UTA United Talent Agency. They're
helping me set up the tours and we don't have
them finalized there, but we're trying to have a small
tour in the States end of next year, and we're
working on some Europe dates as well, like a bunch
of cities, but it's we're all working on it, so
(23:28):
nothing has been finalized yet the only thing that I'm
announcing on Monday is that we're doing four bigger shows
back here, back home and one show in Belgium as well,
and that's all that we have, like set in Stone,
but for the most part, we're still figuring it out
right now. They're very like, they're very enthusiastic and like
very thrilled to set up as much as they can.
(23:51):
So we'll probably be doing a lot, a lot of shows,
all right.
Speaker 2 (23:55):
So again the obvious question I asked you last time,
and now this time you know the answer'd be different,
especially now. I'm sure Europe and America would be different.
What would you love to do with in each place?
Speaker 3 (24:10):
I can't recall what I said last time, but don't
tell me. Don't tell me. So I would love to
tour the States with I mean, either of the States.
I would love to do the States with Greasy Abrams
and the UK with Olivia Dean. I'm gonna say, all right, fair,
(24:34):
I feel like that would be a good I feel
like they're both very inspiring and I love them. And
then I also feel like their audience would probably be
a good audience for me, you know what I mean.
I feel like they're like the people that listen to
their music, I hope, and I think they might also
enjoy what I have to what I have to offer.
Speaker 2 (24:53):
All right, So for you, what's the you know again,
you're meeting audiences for the first time, they're kind of
getting to know you your music. What do you want
people to know about you as an artist? Like you're
doing all these meetings. How are you like you know,
so the.
Speaker 3 (25:13):
Meetings with the like business people, you mean, Well, what
I want people that I potentially will work with, what
I would want them to know is that I'm very
hands on about everything. My manager knows this. He tends
to call me a micro manager every now and then,
because I want to be involved in everything, in every decision.
I want to be in every meeting, and I certainly
(25:34):
want to have not the final call. I mean, I
would love to have the final call about you know,
the music, the visuals, everything. I'm very I care a
lot about everything, you know, I want to know. I
want to know what to never deal. I want to
know what the plans are, what the marketing plans are,
what everything will look like, what things will sound like,
(25:55):
because it's all very important to me and I want
to be the type of artist that knows everything that's
going on. So I think that's for the people that
I'm looking for, like the teams that we're speaking to
right now. That's one of the most important things to me.
And also that I'm very open to try as much
as I can and write as much as I can,
and toward as much as I can, and get the
(26:17):
most practice and get all the hours and really work
as hard as I can, so that in a couple
of years I can really look back and say, oh,
I really did everything I could. And right now I
feel like I'm at a place where I'm really onto
something great, you know.
Popular Podcasts
Hey Jonas!
Hey Jonas! The official Jonas Brothers podcast. Hosted by Kevin, Joe, and Nick Jonas. It’s the Jonas Brothers you know... musicians, actors, and well, yes, brothers. Now, they’re sharing another side of themselves in the playful, intimate, and irreverent way only they can. Spend time with the Jonas Brothers here and stay a little bit longer for deep conversations like never before.
Stuff You Should Know
If you've ever wanted to know about champagne, satanism, the Stonewall Uprising, chaos theory, LSD, El Nino, true crime and Rosa Parks, then look no further. Josh and Chuck have you covered.
Dateline NBC
Current and classic episodes, featuring compelling true-crime mysteries, powerful documentaries and in-depth investigations. Follow now to get the latest episodes of Dateline NBC completely free, or subscribe to Dateline Premium for ad-free listening and exclusive bonus content: DatelinePremium.com