Canadian Artist Leah Martel Releases Debut Single, “Everybody Out”
Leah Martel is a multi-talented artist whose journey from daydreaming to real-world creation of her debut single in the tangible realm.
Leah has unveiled her latest single, “Everybody Out.” a fun genre-blurring song about social anxiety.
Leah shares,
“I wrote Everybody Out at a point in my life when my social anxiety was really at its peak. The thing is, I figured it would have been its worst as a kid in elementary school getting picked on and not, embarrassingly, as a 20something just trying to attend a party of some very nice seeming people from my college program. I had already been out in the working world for a while and thought I was over it and had gained a bit more confidence and social skills but I realized I really just hadn’t been in a group of new people in a while and once that happened I may as well have been 13 again. If I said something I felt like an alien trying to pretend to have a human conversation. If I stayed silent I felt like an awkward weirdo just hovering around. And I had no clue what to do with my hands or where to sit or stand without either intruding or looking to closed off. So, instead of trying to communicate through it or rise to the occasion in any way, I ran out early and wrote this little melody on the way home in my car (well, after stopping at the side of the road to have a minor panic attack first).
The funny thing is, I really wanted to be friends with these people and there was nothing actually standing in my way except me just not knowing how to be normal in any capacity. So when I finally sat down to write out all the lyrics I wanted to really emphasize the contradictory nature of this kind of anxiety where it has you running for the hills to get away from everyone but only because you so desperately want to connect with people and care far too much about every minor interaction just hoping it will be good. Then you convince yourself it’s all gone horribly wrong when you’re probably the only one even thinking that. It’s so silly, you know? So I wanted the song to kind of poke fun at the ironic nature of that feeling while also containing that frantic, on-the-brink-of-a-panic-attack energy.””
First off care to introduce yourself to our readers?
Hi, I’m Leah. Most days you’ll find me acting in thrilling adventure films, orating paradigm-shifting speeches that will transform the world, and other awe-inspiring activities. Although if you exist outside of my mind you’ll likely just see me tripping over my laundry and using the blunt end of a butter knife to stir my tea because I’ve failed to keep up with the dishes yet again, all the while, my latest comfort show (currently old reruns of Big Wolf on Campus) plays from the next room because my emotional stability falls apart if it’s silent.
Tell us a bit about your recent release.
At its heart, this song is about the cruel ironies of social anxiety. It’s when you care so much about other people’s thoughts and feelings and give all the weight to them in the world but you don’t trust your own perceptions and thoughts. The fear of potentially getting hurt causes you to self-sabotage or not even try and so you spend time alone and lonely because sadness feels safer than anxiety. Sometimes we’re brave enough to choose to push through anxiety for the potential to connect and feel alive and other times we run away and write a song in the car on the way home.
How do you typically go about the songwriting process? Do you have a specific method or creative routine that you follow?
It all just depends on what inspires me really. Sometimes it’s a lyric idea that I then try to make a melody out of, sometimes it’s a musical idea that I just loop until I figure out what subject matter fits the vibe. Heck, sometimes I wake up with a song in my head and I think, jeez, I better finish this since my dream just gifted it to me. Sometimes it’s more frustrating too and I really want to write about something and the initial idea feels good but nothing I come up with seems quite right so I just put it away until an idea strikes me that does feel good. Sometimes that’s the next day, sometimes it’s a year later. I’ve never really tried to maintain a routine or work ethic about it because I was lucky enough to naturally cultivate this practice when I was in middle school and it all felt like curious and excited play and through that unintentional practice the desire to write and play comes regularly and naturally to me now and I’d like to keep songwriting feeling like a joyous time to play so I try not to turn it into work. If I’ve ever really needed to write a song for commission or a deadline I’ve always been able to, so if I don’t have to, I just let it happen!
Looking ahead, what are your plans for supporting this new release? Are there any upcoming tours, music videos, or additional content that fans can look forward to in connection with this project?
I currently have a music video out on YouTube and there are more releases coming this year that I’m also very excited about! Since I’m a disabled artist living with chronic pain it’s been difficult for me to perform live lately but I do have some ideas about possible performances this summer that I’m currently holding close to my heart until I’m sure they have the legs they need to stand on. That may sound cryptic but that’s all I feel I can comfortably divulge at the moment so you’ll just have to follow me for more I’m afraid!
Looking back on your musical career, is there a particular moment or accomplishment that you consider a turning point or a highlight?
You know I think the most pivotal moment in my whole life, and certainly musically, happened when I was sitting in my car in the parking lot before a shift at my old non-music job. I was taking a few deep breaths and coming to terms with the fact that, once again, against my highest hopes, my car had not broken down on the way in and I would indeed have to go in to work this job I hate. I was looking at a tab on my phone of college music programs and I had the thought ‘does it make sense to go to school just to find a new community of people?’ It was pretty easy to see what the potential cons were; waste of time, waste of money, embarrassment, failure, etc. but the pros list looked more like; maybe meeting people I actually like and starting making music I want to make and then graduate with no money or job and…???????? But the alternative seemed to be hating my life for eternity so I did go to school. And I could probably add a hundred more things to that list of pros now because, as it turns out, it doesn’t matter if you know what good experiences could be hiding in those question marks. You don’t have to be able to see it for amazingly good things to happen and why should we expect to be able to predict every good outcome of an experience we’ve never had? You can’t, and there are almost certainly unexpected and priceless good things that will happen if you do try to experience something new. Especially if it’s your heart that’s guiding you there.
Last but not least, it’s time to pay it forward, what upcoming band or artist would you recommend your fans check out?
Well, I just discovered the song “Nobody’s Got It Figured Out” by Kinger and it’s really making me look forward to summer with its mellow sunny vibes!