Ivy James — the 17-year-old putting her teenage angst into music

Jordan Rossi: Can you tell us about your musical background and what initially drew you to making music?

Ivy James: Growing up, I wasn’t a super well-liked kid. I was always “too” eccentric, loud, and weird. I never had friends and in turn a typical childhood by any means, but I always loved to sing, it brought me a sense of control in a world that I couldn’t. I couldn’t change the things about myself that made people dislike me because it was and is who I am, so music became my friend, the singers I loved felt as close to me as any friend I’ve ever had and I think I just wanted to feel the kind of comfort I found in other people’s music, through my own.

JR: What does your creative process look like when writing and producing new music?

IJ: Usually it starts with me being up until 3 in the morning just brewing over something, and that’s when I know I need to write a song. I’ve never been someone who’s in tune with their emotions so I never know what I’m sitting down to write, it just all sort of pours out and then I have to find the meaning after it’s already written. I feel like it’s strange to not know what you’re writing about until you’ve already written it, but that is the best way I can describe my process.

This excerpt was taken from HUNGER Issue 31: The Dreamers. Full story is available in stores worldwide now.