Welcome to BuzzMusic, Heidi Hirvonen! We loved your new release, "This Messy Life (The Drug Song)" What a beautiful piece to choose for your debut! What was the inspiration behind this song? Could you take us through your creative process for this release?
Thanks! I wrote this song in my mid-twenties while trying to understand what adulthood was supposed to look and feel like. I was in my first "real" job after graduating from college, living with my partner in a little duplex in Oakland, and time felt like it was flying by, but also, it felt like nothing was happening. Life was good, but I also wasn't happy all the time. The days would go by, and then, suddenly, Christmas would roll around again, and with it, the winter blues. The song is about realizing you can't be happy all the time. These happy little moments come around, and we try to hold onto them as long as we can, but that's all we can do. There's no magic "drug" that can make you happy all the time. This song was a way for me to process that realization as a young adult.
Regarding my creative process – I write all my songs on a keyboard on the floor. It's bizarre. I sit cross-legged in front of the keyboard and use my knee to hit the sustain pedal. I've tried an actual setup, but I always move all my equipment to the floor. I'll usually write a song in one sitting, maybe two. And then I make tweaks later to tighten up the story. But usually, everything spills out at once.
You mentioned hesitating to get into music professionally for a while. What changed and inspired you to start making music?
My hesitation to get into music came from observing my dad's life as a musician when I was growing up. He had a very successful music career early on in Finland but struggled with alcoholism. He was then diagnosed with bipolar disorder, which meant he fluctuated between bouts of mania and depression. My parents divorced when I was tiny, but I still spent a lot of time with my dad on weekends, tagging along to his gigs. Observing his life as I was growing up, I learned to associate music with a dash of mental and financial instability. It wasn't until about seven years ago when my dad got sober that we could unpack this and rebuild our relationship (and, with it, my relationship with music).
What goals do you want to achieve through your music?
In my music, I try to evoke emotions that resonate with people but might be hard to articulate – emotions we might shy away from. Songwriting can be like therapy for me, and that's a goal of mine: to process my big feelings. But the ultimate goal is to create something that makes someone else think, "That resonates," giving them a few minutes to feel and experience those emotions while listening to my song.
What kind of music do you see yourself making, and how would you describe your music to someone who hasn't heard it before?
A wide array informs my music of artists, from Sara Bareilles to Charli XCX. It is lyrically driven and vulnerable pop. Something you might listen to while you're washing dishes and having a good cry, but then again 20 minutes later to pump yourself up when driving down the highway on your way to the gym.
What's next for Heidi Hirvonen? Can we expect to hear more new music soon, and is there anything you want to say to your fans?
What's next? More music! I'm working on an EP. Stay tuned! To the fans: it's getting hot out there – keep spinning.