Mandi Crimmins is an up and coming artist who mixes flavors of alternative rock and pop-electronica into her music. With one watch of her new music video to “Making Me Hate You,” fans will admire her unapologetic edge and spunk. With her new song, Mandi Crimmins brings sparks to the world of pop. Her voice will sweep listeners away by its sheer power and emotion. Both the video and lyrics of “Making Me Hate You” are about the difficulties in admitting if a relationship is toxic. Mandi Crimmins begins the video by waking up in a room full of empty bottles and regret. There are scenes of her hot red passion as she sings intensely into the mirror. There is generous use of the color red on the walls and in her hair, which connotes heat and rage. Towards the end of the video, Mandi is seen driving a Jeep through the dessert as she begins to break free from the binds she put on herself by staying in the relationship. She uses phrases like “stringing me along” and “picking up the pieces” to represent the back and forth of emotions that she experiences. The video ends with a satisfying scene in the desert; she is breaking an assortment of objects from her past with a baseball bat. As she leaves the broken pieces in the dust and walks away, it’s like she’s turning her back on her former situation and striding into her new future. Both the song and the video of “Making Me Hate You” are a way for Mandi Crimmins to share her relatable journey with fans, and expose the fire and passion she has inside.
You can watch the video to "Making Me Hate You" here.
Welcome to BuzzMusic Mandi Crimmins! The combination of your power and your edge in both your song and video are addicting. Can you tell us more about the message behind the lyrics in “Making Me Hate You?”
When I was writing this song, I really wanted to capture the feeling of being completely pulled in opposite directions over someone. Just because the relationship isn’t okay, doesn’t mean that what you feel for them is binary - either love or hate. It’s usually a concoction of many conflicting emotions, including love and hate. So that’s why a lot of the lyrics juxtapose one another, like “I hate you ‘til you want me” or “You break all my bones...I’m yours, won’t you play?” I find that songs about relationships tend to focus on one binary feeling, and don’t discuss how conflicting and back-and-forth it can feel. It’s so normal to still love the person you hate or who hurt you, and that push-pull is what this song is really about.
You bring a sense of heat and passion to alternative and pop music. What inspires you to create this type of music? How did you discover this to be your personal music style?
My music style has always been a result of my widespread musical interests. The music that has influenced me spans many genres - Evanescence, Coldplay, Imogen Heap, and Halsey. There’s something I love about each artist’s music, so when I create my own I find I take little bits from each and weave them together.
Towards the end of your video, you destroyed many objects with a baseball bat in the dessert. Can you elaborate on the symbolism of this moment? What did the objects really represent?
I find that there’s something so freeing about destroying objects related to a painful part of your life. Destroying the objects really represents finally freeing yourself from the pain of that relationship, and moving towards something more positive. It was my favorite scene to shoot!
Your voice is clearly a natural talent that you have been developing over the years. Can you tell us about when you first discovered your passion for music? Why did you choose to start creating your own music?
Thank you! Music actually sort of found me. I started taking voice lessons after I sustained a bad injury that turned out to be permanent. Over the years, it became my lifeline and what kept me afloat. I actually didn’t start writing until I was 16, and my personal life was in great upheaval. I found that writing it out - what I was feeling and going through - helped exponentially! From that point forward, writing music became my own therapy.