Hi, I’m Olivia Foster with Radio UTD, and I’m here with Amelia Day. Amelia, how are you today?
Hello! I am doing pretty good, yeah. We’re doing this interview the day after Christmas, so, y’know, just lots of family time and board games. But, as we were just saying, I did stay up way too late last night, so I’m a little sleepy. Might take a nap.
I feel like board games and lack of sleep are the best mix, though. I don’t know.
Absolutely. Yes.
Okay. Top Christmas board game?
Oh my goodness! Okay. So, I don’t have any Christmas-themed ones off the top, but my family is a huge board game family. Like, we used to have a closet filled floor-to-ceiling with board games, and that was the purpose of the closet. So, it’s a little terrifying. Ooh…. I think … mmm. That’s so hard. You’ve asked the wrong person. Or the right person this question, depending on how—
You have a lot to choose from. And that’s the goal.
Exactly. Settlers of Catan is classic, very fun. I also love—there’s this game that’s based off of Dune, it’s called Dune: Imperium, and it’s so fun, and I enjoyed playing it before I even knew anything about Dune, so it’s just a really good game on its own. But it is Dune-themed, so if anyone’s against Dune, then that’s, y’know.
Yeah, stop reading.
Exactly.
You’re not welcome, we’re really sorry.
Sorry about it.
Better luck next time.
It’s a great question.
Thank you, thank you! Starting off strong. It’s all downhill from here.
Oh yeah.
So, 2022, 2023, you released some EPs. I was a big fan of “Therapist’s Wet Dream,” which we talked about—all the running videos.
Yes, so much cardio.
If you—person reading this interview—don’t know the “Therapist’s Wet Dream” running videos, go find Amelia Day on Instagram and watch a running video, or you’re not our friend. And that’s just the rule.
It’s a requirement.
Yeah, exactly. So, aside from the running video[s] and what looked to be quite a bit of live performances, which looked awesome—
Thank you.
—what have you been up to in 2024?
Oh my goodness. Definitely been a year of a lot of writing, a lot of recording, and planning for 2025 stuff. So, this next year is gonna be a very public year, which I’m very excited about. But, other than that, I booked my very first tour, which was a West Coast tour, about 17 dates or so, and that was honestly a big part of my time was planning all that stuff, and then touring almost entirely solo. So, I drove all the way down to L.A., all the way back up through Boise, through Spokane, Washington, up to Canada.
It was just a really cool journey, and very—I don’t know, I wasn’t sure how much I would enjoy it, I suppose, but it was such a blast getting to meet everybody, and also super empowering to do something like that on your own. Especially as a young woman, I feel like there’s the safety aspect of it, but then also people kind of underestimate younger women and their abilities and independence and so, it was just a very self-affirming thing, and that was in September. It was my first time playing in California, Oregon, all that stuff.
And then, I also had this crowdfunding EP that I put out that was just demos, where people could vote on what song to record next. And that song, among some others, will be releasing very, very soon, and I’m really psyched about it.
That’s exciting, oh my gosh. So, you mentioned some big plans and a very public year for 2025.
Yayyy!
So, what are some of these mysterious 2025 plans?
Oooh! I like this question! I am going to be going on an East Coast tour in March, which I’m really psyched about. It’s gonna be full band, co-headlining with one of my closest friends in Nashville. His artist name is Miki Fiki, but his real name’s Ted—
SHUT UP! You know Miki Fiki?
Wait, you know him?!
Yes! Yes! Oh my god! Stop! I, like, literally, okay. You’re the coolest person I’ve ever met.
I don’t know about that, but— (laughs)
No, no, “Chaos” by Miki Fiki is one of my favorite songs of all time. So.
Yes! That makes me so happy. And, just so you know, he is one of the kindest, loveliest people. Just, the rare breed of “younger straight man” that is so emotionally aware. And, he journals every day, and he is one of my genuinely close friends. But yeah, we released a song together earlier this year, and released a live version of it. And we already were decent friends before then, but that really brought us pretty close, because we were spending a lot of time together in a pretty difficult period of time in my 2024.
And so, got really close through that, and he had the idea of doing a tour together. Originally, a West Coast tour. And I was like, “Hey, I mean, I just went to the West Coast? And I do wanna go there again, but, would you be down to do an East Coast tour? Because I have a lot of people who want me to play in Boston and New York and Philadelphia, which is sick, and I’ve never been there.” He was super down, and we’ve just been chipping away at that since. We’ve got all the dates booked, and I’m very, very excited. For people to also just hear him, because he’s brilliant, and like, I’m a fan of his, genuinely. Yeah, so that’s one thing.
And, actually—this is gonna be a complete aside, but—I knew of his music before meeting him as well. I listened to “The First Time” a ton in high school, especially during COVID. Like, I’d go on my little COVID bike rides and listen to a lot more upbeat music to try and feel a little better. And so, we ended up working with the same producer, and he told me that he was working with Miki Fiki, and I was like, “No way! I was a fan of his! I love his stuff!” Then he ended up reaching out to me to write together, and that was when we wrote “Sink In,” and then it just kinda went from there. So, that’s the backstory on that.
That’s so cool. I forgot about “Sink In,” because as soon as you were like, “Oh, we released a song together,” I was like, “You totally did. You totally did.”
No! You’re so valid, because it’s kind of its own thing. It’s its own project and not tied to any other bigger thing. And the only thing that I’ve put out this year. So, yeah, I honestly—as much of that is one of my favorite songs that I’ve put out—I sometimes not necessarily forget about it, but I don’t think about it as much because it’s not part of the two main EPs, y’know?
Mhmm.
So yeah, that’s one thing in 2025. I also have a trio of songs from my demos project that I’ve fully recorded at a studio for the first time. They’re all mixed, they’re getting ready to be mastered, and they will be coming out starting in early February, all the way through the next few months. I’m really excited about these songs. Genuinely some of my favorite songs I’ve ever written, and sonically, I think, the tightest arrangements I’ve ever put out. This mix is better than anything that I’ve put out before.
I’m such a perfectionist and definitely can be a little bit of a control freak with my music, and I usually get to a point in a mix where I’m mostly happy with it, but there are still some things that I wish could be tweaked a bit—but when we tweak them, then it kind of takes it even further away from the envisioned mix, and so there’s a point where you kind of have to call it. With these mixes, we did genuinely get to a point where I didn’t feel like I was needing to concede anything. They are so tight. I’m very, very happy to work with the producer and mixing engineer that I have for the first time on this project.
So those’ll be coming out, and then 2024 has given me a lot of writing content to write from. So there will be a new EP coming out that I am very excited about. I’m still writing for it, but I’ve got a few of the tracks very much nailed down. I’ve got the project concept nailed down. I’m already starting to get to work on some visuals and planning out when/where I’ll be recording each song. But as far as the stuff that I have already for the project, I am really, really excited for it. Really proud of it. And it’s probably the most personal project that I’ll have released so far. I feel like a lot of my music—and I love this about my music, but—it’s not all directly about me. It’s a lot of storytelling, or kind of taking elements of relationships that I’ve been in and creating more of a narrative around it—almost taking on a character in some ways—and then there are songs like “Therapist’s Wet Dream” that are very, very personal, and I’ve seen how much people have resonated with that. So, I’d say, of all my released music so far, this project is going to be the closest to “Therapist’s Wet Dream” out of that stuff, and I think pretty much all very personal, very vulnerable, and connected to my real life, woooo. So, yeah. And then possibly another West Coast tour, some festivals in the summer, possibly gettin’ down to the South a little bit, into Texas. So yeah, just: 2025’s gonna be crazy, and I’m really excited about it.
That’s so exciting. Please come to Texas, because I go to school in Dallas.
Oh my god! This is perfect.
This is perfect, yes! So, yes, please, I’m begging you. Like, if you come to our campus, we’ll, like, give you sandwiches or something.
I love that. Free food is—
Free food.
The best incentive for any artist.
I will make sure you get free food. I will make sure.
Hell yeah.
Yes.
Okay, actually, I am—it’s still very tentative, but I’m very likely going to do a little Texas run. Dallas, Austin, Houston, so. It’s not fully confirmed, but a good 95%, in like April or May, so. Stay tuned. Stay tuned for that.
Oh my gosh. Okay, yes, no, please. Please. I would absolutely love that.
Thank you. Ah, that makes me so happy to hear. Because, yeah, I’ve never played there before. I’ve never actually even been in Texas before, so that’ll be wild.
Are you from Oregon? Or are you—
Washington.
Washington, okay.
So, pretty much the same state.
Okay, I knew you were Pacific Northwest, but I wasn’t sure if it was Oregon or Washington.
Yeah. We’re like the less friendly Oregon.
Gotcha, gotcha. More techie. Our radio station went up to Seattle a couple months ago—
Ooh!
—and the music scene there was so great.
Yeah, it’s fantastic. It’s very DIY, it’s very grassroots. It’s not super corporate. It’s just very authentic. And the musicians that I’ve met in the scene in Seattle are just such fascinating people. Like, they’re not trying to create to be famous or create the next big pop record, they’re just genuinely in love with the craft of it, and so damn talented. Like, there’s still very much a big punk and grunge scene in Seattle, and the shows are so fun to be at.
Yeah, we went to see the Bug Club at … I think it’s, like, East End Records or something?
Oh, Easy Street?
Yes! Yes, there we go.
Dude, that’s sick! I played there on my West Coast tour!
Did you? Okay!
One of my favorite stops, yeah.
I was gonna ask, because like, I swore I had seen the name [beforehand]. Because my friends were like, “Oh my gosh guys, Bug Club! Bug Club is gonna be here! Let’s go see them!” They tried to see a Canadian band the day before, but only one of us was able to get in, because the rest of us weren’t 21.
Aughhh!
So we were like, “Yes, we will go to this concert, and we will all get in, and it’s free.” And it was just such an amazing venue. The vibes were amazing. So, I just kind of assume that all of Washington is this great indie-grunge-music bubble.
There’s definitely a lot of that, yeah. It’s interesting because, as much as there’s a really great music scene, there’s not as much collaboration as I see in Nashville, and obviously there’s a lot less upward mobility as well, because there aren’t that many industry professionals who are living full-time in Washington, because that’s not where a lot of the artists are, and where a lot of the big touring acts live. But, it used to be, and it still very much has that potential again. Like, Sub Pop Records, one of the coolest labels, and they’re [a] classic Washington label. They haven’t really had too many big breaks with artists lately.
Gotcha.
Yeah. But, I love the area. I don’t think I’d live in Seattle—it’s a little too city for me, I think, a little too cold—but, I love going up there. I love visiting and being involved in the scene.
Is your plan to stay in Washington, then? Or are you hoping to head back to the Nashville area?
I am very likely gonna stay in Nashville but still hop kinda back and forth between the two a good bit. I really love Washington, but it’s also cloudy, like, 80% of the year, and I already struggle with depression—which is, y’know, not shocking as an artist. Part of why we make the art we do, probably. So I think, yeah, Nashville, weather-wise, is a much better fit for me, and then just career-wise makes a lot more sense. But, I’ve got a lot of good things going on in the live scene and good connections with the industry people that are here that I want to continue to develop. So I’m kind of a nomad a little bit right now. I’m in Washington a third of the year and then in Nashville two-thirds of the year, and then touring somewhere in that, and so yeah, just kind of everywhere. And I never have all my stuff with me.
That’s so real. That’s the one thing I dislike about traveling.
Yup.
It’s just, you live out of this suitcase, and I don’t know, it’s nice for a bit, but then you’re like, “Ohhhh…. My things.”
Yes! Oh my god. Traveling—so I’m home for, like, a month over the holidays, got some shows going on, got a big Seattle show coming up. When I brought my bags, I was like, “I genuinely have hardly any room for my actual clothes.”
Yes!
It was all completely filled with merch and guitar pedals and other recording equipment, and then my show outfits. And then by the end of packing all of that stuff, I had room for some pajamas, and maybe a few shirts that weren’t for performing in. And I’m like, “Y’know? Alright. This is … what you gotta do.”
Did you drive, or did you fly?
I flew back home, but I drove to Nashville in October, which is not a short drive. Not a short drive at all.
Yeah, that’s a ways.
Almost forty hours.
Oh my gosh, forty hours?
Yeah.
That’s actually crazy to me. I’m assuming you have some sort of van situation for your East Coast tour?
We are honestly—this is great that you bring this up, because Ted and I need to talk about the plan for that, whether we’re doing one van or two cars, what makes the most sense gas-wise. Honestly, I feel like we might just do two cars, because we don’t have a ton of people, and renting a van is so expensive. But, we also know a ton of people who are also artists in Nashville, of course, so we might be able to borrow a van from one of them for a lot cheaper, because we’ll only be gone a couple weeks. So we’ll see. We basically just nailed down the graphics, just nailed down all the dates and openers and everything, and so we have kind of taken a little breath before jumping into the logistics of like, where are we gonna sleep? Where are we going to eat? How are we going to transport ourselves and everything?
Oh, I love it.
Yeah. But, we’re sharing a band, which will definitely cut down on costs a good bit. It’s gonna be complicated to figure out how to do this in the most cost-effective way. Neither of us are quite on a label yet, so, yeah.
Well, that’s really, really exciting. I’ve kind of kept you longer than I said I would—
Oh, I don’t mind at all. No worries.
I was gonna—thank you.
I have plenty of time. I don’t have anything until like, four, so I’m chillin’.
Oh, that’s awesome. I was gonna say, this is awesome. You’re so easy to talk to, and I just need to emphasize—
Thank you!
—thank you so much for letting me do this interview with you. Because, like, you are so cool, and I’ve been listening to you since, yeah, probably whenever you started releasing—that first reel of “Therapist’s Wet Dream” is when I found you.
Yeah.
Like, I don’t even think you had any others up yet, but so this is—
That means so much to hear, genuinely. And, thank you for giving me the opportunity to chat with you. And you are very easy to talk to as well.
Thank you.
I definitely—no shade to any other interviews—but I have had some where it is very, y’know, you almost feel like it’s a job interview, or a police situation where it’s like, “Question? Answer. Question? Answer.” Rather than more of an easy, fun conversation, which is—
Exactly.
—just lovely.
Yeah, no, this is so nice. If you come to Dallas, I’d love to interview you in person.
That would be wonderful! And I very likely will be, so, perfect.
And I will make people from my school come see you.
Let’s go!
They’ll be like, “Oh, okay, who’s that? Okay.” My school is … I don’t know, you know how there’s the Belmont/Nashville student stereotype?
Totally, totally.
Yeah. My school has that, if everyone just, like, played DnD. That’s the vibe?
What? Then, they’d probably like my stuff then, honestly. Like, “Eastward of Eden,” and yeah.
That’s what I’m saying! They’ll really vibe with it. So I will be doing a lot of shoving in people’s faces next semester.
Hell yeah.
So, when you come to Dallas…. It’ll be great.
Oh my god. That’ll be fantastic. I do well in the DnD crowd, as, you know, a fellow game-enjoyer, I feel like. People sense that.
Yeah. When you started off with board games—
Exactly!
—and then Settlers of Catan, I was like, “Oh yeah.”
Yeah, it is my target demographic for a reason, as I am one.
Yeah, there’s a Venn diagram, and you’re in the middle, so.
Yes! Exactly. Indie folk, and board games, and yeah. I have grown up an absolute nerd and don’t necessarily lead with that as much anymore, but it is a deep, deep part of me.
As soon as you said Settlers of Catan, I was like, “Oh, okay.”
Oh yeah. Yeah yeah yeah. Euro-games, all the way. None of this Monopoly shit. Nah.
Right? Because I was expecting you to be like, “Oh, I really like Sorry, or—”
Yeah yeah, “Chutes and Ladders, big fan.”
Oh, do you know the game of Life? You probably haven’t heard of it. It’s, like, really underground.
She’s really indie. She only plays, like, private basement shows, speakeasies. Like, you have to know the code to get in.
Yeah. You, like, you wouldn’t know about it, probably.
You wouldn’t know Sorry. Like, you wouldn’t know her.
Yeah. Um, maybe some other time? But, yeah, so as soon as you were like “Settlers of Catan,” I was like, oh, she gets it, she gets it.
Hell yeah. The girls that get it, get it!
Yeah. So, I will definitely be sharing your music around UTD, because yeah. The radio station is going to be so sick of me.
Hell yeah, let’s go!
No avoiding it. And, yeah, I’m really excited to see what you come out with in 2025.
Yay!
I mean, we talked about how much I love “Therapist’s Wet Dream,” so if this project has any of that same vibe like you were talking about—
Yeah.
—I already know I will be unhealthily obsessed for at least two weeks, and then peter out to a more healthy kind of obsession where I only listen to it twice a day.
Yes. I am the exact same. I will, like, listen to a song all waking hours of the day and then be like, “Okay, we gotta make this an easy … healthy, happy medium here.” Especially these next three songs, are definitely a lot more toward the folk side. One of them’s definitely giving some “Therapist’s Wet Dream” energy, but after that, this next project is very “Therapist’s Wet Dream”-coded. I think that’s definitely the sound that I’m moving towards with my new writing. And just being a little more personal with stuff.
Okay, perfect.
Yeah, I’m excited about it.
Your sound is a lot of everything I really like about, like—I don’t even know how to describe it. It’s everything I like about Olive Klug, meets Frankie Cosmos, meets Sammy Rae. It’s like—
Oh my god, I’m so honored.
There’s a triangle, and you’re in the middle.
Those are some of my very, very favorite artists. And I actually—I met Olive for the first time, a couple weeks ago, because they also live in Nashville part-time. They’re also traveling around, nomad-like. But yeah, they came to my last Nashville show, and we got to chat for a little bit.
Oh my gosh.
And they’re really good friends with some of my newly-made friends in Nashville. I’m hoping to get to know them a little better, because I think they’re absolutely brilliant, such a talented lyricist, and from everything I’ve heard, seem like a really kind, good friend as well, so, yeah.
I met them when they opened for a Daisy The Great show—
Ugh!
—and they were so nice, so sweet, so once again, I am jealous of you and your Nashville life.
Nashville’s weird. Nashville’s so weird. I feel like I am one degree of separation from, like, every Nashville artist, and there are a lot of artists that I either have looked up to or would be—and am—absolute fans of, that I’m friends with? And that’s insane to me. Like, do you know Noah Floersch?
Yes I do!
Yes. Like, he’s a homie. He is such a sweet dude. So fun, yet he’s one of the first artist friends that I made in Nashville, and now he’s opening for Ricky Montgomery, going on his own headlining tour, has like a million monthly listeners. And I listen to his shit. I think it’s fantastic. It’s really cool to be friends with people that you’re genuinely fans of and genuinely believe in as artists. And they’re the good ones, too. It’s good to see good, kind people rising and getting to do the things they’ve dreamed of, because they absolutely deserve it. Yeah, Noah’s a sweetheart.
Ugh, you’re so cool, I can’t. This is absolutely so awesome.
Thank you.
Our Zoom meeting is running low on time.
Period.
It hollered at me a minute ago, like, “Do you know you have thirty minutes? Do you know you have thirty minutes?”
“Thirty minutes! You have thirty minutes!”
So we’ve got, like, six minutes and … thirty-eight seconds left.
Hell yeah.
I mean, I’ll probably just free you and let you go play some board games or something—
Hell yeah.
—or … enjoy the sunny Washington weather.
Yeah, the Washington sun that definitely exists, and is not hidden—
Yeah, that’s just it. Don’t get sunburnt.
—behind clouds. Every day. All day.
All day. I don’t know, I’m kind of jealous. I’m in South Dakota, so it’s, like, supposed to be nice and snowy, but it’s foggy right now, so it’s just foggy and slick?
Well, it’s not snowing here, if that helps. It’s just rain and clouds.
You’re living my dream weather. I don’t know what to tell you.
Yeah, we’re in a similar boat.
At least there’s no snow. I don’t know. A friend of mine lives in Portland, and at least the picture’s he sent, I’m like, dude.
Is it snowing in Portland?
No, it was just nice and, like, wet? And that just seems so much nicer than this.
Yeah, not needing to shovel anything or put on snow tires….
Exactly.
It’s nice to be able to get places.
Exactly. But, okay, I will let you get going—but, thank you again, so much, for doing this interview.
Thank you! This was so fun. You’re so cool, dude. Genuinely.
You’re so cool. Like, be so for real. This was so nice. And, yeah, really excited to see what you release in 2025. Good luck on your tour, and hopefully I see you in Dallas, because that would be so cool!
Thank you! Absolutely. Gonna make it happen. Alright, have a good day!
You too! Bye!
