Valerie is moving on and moving up! See how she does it!
Bio: Valerie Warntz is a 21-year-old European singer-songwriter. She was musically inclined at a young age and was enrolled in The Sviridov School of Arts at nine years old. Valerie studied guitar, piano, chorus, and sol-fa. She won several International and city competitions during her education, and she has also toured Europe with an orchestra. With inspiration from her favorite artist, Lana Del Rey, Valerie wrote her first song, “I Don’t Love You Anymore” in 2015. The song he received recognition on YouTube and Spotify. She is now promoting her new single, “Too Many Chances,” released in January 2020.
Hello, Valerie! It’s a pleasure to have you on our blog, especially since it’s your first interview this year and also the fact that you haven’t done any since October.
— Thank you so much! To be honest, I’ve been out of the loop for these three months, but I’m happy to be back and to continue working.
Why? We know that you have released a couple of songs in October and November.
— Yes. The reason I released those songs is that I wasn’t fine, so, as a creative person, I always turn my feelings into art. In October, my usual life was bothered by one person. Trying to sort our relationships out, I lost track of time and almost lost myself. It was a kind of insanity I’ve never felt before.
“Mixed Feelings” is about this situation? We’d like to know more about this upbeat song in the style of 80s pop music. The lyrics are sad and not that happy as the arrangement.
— Thank you. It was my idea to put sad lyrics to the happy instrumental, so the sound would be in contrast just like the feelings I described. Firstly, because it’s unique, secondly, for myself, because I remember I was crying while writing this song, so an upbeat arrangement made it a little bit easier to sing and listen to. Now I can sing it in any way without feeling sad, but that time it was really painful.
It’s quite unique! Let’s talk a bit about you not as an artist but as a person. Do you like watching TV? If so, what shows?
— I hate TV! If I could, I would sell it because, for me, it makes zero sense when we have the internet and can watch anything there, but my mom uses it. I like watching some reality shows like The Bachelor or something about revealing the cheaters. I’m not a fan of movies, but these months I started watching USSR films. Oh, and I usually put the speed of the video to 1.5x! You can’t do it on TV.
Funny! How do you spend your free time besides what you mentioned?
— Recently I started walking, but I hate doing it alone and don’t like companies as well. I like to go to the museum or/and to the cafe with someone to talk to while drinking tea. I’m a big tea lover, by the way.
As a musician, you probably have several favorite artists. Are there more than Lana Del Rey?
— Lana is always number one for me, but of course, I like the others as well. Taylor Swift is my second inspiration: her songs are catchy and full of sense. As a songwriter, I pay a lot of attention to the lyrics. I also like Ariana Grande, Iggy Azalea, MARINA, Avril Lavigne and many more. I listen to various music except for, probably, heavy metal.
Let’s get back to your music. Tell us about the songwriting process. How does it all come together?
— Usually, I start with the lyrics, but sometimes it all starts with some random chords I play on the piano or guitar. For example, I started making “Mixed Feelings” from the lyrics. It took around 20 minutes to write it and I had the melody in mind right from the beginning. Talking about my new single “Too Many Chances,” I wrote around three songs about this topic in one hour and didn’t have any melodies in mind. It was when I was in Finland for this New Year. I remember I was sitting at night in the kitchen, being ignored by that person again, and thinking that it’s impossible to save relationships if you are the only one who fights for them and the other person is just playing stupid games. So out of these three songs I’ve written that night, I decided to release “Too Many Chances” to make a point.
Your new song “Too Many Chances” sounds great! We hope we could hear those two other songs one day. You said that you always express yourself in music, so how many songs have you written since October? Do you plan to release them?
— Such a pleasure to hear! To be honest, I don’t know how many songs exactly, but surely over 30 or even 40. For me, these three months were probably the most productive ever even though the price for it was high. I don’t know if I ever release any of them, but it’s possible. There are many songs which just aren’t actual anymore but I still find them cool.
Do you listen to your own music?
— Yes. I love my music and listen to it as well. I just don’t understand how you can expect somebody to like your art if you don’t like it yourself? Of course, there are songs which I rarely listen to, mostly because of the memories, but I have many favorite songs of mine which I often enjoy.
Which are your favorites?
— “Ca$h,” “Winter Story,” “Magical & Enchanting,” “Be My Baby,” “I Hate You Cause I Love You,” and “Too Many Chances” (maybe because it’s new, I listen to it too much now).
“Too Many Chances” sounds different from your previous singles. Why?
— I decided to make a ballad instead of pop like previous singles because the lyrics are really personal and intimate for me. You may notice that the arrangement was heavily inspired by Lana Del Rey’s new album, Norman Fucking Rockwell. I like the piano chord progression here and I think it really fits the mood of this song.
In the song, which lyrics stand out the most to you? What do they mean?
— I think, the first verse. It is absolutely uncommon for me to give lots of chances to those who keep hurting me. And even more uncommon to come back once I go away.
It wasn’t a complete waste, because without it we wouldn’t be able to enjoy such amazing music.
— It wasn’t useless at all. Now, when I took rose-colored glasses off, I see that this situation gave me a lot of really amazing life lessons. It helped me understand myself better, see things as they really are with no illusions and many-many more. Now, when it’s all over, I’m so happy and grateful for this experience. It has really changed me in a positive way.
Great thoughts! Keep on moving and keep writing new music, Valerie. Hopefully, you will be inspired by happiness.
— Thank you so much!
Connect with Valerie Warntz via her website, Instagram, Twitter, Spotify, SoundCloud, and YouTube.
