Intro & Interview by Marisa Whitaker; Cover photo by Josefine Cardoni
Anna Shoemaker is a NYC-to-LA-based singer-songwriter, who’s sophomore album, Someone Should Stop Her, was released on February 21.
I met Anna through hanging around the local NYC art/music scene. I’d invited her to play at Brooklyn-based rockers Pan Arcadia’s Rock The Pantry food drive and benefit concert last December. It was a cold Saturday afternoon warmed by the wholesomeness of hot toddies, bagels, the smoke of the s’more-making fire and stripped down performances by some of the scene’s best artists. Anna sang a few acoustic renditions of songs off her new album, including the stunning “Iced Coffee,” which captures the way mundane objects can spark aching memories as reinforced by the song’s weeping pedal-steel.
Someone Should Stop Her is a bona fide breakup album, but also an album of timestamps that mark Anna’s journey of discovering a new version of herself—a self she was always meant to be. She realized that running away from life, troubles, friends, and NYC would be okay if that’s what she needed, and so she did. Now, she is based in LA, where she hopes to embrace and connect with the music scene, while maintaining her relationships in NYC. In her own words, “there’s nothing like the New York music scene” (and, hey, we couldn’t agree more!).
This is our conversation about her new album Someone Should Stop Her, her upcoming tour supporting Australian singer, musician, and rapper Mallrat, why she loves freaking out, and more:
How’s it going?
ANNA: Thanks so much for taking the time. It’s going good. I’m back in LA. Got a car wash today.
Nice. Aww, I hear your kitty.
ANNA: There’s a stray cat outside that he’s obsessed with.
Where are you living in LA now?
ANNA: I’m in Silver Lake.
I don’t know where anything in LA is. I don’t even know why I bother asking.
ANNA: It’s on the Eastside of LA.
Okay, cool. That’s what’s up. Is this your first time living there?
ANNA: It’s my first time living in LA.
I know why you left New York, but why LA?
ANNA: I really want to make a lot of music. I want to write for other people, as well. I was spending so much time here that it just made the most sense to move here. I think I’d been in New York for so long that I was ready for a change. It wasn’t even fully because I was going through a breakup. I love New York so much. I’m from Philly, so I’m definitely an East Coast girl, but I think it’s always good to switch it up if you’re feeling like you need to.
Absolutely. I’m so excited for you! LA is so fun. I don’t think anybody should be in one place their whole life.
ANNA: Are you from New York?
I’m from Texas.
ANNA: Oh, right, right, right.
Went to school in Missouri and then moved here.
ANNA: Cool.
I’ve loved getting different experiences.
ANNA: Me too. I grew up in Philly, went to high school in Connecticut, college in Colorado, went to New York, and now I’m here. It’s cool to switch it up, but I really like LA.
I love that this record is such a departure from your first album, Everything is Fine (I’m Only on Fire). You departed away from the electronic, kind of synthy stuff, and then really went into singer-songwriter, guitar, and pedal steel, which is my favorite instrument.
ANNA: Me too.
Did you ever think that you were gonna do something like this?
ANNA: When I started making music, it was just me and my guitar. I started out very much like a singer-songwriter, played guitar, and would play at coffee shops and bars and stuff. As I started to make music with other people, I think you grow in these different directions. When I met [songwriter/producer] Constantine [Anastaskis] a couple of years ago, it felt like coming home. We would just write songs on guitar, and that’s how we would start—we would get the song, and then we would go and produce it, rather than a lot of these sessions I did with my last album, where we would build the song and production at the same time.
So I think it allowed us to start from ground zero, and really keep things real and only have in there what we wanted to have in there. It was really a refreshing way to write songs. That’s something I’m prioritizing now—writing on guitar—because that’s how I started.
You were all over the place, physically, when making this. You wrote “Back Again” in your parents’ house in Idaho. And then you went on tour right after that.
ANNA: [Constantine] had sent me those chords, and I was like, “This is so cool.” I’d just gotten off tour, and it was the first song I’d written in so long. The other ones we’d written in Long Island at Constantine’s studio, there were a few that we wrote down in Nashville while we were recording, and one I wrote in Brooklyn. It was definitely all over the place.
Photo credit: Josefine Cardoni
I love it. That’s also you picking up new pieces of yourself, in those new experiences and cities. You can hear it in the album. So you got off a tour, and then you went back on tour while making it?
ANNA: I went on tour right before we made the album, and then I went on another tour after making it. It was cool playing some of those songs after we’d been in the studio. We’ve been working on this album probably for two years, writing-wise, and then we recorded it all in one month in January last year, which is kind of crazy. We were just like, “Let’s just go.” We spent one month recording, every day, all day. It was really a crazy, intense thing, but I’m really glad we did it that way.
Were you planning to only be there for a month?
ANNA: We were planning on being there for a month, but I think it was a lot more work than we had set out to do. We had to do 11 songs, and Constantine played every instrument on it. He played a lot of the drums too. We ended up having to start working 8am to 11pm, which isn’t the most sexy music vibes. It was very much a lot of hard work, a lot of coffee, but I honestly wouldn’t have had it any other way. I feel like we really immersed ourselves in it. We would talk non-stop about, like, “What’s the ‘glue’ of this album?” “Use that guitar on ‘Back Again.’” “We have to use that exact guitar with those exact pedals on this one.” If you’re on a road trip, or if you’re on tour or whatever, you only have so many things, so we want the glue to be all over.
That’s another thing we talked about, with the visuals and styling. I was so intense about it. Like on a road trip, I wouldn’t have this cool jacket. I just have my one jacket, these two pairs of shoes—like, my sneakers and these boots. Although it would be nice to pop out in something cool, we were just thinking that everything needs to feel like it’s actually mine. We want this to all sound like it was made in one place and look like it was shot in one place. I was so insistent about being as specific as possible. That was always a dream of mine and my manager, who does a lot of the creative direction with me. We just want this to be one little world, and there’s nothing else in it that can touch you. It’s like a little house.
I love that. Now that you say that, I do feel after stalking your Instagram and looking at everything that it could have been all in one road trip. I love that that was super intentional. What inspired you to do that?
ANNA: There’s no difference between me as an artist and me as a person. For this album, specifically, I think I just wanted to be vulnerable. I wanted to be the most me that I could be. I think that with my last album, I loved it so much and loved making it, but it was definitely a lot of hiding behind production and a lot of hiding behind makeup and styling. A lot of burying myself underneath all of this “wow factor.” Since I was young, I’ve spent a lot of time in Idaho and Montana. I always dreamed of disappearing in my grandpa’s car. I’d have these fantasies. My grandpa and I would drive listening to Johnny Cash, and my mom and I would drive listening to Sheryl Crow. It just felt so me to my core—to just be in the car. I think that’s also why I love living in LA. I love being in the car, driving, listening to music, and wearing exactly what I want to wear. Jeans and a T-shirt, feeling as comfortable as possible. I think [in] coming back to myself, I really wanted to come to ground zero for this one.
What are your road trip necessities?
ANNA: I think you need really good music. You need candy. Like sour candy, Cheez-Its or some kind of chip situation. You need a nice lip gloss or lip thing to reapply. A little hand cream. Music is definitely the most important. I just love listening to music in the car and, like, crying.
Do you have a CD player, plug in your aux, or listen to the radio?
ANNA: I have my aux. But actually, it’s funny, my grandpa’s car that we shot all this stuff in, you can only use cassette or radio. I don’t even know who made these mixtapes, but there were all these mix tapes in the car that my best friend and I were listening to. By the end, we were like, “How do people just listen to the same stuff? Don’t we need some new songs?” It was hours and hours of us listening to… I’m pretty sure it was “These Boots Are Made for Walkin’.” Also, you need coffee on a road trip. Or a disgusting energy drink, like an Alani.
Those things scare the fuck out of me. I can’t drink them.
ANNA: I sent a photo of one once to my producer. He just responded, “How do you find and drink?”
It’s like a sober person’s Four Loko.
ANNA: Yeah, it is giving Four Loko.
What were you looking at when making the album? What were you listening to? Eating? Drinking? Hearing? Wearing?
ANNA: I love this question so much because we literally spent so much time thinking about this. On my tour that we finished at the end of last year, every night my best friend was with me when I was trying to figure out what to wear. We’d be like, “Okay, is this in my ‘world’?” Sometimes, if we had a really cute outfit, it’d be cool, but it was almost too-cool—New York City-girl vibe. We wanted to stay in the ‘world’.
Also, when we were shooting, I really wanted to be on my phone a lot in the videos. I don’t know if you noticed that, too, and especially in the music video for “Game of Thrones,” my phone is a huge thing. There’s this one scene where I’m in the hot tub and drinking a beer. I told the directors, “You have to pass me my phone because I have to be watching Devon Lee Carlson vlogs.” When I’m at the bar, sitting alone at the slot machine, I’m on my phone. I wouldn’t be playing the slot machine. I wouldn’t be making conversation with people. I wouldn’t be sitting in the hot tub staring into the abyss. I’d be on my fucking phone checking to see if someone texted me or checking my Instagram. That was one little detail. The outfits were a huge thing. Just building everything off of each other. Clothes were huge. With the music too, it was using a lot of the same instruments, using a lot of the same exact sounds, exact places that I’m singing too, and exact mics, like, “Oh, we have to use this mic for that.” We were being really intentional about having the ‘glue’ throughout everything.
Were most of the lyrics straight out of your diary?
ANNA: Yeah. I mean, this is about as real as it’s gonna get. Constantine and I talk about everything. We feel so comfortable around each other. He’ll probably get mad at me for saying this, but a lot of this stuff is about his life, too. I think even before working together, we’d become such good friends and know everything about each other. We have both been through it on the breakup front. Not to blow up his spot, but it’s really real. It’s nice and really healing to be able to talk through this stuff with a friend, let alone write music about it. It can be really, really therapeutic.
How did you meet Constantine? What was it like bringing somebody in so closely to the album? Having a creative and artistic partner—somebody to go along this journey with you—is a beautiful thing. Was it a no-brainer to bring him in so intimately in the songwriting?
ANNA: It was definitely a no-brainer because of how naturally it happened. We met at a dinner party of a mutual friend. We sat next to each other. I had been a big fan of his music, and I think he had no idea who I was. I was just like, “Oh, I make music. I’d love to have a session with you,” and we just started writing together and really got along. We wrote so many songs together, and then we had this EP, all of a sudden. That was my Hey Anna EP. We just kept going, and once we hit a stride after the EP, the ddre was a moment. I’d say it was when we wrote “Holly” and then “Miniskirt,” which is on the album, too. Because we had worked together so much, we kind of had this shared vision that kept evolving.
We kept talking about it. Everything was always a revision. It wasn’t your usual session, where you go in and have the session, they send you the song, and you leave. I’d go out to Long Island, we’d write a song, and maybe I’d stay there. We’d write a song the next day, and then I’d leave, and then he’d be like, “Wait, this has to be this, and this has to be that.” We’re both workaholic freaks. We care so much. We care so much about the music that we make together. We just kept building off each other, so it was a no brainer to keep working together. We were gonna record this album in Brooklyn, and then the opportunity came up to record it at our friend John’s studio in Nashville. We were like, “Let’s just do it.”
Honestly, it’s been a dream of mine to have a partner in all this who I can trust. First and foremost, it’s been my manager, Sydney, who’s been a huge creative partner. I really trust her taste. Having Constantine, too, and my team as it has slowly built, and Nina, too—these people who I can trust, who know me and understand what’s going on. It’s the biggest thing when you’re a solo artist. It’s so hard not to question everything, so if you have these people who you can really trust, there’s nothing better.
That’s so beautiful to have. It can be rare. It’s not something I think that you realize until it’s done so well.
ANNA: 100%. Also, if you’re in that situation, you will butt heads. Constantine and I have had moments when we’re both right. I think that’s a beautiful thing, too. Learning to navigate that is just as important as, “Everything’s going so smoothly. This is so great.” That’s not necessarily something that I’m interested in. I want someone who has the same goals as me, and who wants to do the same things, but I’m not looking for someone who’s like, “Great idea, great idea, great idea, great idea, great idea.” Most of my ideas are not great. You want someone that’s gonna challenge you. My biggest thing, too, is I never want to be the smartest person in the room. If I’m the smartest person in the room, that is sad … [Laughs]
[Laughs] I don’t want to be in that room. I’m kidding.
ANNA: I don’t wanna be in that room at all.
How did you start and learn songwriting?
ANNA: I would fully learn Taylor Swift songs on YouTube. I would rearrange the chords and rewrite everything. I’m obsessed with pop music, so she taught me, verse, chorus, verse, chorus, bridge, chorus. I would just rewrite Taylor Swift songs, basically. Eventually, I would start writing my own songs once I had a grasp on the chords. I think I started out so “on my own” that I was almost embarrassed to be writing songs. I didn’t really meet anyone that made music until later in high school and in college and after that. I think I had my start in such a vacuum that I really had a specific way of writing.
Now, writing with other people, I find that’s how I’m able to grow. Lately, I’ve been trying to get back to writing by myself. It’s been a weird challenge because I’m so used to building off others. I think for me, getting better is just working and working, and writing and writing, but also knowing when to lay on the couch and stare at the ceiling, scroll on TikTok, or take a walk. I think that to be a songwriter, you have to experience your life, whether that means just laying down, talking to your best friend, or texting your crush. You have to also be an active participant in your life to have inspiration.
Photo credit: Shervin Lainez
You tour a lot. What’s your relationship with touring?
ANNA: I love touring. It’s amazing to be able to play shows. It’s all I’ve ever wanted to do. Besides writing songs, touring is the only thing that I’ve ever dreamed of doing. It’s always been a part of my dream, and to get to do it is so insane. I’m so excited for the Mallrat tour. Just meeting people and being around like-minded people, who also are insane enough to live out of a car and play shows every night. I think for a long time, touring was a way for me to run away from my life, and I kind of like my life right now, so I’m interested to see how this tour is gonna to go. I’m really excited.
How are you going to translate the album to your live shows?
ANNA: I’m thinking that we’re going to do a stripped back set and really focus on the writing. Really focus on the lyrics. Obviously, I want to do the best show possible, but I’m thinking, logistically, I think it might be me and one other person. We’ll have a lot of cool elements, like some drum machines and stuff, but I want to focus mainly on the writing because that’s what I spent the most time on.
Photo credit: Josefine Cardoni
I’ve never used ChatGPT before for questions, but I tried it the other day and she had a good one: How do you balance vulnerability with artistic expression?
ANNA: Oh, wow, that’s a really good question. Thanks, Chat.
This might sound corny or heavy handed, but to me vulnerability is artistic expression, in a way. So much of what I do is being vulnerable that I think I don’t really balance it, unfortunately. With my last album, it’s hard to listen to a lot of those songs. I was just like, “Damn, I want to give her a hug.” I feel sad. She really felt a certain way. I think that in not balancing, in not trying to hold back, that is my artistic expression. Just going for it, saying the thing, and taking the risk.
I really love that this is not only a breakup album, but a self exploration. A new Anna, a new chapter in your life that you took by the reins. It’s this whole concept visually, but also in your lyricism. One of the overarching things is this idea of running away, and I think it’s very brave to run away. Something that ties me down is my friends and family, but I know that one of these days, I just want to run away and get out. When did you accept and acknowledge that running away is actually okay?
ANNA: The hardest thing was my friends and family, but then I kind of switched my brain. If that’s the biggest reason to stay in New York, that’s actually really beautiful. Thank God I have those people. If they’re the right people, they’ll always be there. You can think of it as a blessing that you have. Now, whenever I go back to New York, I get to be with all of my friends, and it’s awesome. Making new friends in LA has been really cool, too, and seeing what the music scene is like here. Checking in with that community has been really interesting, and it’s been fun to switch it up.
How is the LA scene different from the New York one?
ANNA: I find it really similar. Everyone here is down to write and make music all the time. People are really willing to work and make friends and build together. I definitely miss the New York scene, though. There’s nothing like the New York music scene.
There’s something really beautiful about the way you were feeling at the beginning of making the album versus during, and I’m sure you have completely different feelings now. What is something that you’ve recently realized about the album?
ANNA: I think with doing all the press stuff and talking about it so much, I’ve realized that while, obviously, it is a breakup album, and it’s about breaking up, getting back together, and all these things, ultimately, it has nothing to do with the other person, as much as it is about choosing yourself and not compromising. I think compromising is obviously important, but if you have things that you want, there’s no reason that you shouldn’t go get them. There’s no reason that you should hold back because someone wants something else. It doesn’t matter what age you are. People are always like, “You’re so young, you should do this.” When they’re older, people say compromising is an important part of a relationship, but I don’t know. Is that true? Should you put aside your dreams for someone else’s? Unless it’s your child or something, I don’t know. We’re so trained to want to fix ourselves or change ourselves for others. For me, it’s been important to realize that I am the person who I want to fix myself for, and who I want to change for. I want to be the best person that I can be.
If you were talking to the Anna from the beginning, who was first making this album, would she be proud of how far you’ve come?
ANNA: Marisa, I can’t even explain to you. I think about this so often. Even a year ago, if I told myself where I was literally right now, even talking to you, having the conversation we’re having, I could seriously cry right now thinking about it. I’ve honestly never worked so hard in a two-year span. My whole life has changed. I’m really committed to myself. It’s crazy, but it’s really cool to grow like that and look back and be like, “Wow, okay. You can do hard things.” [Laughs.]
It’s beautiful that you have something to show for. Here you have this beautiful project that kind of serves as timestamps; a little road map of how far you’ve come.
ANNA: Thank you so much! That’s why I’m already excited to write my next album because I feel like…
You want to do it all over again.
ANNA: Exactly. I’m excited.
Are you already working on stuff?
ANNA: Yeah. Definitely.
Oh my gosh. That’s so exciting.
ANNA: Eek.
Eek. Do you feel as though Someone Should Stop Her and that chapter has closed, and you’ve already opened another gate? Even though you’re still promoting and talking about the album, I imagine you’re now more in the reflective state and ready to tackle the next thing.
ANNA: Definitely, definitely. We look back and romanticize things all the time, but the cool thing about songs is you can’t change what you said. It’s on Spotify. It is what it is. It seriously is like a timestamp. But yeah, I do feel like I’ve moved on from that chapter in the best way possible.
You did it. It’s done. If you could say anything to that Anna, what would you say?
ANNA: I wouldn’t say anything because I’m just so happy about how I took my time. It worked out the way that I needed it to work out, even though things could have happened faster. Obviously, hindsight, I know things now that I didn’t know then, but I think I wouldn’t tell her anything. I’d just be like, “Yes, Queen.” I’d be like, “Stop drinking so much coffee,” first of all. “Be a little more healthy. Don’t drink so much.”
Which song are you most proud of production wise?
ANNA: [Album-closer] “Wishful Thinking” is the song that I’m most proud of, in general. Production wise, I really like it. I like how in the end, I played this piano part, and I finally got it, and I was like, “I got it!” And that’s the last thing you hear on the album. If you listen closely, they kept that in. I like the thought of the end of the record being like, “I got it,” and at the start, the first line is, “You could say that I’m officially cutting ties with the way that I used to be.” I love how the songs bookend each other.
Photo credit: Josefine Cardoni
I have a couple more questions. I love how you freak out. When I Googled you this morning, the very first thing that popped up was your most recent Instagram post, and the caption is “I’m freaking out.” I then went to your Spotify page, and the bio says, “I’m freaking out.”
ANNA: I’m always freaking out. For sure. I think my biggest fear ever, seriously, is ever becoming jaded. I think that’s the most weird way to act. Ever. No offense to these people, but kind of offense to them—you meet all these people who are like, “The music industry this and that,” and it’s like “Why, then? Why are you doing it?” We’re not saving lives here, in any real way. I feel so grateful to even be able to do this. I’m so grateful to be able to write songs, work with people that I admire, and talk to people that I admire, like you. I am freaking out all the time! I already can’t believe that I can make songs and play shows. I’m freaking out all the time.
We should all freak out more.
ANNA: I think so too. I think, like, be excited. Let’s bring back being excited about things.
Normalize being excited.
ANNA: Normalize freaking out and being excited.