Emilia Pedersen is a half-Brazilian pop singer from Denmark.

Emilia offers us a unique perspective of the entertainment industry, as she has lived & worked all over the world. She currently resides in New York, where she has lived for the last 12 years.

Aside from singing, Emilia shines in acting and modeling. Over the years, she has participated in several fashion shows and acted in various productions in New York, Denmark, and Brazil. She is multi-lingual and can speak Danish, Portuguese, Spanish, and English.

Emilia is also an ambassador for multiple charity organizations.

Her musical influences include Ariana Grande, Selena Gomez, Taylor Swift, Billie Eilish, and Miley Cyrus.

In this episode, we talk about:

• Singing and production
• Acting and music videos
• Creative writing and poetry

EMILIA'S SOCIAL PROFILE

Website

https://www.emiliapedersen.com/

TikTok

https://www.tiktok.com/@emiliapedersen?lang=en

Facebook

https://www.facebook.com/emiliapedersenofficial

Twitter

https://twitter.com/_EmiliaPedersen

YouTube

https://www.youtube.com/emiliapedersen

Instagram

@emiliapedersenofficial

You can read a transcript of our interview attached

Music tracks are copyrighted, provided by the artist, and used with permission.

Well, hi, welcome back everybody to unlocking your world of creativity. I'm Mark Stinson. And you know, when we talk about a world of creativity, listen, just in the last few episodes we've been from San Antonio, Texas, and San Francisco, California, to Bangkok, Thailand, Johannesburg, South Africa Amsterdam, and the Netherlands. We travel all over the world to talk to creative experts about how they get inspired and how they organize ideas. And of course, how they get the confidence and the connections to get their work up and out into the world. And today we have a world of creativity in a single package, our guests that's a global experience and viewpoint, and we're just so happy to welcome Emilia Pedersen to the program. Emilia, how you doing?

I'm good. Thank you. How are you? Thank you so much for having me.

Oh, it's fantastic. I've been looking forward to our conversation. So yeah, Emilia is a pop singer, but also a model and an actress and just an all-around creative spirit. And so we're just so glad to talk to you and you know, you've got some new songs you're moving up the charts both in Brazil and in the States just getting exposure everywhere. How's that feeling for you?

It's amazing being someone who's multicultural myself because I'm from Denmark and I'm also half Brazilian, but I live here in New York, so I'm kind of all over the place. And it really means a lot to me that people from the whole world are liking my music. So that makes me really happy. And I just love being able to bring people together through music.

There you go. Well, there is a certain Brazilian influence, I think, in your music that too. And how do you bring that into your style?

So I like a bunch of different genres and sub-genres of music. I sing pop and I sing in English, but I am multilingual. So little spoiler, some songs coming in the future might have some other languages in there for you guys. But I will definitely say that because I've lived in so many different parts of the world and because I'd met so many different people from different cultures, it's definitely influenced the way that I create my music, because like I said, I want to be able to make music that everyone can listen to. Everyone can connect to. And each song that I make, I try to all in the pop genre, but I try to get little sub-genres of different elements in there just so I can play around with variety and range and all those types of things. So each song is going to be different from the other. And along with that, the music videos all going to be very different as well, which is something that I tap into and get really creative with because I'm also an actress. So I feel like I can create my own little world and kind of set you guys in there with me too.

There you go. You're right. Each one of these videos not only does the songs have their own personalities, but I think the videos are not what should I say cookie cutter? In other words, you don't go into it with one idea.

No, they are all like I said, I tried To do something very different for each one to keep you guys on your toes. And also just to explore my range a little bit, and I have a lot of fun with it. Like I said, I'm also an actress and I'm a singer, so I kind of combine those two worlds together in order to create something very different.

Yeah. Well, let's talk about the creative process a little bit and rewind to the beginning of the creative process, how you're choosing the songs, how you're choosing the people you want to work with. And, you know, the, I guess the sound that you're looking for in any individual song, tell us about that.

Sure. So I've had the pleasure of working with a lot of different people, all who are very talented, very hardworking, and whenever I'm writing a song, the process is always very different. Sometimes I start off with the lyrics and sometimes I start off with the instrumental, when I'm writing with other people, we all kind of sit together on the phone together and we kind of put ideas in this whole big pot, and then we kind of pick and choose, and then elaborate on that when I'm writing alone. Sometimes I write about personal experiences and sometimes I make up scenarios in my head and then go on talking about that. So it really is different all the time. Although I have found that I do really like to write at night, I don't know, maybe it's something about the world being quiet and then I'm able to focus a little bit better, get the creative juices flowing. I'm not sure exactly what it is, but I find that I write best at night and I have to write with pen and paper. And I like to use a lot of colorful pens. So

You go colorful pens, equal, colorful lyrics.

Exactly. That's how it is.

And how much do you feel, you know, your personal experience is informing the songs or is it your imagination or projecting on other, you know, sort of what could have been where do you get your inspiration?

That's different for each one. Definitely, when it comes to what could have been, Oh, that really hit deep because I'm a person where if I feel something, I have to say it, I can't live in the not knowing. So if it's something that I want to tell someone that I don't really have the courage of saying, or I just can't figure out how to put the words together properly, then I'll put it in music. And that's kind of how I get my emotions across a lot of the time because I always say that music is a universal language. It doesn't mean that what language, it doesn't matter what language the lyrics are in, but everyone kind of understands the message of the music and the rhythm of it. So it all depends on each song.

That's so interesting that there's this sometimes alter ego. You know what I can't say in person, I'll say in the song, I guess we've heard that from

[Inaudible].

That was not you,

But I do also allow my imagination to just completely run wild, because like I said, I'm an actress. So I also am on set pretending to be all these different people. And then sometimes I'll draw inspiration from that from a character or from something that I made up in my head and it'll be like this completely different person who isn't me, or maybe my alter ego like you said, and then I'll kind of write their story or how it would be for maybe them to be feeling. And that I think is also a different way of how I can reach out to other people because maybe they can connect to the lyrics. So that's what I said when I'm always trying to make music for everyone.

Yeah. That's great. And, and are you hearing the song in your head and sometimes, you know, you hear artists say, well, I really heard it as a ballad. And so I was surprised that we ended up as an uptempo song with a really heavy beat, but what, what about, you?

So when I'm writing my music, I have an overall idea and then I just jot a bunch of things down and sometimes I'll have maybe a phrase that I really like, and then I'll have it in a certain melody. And then we get to the studio and then we play around with it and it becomes something else. Or we add some extra vocals on top of it and it starts to be something elsewhere I'm like, Oh my God, I would really love an electric guitar and this part. And then the song just goes in a whole different direction, but at the end, it always ends up being something new and fresh and always very fun.

That's great. And you're talking about a lot of collaboration too. I think of the musicians, I think of the producer. How much is your producer sort of influencing the sound or the actual output of your creation? How do you, how do you deal with that and work with that as a collaborator?

So it's very, I mean, it's very, like I said, it's always different for each. Situation's always different for each song and with each person that I work with, but when I'm in the studio and I'm recording the vocals, then, of course, there's always people being like, Oh, you're a little off-key there. Or they're like, Oh yeah. Or sometimes it's like Oh, it would be really cool if we add an echo on this part, or let's do doubles on this part. And that always adds a lot to it as well. When it comes to the producer, of course, we give like the overall of how I think maybe it should sound and it gives some ideas and some instruments that we could use and play along with. And I kind of home a little bit into the phone call, like, you know what I'm trying to say, and then they'll send me something back and I'll be like, Oh, that sounds really cool. But maybe on this part, let's try something else. And then they send me something back and then we kind of start mixing and matching from there, but it's very much a collaborative project and everyone's very involved and everyone has just a lot of really good ideas all the time. So

That's great. Well, one of the clips I'd like to play and we'll just pretend I'm playing the song right now in the background is one of your latest songs, skyline. It's a great song. Tell us a little bit about that song for you.

Thank you. So that song was actually really interesting because I wrote it with a mutual friend of mine, who we met through mutual friends, and then we became friends and we're both artists. So we decided let's make a song together. And we were thinking, okay, but what should it be about? And I live in New York and they were in Brazil, so we couldn't really get together. So we were on the phone and then we were talking about how much we love New York. And we were like, let's write a song about New York, you know, and then we put ideas together and we decided to write something about a bunch of, you know, adolescents, you know, teenagers running around in Manhattan. And also just talking about things that teenagers dream about. So skyline is a song that talks about chasing your dreams and not being afraid to be different from everyone else and being true to yourself. So that's what we came up with. And then when it came to the recording session, we actually recorded it in my brother's studio here in my house. And then we send over the vocals to them in Brazil and they put it together with the music and then we, of course then things back and forth. And then for the music video, we record it here in Manhattan

And the videos got a nice, and we were talking about the pulse of it. And, you know, I was really curious then how you brought that song to life through the video. Cause it does have some of that sort of teenage youthful attitude. Yes.

So when I make the music videos, I play a lot with lighting because I feel that if you can get the lighting a certain way, you can bring someone to a completely different world. And that's, I find that in my study is when I've been to school and studying set design and all these different things. That's what I found was one of the key elements. So when I listened to the song, I wanted something very youthful, something very fun, something with a lot of light and a lot of sun. And that's what we brought with. And then for the costumes, I thought, okay, what do teenagers like? And then I thought, okay, denim-like rip jeans, things like that. And then of course we had the beautiful skyline of course, with the song skyline. And I wanted a lot of white pieces of clothing and that's kind of how we brought everything together.

That sounds fantastic. The other song that I'd like to share with the listeners is turn it up. And then again, it's like a, you can't help, but turn it up. It's a crank-it-up kind of a song. Isn’t it?

Yes, it is definitely fun. Fact. That's actually the first song that I started writing that I was part of the writing process for that's where I kind of started learning everything. And I just thought, okay, I want to learn how to properly write a pop song for radio let's get started, let's get our hands dirty. And we wrote all the lyrics. And again, I wanted something very youthful, something very fun, something teenagers can listen to and be like, let's go have fun tonight. You know, night out on the town. Of course now with the COVID restrictions, we weren't able to do that for a little bit, but the song was actually written two years ago and the music too, it was also done two years ago and the music video was also done two years ago and it's actually going to be receiving a remix that's coming out in just a few days and that song is more electronic. And I made the music video to go along with that. And like I said, it is very different from anything that I have ever done before. So I hope people like it.

Well, there you go. Well, where can we find that when it comes out?

Well, you guys can find it on YouTube and on all streaming platforms, Spotify, Apple Music, Deezer, anywhere you want.

Great. Well, we'll listen for that. Turn it up. The remix how exciting, fun. Well, you know, you mentioned learning the craft of songwriting. I wanted to touch on that for a moment, as you know, many of our listeners might think, Oh, you know, creativity comes naturally for some of these songwriters. And of course, if you only watch the reality music shows, it looks like they wrote the song in about a minute and a half. So tell us, tell us about your craftsmanship of the songwriting.

So I've always loved music ever since I was little and I always went to school studying it. So I learned how to sight-read, and then learn the music history. And I learned music and fell in love with music through Bach and Mozart and things like that. So to now take my classical learning experience of music theory and change it into these pop genres that we now have and everything being digital was a very big shift for me. And I kind of learned it just by throwing myself in the deep end and figuring it all out while I was there. And it was very difficult for me to go from having in like written down sheet music to going into the studio where they say, I don't know, just have fun with it. And we'll see what happens. Cause that's exactly what happened.

And I was like, well, well, what do you mean I need my measures, but I figured it out after a few hours. And then it was smooth sailing from there. And when it comes to writing, it was a little bit of the same, because again, I was used to the sheet music and writing out the notes and the time symbols and things like that. And I was used to very much structure, but I took my improv skills from acting and threw it into my music. And I was just writing again, what it is that I want it to say. I find writing comes easiest to me when I just find something that I want to talk about. So I will start off with a general idea and then I'll get a good rhythm going or a good melody going, and then I'll figure out all the logistics.

So I'll just kind of write everything just in one, go kind of like a brainstorm, and then I'll go back and then I'll edit it and I'll edit it some more and I'll edit it some more. And then sometimes I'll get other people's feedback and be like, what do you think of this? Like, does this word work or should I use this one instead? And that's how it all goes. And my family's a big help when it comes to stuff like that. And actually, there was one song that I ever wrote that just kind of went all out and I wrote it in two hours, which is really fast for people who aren't used to writing music because sometimes a song will take me weeks to finish, but this song just came out just in one go. So like I said, I did my brainstorm. I wrote everything down and then I was like, huh, that's pretty good. And then I just touched up a few things and that it was done. And then I went to the studio and we put some music to it and that was it.

I love that. That's a great story. And it sounds like you're, you're going because of your training and classical background, you're going into the studio, not only sort of with the lyrics, but almost a handwritten sheet music. It's like, here is everything we need.

I've got everything. Yeah. But I have also learned to kind of put that away and just try a bunch of different things in studio. And then we can just, you know, pick and choose. I wasn't used to that in my classical studies because I was in choir and everything I did was live and theatrical. So everything had to be perfect the first time. Now I've learned that it's okay to make mistakes.

I love it. Well, folks, our guest is Emilia Peterson born in Denmark of a mother of Brazilian descent and now living in New York and making some great pop music. So Emilia, another one of your recent songs is missing myself. What an interesting concept behind that song.

Yeah. That song is also very special. It talks a little bit more of a darker tone to it, but it talks about, you know, you can interpret it as being after a breakup. A lot of people interpreted that way. And again, this is not personal. It was just a bunch of people coming together, putting some ideas of what we could write that other people could maybe relate to. So we decided to talk about this character evolvement and personal growth. And I feel as though we managed to articulate a lot of things that happened in everyday life of people and it talks a lot about so the lyrics are, I won't miss you, I'll be missing myself. So it kind of talks about moving on from this person or this other version of yourself before and becoming this new, more empowered, stronger independent person.

Well, so good. And I guess that leads me to a question about, you know, we've been talking about some of your influences and some of your creative style, but what about even deeper than that? I guess I'll call it inspiration rather than just influences. What about your own creative inspiration? Where do you draw that from?

It's always different. Sometimes I'll have an idea while I'm driving, I'll be thinking of something and I'll need to jot it down real quick and come back to it later. But a lot of inspiration comes from day-to-day life of either things that happened in my life or things that I hear about, or again, things that I imagine, but I can find inspiration in pretty much anything. I'm actually in the process of writing a song now because my favorite color is sky blue. And then I was thinking of some lyrics. So like, your eyes are blue, like my favorite color, sky blue, something like that. So that's the song that I'm currently working on and I can find inspiration from pretty much anything. Yeah. If you just look hard enough, there's inspiration all around you for not only songs but for movies and for books and for anything painting.

And, and do you find a way to organize or collect or capture some of these ideas, whether it's on your phone and a file folder and you know, the back of napkins, you know, all the things that you do,

I will say I am heavily in my notes section of my phone. I will say there's a lot of stuff I need to organize in there. And it always gets very chaotic because I have so many ideas. I've started making lists of song topics, or song titles, and then I'll go back to, and sometimes those will even become lyrics. And I have like five different notebooks of just lyrics, just splattered all over the pages. And I've taken notes that I had intended to be for two different songs and made them into one song. And then I've taken those that are supposed to be one whole song and then turned it into three different songs. So it's very much just all over the place. There's a lot of paper, there's a lot of ink and there's a lot of post-its actually. So

I love that. And we also like to talk on this podcast about the creative connections and you were talking earlier about the New York Brazil connection and your, your star is rising on the Brazil charts. So it's good to see that. How do you, how do you build and maintain those connections? And again, I think about the artists who are saying, Hey, I've paying might have been paying my dues. It's time. I really want to get out there and start making the right connections. What insights and experience do you have to offer folks like that?

Do you mean connections in the music industry or connections with your own creativity?

I would say in the music business, you know, to get the exposure and the airplay and the downloads and all the things that you need to make this a success,

Well, you have to be very driven and you have to be stubborn. Be very stubborn. You have to say, you know what, this is what I want to do and I'm going to do it. And I'm going to look for anyone who's willing to help me, or at least give me a chance. And that's what I'm doing. I am always trying to get my name out there even more so. And what you really need is a lot of exposure and there's a lot of different ways to get that. So it's about finding whichever way is best for you and whichever way works right for you because maybe some people get a lot of exposure on social media platforms, but you get a lot of exposure on the radio. So it depends on it for everyone, but I will definitely say my best advice is just to go out there and be that person that's knocking on their door every day. And if you already have a no is what mom always taught me. You haven't even tried yet. So your answer is already no. So the only thing that you could possibly get out of it is maybe, I guess

There you go, keep trying. And you've also tried to maintain a, a, a different kind of approach to social media, you know, more positive outlook, I guess if I could compare it and contrast it to others is that purposeful or do you feel that that's just a natural part of your personality?

I mean, if it's both, I think, I think they go hand in hand. I'm a very positive person. I'm also very chill. I like to say I'm a very chill person. I'm very go with the flow, very laid back, except when it comes to my work, and then I'm on top of it. But for social media, I think social media was once this very like it was picture perfect before. And I think that now as a society, as a generation, we've all kind of taken that and we've twisted it into becoming something much more realistic. And I see that in a lot of people's posts and I'm doing the exact same thing. Social media is something that should be fun and somewhere where you can connect to your fans or your followers and your friends from different countries. So I think you should just always be yourself on there as long as you're not hurting anyone. Then I think some jokes are fine. Some pictures of you waking up in the morning, looking a little Crusty's fun too. And I always try to talk to my fans. So whenever I'm doing stories, I leave the boxes where they can ask me questions, my answer, my DMS. And I replied all my comments because I feel like we're all just one big family and they support me so much. The least I can do is say, thank you. So I think social media is somewhere that you should go and have fun.

Ah, wonderful. Well, Emilia have enjoyed our conversation. Listen, before we close, let's make sure people know where to find you. Where can we connect with you and your work?

Well, thank you, guys. So, so much for being here with me, I've absolutely loved talking to you guys and you can follow me on social media as Emilia Peterson. I'm on Instagram as Emilia Peterson official. I'm on Snapchat, I'm on tik tok. I'm also on YouTube. You can find all of my music videos there, and there's a lot more to come I'm on Spotify and any other music streaming platforms that you guys want to look for. It's all there. You just got to type in Emilia Peterson. Thank you guys so much.

Yeah, it's been terrific. And so Emilia, I have to ask, you know, you, you were teasing us with some future music. What's on the horizon. What's just over this Hill.

There's a lot coming up. So like I said, the next thing to come is the, turn it up remix, which is going to be, like I said, very different from anything that I've ever done before. I can tease and say that the genre of the song is electronic and that the music video kind of has a more dark kind of clubbing aesthetic to it. So that's what's to come very soon actually. And after that, there's a lot of more stuff I'm creating a bunch of different atmospheres and a bunch of different little worlds and kind of telling the story of different characters. Each one of those. So anything you guys receive from me is always going to be very different from what came before and what is to come. So you guys will never really know my next move, I guess,

There you go we have got to stay on our toes Love it, Emilia. What a pleasure to talk to you. I love your energy. I love your music and I can't wait to share it with our listeners. I really appreciate it.

So much thank you for having me. I've absolutely loved it.

Yeah. Well, listeners, come back again for the next episode, we'll continue our virtual around the world tour, where we talk to experts in music and all sorts of arts and culinary arts and the performing arts. We like to learn all about their creative process how they organize their ideas and how they make the connections to get their work up and out into the world. And I'm reminded just as we ask Emilia, you know, how she makes the connections. You were introduced to us by a friend of a friend. And so listeners, if you have an up-and-coming artist in your circle that you'd like to have featured and spread the word about on this podcast, we'll just reach out to us and let us know. And we always appreciate your ratings and reviews on Apple Podcasts, Google, all the places that you listen to podcasts. So Emilia, thanks again for coming on the show.

Thank you so much for having me. It's been a pleasure

And listeners. I'm Mark Stinson. This has been unlocking your world of creativity and we'll see you next time.