We fell in love with New Here’s raw and real lyrics and sound when we first heard the Portland-based music project. We are so excited to have New Here as part of our Aug 20th lineup and to dive into her Queer and sincere musical vibes in the article.
New Here tapped into her love of music and artist voice through explorations into sexuality, love, and identity. “I had never written a song until I started dating Queer people. I tried so hard to write a song for my boyfriend before I came out, but I couldn’t get more than a line or two down and it just sounded so forced and disingenuous. When we broke up, I started dating women and non-binary people and the songs started pouring out of me, I couldn’t stop myself. I was writing almost a song a day for a while, playing ukulele for hours at a time. I know I was so obnoxious during that period, but It was just like something clicked in my brain, like, Oh, THIS is the feeling people write love songs about, I finally GET IT.”
New Here has continued to draw inspiration from love rooted in life experiences, “Most of my music that’s out right now is inspired by relationships or conversations I’ve had with real people, and how my relationship with those people is influenced by society. So while the base feeling of a lot of my songs are romantic, I will also bring in lyrics about outside factors such as childhood trauma, homophobia, transphobia, and capitalism that influence the way those romantic relationships are able to function in the world.”
When it comes to musical inspiration, New Here is inspired by artists that help remind them to keep it simple and honest, “I think I’m most inspired by Queer folk-punk artists like Apes of The State and Local News Legend, even if my songs don’t necessarily sound like folk-punk, the raw emotion coupled with introspection in the lyrics inspires me. It reminds me to not overthink it and just be honest.”
You can also find Olivia Rodrigo and WIllow in their regular rotation, “I cannot stop listening to Olivia Rodrigo’s Sour and Willow’s Transparency single right now, they are both absolute powerhouse vocalists and I feel honored to be alive while their careers are blossoming.”
When it comes to a favorite original song to perform, New Here picked one of her amped-up Queer anthems. ‘I Just Ate Pussy’ not only generally gets a positive reaction from the audience, but it’s such a high-energy, celebratory, unapologetically Queer anthem. Sometimes if I play it at the end of a set at a bar, people will be a little tipsy and sing along and it absolutely gives me life.”
The song has just passed 10,000 streams on Spotify and has been out for under a year! ”I just think that’s so fucking neat, I couldn’t believe it. I think the best is still yet to come, but that definitely makes my heart swell.”
We love a manifestation moment here at SoStonedCo, so we wanted to hear what New Here was manifesting for the next year or so, “I’m dying to go on tour. I’ve got a band now, my lead guitarist is an incredible lifelong musician and one of my best friends, and we are working with the most amazing drummer I’ve ever met. They are both helping transform all the acoustic songs that I’ve been hanging onto and make them pop-punk, and it sounds way cooler than I ever could have imagined. I always wanted New Here to be a full band and it looks like it’s finally happening.“
Speaking of exciting events for the band, New Here is debuting as a full band for the first time on August 29th at Alberta Street Pub in Portland Oregon. “The show starts at 6 pm and we are playing with two other talented Queer Portland artists, Olivia Klugman and Olivia Awbrey.”
New here is also working on their EP, Cult Americana, which will be their first full pop-punk release. “It’s essentially my many political and religious hot takes wrapped up in songs about very personal experiences.”
New Here is paving the way for a new wave of amazing artists, and they had the following advice for newer artists making the scene, “I guess I would say don’t go too ham on your first release. I recorded my first EP entirely for free on my smartphone in my bedroom and mixed it on a free app called BandLab, and it’s doing way better than I ever thought it would. Depending on your genre, you probably don’t need to go to a recording studio for your first release, just accept that it won’t be perfect and put it out there, people want to hear your stuff!”
While New Here has not directly faced stigma as a Queer songwriter and artist, they have seen stigma when it comes to less ‘digestible’ people in the community. “I don’t feel like I have [faced stigma]! I think this is primarily because I am a very digestible Queer person; I’m cis, white, young, thin, cute, able-bodied and I’m mostly feminine presenting. I usually don’t make liberal or even moderate people very uncomfortable, at least not right off the bat. I know other Queer and Trans artists who are just as entertaining as I am who have a hard time booking gigs outside of pride month or house shows, and it seems to have a lot to do with them not being digestible enough for straight and cis audiences. It’s a real shame because it’s holding the art and music scene back, and is unfair to those artists.”
New Here also thinks there are shifts to be made when it comes to perception towards cannabis consumption. “I have anxiety and don’t care to drink a lot, so taking a couple hits off a Sativa vape is really my best course of action for parties or social situations where people are a little intoxicated. I hope offering a little cannabis becomes a more regular part of social settings and parties as time goes on, I think there’s a misconception that alcohol can be offered at work events, but cannabis shouldn’t be. I’m such a lightweight and I get unforgivable hangovers from alcohol. Vaping a little in place of drinking is just a lot easier on my body.” We completely agree!
When looking towards the future of cannabis, New Here is most excited for the release of people in prison for cannabis-based crimes. “People’s entire lives are literally wasting away in prison, separated from their families, for selling a plant that you can now go to beautiful boutiques all over the country in many states and purchase openly and legally. It makes me sick to my stomach, it’s absolutely dystopian and so incredibly American.”
When not making music you can find New Here hitting the pavement via their newly found passion of boarding. “I took up skateboarding this year which has been really fun. I am not very good at it because I just really can’t be bothered, I’m 25, I’m not here to look cool or pretend to be Tony fucking Hawk, I’m here to dick around with my friends and make gatekeepy men lose their goddamn minds.”
We completely relate to New Here’s life motto of “Good enough is good enough” which stemmed from being a recovering perfectionist with killer anxiety, “If I didn’t let myself get away with doing a C+ job on some things, I would never finish anything.” With that said we think that New Here is definitely doing an A+ job at being an incredible and inspiring human.
You can listen to New Here on all major streaming services except Amazon, or you can buy their music from BandCamp. “I personally prefer to use streaming services, but I know they don’t pay artists jack shit, so every once in a while If I’ve really been enjoying music from a smaller artist, I will ask them for their PayPal/CashApp/Venmo and just send them some money. That way the artist gets paid directly for their work without any cuts being taken by sites that sell their music, and I get to use the streaming service I like guilt-free, it feels like a win-win, and I wish more people would do it.”
We are thrilled to have New Here performing at our August 20th event, and can’t wait to check out their new EP and future work! Please check out and support New Here on Spotify, Apple Music, SoundCloud and follow them on Instagram, Facebook, and TikTok @NewHerePDX.
