Toronto-born and Los Angeles-based, Abby Sage is an indie singer-songwriter on the rise. After releasing multiple EP’s, her debut album is set to release in the spring of 2024. Her Campus at UCLA had the opportunity to talk with Sage about her journey as a musician, the inspiration behind her new work, and the release of her most recent song, “Hunger.”
This interview has been edited for length and clarity.
HC: When did you know that you wanted to become a musician?
AS: My dad played when I was growing up and taught me how to play guitar and everything. Then I took what he taught me, and I always wrote poetry when I was younger, so I guess it started there.
HC: What first steps did you take to become a musician?
AS: When I was young I posted little snippets on SoundCloud; it’s definitely changed a lot since then. It’s definitely shifted, and I think doing all of the creative aspects of it is a big part of it now, too.
HC: Can you describe the creative aspect a little more?
AS: I love being very hands on with it, so me and a friend have been making a lot of papier-mâché for this project. We kind of view the period of this project as a theater kid resurrection. It’s a lot of breaking the fourth wall and showing the process behind the visuals and how things move behind the scenes a bit more.
HC: Could you describe your songwriting process for “Hunger” and how it has been different from previous songs?
AS: I think with “Hunger,” I definitely knew I wanted to write for a while, but I never had the nerves. I think the big difference is that this year, I felt brave enough to write a song like this and it just felt like a good time to be honest and make that introduction. It’s definitely one of the more personal songs I’ve released.
HC: What message are you trying to express through the song?
AS: I think a lot of it is how, in a lot of people’s lives, sex kind of gets dumbed down to something that is shameful. I think that the big message of [the song] is removing that shame because sex is such a natural and beautiful thing. So I think that the message is just to treat everyone as a beginner in some capacity and not be afraid of something that is beautiful. The visuals behind the music video have a message as well, with my journey of sex with others and then the respect I have for myself.
HC: How does your personal experience from your life drive your music?
AS: I think, especially this year, just spending a lot more time on my own, I felt a little bit more introspective. I think that for this project, specifically, I definitely looked at a lot of instances in my life and kind of built the songs around those.
HC: Can you describe this new project a little bit more?
AS: I think it took me a while to realize that all the songs were connected. But once I did, it just made so much sense to me where a lot of it follows. What I learned throughout my life, within childhood, and up until now in this point, this project basically just deconstructs a lot of the knowledge that has been passed down to me and what I choose to take away and what I choose to ignore. So yeah, it’s just about learning and growing and everything just piecing together during those very developmental stages.
HC: What do you think is the hardest thing about making it as a musician, especially being a woman in the industry?
AS: I think there’s a lot of expectation on artists to wear so many hats these days. It’s not necessarily just about the music anymore, but I feel lucky that I love to do a lot of the visual side of it too. But I think that it is quite a different landscape now where there is more expectation on artists to do everything. As for being a woman, it’s kind of just more of a respect thing. I think that it’s maybe a little bit harder to make that space for yourself. But, I think if you lead with honesty and truthfulness in everything you do, then there isn’t a massive difference.
Checkout Abby’s song and music video for “Hunger,” and tune in to her newest project when it releases in the spring!