Most musicians, by nature, are introverts. This is not a generalization. This is what I have learned after thousands of interviews with artists from Aretha and Adele to ZZ Top and Warren Zevon.
So, armed with this first-hand experience over decades, when I sat down with self-proclaimed folkie Bebe Stockwell, she of the quiet, introspective, lovely folk songs, I thought I knew exactly what to expect – a thoughtful, soft-spoken, shy singer/songwriter. Well, you know what they say about assuming, for good reason.
The Los Angeles-based Stockwell is indeed thoughtful, but soft-spoken and shy? Definitely not, as I found out talking to her. Bebe Stockwell — EDM fan, extrovert who laughs constantly — is quite unexpected in a very fun way.
Hit Parader: Congratulations on the project! Listening to “When You Know,” I love the idea of you saying, “It’s not like in the movies.” And yet, every person has that picture of what falling in love with the movies is like. So, when you think of falling in love, what movie do you think of?
Bebe Stockwell: I think of How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days, or Notting Hill. Which, to me, is like movies I grew up on where I was like, “Oh, it’s going to be that easy.” I also do love rom coms. I think rom coms are blowing up right now, too. There are just so many movies about love and stuff. So, I was talking to my friends. We have this couch we all sit on, my friends in L.A., we usually watch rom coms, and [since] it’s really hard to date in L.A., we were all like, “Oh God, I wish it was this easy.” It’s a classic tale for single girls being, “Oh, I wish it was like how it was in the movies, but it’s the movies.”
HP: If you could live in any rom com and make music there, what would it be?
Stockwell: It would have to be Notting Hill because I have such a love for London that I would want to be in that movie. I would want to either be busking on the street or something. Yeah, I think Notting Hill would be a fun one. It’s a great movie; it makes me cry. I watch it every single time I’m on the airplane. Every single time.
HP: How’s the European tour going? Have you been surprised by songs and the responses to them?
Stockwell: Yeah, I think because a lot of them I haven’t really shown the world yet because the record’s coming out tonight. I think I’ve played we played “Out of Line,” which is a song I haven’t put out yet and people have loved that live. It’s been really cool to see the response to that, maybe it’s the rhythm but I think people like the story of it and they like the rhythm of it. It’s different usage of my voice. I feel like I can sing really low but, in that song, I say it’s like a vocal warm-up almost because I start so low, then I go really high and then I go back down. So, to me, that song has surprised me how the crowd reacts. “New England Regret” I always say that I’m from New England or Boston, it depends which city I’m in. But people who are from New England really resonate with that song, which is really special to me because that’s why I wrote it, for the people back home. So that song, it was nice to see a reaction from the crowd. When I was writing it, I was listening to a bunch of songs about New England because I wrote the song and I was like, “What else is out there that is about where I’m from? They’re all such cute songs. When you listen to a song about New England all the songs are very “guitar-ian,” except there are a bunch of punk songs about Boston. But I feel like a summer New England song is very familiar.
HP: Do you feel like having moved away and getting a little older you are feeling closer to New England and those roots?
Stockwell: I’ve always felt close to it. It’s an awesome place. I grew up with my grandparents living on the same street as me and for Christmas we just walked down the street. Then my other grandparents were across the park. So, everyone knows each other there. I’m always one person, if that, away from knowing someone. It’s so small and I think people are so with it and so fun. And everyone knows how have a good time. It’s my favorite city. And I think as I get older, I am pulled back to it a lot. And I do see myself going back as I get older, but I’m too young. It’s a very chill city. So, I’m excited to go back.
HP: What made you move to L.A.?
Stockwell: I actually was going to move to London. The year before, I went abroad in London. And I was like, “Oh, I really want to move to London. I really like it here.” And I had a group of friends from NYU that had moved to L.A. and they were just having so much fun. At the point I just signed, and my best friend had moved to L.A. I followed her. I was like, “I need to go where she is.” And now we live right behind each other. I think it was more a decision of like, “Where are my friends at right now? Where’s the music at?” I felt good about that decision and I’m lucky that I get to come to London a good amount too now, so I get the best of both worlds.
HP: I find environment very much affects writing and recording so if you had moved to London do you this would have been a whole different project?
Stockwell: I made the record in Woodstock, so I wasn’t even in L.A. for all of it. I was just in the woods and Boston. I left for a really long chunk of time. I wrote all the songs before and then I took them to a producer named David Barron. He’s so lovely and we it was awesome, we just jammed out to all these ideas, and he brought new musicians in every day. I met a lot of new people, which I haven’t done before. I haven’t met as many musicians in my life as I met this year, so that was a super special moment.
HP: What made it so special?
Stockwell: I was friendly with David, so I trusted whoever he brought in and everyone who came in was just a really lovely person and so nice and so talented. So, just to be able to jam out and talk about ideas freely and also in the meantime randomly jam out and make new songs, it was just about having fun. If I’m not having fun, I can tell and it affects me. I talk about this with my friends a lot and it’s important to have fun. I had a very good time making this record.
HP: What was the most fun show you’ve been to?
Stockwell: I’ve been to two Olivia Dean shows and those have always been my favorite. A Lumineers show and Olivia Dean show have been all-time favorite shows because they’re just having so much fun on stage. Also, I love her outfits and the vibe. And I think feeling comfortable on stage is so hard. I just saw her play her last show at the O2. It was incredible. They were just having so much fun on stage, and I think that the audience could feel that. I was like, “Oh, I hope my show feels like this to the audience.”
HP: When I’m looking at songs like “Going to the Country” or “Wild Love” they feel very quiet and natural, so I pictured you as more of a shyer folk artist?
Stockwell: No, I’m not shy at all. I’m being tame right now. I guess every person who listens to the music is going to probably have their own perception of who I am as an artist. Yeah, those songs, I guess they are introspective. They’re a story and it is a soft record in a way. It’s a nice, soft feeling and vibe. A lot of my artist friends are so not introverted that I always just think everyone’s just out there like that.
HP: Which of your songs would you most love to have remixed and by who?
Stockwell: I would want Calvin Harris to remix “Ant Farm” and make it into like a summer beat. Then, it’s like, “Let’s go swimming in the river creek.” He’s someone I grew up listening to. I feel like I listened to a lot of Diplo and Becky Hill. I loved Becky Hill, for a second, I was like, “Do I want to be Becky Hill? She’s so cool.” Jess Glynne, her voice and Becky Hill’s voice were my favorite voices of the era of listening to pop EDM music. As much as I grew up on jazz, folk and Americana, there was that intermission of EDM music. The lyrics of EDM songs are so simple, yet they make me feel so much when I need it.
