Interview: Chelsea Berman’s Leap Into Pop.

Trying to summarise Chelsea Berman into a few short words feels almost like an impossible challenge. She’s brazen, brave and bold as she takes a leap musically from country to pop. With her new single Obsessed, Berman has created a new sound for herself which is as assured and honest as her storytelling. For the record, on Obsessed Berman sings about a relationship she’s left behind, except for the fact that she’s troubled by a clinging ex who just wont let go.

I recently caught up with Chelsea Berman to talks about her new single and why embracing pop is a positive step forward. Here is some of what we talked about.

Chelsea, your new single Obsessed is a wonderful leap from country into pop. Why have you chosen to explore pop as a genre?

Country has been a huge part of my music for a long time, and it’s something I will never fully leave behind. However over the last few years my music taste and sound has changed a lot, and I’ve been exploring new ways of creating music, which has become very pop leaning. In a short answer, pop is what I am enjoying listening to the most – so it’s also weaved it’s way into my music!

Do you think your longtime fans will follow you down this pop path?

I really hope so! I have had a few comments from my supporters saying they will listen to anything I release which means the world to me. I think it can definitely be tricky to completely change genres and expect your audience to follow you, but I think my gradual change of sound has prepared them for this new era of music.

The idea to transform country music into something more contempory has been happening for decades in Nashville. What has been your experience here in Australian circles? What do you think about where country music is heading here?

I’ve really struggled a lot with this in the Australian country industry, being told my music is ‘too pop’ for Australian country radio, amongst many other setbacks. Majority of the country music coming out of Nashville right now is extremely pop, and I think they allow their artists to experiment a lot more which is something I love. I think country music is really just starting to become mainstream in Australia, and I hope over the next few years we will see more acceptance of a pop sound in the country space!

I’d love to know more about your new single Obsessed. How did it come about? What can you tell us about its arrangement? 

Obsessed came about when someone really pissed me off! As a songwriter, the only way I can really get my feelings out is through a song, and this was a classic example of that. I found out that someone I used to work with in the music industry was spreading lies about me to some of my best friends. It was basically straight after I found out that the idea for the song came into my head, and I finished it in about 20 minutes (which definitely does not usually happen!) A few months later I decided it would be a really fun song for my next single, and got into the studio with my producer Rhys Zacher from Spinlight Studios and he made the magic happen!

The press pics for Obsessed are very clever. I especially love the tagline on your t-shirt: “I love singing songs about assholes.” Can you elaborate a little about its stinging message?

Haha thank you! I’ve certainly received a lot of comments about it. I actually got this shirt made by my dad’s clothing business, Drom Clothing, a long time before I planned the shoot concept. When I was planning the shoot around the song, it just seemed perfectly fitting considering who the song is about, a true asshole!

I’d love to know a little bit more about you. What motivated you to start a career in music? Have you always sung and or found a need to sing?

I was always surrounded by music growing up. I wasn’t raised in a musical family, but they always had music playing and some of my favourite movies were musical movies like High School Musical (classic!) I always used to sing around the house, but at the age of 8 my parents got me singing lessons and the rest is history!

Who were your musical inspirations when you first started singing? And why?

My very first musical inspiration was Hilary Duff haha, but that’s when I was very young. I’ve always had quite a broad taste in music and listened to all genres, it was only about 9 years ago that I discovered country music and artists like Kelsea Ballerini and Taylor Swift. Obviously their songwriting is incredible, but their transition into pop music has also inspired me a lot throughout my journey.

The guitar goes hand in hand when I think of singer songwriters. Tell me about why the guitar as an instrument is important to you? And how does it help you when songwriting? 

This is an interesting question for me because I avoid playing guitar at my gigs whenever I can! Mostly because I don’t feel confident as a guitarist and would much rather focus on singing and performing. As a songwriter though, it has been such an important tool and the main reason I learnt guitar all of those years ago! I know a lot of pop musicians write directly to a track, but I think I’ll always prefer writing my songs with my guitar.

And lastly, before I let you go, apart from the new single, what else is coming up for you?

Definitely some more new music before the end of the year! I head to Nashville for the second time in June and will be writing up a storm, so will be itching to get back into the studio once I’m back from that trip. I’m also planning some more shows around Australia, so hopefully I’ll see some of you at one!

Chelsea Berman’s new single Obsessed is available via all good major streaming services including Spotify. For more information on Chelsea Berman including “Assholes” t-shirt merch check out her website. Follow Chelsea on Facebook | Instagram | Tik Tok. Watch on You Tube.