We had the pleasure of interviewing Casey Conroy, and here’s what she had to say:
Q: In what way(s) do you think “Cashew” is different from your previous releases?
CONROY: In a lot of ways I think the essence of my songwriting always stays the same and is majorly focused on the storytelling first but I think with “Cashew” I was a little more willing to step out of usual comfort zones. I started experimenting with more organic sounds which is a priority for me in this new project I’m starting to release. It’s also the first time I’m doing a drop down chorus and I really loved the dynamic that it created in the song and how it allowed for these unexpected turns.
Q: What’s the story behind this song?
CONROY: It’s just being tired of giving more to your personal relationships than you’re getting back. The verses are kind of trying to convince this person why this relationship is worth the time and effort and the choruses are just exhausted. They are exhausted of always trying to persuade and basically being done with free falling, as the song says. I’d felt like this a lot when I was younger and it’s been kind of a resolution of mine to hold my relationships to a higher standard.
Q: What was your songwriting process for this song?
CONROY: “Cashew” is one of the first songs I’ve written that I actually played a larger role on the production side. Once I discovered the loop from my friend and collaborator Gavin Hadley, I had a lot of fun building out the structure and concept of the song. He had originally named the loop “Cashew” and when I saw it in the folder I was like “hmm I kind of want to play this word game of “cashew”sounding a lot like the phrase “catch you” and build a song around that”. One of my favorite parts of this song is the beat drop after the first chorus and to me that always kind of represented the sigh of frustration that comes along with this feeling of not getting enough back.
Q: What song do you currently have on replay that you can’t get enough of?
CONROY: I recently discovered Mallory Merk and have had her song “Sinister” on nonstop. I’m also obsessed with an artist called Q. I’m so inspired by the music I keep discovering from other new artists! Oh and I still haven’t turned off the Lizzy McAlpine record.
Q: What would you like your music to represent?
CONROY: I guess I just hope that my music builds a community and makes people feel represented in general. I hope it’s music that you don’t just play on the way to a party but music you do life with. I hope there’s a song you put on when you need a good cry, a song for when you’re celebrating, a song for when you can’t sleep. I love when fans can relate to what I’m singing about and it makes them feel seen and less alone. That’s why I make music.
Q: What projects are you currently working on?
CONROY: I moved to LA last February and it was super important to me that I didn’t rush into releasing and instead took the time to see how and where I was going to grow as both an artist and human in this new phase of my life. I wrote a ton, like a 100 songs, last year and have spent the last couple months narrowing down the songs and finding the story and now I’m finally starting to release this projects of songs, with “Cashew” being the first release. I am so excited to keep building this world as the songs rollout this year and I know a bunch of new ones will be written in the process as well.
Interviewed by Zoey King
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