“Don’t Know Why” by Haley Nance masterfully captures the feeling of helplessness that comes with the realization that you can’t do anything to improve a bad situation but watch it play out. In this case, it is a failing relationship, which leads to questions arising from self-doubt and blame. We had the pleasure of interviewing Haley Nance, and here’s what she had to say:
Q: What inspired “Don’t Know Why”?
NANCE: The inspiration for ‘Don’t Know Why’ came from me looking back at a relationship and realizing the worst part for me was the loss of control I had towards the end. It’s the feeling of someone distancing themselves from you and you not knowing why or not knowing how to fix it. I became inspired by that feeling because I sort of came to the conclusion that it’s one of the most brutal things to experience in any form of a relationship. For me at least.
Q: What drives you to create music?
NANCE: I just love music and I’ve always used music as an outlet for my emotions. Even before I started doing music in any real way, I was always obsessed with how music can make people feel and how it made me feel. Now I don’t know any other way to express myself besides through music and writing in general.
Q: How are you hoping listeners will respond to this song?
NANCE: I hope that if anyone can relate to the song, they can get a feeling of peace knowing that it’s something that most people go through and they’re not alone in that feeling.
Q: Can you describe what a typical recording session for this song was like? How long did it take to create this song?
NANCE: I actually wrote this song in August of 2022 within less than an hour. I ended up forgetting about the song because it was done so quickly. I didn’t step into the studio until February of this year, and I believe it only took about 3 sessions to do the entire song. Tanner Ledford was the producer I worked with and he made this song come to life better than I expected. He made the process fun and easy. I’m very thankful to him and I learned a lot.
Q: What do you do to get your creative juices flowing when you feel stuck while creating a song?
NANCE: I tend to journal about anything and everything which sometimes helps me when I feel a bit stuck in the writing process. Music is definitely the biggest inspiration and recently I have been listening to new music, music I haven’t heard, or music that I don’t normally listen to. That has helped a lot and it definitely pushes me to be more creative and challenge myself a bit.
Q: Who’s one artist you’d love to work with?
NANCE: I have the longest list of artists I would absolutely love to work with but I don’t think it would fit on the page. I have been listening to a lot of 5 Seconds of Summer’s new album almost religiously so I feel like I have to say them or I would be lying. I love their songwriting and the sound that they have formed over the years, they are a big inspiration to me.
Interviewed by Zoey King
FOLLOW HALEY NANCE:
