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Nothing is more validating than getting to interview a young songwriter, one whose world of infectious and overly honesty songwriting you’ve been consuming for months, and realize they are as special as they sound on record. Brimming with introspection and emotion, Aubroy Bugg is a mindful artist who has just released an album, i think i had something once, that cements her as a truly special talent. Pulled in by the namesake single, the album unfold with varied themes and tempos ("Nosedive" being a personal fav) but always displaying a rare lyrical articulation that feels so intimate, it’s hard not to be personally immersed. Generous with her time on release week, we caught up with Aubory on her journey, how to make life better for everyone and being true to yourself & your craft here:  

OnesToWatch: Why are you an artist? 


Aubory Bugg: Jesus. I think art is the only way that I would not go insane.
It is the only job I could do that would not drive me absolutely crazy at the end of the day. I love it more than anything in the world. 

So really a pragmatic choice. 


It's to keep my sanity, mainly.


I always love an alternative reality, though. If for whatever reason, you weren't as talented and gifted as you are, what would you be doing? 

Political advocacy. I went to school for political science. My second love is understanding the world around me and helping people. So some sort of political advocacy, preferably in social safety nets or nonprofit lobbyism. Separate from the music that I make, I want people to be helped to the extent that they need and have access to the things that they need to thrive. 

As someone that's much older than you, it’s an uphill battle.
But so is being an artist. So maybe you were just destined to do something difficult, you know? 

I will say, being an artist is an uphill battle and if I fail, I disappoint myself, but if I was in political advocacy and I failed, it would definitely have a wider impact. 

I don't know if it's always true, and I don't know if it's still true, but I do think that art is probably the most palpable form of social change.

Oh, yeah. I agree with that. 


You could do both, you know? 

Yeah, it's such a beautiful thing when artists use the money they make from art to help people. I've been really into looking into the Daisy Chain Fields festival that Olivia Rodrigo just did. That's so cool. I want to be able to do things like that with my art and money. I love hearing 20 years after the fact, that Dolly Parton donated $2,000,000 to flood survivors. Taylor Swift donated $50,000 to this person, so on and so forth. 

Love it. Let's get back to you. When did you decide that you wanted to put your music out there to complete strangers? 

I don't think there was ever a moment of like, “Okay, I'm ready now.” I knew that if I wanted to be an artist, that I had to get music up at some point. I'm a big subscriber of the you have to make it before you can make it perfect. So I was just like, this isn't perfect and it's not going to be for a while, but this is what I have and I have to start putting it out or else I am never going to start. 

And what about songwriting? How long do you think you were writing songs intentionally? 

Intentionally, I've been writing since I was 17 or 18? Previous to that I had put diary entries to chords. That's not really writing. It's just like, I feel sad and I want to sing about it. But the first time I actually sat down to write a song, it was this one called “New Phone,” and I think I had just turned 18. So I haven’t been writing for a long time relative to my age, but still some time. 

What have you changed or learned or modified in your songwriting process since you were 18? 

Oh, so much. When I was 18, I was still a kid, really. It's not that I didn't have much to write about, but I didn't know how to write honestly about a lot of things. I think that in the last 4 years, I've learned how to say a lot with very little words, and I've learned how to tell stories in ways that are not just, this happened, and then this happened, and then this happened. I've honed in on being able to paint a picture of details as opposed to just laying it out, step by step. I've found a lot more honesty and vulnerability in metaphors than when I first started. 

Credit to you. I feel that change in effect in your songwriting, and it's what drew me to you. I'm a big fan of that style where it's high-level detail of a small thing above a large thing, and it's so telling of the larger thing because of the understanding of that small thing. 


Thank you. That's my favorite thing ever. 

Let's talk about your last several songs. Are they songs that you've been working on for a while? Are they more contemporaneous? 


They're a little bit more contemporaneous. I've had them kind of loaded up and ready to go for a while. I have this record coming out on Friday that these are all leading towards, and they were just the broadest strokes that I could release from this record without getting too in the weeds. We picked them carefully to be able to get pretty big chunks of the themes of the record without giving too much of the real meat of the record away. The longest one that I've been holding on to is “I think i had something once,” that came out 3 months ago now and I'd been holding onto it since March of last year and then the most recent one is “the one you want to lose,” which I wrote in June of last year. So it’s a really small window of time we're working with. 

Love it. I love that the singles are anticipating the record, but then what's the album about? 


The weeds, it's about the weeds. It’s all of the honesty that I could muster but couldn't make a single. I know that a lot of people are going to be listening to the singles because they get on a playlist or because I do an interview about them. I wanted a little bit of meat to give to the people that wanted to listen deeper. So some of it's a little bit heady. Some of it's a little bit raw still, and I did that kind of purposefully. I have a song called “farewell to dreaming,” which is just the first draft of the song. I mainly just wanted to be as polished as possible without forsaking vulnerability. So it's a little bit awkward and it's a little bit embarrassing and a little bit pathetic, but I just wanted it to be a lesson in vulnerability, in a sense. 

Well, I do think it's why your music resonates, because we live in a world that is so structured, polished and for external validation, that your willingness to get a little awkward, a little pathetic feels so refreshingly human. Do you have an ambition for this record? Is there something you want you or your audience to take away from it? 

I think the answer to this question changes when I get a little bit further away from the record. As of right now, I want this record to reach the people that are going through what the record is about, which is just losing things you didn't think you would. Whether that be growing up, losing a loved one, going through a breakup, losing a friend. I am doing a tour in the spring and I'm doing a tour in November, and if I go to the merch stand after these shows and 2 people come up and say, hey, I had this feeling and I haven't heard it in a song before, and then I listened to this song and it really it put things in perspective for me, if it has that real world impact on even a minor scale, I will feel accomplished with what I've done. 


Beautiful. Well, I suspect there'll be more than 2 people at the merch booth, so be prepared. Before I pivot to some hopefully fun, silly questions… I’m always interested in self-editing. How do you choose what goes on a project? Does this album anticipate the next project? 

This album is kind of a hybrid of a standalone and a jumping board. This record is definitely an introduction to a style that I didn't explore in my first record. It feels like priming a wall, basically. As I look towards Record 2 already, there are some references that I'm coming back to from Record 1. I like taking a line from a song and putting it in another and having it be a cheeky Easter Egg. But as far as self-editing goes, I think the tally of started songs for this record was 93. And the tally of finished was 51. It was a matter of whittling down. It was a matter of, this goes with this and this doesn't go with this, so this has to get left off. 
But as we're looking towards the next record, I don't think that a lot of those songs that got left off of this record are gonna happen for it. 

They're just orphans? 

They're just orphans. They will go to my publisher and my publisher will find homes for them, I hope. But no, I think that I want this record to stand alone in its writing style.
I want this to stand alone in some of its subject material. But nothing can exist in a vacuum. My second record will be informed by my first one and my third record will be informed by this one. 


Incredible. If a bunch of your friends ambush you at your place of residence, they're hungry, can you whip up a meal? And if so, what is it? 


I have a question. Can I go to the grocery store? 

I like the idea of you needing to use what is in your fridge currently. What do you have in your fridge?

It is condiments. It is leftovers that should not be in the fridge anymore. Should definitely be in a trash can. It is bad. But I am somewhat of a cook as of late. I've been cooking a lot of my meals. 

Okay let’s say you have groceries. 

Okay… My partner and I made chicken wings and a hash on the skillet. It was one of the best southern cooked meals I've ever had in my entire life. And it was super quick, super easy. 
So I think I'd probably make some version of the chicken wings and hash. Meat and potatoes. 

How did you cook the chicken wings, literally just on the skillet? 

You put a little bit of oil in the skillet, you rub the crap out of the chicken wings. I use the kinders all purpose seasoning. You just put it everywhere and then you get it to medium high heat, so you get a sear, and then you put a lid over it. It was really good. 

I’ll have to try it out. Next question. If you were a promoter building your own festival, who’s playing? 

Oh, this is hard. I’d like to headline, if I’m throwing my own festival. But I’d also like August James, Kate Stevenson, Abby Powledge, and my friend Sydney Rose to play. I'm gonna throw Lizzy McAlpine in there. I'm going to have to throw Brandi Carlisle in there just for the sake of me. Mori, Christian Lee Hudson, and Ryman. 

That's a pretty solid festival. I like how Brandi slipped in there too. 

Oh, I mean, she's the blueprint. 

If I find you at your most relaxed, your most zen, where are you? What are you doing? 

Ooh, I'm watching a horror movie on my couch with popcorn. My brain is the most off when I’m doing that. I'm probably in pajamas. There might be even slippers involved if we're getting crazy. Preferably it's fall, maybe I just showered even.
I'm feeling very relaxed.

What kind of horror do you like? 

I used to be kind of a gore nerd, just for the practical effects of it all. I love learning how people do things. Lately, I've been really on the campy slashers again. I did my time in the psychological thriller thing. I loved Obsession. I loved Bugonia this year. In this scenario, though, I’d be reaching for a campy slasher movie, like a Sleepaway Camp, Scream, Friday the 13th, vibe. 

Classic. Last couple of questions. If you could manipulate time and space, would you? And what would you do? 


Oh, God. This is hard. I don't think I'd do it. In a perfect world, yes, I'd freeze time and then I'd rob a bank and I wouldn't get caught for it. I'd go back and stop terrible things from happening. But I think knowing myself, if I was just given this vague power, I would not touch it. I would not use it. I’d be so scared. I've seen just about every time travel horror movie. There's a couple time travel slashers, and the physics of it scared the crap out of me. I don't like it. 


I would love a non-music recommendation. A place to visit, something to eat, something to do, something to read, something to watch. 


Rutledge Falls, about an hour south of Nashville, it’s where they filmed Hannah Montana. That was big for me as a kid.
I went the day before Labor Day, so it was a little packed, but if you catch it on a peaceful morning, it is the most zen location ever. Also Emo's Pizza in St. Louis. 

I’d also love a music recommendation. 


I've been really on Paradise Pop. 10 by Christian Lee Hudson. I think it's a perfect record. I think everybody should listen to it at least once. 

That's amazing. And then lastly, I just want to end on your words. 

Stay in school, don't do drugs. 

That was not on my bingo card.