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Photo: Sarah Pardini

A fiery artist who is celebrated for her raw honesty, emotive lyrics, and introspective fearlessness, UPSAHL has been a favorite of ours since her early singles first graced our ears a few years back. With an upcoming EP Sagittarius on the horizon and a spooky, alluring single, "Into My Body," releasing ahead of Halloween, we had to check in with this noir maven to find out what's going into her music, head, and body.

Ones To Watch: Who is UPSAHL?

UPSAHL: UPSAHL is whoever I'm feeling like on any given day. I'm a songwriter and a performer, so my music naturally has become a direct reflection of myself.

What is "Into My Body" all about?

I wrote "Into My Body" from a very dissociative place. I was feeling very out of body and getting easily caught up in my own head. I'm an intense person, so whenever something is slightly off, I feel it... hard. Writing this song was a really vulnerable process for me, and somewhere along the lines it also became a bit of a masturbation anthem—ha! I feel like the balance of vulnerability and sexuality/confidence is something I try to keep in all my songs because that's a big part of who I am. 

Obviously, you are tackling a host of anxious issues, how did you settle on the sound for the single?

I feel really lucky to live in a time where genre in music doesn't really exist anymore, so getting to make "Into My Body" and all the songs for the EP have been a very freeing experience. I wanted "Into My Body" to feel like a dark dance record, so that's what I made. 

Any collaborations? Who produced the track?

I wrote this with Evan Blair and Elijah Noll. I've been working with them a lot for years, Elijah being one of the main writers on my last album Lady Jesus. I think the song was given space to be so vulnerable and so sexual because of how comfortable they make me feel in the studio. Pete Nappi, who's produced a LOT of my songs for the past five years, did the final production on it. Feeling very grateful for the crew that I got to make this song with. 

The video has a very disarming, dismembering vibe. How’d you choose the art direction? 

We wanted to convey the concept of the song in the most literal way possible. The director, Anastasia, absolutely killed it when it came to visually portraying the intensity of the constant struggle between being stuck in my head and feeling out of my body. From my head being detached at the beginning as I list off all the things that are making me spiral, to me being pieced back together and getting "into my body" as everything around me starts melting, this video tells the story of what I was going through when I wrote the song. 

 Besides this excellent single and forthcoming EP, what else should we be on the lookout for?

I just wrapped the US part of my 'This Is My First Headline Tour,' and am now headed to Australia, Europe, and the UK. I also have a pretty dope collab coming out soon!

What’s inspiring you right now outside of music?

Since I've been on tour, I've been watching a lot of movies, specifically some Nolan movies. The mindfuckery of all of his movies has been really inspiring lately. 

Ghost stories, yes or no?

YES. Actually, on this last tour, I accidentally booked me and my crew a haunted Airbnb. 

Who are your Ones To Watch?

I've really been looking up to Dora Jar, Noga Erez, and Fletcher. All badass women who are doing whatever the fuck they want in music, and it's really cool to watch!