Interview with Savannah Outen

 

 

View Savannah’s full Artist of the Week feature here.

YouTube helped you gain a following. Do you think getting involved in the music industry is easier now? Or more difficult since anyone can use YouTube and that creates more competition?

“Oh good question! I still think the music industry is pretty difficult to break into. I don’t think that will ever change. There are so many things to keep up within this industry, trends, different sounds, etc. You have to keep reinventing your sound in order to stay relevant. So I think YouTube is a great source -especially in this day and age- to put yourself out there. I’m so thankful for it. YouTube has helped me reach people around the world (instead of just in the States). I have fans in Switzerland, Norway, Brazil, etc. It’s the coolest thing ever. Without YouTube, that would not be possible. I think the music industry is still tough, but YouTube is a fantastic outlet for artists.” 

Is it strange having so many fans that you’ve never interacted with personally before?

“It’s crazy. Crazy and cool. I try my best to keep a relationship with all of my fans, especially fans who create fan sites. I send them exclusive photos from photo shoots, or shout-out videos. I just hope that someday I can meet every single one of my fans to thank them in person, because they’re so awesome. I love when I get fan letters. They’re so sweet, and make my day!”

Do you have a favorite song to cover?

“I love covering Adele songs. I adore her. I think she’s amazing. A lot of times I take requests, and cover those songs. But, at the end of the day I have to make sure that the song I cover fits my voice right. If it doesn’t, I completely change it. I recently covered “I Knew You Were Trouble” by Taylor Swift, and I rearranged it. I slowed it down, and made it more of a balad. It all depends. Covering songs is fun! I have a blast doing it!”

You starred in “Take a Chance”. Is acting something you want to pursue?

“Yes! That was a really cool opportunity. It was a super random email I got one day, asking me if I wanted to try out for “Take a Chance”. I had an amazing time shooting it. Everybody on the set was so fun and sweet. I became really good friends with Cassie Scerbo, who is the lead. I played her best friend Amanda in the film. I don’t know, we’ll see. I’ve always been in love with comedy. I watch SNL every Saturday night. I’m obsessed! If I could act in something that’s comedic that would be super cool!”

Who would be your dream costar?

“I love Justin Timerblake. Obsessed isn’t a strong enough word. I would die if I got to act with him. I think he’s ridiculously talented. He’s one of the coolest people of our generation. He’s our Michael Jackson. I love everything he’s done on SNL and all of his movies. He’s fantastic. I would love to work with him. Because of our age difference, I wouldn’t be able to play his love interest, but I could play his niece or something. He’d be a real close uncle of mine [laughs].”

You released your Sing to Me EP in 2012 any plans to release a full length?

“Yes. My EP was released in October, and it went to #21 on the singer/songwriter charts. That was so exciting! I’m releasing a physical copy of it, with a bonus track, within the next few weeks. The extra tack is called “Hot Air Ballon”. It’s a really cute, fun, lovey dovey song. The physical copy will also come with a bunch of downloadable photos and stuff! I’m hoping a full length album will be out soon. There’s a lot of stuff happening behind the scenes right now. Everyone will just have to wait and see. I’m still waiting [laughs]!

In the mean time I’m also releasing another original song called “Brave & True”. I partnered with an organization called Music is Medicine, and was paired up with a cancer patient named Bo (from Johns Hopkins Hospital) who I wrote the song for. Music is Medicine flew me out to Bo and I sang the song for him, and we shot a music video. It’s a very cool organization  I can’t wait for the song to be out!”

We love your Fairytales of L.A. music video. What scene was your favorite to film?

“Every single scene was really fun. I had a blast shooting stuff with the band. The bassist Tom Harrison actually wrote the song with me. We went on this overlook of L.A. and Tom’s parents owned the land so we shot there. Even the stuff with my “boyfriend” was fun! It was so spontaneous. The whole experience was awesome!”

When was the first home you ever had a caricature drawn of yourself?  Do you still own it?

“I was in New York, performing in the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day parade. My best friend Natalie and were walking around waiting for our dinner reservations and there was a caricaturist on the street. So we did it! It looks nothing like us! We always laugh and joke about it. She’s got it plastered in her closest. I’m always like “why are you hiding that picture? It’s so beautiful!” [Laughs]. The second time I ever had a caricature drawn of myself was in the video! Julian, the guy who edited the video, couldn’t use a lot of the caricature clips because I was laughing so hard the entire time. That drawing was not even close.”

Do you have plans to release a new music video?

“I do. I’ve already filmed one for “Closure”. It’s my favorite song off the EP. It’s the only balad on it. That will be released very soon. As will the one for “Brave & True”. We’re shooting a music video for “House of Cards” soon too. That song has been the most popular one off of “Sing To Me”, which I was surprised about! Lot’s of videos coming! I love shooting them!”

What’s your favorite movie of 2013 so far?

“Admission! My good friend Nat Wolff stars in it, and he was so amazing in it. He plays Jeremiah. I loved it and was so proud of him!”

You recently had your fourth Twitter birthday. What did you do to celebrate?

“I’d like to say I had a cake with candles and stuff, but I didn’t really do anything. I saw Admission and hung out with friends. It’s so funny. You get notified from Twitter when it’s your “birthday”. I had a few tweets saying “Happy Birthday”, and I was like “no my birthday is in October”. Then I realized they meant it was my twitter’s birthday, not mine [laughs]. I think it’s cool that they keep you in the loop. I’ve been on there for four years! That’s crazy!”