Interviews

Kacey Fifield: More Than Summer's Latest "Dream Girl"

Rising pop artist Kacey Fifield has released her latest single, “Dream Girl”—a track that tackles social beauty standards with a blend of sarcasm and upbeat production. Following the success of her EP Nostalgia Haunts Me, which captivated listeners with its unique mix of infectious melodies and thought-provoking lyrics, Kacey continues serving her own brand of witty pop.

Originally from Chicago, Kacey moved to Los Angeles at a young age to pursue acting but ultimately discovered her true passion as a singer-songwriter. Now balancing her music career with her studies at Columbia University in New York, Kacey is ambitiously dedicated to reach new heights, as becomes apparent in our talk below.

Miriam Boulos: Kacey, first off, how are you doing today?

Kacey Fifield: I'm doing really well. I just went on my morning walk, and it's a nice day out, so no complaints.

MB: Where are you?

KF: Los Angeles!

MB: Have you always lived there?

KF: I was born and raised in Chicago, but then I moved to LA when I was eight. And I go to college in New York, so I'm there for most of the year.

MB: How do you balance going to Columbia University and your artistic career?

KF: Honestly, I don't know. I just finished my first year, so it was kind of a learning curve. But for me, I kind of really thrive off of Google Calendar and blocking out my time. I always have something to do, I just try to get things done as fast as possible in terms of schoolwork so that I have as much time as possible to work on everything else.

MB: I was wondering, how did you take on your career as a solo singer-songwriter? Have you always wanted to do that?

KF: Ever since I was little, I was always singing and coming up with my own songs. I also would watch TV shows and recreate the scenes and I would put on little one-woman musicals for my family and force them to watch. Then I moved to LA to pursue acting after I got into an acting school in Chicago. I did an acting conference in New York, and I got a bunch of callbacks from different casting directors, agents, and managers through that. My family and I were kind of like, let's try it out. It'd be easier for me to move to LA when I'm eight, rather than in the middle of high school. So, we were like, there's no better time for me to try it out. But I ended up really loving it here. I did a bunch of acting and then when I was 10, I got the opportunity to work with a music producer. I think I posted a video of myself singing "Titanium" on Twitter. I was just in vocal lessons, nothing professional, but he saw that, and he asked me if I wanted to sing this song he wrote called “When I Grow Up”, which was meant for a kid to sing. After that, I started writing my own music. With my early music, you can definitely tell it was written by an 11, 12-year-old. But I think it's also really cool that you can see how I've progressed since then. Then during the COVID pandemic, when acting wasn't really a possibility anymore, is when I really zeroed in on my music, and I've really been focusing on it since then.

MB: Yeah, we see that evolution, and we can hear it more specifically. I hope I can dig out that video of you singing “Titanium” on Twitter. Anyway, I’d like to say congrats on your latest release, “Dream Girl”, a pop song with a statement. How important is it for you to tackle such issues like societal beauty standards in your music?

KF: I think that song kind of evolved in a really interesting way because we started off, we were like, “oh, let's write a fun song”. We came up with a quick guitar line and we were all just kind of sitting there thinking of lyrics and the first lyrics that came to my head were with the melody: “so um well I get possessive and I lose myself”. I didn't have anything else. I was like, “wait that kind of reminded me of an idea I had a couple of months ago that I never ended up finishing” which was “oh I'm your dream girl” and it's talking about how we all put on a different face in front of society and in front of the person that we like. So that song kind of evolved into a larger statement than we expected it to be originally. I think what I love about that song is that it is talking about something important. It's pointing out the absurdity behind changing yourself to fit someone else's perception and changing yourself to fit into the standard of a dream girl. I'm just pointing out that you do all these crazy things in order to fit that standard which kind of makes you the opposite of that effortlessly beautiful standard. But we kind of do it in a sarcastic way where it's still a really fun song. It definitely doesn't sound heavy or super sad or anything which I think is really fun. I love having sarcasm in my music and kind of having it have a meaning that's a little bit below the surface level of the lyrics.

MB: There's this juxtaposition in the upbeat melody with the gritty sort of distorted elements sonically as well. I was wondering what was the thought process behind the musical contrast and juxtaposition?

KF: The music production also evolved a lot. It was produced by Sam Beresford, who's in the band Winnekta Bowling League. It was really funny, we had just basically a bass guitar with drums when we left the studio and then he texted us and he was like, “what if we tried something a little bit different?” He added a bunch of really cool sound effects that made it sound more digital, like the kind of bells chiming and the synth and we were like, wait, we really like this direction. So, then we decided to take it a little bit further in that direction. We added the talking section, and we added some more different backing vocals. Then for that one breakdown chorus where I'm super breathy, we added that. It was just to make it very interesting to listen to. We didn't want to do something boring, we wanted to do something unexpected, and I think that's definitely what this is.

MB: I'm absolutely obsessed with that talking segment in the song. What led to this creative decision in particular? It also gives this sort of Olivia Rodrigo kind of vibe. I'm curious to know how did it come together? Was it your idea?

KF: I think I was just telling them a story in the studio, and they were like, “wait, what if we recorded you telling that story and put it in the song?” So, then we did that, and we ended up really liking how it sounded, so then we recorded a couple of other versions of me talking into the mic and telling stories. It's actually really funny because that whole part was before Olivia Rodrigo dropped Guts but then I listened to it and she kind of has similar talking sections.

MB: That's good for people to know. More into the nitty-gritty bits of production, how did you end up using heavily stacked vocals in the song? What effects were you going for?

KF: I usually am so anti-anything crazy with the vocals. Every time I get a mix from anyone, I'm like less autotune, less effects on the vocals, less Melodyne, just make it sound as raw and natural as possible. But for this one, we just felt with how quirky the production was, and also with how kind of funny the lyrics were, we kind of felt it was necessary to do something super crazy with the vocals, so we wanted to stack them, add some distortion, add some cool effects, and I think it ended up sounding really great, and again, I'm not one for a ton of vocal effects usually. A lot of my other songs are just super raw vocals. But I think it definitely adds a lot more energy and it's definitely just ups the volume.

MB: Can you tell us more about this track, is it a one-off single or will it be part of a bigger project?

KF: No specific project as of now, but everyone can stay tuned on my socials for more about that. I have some more songs that we're working on that fit into the “Dream Girl” universe, I'd say, sonically. But I also don't want to make all my songs sound alike with the super distorted vocals and with the crazy production. I think there's definitely going to be a lot of that in my upcoming music but a lot of my previous, more songwriting-focused tracks are definitely still going to be there. I have a lot of songs that I'm working on right now and I still need to figure out exactly what's going to be released next and what order that's going to be, but I'm just really loving exploring this new direction. I feel like my writing has evolved throughout this past year and a lot of the tracks on my previous EP Nostalgia Haunts Me that came out in March were written and produced before I went to college, so there's definitely going to be a little bit of a departure from the themes that I talk about on there, but I'm still the same artist, so...

MB: Your music has been praised for its versatile soundscape and for its compelling lyrics. How do you approach crafting your lyrics specifically? I know that at your core, you're a songwriter.

KF: I definitely say I'm very lyrics-focused. Normally, when I get an idea, I have lyrics and a melody that come to me randomly, and then I try to make a guitar chord progression off of that. So, it's very lyrics-driven, but it also depends on the song. For example, with “Dream Girl”, I had that one kind of very vague idea that I went into the studio with. Basically, I came up with all of the lyrics during the session, and we worked on them together. But then other songs, like my song “Self-Sabotage”, I basically wrote entirely on my own and then I showed it to a producer and we built the music around what I had already written. So, it really does depend on the project and I'm really loving just being able to work with people who are so open to my ideas and able to work around lyrics that I already have.

MB: Being surrounded by people who get you, people who understand your ideas before you even pull them out is super important. Now more vaguely what does “Dream Girl” mean to you as a song?

KF: I think for me, it’s a song I always envisioned coming out during the summer. So, I'm really glad it's coming out in July. I feel like it's a very upbeat, energetic song that everyone can dance to, everyone can listen to on their morning runs. It's actually the perfect pace for jogging, which is a fun fact. But if anyone wants to add it to their run playlist, it's perfect for that. I think it really just gives me a lot of energy when I listen to it and I want people to feel that same way. But then I also want people, if they listen to the lyrics, to be like, “oh yeah, that actually is something that happens to a lot of us. We do change ourselves to fit into a mold, we do fix ourselves even though there was never anything broken.” But more than anything, I just want people to have fun, be able to relate to the track, and be able to share it with their friends.

MB: As we come to the end of this interview, what can you share with us in terms of projects or upcoming things you're excited about?

KF: I'm playing a show in Los Angeles at The Mint on August 14th. Other than that, I'm definitely working on a lot of new music. I have a ton of half-finished songs that we need to get done, but I'm really excited about all of them and the direction they're going. I'm at a place where I don't want to put anything out if I don't feel like it's better than everything else I've put out in the past. So definitely upping the bar for everything I release and making sure that all the songs I'm working on currently are perfect, so everyone can stay tuned for more updates on that. And I'm just really excited to release some more music.

MB: Awesome, are you thinking of touring anytime soon, Europe perhaps?

KF: I would love to tour Europe. That would be a goal of mine. I probably have to be in a support slot for now with the size I am as an artist.

MB: Who would you like to open for?

KF: I always say Conan Gray. Because he’s one of my favorite artists. His songwriting style is similar but different enough to make it make sense. Sabrina Carpenter is killing it right now I would love to open for her. Tate McRae is amazing, and I love her sounds also. There are so many artists I love so much and it’s such a great time for music right now!