Caylie G is a musician whose work channels queer and feminine empowerment and also speaks back to the conventional status quo standards of body image and beauty. A pop-roots artist and singer-songwriter living in Treaty Six Territory, Caylie’s ethereal and nostalgic pop sound grows out of country, rock and folk roots traditions.
“I’m a queer artist and I feel like my queerness is kind of embedded in everything that I do and I’m really passionate about being vocal about things that I don’t think are right,” Caylie G told True North FM.
“With my music, I try to create a soft place to land or a space to talk about things that I think are unjust or not right. Seeing people connecting with it or resonating with it, it’s kind of like we’re creating a little team, we’re all connecting together and as a community saying that we see each other and we hear each other, we all believe in the same thing. So that’s a gift. That my music has really given me.”
Last summer, Caylie released the debut EP “the trails and tribulations of a twenty two year old teenager” – a collection of stories about life.
A few weeks ago, Caylie released a song titled “ Brenda Heather Kelly,” which the artist wrote together with Robbie Townsend.
“The song talks about Ozempic and body image and the wellness apocalypse that’s happening right now. I know some people who are on Ozempic and it changed their lives for the better and they couldn’t be happier, and I’m so happy for them. Body image has been something that in the media, a very specific aesthetic has been pushed onto us forever and it’s difficult when you don’t look that way, so making this song kind of gave me the gift of people being like ‘I hear you and I agree, actually’ and it made me feel a little bit less alone, which is really nice,” reflects Caylie.
The idea of that song first came to Caylie while experiencing one uncomfortable situation after another at a party, finding herself in a circle of girls talking about how their moms were using a medication called Ozempic. Moving away from that circle, Caylie found herself in another circle of people continuously trying to ‘one up’ each other.
The writing and creation that came out of that experience has made for a song the artist is most proud of to date, along with another song called “Guinness at a Party” from a previous record.
“I started writing it on the train in Vancouver when I was there in September and I finished it when I got home. That song means so much to me for so many different reasons. I don’t write love songs very generally, but that one is a love song and it’s really important and special to me.”
Caylie’s latest EP features a collection of stories that speak about the upside and downside of just being, like the song “Ohio.”
“I wrote that song, just coming out of my first real breakup and it was awful. That song I owe a lot to because that was my first song that I wrote,” remembers Caylie.
After showing the song to her friends, they all got together and created a few versions of the song.
“What’s funny is that the version of ‘Ohio” that’s out right now is the version that I recorded in my bedroom, the same night that I wrote it, to some like GarageBand with the same horrible USB microphone I’ve been using since I was 15,” says Caylie.
Caylie G has been engaging with music creation for some time. The artist has a background in jazz, having just completed a Bachelor of Music in Jazz and Contemporary Popular Music. Reflecting on the creation of the songs, Caylie says that the process of iteration allows music to grow.
“Every song kind of takes on a life of its own and I would say, for the most part, every song goes through a couple of different trial runs and goes through a couple of different lives. I think before it finds the space that really it lives in.”
This weekend at Folk On The Rocks, Caylie will be playing a song called “Sam” which was originally written alone with their/her guitar. The song went through many lives before it got to how it’s currently being performed.
“Now it’s kind of a little bit more upbeat and it’s a little bit more country and a little bit more pop but still holds kind of a folky persona that it was written with. That song has gone through so many different lives and changes. When we play it live, it sounded one way for a really long time and then I was in the studio recording, it sounded completely different. Now they kind of level out a little bit, but it’s been cool to see. I love that song and every version that we play, in every way that we do it. That’s one that is a good example of how things morph and change.”
Being really excited the music, and wanting it to come out “as fresh as it can be” is something Caylie balances with doing things ‘right.’ And by ‘right’ Caylie G says to her that’s not about numbers and streams or radio plays.
“I just want to focus on the creative part of it. So it’s interesting and tough when I’m getting the mixes back and the masters back, I want to put this out right now, but then I have to have to wait and stop myself and make sure I’m really putting the things behind it that I need to be,” says Caylie.
The artist says that it can also be a challenge to balance time with a desire to continue expanding on projects.
When asked what words of advice the artist has for emerging musicians. Caylie says this:
“Words of guidance would be, and this sounds really harsh, but someone told me this really early on in my career and I’m so grateful that they did. I was told that no one is ever going to care about your music as much as you do, which sounds really harsh and really bleak, but it actually is a really beautiful thing. You should believe in what you’re making wholeheartedly. And I think that’s 90 per cent of it. I think that if you believe in what you’re doing, and you’re you’re willing to put as much as you can into it, that’s half of it and then the other thing is just ignore the noise and stay on your path.”
Caylie says the music scene can feel like a competition for artists at times, but making music and being part of that scene is really at its heart, not about competition.
“If you believe in what you’re doing and you work hard and you listen and learn from the people around you, that are doing the things that you want to be doing it, it takes away that competition mindset, and just turns it into a personal climb and at a personal journey and that is going to save you so much mental space, which I feel is a really valuable tool.”
This summer, Caylie has some more shows lined up and then will continue to work on a highly anticipated follow-up record.
“I am releasing another record in EP in September and I’m feeling really excited about it. We’ve been working on for a really long time, well over a year now and I don’t wait that long between making something and putting it out so I’m really excited for people to to finally hear it.”
Caylie G is performing at Folk On the Rocks Saturday at 6 p.m. and Sunday at 1: 30 p.m.
