CREATIVE CONVERSATIONS 119: BELLA FERRARO ON HER PRODUCTION AND SONGWRITING PROCESS

Interview by Brooke Gibbs.

After spending the last three years songwriting and mastering her craft, Futuremag Music caught up with Bella Ferraro to delve deep into her production and songwriting process.

FMM: Thank you so much for joining me today. I'm really excited to talk to you about your new music. How does it feel leading up to next week?

Bella: It feels very exciting. Luckily, my distributor has successfully put the song on all the platforms, so things like that can always be a bit, you know… you want to make sure everything is ready for when you are, but yeah, everything's done, so I can just sort of relax.

FMM: Do you have any big celebrations planned for the release day?

Bella: Not for the release day in particular, but the next weekend I will be performing two gigs, so on both the Friday and the Saturday. Because the song will only have come out the week before, I guess I'll just use those as, like, an excuse to celebrate. I'm going to be releasing a live video performance at some point during the week after it's released as well.

FMM: I love that. It's really nice to see you back out there and releasing music because I think it's been about three years since you've released something. So what have you been doing in that time?

Bella: Well, in that time I was in England, and that was, of course, during the pandemic, and I actually have just been focusing on writing, so I decided not to release. Well, I still released two singles, but I had, like, a whole EP planned, which I decided to put on hold while we were all in isolation and I just used the time to write.

I've been, I guess, developing my songwriting skills and my production as well, which has improved like crazy, really, in the last couple of years.

FMM: Do you do the production yourself for the music?

Bella: Yeah, like, I always have at least started to produce music myself, like my own music myself. But I think a few years ago it was definitely at the stage where I needed co producers and just a bit of a helping hand. I've never been so good and I'm still not great at the more technical, particular things, but I'm definitely getting to a point where I'll still ask for help for mixing and mastering. But, I'll have produced the entire track myself, so that's cool.

FMM: Yeah, I love that. It's, like, really creative what you do, and it’s really good that you have those different skills to combine it all into the one. Are there any advantages or disadvantages of doing the majority yourself?

Bella: Yeah, definitely. I think the first advantage would be that if it is all yourself, then it's, I guess, all your ideas, and there's no one to say that's a bad idea. But then I guess what I'm learning is, like, not that I didn't know this before, but what I'm really learning is that it's okay to pass on skills to someone else and it's always really good to have another pair of ears.

There are certain things that you might think that are good but maybe aren't, and vice versa as well. So I guess yeah, the advantage is it is all your own work and it is usually exactly how you want it to sound. But then yeah, I think collaboration is also a really important part of any art.

FMM: Does it feel like isolating sometimes when you're not in that collaboration mindset?

Bella: It never has for me. If anything, I've always felt a bit overwhelmed when it is a group, but that is definitely like an issue I have with, I guess it's like perfectionism. But I am very hesitant to just throw ideas out there before I have given them the green light. So like jamming, for example, has always been quite difficult and I think writing with other people for me initially would be quite difficult as well because I think I'd struggle to gain that confidence, to be silly or just throw an idea out there and it doesn't matter, if you know what I mean?

FMM: Yeah, I definitely get what you mean. Yeah, that makes total sense.

I'm really excited for this release too, because I've listened to the track and I love it. I'm excited for other people to hear it. What are some of the inspirations behind this release?

Bella: Thank you, by the way, for the kind words.

Yeah, I really like this song as well. The inspiration behind the track itself? Well, I think like pretty much everything I've written, it's been inspired by a life experience and I don't always know what it's going to be about because typically I will write music first, so then I'll write a melody, say, and then usually the last thing I do is write lyrics to fit that melody that then complete the track.

So I'll never really know what the song is going to be about when I start writing it. And I guess at some point the mood of the music makes me think of something and then I'll typically be writing about what it is that I'm thinking of. But in particular with Summer Day, the inspiration behind that track is it is about somebody in particular, but speaking broadly, it's about like a relationship has ended and you're still in that part of the process of understanding that breakup where you're sort of looking back at the honeymoon phase as like the ideal and maybe forgetting about the reasons why it didn't work out and so it's supposedly nostalgic.

FMM: And when you say it comes to you, like as you're writing, if you’ve got the music part first and then the lyrics come to you, do you sometimes find that you don't realise that you've gone through that until you're like actually, now that this fits the melody, these feelings come up that you didn't realise you had before.

Bella: Yeah, definitely. I've always found the songwriting process extremely journalistic, and I'll often have a really good understanding of how I feel about something after I've listened to the lyrics that are just coming. And I think that's the beauty of sort of writing impulsively rather than having an idea about what you want to write about and then strictly sticking to that, just sort of seeing where that mood takes you.

And it's funny, I've also been able to, like with Summer Days inclusive in this, but there's a lot of songs that I wrote about this one relationship. lol get over it [laughs], I have, but it's interesting to listen to the different songs that I was writing, and I can sort of, like, pinpoint exactly where I was in that process of gaining closure.

FMM: Yeah, I love that. It sounds very good, as well as being creative, and I guess obviously other people relate to it too, because, I mean, we've all been in relationships and I guess everyone can relate to your experience as well.

Bela: Yeah, for sure.

FMM: So in saying that, what do you hope people take away with them when they listen to your songs that you write?

Bella: I always try and speak quite vaguely about what a song means because I think, like a lot of art, it's all about how the audience, let's say, interprets it as well. But I guess if we're speaking specifically about Summer Day, then maybe the message is, it's okay to be a bit sad and to wallow in that sadness and maybe even a bit hopeful that it will pass and yeah, you can move on. I mean, at that point that I've written that song, I had not yet moved on. But the fact that I have maybe since could be maybe a reminder that if you can sit in those feelings and not be scared of not always feeling great 100%.

FMM: I think that's a good message, for sure. And I love Summer Day because the production is really smooth and flows and really highlights your vocals, because it's not like, overpowering your vocals. Your vocals is what stands out. Have you had specific voice training or does your voice just naturally sound like it is? Because I love it. It's unique.

Bella: Oh, thank you. I was in the Australian Girls Choir for a very long time, so from the age of about five or six up until I was 18. And that was like choral training. I've never really done one-on-one training, but I was in the choir for a very long time, and I certainly think that it fostered my love of singing and appreciation for all different kinds of music and using the voice as well as an instrument. I definitely think my time in the choir has influenced even the way that I write my songs now.

Actually, Summer Day is interesting because it doesn't feature this, but literally every other song I write does, but that's like vocal harmonies. I've always been like a huge fan of just using the voice as an instrument. But yeah, I've also always said that just that you and I sound different when we talk. Everyone would sound different too when they sing. So there is to some extent like a natural timbre of the voice. It's, I guess both nature/nurture in a way.

FMM: Yeah, totally. I love how your sound has evolved over the years too. So I came across your music in 2012 and I feel old saying that because I just realised today that's been like eleven years. I'm like, wow.

Bella: My God. Really? Oh yeah. Wow. I've just realised right now.

FMM: Obviously you have developed, your sound has progressed. Do you feel like you're going to constantly experiment with your sound or do you feel like you're happy with the sound that you've got now and producing?

Bella: That's a good question. I'm definitely happy with the sound I'm making now, but I think it's probably just I think we'll all evolve. I think every art does evolve because I think we're constantly being influenced and inspired by things that are going on around us and as long as that's always changing then I think naturally the art you produce will change as well.

I mean, it hasn't been like a conscious decision. I just write what I feel and I guess over the years my production has improved as well and that's meant that I can finish songs quicker than I used to and get more of my idea. So maybe it's more of my ideas coming through as well because I'm able to actually express those through. I use.. what do I use.. Ableton? Yeah, it's not conscious but I'm sure it does happen subconsciously.

FMM: Yeah, and I guess it's with any artist as you grow in your personal life, your music is going to grow with you as well.

I'd love to hear more about your production process because I used to watch some of.. I think during lockdown, you'd go on Instagram Live and you'd just like play around some of the production and do some live videos of you singing and that was interesting to watch. So how was your production process for this particular release?

Bella: I guess the first thing I do, is I open Ableton and I think with Summer Day I was just sort of playing around with different sounds. I use synthesisers. Nothing in Summer Day is a real instrument as such.

I mean, I think a synthesiser is a real instrument but you know what I mean? I was experimenting with synthesisers that sound like traditional instruments, like technically kind of lean heavily into the it's a synthesiser type of thing.

But yeah, I sort of started playing with a guitar sound and then I guess that became like a chord structure and then yeah, typically, like, every little bit in a track, I've just included as I've gone, just to add a bit of interest.

I wrote the lyrics on the train and once they had come to me, they really came. Once I sort of figured out the melody that I wanted, then the lyrics came fairly quickly and I guess because at the time I was feeling that way so strongly. It’s always quite easy to find the right words when you are sitting very strongly with a feeling.

But yeah, I guess I don't know if I've answered your question.

FMM: You definitely have. I just wanted to know more about it because I was watching the live and it was just fascinating watching it and watching you do it lives.

Bella: Oh, I see. Because I would kind of update.. I think I know what you mean. Like, I showed people I guess I'd walk people through the demo process.

FMM: Yeah, that's what I was getting at.

Bella: Yeah, that's cool. Yeah. And I guess that's just because I guess it's fun for me and it's fun I hope it's fun for everyone to kind of see how things go from the very first time I've input whatever and then every time I've then worked on it, how it's getting more full and just sounding a little bit more complete.

I also like feedback as well, even throughout the process, like kind of see what people are enjoying.

FMM: Of course! Thanks for sharing that. It's great to hear how you produce it along and then be able to hear that final product as well.

And what's next for you? So you mentioned before you're working on an EP previously. Is that still something that's going to come out later?

Bella: Yeah, I hope so. I had a session with the producer who I was working with on that EP. I actually met with him today and I said, I think we made the responsible decision to hold off on the release because if the tracks had been finished, that would have been a different story.

But I think I'd underestimated how difficult it would be to finish working on something together remotely. I think there's so much that you sometimes can only really explain when you're sitting in the studio together. I just found that the mixes I was getting were kind of getting further away from what I envisioned, which is no one's fault. I think that's just part of not being physically together and listening to it in real time together.

But now that I've come back to Sydney, I've decided to re-visit that project and I just think it would be a shame, it would be a shame not to release those songs. Even though I would say I've developed as an artist and I shouldn't say this leading up to the potential release of the EP, but I've certainly got stronger tracks that I could be focusing on and which I am.

I just think it would be a shame to have never released what I always envisioned as being my first EP.

FMM: Yeah definitely. I mean if the work...

Bella: I waffle on.

FMM: That's totally fine. I love it and I think that's great too because the work's there, you may as well release it and have it out there and show people who you are.

Bella: Yeah, totally. I think it's all part of the art of story as well and especially for me because so much of my music is based on things that I have lived through. Yeah, it's just sort of telling a story and I've also got like a music video idea that I've always had for one of the unreleased tracks from this EP.

I'd still really like to just for fun, I'd still really like to plan it and shoot it and release it as well. Because just as an art of its own, right? Not necessarily as an accompanying music video though it would be but I think just any idea bringing any idea to life is always like a really exciting process.

FMM: I think go for it. Do the music video, get it out there. Why not? What have you got to lose?

Bella: Exactly. What have you got to lose just money? But that's fine. I

FMM: It's fine. But it's great to have it out there and everyone's got different tastes in music so there’s always going to be a group of people that are going to enjoy it and vibe with it no matter what.

For anyone coming across you and your music for the first time. How would you describe what you're all about artistically for someone that doesn't know you?

Bella: That's a really good question and one that I often find quite hard to answer because again I sometimes think that it's hard to define your own music but it might be easier for somebody else. I was… actually a friend of mine who saw me perform recently… I'm performing at his bar actually in March but I will make that announcement like a bit closer to that. He'd seen me and he was talking to me about how to, like, what kind of blurb to write, and he said that he would describe me as neo soul, which is quite interesting because, like, I'd never considered that, and I suppose it does make sense.

But to anyone who doesn't know me, that's just an example of how, like, your own perception of your music might not always be, like, entirely accurate, but in a nutshell, I would describe it as a blend of pop, neo soul and maybe alternative, using electronic instruments to create not necessarily electronic music, if that makes sense?

FMM: Yeah, it definitely makes sense and I think you actually described it well because being an outsider listening to your music, that's how I see it as well.

So it sounds like you got a big year planned. You’ve got some gigs coming up, that EP might come out. You talked about a music video. What's the kind of end goal? What are your aspirations next in music?

Bella: I think I just really want to have fun with it. I want to get to a point where I'm steadily releasing and I think just maintaining integrity. I think it's really easy to get swept up in, like, promotional things or needing to push things and, like, yes, I think self-promotion is necessary at times, but maybe this is like a commitment-phobic thing of me, but I don't like to pigeonhole even myself as just an artist.

So there's lots of things I'm focusing on right now. Music is definitely one of them, but I don't want to.. I guess, what's the word I'm looking for when you're, like, laser-focused and then kind of everything else gets because I think to be honest, I think everything else is also beneficial for the songwriting process.

FMM: Exactly.

Bella: So it would be silly to not focus on other stuff because that's often where I actually get the inspiration from anyway, of course. But yeah, just to get to a point where I'm releasing steadily and performing more. But otherwise I'm just happy to be able to share my art with everybody. I guess that's enough for me, to be honest.

FMM: And that's a beautiful gift to be able to be able to give someone.