When Cassidy Louis’ team reached out to me, I had no idea what I was getting into. But after listening to just a couple of her original tracks, it was clear to me that Cassidy Louis is definitely an artist to watch! She is an independent, indie pop artist from New Orleans who expresses her emotions through music. I had the opportunity to have a video call with the singer-songwriter to discuss the release of her new EP, her songwriting process and a potential virtual tour!
NOLA Concerts: How did you get started with music and why is it important to you?
CASSIDY LOUIS: Music has been probably, if not, one of the biggest parts of my life since I came out of the womb. I started loving music as a child. I was obsessed with the musical, Annie – specifically the one with Cathy Bates. I watched it on repeat when I was about three years old and I loved singing [along]. Everyone has kind of known me as a singer my whole life. When I was nine, I started songwriting for the first time. That’s around the time Taylor Swift came onto the scene and when Hannah Montana was really popular so I was inspired by them when it came to wanting to be a musician. Since then, I’ve dabbled in music. I took a detour from songwriting and did musical theatre for a long time.
When I came to college I realized that I liked to sing my own songs better. And not only that but songwriting became an outlet that was necessary for me to process situations, emotions and experiences. It has helped me to express myself when I felt like my voice wasn’t being heard so a lot of my songs are inspired by situations where I feel betrayed. Usually, it’s because of a guy that I’ve been seeing romantically. I turn to my piano or my guitar and I just let it out. For most of my life music has been a cathartic release…I have no idea what I would do without music. This is what keeps me grounded [and] keeps me sane. I also love the aspect that it’s such a connector from person to person. You know there’s that phrase, “music is the universal language,” even though it’s a little complicated with the industry, I do think at it’s core [music] is still a way to connect with other people and I absolutely love that part.
NOLA Concerts: I definitely agree! You just mentioned the songwriting process. What has that been like especially during these weird times? Has it been hard to come up with inspiration for your lyrics during quarantine?
Cassidy: So no, I actually wrote most of it back in July and August 2019. This EP is based on this romantic experience I had with somebody back then. It was a situation where I really didn’t feel like I could communicate well with this person. I didn’t feel like they would listen to me so I turned to music [to] process my emotions. I would also say that was the first time I fell in love with someone. Because of that, I came out of that situation with so many songs. It inspired me. All four of these songs are a year old now.
But since quarantine has started, as someone who is more of an experienced based writer, it’s been a little bit of challenge for me. Quarantine has given me a lot of time to connect with musicians I might not have been able to. I found myself collaborating a lot more. There’s a local artist, Rodo, and we were able to write a song over quarantine and record that. It’ll be out soon. He’s local but I’ve also been able to do that with people who aren’t local too so that’s been really cool. It’s a bit challenging because I’ve never co-written before so that’s new to me. Trying different things.
NOLA Concerts: That’s really cool! Speaking of music, you just released “Technicolor” and “Hideaway”, what has been the response to both of those and what has that meant to you?
Cassidy: Technicolor has received a really great response from the public. It’s been really cool to see all these people relating to it saying “you captured this feeling of love” and they say that’s something hard to do. It really means a lot. If anything, it’s re-motivated me. Is re-motivated a word? Hearing what people have to say about my craft and having them listen to my EP really means a lot to me because it motivates me to keep going. I’ve gotten more attention from a wider audience and a few professional avenues. That is affirming that music is what I want to keep doing.
NOLA Concerts: Definitely! Do you have a personal favorite on your EP or a track that holds more sentimental value?
Cassidy: All four of the tracks are so unique. I love all of them in their own ways. “Hideaway” is the one most often stuck in my head but “Technicolor” means to the most to me. I was able to capture what that [romantic] experience was like and it was the hardest song for me to write. On the other side of that, the song now means a lot to me because the experience meant a lot to me and it was symbolized through the song. I think that those two take the cake for me but I do love “Temple” though which is out August 22nd. It’s different that what I’ve done in the past.
NOLA Concerts: If you could describe your EP in three words, what would they be?
Cassidy: Love, longing and celebration.
With everything I release, I have the intention of telling a story. With this EP it’s the first part of the story of falling in love. Not just falling in love with the person but through that experience I learned to fall in love with life and this world — specifically with New Orleans. As well as learning to love myself in a way I hadn’t really before. I learned how to stick up for myself and to give myself the respect that I deserved and wasn’t getting. I grew a lot in that. Love in many capacities is what is incapsulated by this EP. As well as a longing for a great love that is kind of evasive.
NOLA Concerts: Definitely! And I can see why people can relate to your music because it’s something a lot of us go through.
Cassidy: Yeah, men are stupid. *laughs*
NOLA Concerts: Agreed! So what is next for you? What can we expect once your EP is out?
Cassidy: Brooke and I have been hard at work trying to plan a tour. It’s not your traditional tour. Since we can’t do a normal tour due to COVID, we’re kind of making our own thing and we’re going to do a virtual tour. Yes, we’re going to promote Technicolor but we’re also going to work to raise money for artists and venues around the country that are suffering from COVID-19 and its impacts. We have a couple in New Orleans that we’re planning and some in San Diego, New York, Nashville and Ft. Lauderdale. I’m excited to connect with more musicians and support those heavily impacted by everything that is going on.
NOLA Concerts: That’s amazing! Is there anything else you would like to mention?
Cassidy: Stream my EP – Technicolor. It will out September 5th.
I’m also starting a new series every other Sunday called Sing Away the Sunday Scaries on Instagram. The first one is this Sunday, August 16th. I’ll be talking with other songwriters. We’ll be singing and chatting. Come tune in and listen to some original music from people from New Orleans and elsewhere too!
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