I first crossed paths with Corina Corina back in 2013/2014-ish while touring through the Pacific Northwest. We were on separate tours but it just so happened they both converged at The Triangle in Salem, Oregon on the same night. Ever since, I have been watching Corina Corina develop her career (on her own terms) while bouncing back and forth between NYC and the Bay Area, California with plenty of touring in between.
In this interview spotlight, I chat with Corina Corina about her new release (Bar$), challenges, motivations and much more.
Full Q&A along with links and music below.
https://open.spotify.com/track/08LUKlwQdT83H9i7EepTf5
Where are you from and what style of music do you create? (In your own words, not necessarily in marketing terms or by popular genre classifications.)
I grew up in Berkeley, California with a little Oakland sprinkled in. I’ve been in Brooklyn, NYC for about 12 years with 2 year Cali hiatus and a few years of a lot of touring in between.
Genre-wise, I currently identify as lyrically-driven alternative soul. Or alt R&B, dark indie pop, emo soul…they all work and at the same time none of them encompass my whole sound haha.
What led you down this path of music and what motivates you to stay the course?
I truly feel like I was born a singer, that’s what I’ve always done. I have a distinct memory of the first time I heard Aretha Frankin’s “Lady Soul” and that was it for me, she’s so incredible and that album was a game changer.
What motivates me is music itself. It’s such a big part of my life, such a sensory experience, There’s no feeling that compares to it. It’s a really hard industry and I’ve been through a lot of struggle with my confidence as an artist and the fear that I’ll never “make it” but when it comes down to it, I still love it more than anything else.
How is your new release different than previous ones? Did you set out to accomplish anything specific?
My music has always been personal but “Hangover Music” is really next level. I just really went for it- some of my most honest and vulnerable moments are on this record. I wrote and recorded it at a time where I was touring a lot, really broken-hearted, ungrounded and just kind of tired of the way I had been living. I wanted to take a hard honest look at myself and my relationship with alcohol as well as my feelings about being a 30-something woman who doesn’t have the kind of life I thought I’d have by now. It was a cathartic, powerful experience. My producer partner, Willie Green and I wrote and arranged all the songs together from scratch one summer in between tours and it was the best summer of my life.
Do you face any challenges as an indie musician in a digital age? On the flip side, how has technology helped you (if it has)?
Hell yeah there’s a lot of challenges. For one, just keeping up with everything, trying to stay relevant when I really don’t want to spend my time on social media! I’ve figured it out as I go because it’s necessary for my career but if I wasn’t an artist I don’t know if I’d be on social media at all.
On the flip side, there’s obviously advantages to being able to self promote and keep up with people I’ve met along the way. It’s not all bad, it just takes a lot of time and energy!
Where can we follow you online and hear more music?
Everything is on my website www.corina-corina.com. You can find me everywhere else under the @getcorinacorina handle and I’m on Spotify as well!
Anything else before we sign off?
Thank you so much for having me, these questions were just the right amount of challenging to get me thinking!
