Singer/Songwriter Giselle Begins Music Evolution
By Olivia Nolan
August 20, 2016
August 20, 2016
Singer/Songwriter, Giselle, has officially kicked off her individual music career with her recently released debut EP “Change Me”. Giselle is widely recognized for her singing/songwriting skills on Louis C.K.’s Emmy award winning comedy, “Louis”. Now Giselle has began her very own Music Evolution with her four-song EP. “Change Me” is comprised of Giselle’s raw emotional intellect, passion and confidence. Giselle showcases her exceptional vocal abilities through a range of emotions throughout each song. An abundance of live musical instruments are used throughout the EP as well. Giselle and audio engineer, Adam Tilzer, are keen on using as many live musical instruments as possible in order to create a more genuine and pure sound.
On Thursday, Giselle debuted a music video for her song “My Heart Goes…” at the release party at Pet Shop in Jersey City and on YouTube. The concept of the music video is a trailer park fantasy encompassing the feelings of young, hopeful and innocent love. The high-quality videography showcases the vibrant and optimistic energy of the song. See below for the full video:
On Thursday, Giselle debuted a music video for her song “My Heart Goes…” at the release party at Pet Shop in Jersey City and on YouTube. The concept of the music video is a trailer park fantasy encompassing the feelings of young, hopeful and innocent love. The high-quality videography showcases the vibrant and optimistic energy of the song. See below for the full video:
Urban Milan attended a private viewing of the music video two days before the release with Giselle and was able to interview the songstress and her team about her music career amongst other things.
Urban Milan: What inspired you to become a singer/songwriter?
Giselle: Before I sang Opera, before I started doing all that, I had written songs and I didn’t think anyone would take it seriously but I would write them all the time. Then I think what gave me that extra push is after being on Louis’ show and having six songs featured on the series, it was sort of a confirmation that okay maybe this isn’t silly. Then I would perform more often. It’s very personal and vulnerable and that feeling I kind of became addicted to. Opposed to singing opera where you’re singing someone else’s music, doing this on my own felt right.
Urban Milan: Can you tell us about how you got into singing opera?
Giselle: Sure! At performance arts high school a voice teacher told me, “go see this opera, I think that’s where your voice wants to go”. I was told a lot to not sing in choir and that I wouldn’t ever have a music career, that kind of thing, and when I saw the opera I was like you know what I think I can do this. I got into it, did it, got into a conservatory and then I left, I sang at Carnegie hall and just sang opera until I switched to this, this past year.
Urban Milan: What was your thought process behind creating the “My Heart Goes…” music video?
Giselle: I work really carefully with the director, Mason Beggs. I told him that it’s about that butterfly feeling that you get. I thought of myself being in high school, but it happens at any age obviously, and just not knowing what to say and being kind of awkward, which is generally me in a nutshell and so I wrote this song and told him my idea that I wanted three friends behind me the whole time and then he came up with my trailer park. And then he just kept growing with the idea; we found the trailer park and everything. So it just kept growing and growing. He just came over one day and was like “I’ve got it, I’ve got the concept”.
Mason Beggs: To be honest I just sat with it at three in the morning because there were a lot of ideas before I came onto the project, a couple concrete ones. And then I said let me give you my take. A very John Waters-ey world came out and I wasn’t sure if that was what they wanted to do marketing-wise and said look if you hate this idea I don’t have to be the director in it but she liked it.
Giselle: Yes I loved it! The song is just very upbeat, it’s like a modern kind of sixties song. It’s just really fun. The last video (“Save Me”) was a little darker and more serious and I’m like okay let’s happy it up a bit because the next video is going to be depressing as hell. Postworks is amazing. The video, if you saw it before, it was grey and everyone looked like zombies and they just brought it to life.
Urban Milan: Is there anything you can tell us about the upcoming music video?
Giselle: I don’t want to give too much away. So the day before I decided I wanted to shoot the video about my grandmother, who had Alzheimer’s and Dementia, I had a meeting with the team saying that I wanted to record it and the next day she passed away. We recorded it last month. I don’t want to give too much away on what it is but it was basically like my own funeral. It’s a good memory for me but it was also painful to create. Mason also directed this, when he heard the song a while back he said that he wanted to be on the video. It’s definitely my most personal song. I feel like we don’t talk about it (Alzheimer’s and Dementia) that much and every time I do talk about it someone knows someone or of someone who has it. It was definitely the most painful video to create and I really didn’t think that we would get through it but we did. The video is very simple but very powerful and like I said, it was kind of like my funeral. I definitely think it’s going to be a really great video when it comes out and we are trying to partner up with some Alzheimer’s organizations to do a benefit to raise money.
Urban Milan: How would you describe your overall sound?
Giselle: I would like to say it’s pop alternative because it’s definitely pop but it’s a little different because we use a lot of instruments. It’s pretty important to me, live singing. Each song has a different mood and a different feeling. My personality has many faucets and I feel like that’s how the music is too. I write all my music with Adam, my producer. He is how I got on Louis C.K.’s show, because he’s been the engineer for them for five seasons.
Adam Tilzer: We use real instruments when necessary, we use fake stuff when necessary, whatever fits the song.
Giselle: We have a lot of live shows coming up, The Stone Pony, like I said. It’s exciting. We have seven of us on stage.
Adam: The upcoming ones we have seven on stage, sometimes eight depending on availability of people. Drums, base, guitar, keys, horns, backup singers. As much as we can give the audience of the recorded sound is what we try to do.
Urban Milan: Do you play any instruments?
Giselle: I dabble. I grew up playing piano and was in jazz band and played saxophone. Reading music is a whole other thing.
Adam: She played flute on “My Heart Goes…”
Urban Milan: Where do you see yourself in ten years from now?
Giselle: In ten years I see myself with a thousand music videos working with my friends and people that I want to work with and everyone knowing my music everywhere.
Learn more about Giselle on her website: http://www.giselle.us/
Check out “My Heart Goes…” music video on her YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XR3AX8eTOYU
Urban Milan: What inspired you to become a singer/songwriter?
Giselle: Before I sang Opera, before I started doing all that, I had written songs and I didn’t think anyone would take it seriously but I would write them all the time. Then I think what gave me that extra push is after being on Louis’ show and having six songs featured on the series, it was sort of a confirmation that okay maybe this isn’t silly. Then I would perform more often. It’s very personal and vulnerable and that feeling I kind of became addicted to. Opposed to singing opera where you’re singing someone else’s music, doing this on my own felt right.
Urban Milan: Can you tell us about how you got into singing opera?
Giselle: Sure! At performance arts high school a voice teacher told me, “go see this opera, I think that’s where your voice wants to go”. I was told a lot to not sing in choir and that I wouldn’t ever have a music career, that kind of thing, and when I saw the opera I was like you know what I think I can do this. I got into it, did it, got into a conservatory and then I left, I sang at Carnegie hall and just sang opera until I switched to this, this past year.
Urban Milan: What was your thought process behind creating the “My Heart Goes…” music video?
Giselle: I work really carefully with the director, Mason Beggs. I told him that it’s about that butterfly feeling that you get. I thought of myself being in high school, but it happens at any age obviously, and just not knowing what to say and being kind of awkward, which is generally me in a nutshell and so I wrote this song and told him my idea that I wanted three friends behind me the whole time and then he came up with my trailer park. And then he just kept growing with the idea; we found the trailer park and everything. So it just kept growing and growing. He just came over one day and was like “I’ve got it, I’ve got the concept”.
Mason Beggs: To be honest I just sat with it at three in the morning because there were a lot of ideas before I came onto the project, a couple concrete ones. And then I said let me give you my take. A very John Waters-ey world came out and I wasn’t sure if that was what they wanted to do marketing-wise and said look if you hate this idea I don’t have to be the director in it but she liked it.
Giselle: Yes I loved it! The song is just very upbeat, it’s like a modern kind of sixties song. It’s just really fun. The last video (“Save Me”) was a little darker and more serious and I’m like okay let’s happy it up a bit because the next video is going to be depressing as hell. Postworks is amazing. The video, if you saw it before, it was grey and everyone looked like zombies and they just brought it to life.
Urban Milan: Is there anything you can tell us about the upcoming music video?
Giselle: I don’t want to give too much away. So the day before I decided I wanted to shoot the video about my grandmother, who had Alzheimer’s and Dementia, I had a meeting with the team saying that I wanted to record it and the next day she passed away. We recorded it last month. I don’t want to give too much away on what it is but it was basically like my own funeral. It’s a good memory for me but it was also painful to create. Mason also directed this, when he heard the song a while back he said that he wanted to be on the video. It’s definitely my most personal song. I feel like we don’t talk about it (Alzheimer’s and Dementia) that much and every time I do talk about it someone knows someone or of someone who has it. It was definitely the most painful video to create and I really didn’t think that we would get through it but we did. The video is very simple but very powerful and like I said, it was kind of like my funeral. I definitely think it’s going to be a really great video when it comes out and we are trying to partner up with some Alzheimer’s organizations to do a benefit to raise money.
Urban Milan: How would you describe your overall sound?
Giselle: I would like to say it’s pop alternative because it’s definitely pop but it’s a little different because we use a lot of instruments. It’s pretty important to me, live singing. Each song has a different mood and a different feeling. My personality has many faucets and I feel like that’s how the music is too. I write all my music with Adam, my producer. He is how I got on Louis C.K.’s show, because he’s been the engineer for them for five seasons.
Adam Tilzer: We use real instruments when necessary, we use fake stuff when necessary, whatever fits the song.
Giselle: We have a lot of live shows coming up, The Stone Pony, like I said. It’s exciting. We have seven of us on stage.
Adam: The upcoming ones we have seven on stage, sometimes eight depending on availability of people. Drums, base, guitar, keys, horns, backup singers. As much as we can give the audience of the recorded sound is what we try to do.
Urban Milan: Do you play any instruments?
Giselle: I dabble. I grew up playing piano and was in jazz band and played saxophone. Reading music is a whole other thing.
Adam: She played flute on “My Heart Goes…”
Urban Milan: Where do you see yourself in ten years from now?
Giselle: In ten years I see myself with a thousand music videos working with my friends and people that I want to work with and everyone knowing my music everywhere.
Learn more about Giselle on her website: http://www.giselle.us/
Check out “My Heart Goes…” music video on her YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XR3AX8eTOYU