Deadbeat Girl Wants Listeners To Find A Home In Debut EP ‘What Will It Take?’
Photo by Jada Solèy Rodriguez / Courtesy of the artist
Indie-rock musician Deadbeat Girl released their debut EP What Will It Take? on March 30. With five tracks addressing ideas of love, heartbreak and teen angst, the 19-year-old artist and producer delivers a beautifully composed record that, as they say, is the perfect album to both dance and cry to.
Deadbeat Girl (aka Val Olson) was born and raised in South Florida before moving to New York and joining its thriving arts scene. On What Will It Take?, they write songs influenced by spirituality, relationships and the struggles of growing up queer in their small conservative town. With their song “Another Day” having nearly 200,000 streams and “Take Me Home” being featured on Spotify’s Fresh Finds Indie playlist, Deadbeat Girl is an artist to look out for.
An EP several years in the making, they began writing the songs featured on the album in their younger teen years. “I think it's a time capsule for me and my personal life, but I feel like it can also be a time capsule for everyone else because it's so obviously teen angst,” they say.
The songs on What Will It Take? are relatable in their honest and poetic lyrics. Deadbeat Girl’s vocals are passionate and beautiful, whether they sing with soft romanticism or with more powerful emotion like they do on “Another Day”. This track in particular is their favorite on the album, as its alt-rock influences make it stand out from the rest of the record.
“I was really going through it when I wrote that, so it all just kind of flew out of me,” Olson says. “I was so shocked with myself, with yelling into the mic and having it sounding good.”
Having grown up in a house of music lovers, Deadbeat Girl fell in love with music after listening to ‘90s grunge and ‘80s indie rock. As they got older, they learned how to play several instruments and began to make music influenced by their favorite artists, such as The Neighbourhood, girl in red and Death Cab for Cutie. In South Florida, they had no friends to collaborate with to make music; there was no real music scene where they lived and they wanted to live somewhere that was artistically abundant. Since it’s a very conservative area, Olson struggled as someone who, at the time, was a closeted queer person growing up in that environment.
“I think my entire EP is about that, and I tend to revisit those feelings as well. I feel like as much as it sucked down there, I have a different level of understanding when it comes to queer people who are in really bad environments,” they say. “I think I'm able to articulate my feelings when it comes to queer aches and pains a lot better when I'm writing because I've experienced it … I think a lot of the way I act now is impacted by the stuff I had to deal with when I was living there. Even if I'm writing about something completely different, I feel like it'll always have a little piece of what I went through when I was in South Florida.”
What Will It Take? is a time capsule of an EP, capturing definitive moments in Olson’s life. It’s remarkably touching and fearless in its vulnerability. With lyrics about self-love and acceptance, the songs inspire listeners to feel safe in Deadbeat Girl’s acoustic guitars and gorgeous and raw vocals. Sharing their deepest feelings in this EP is not something that Olson is afraid to do.
“I think it was scary at the time when I was making it because a lot of it is queer and I was not out when I was making a lot of those songs,” they say. “There [are] moments where it's hard, but for the most part, I really love sharing my feelings and having people resonate with it. I totally wear my heart on my sleeve, so it’s scary but it's good.”
Deadbeat Girl has had many fans reach out and express how much their music means to them. Through DMs on social media, a lot of people have shared their own interpretations of songs off the EP and how they have helped them through rough patches.“That's literally the reason why I do what I do … I think it's a dream to me to be able to do that for people. I want to be someone else's favorite song and someone else's comfort song because I know how important a song can be in someone's life,” Olson says. “I really love when people share their own little personal snippets of their life with me because then it's so interesting to see people can relate to my music in different situations.”
Songs off the EP are also influenced by aspects of spirituality, such as astrological signs and manifestation, that Olson found comfort in. On “Another Day”, they sing “I only trust the sun”, a lyric they say is influenced by a person in their life who used spirituality for the wrong reasons. Symbolic lines such as this come from letting their subconscious mind take the wheel and letting their true feelings shine through, Olson says. While other songs on the EP, such as “Take Me Home”, are more structured, some songs involve more freestyling over the instrumentals.
“When I was going through that one separation that made me really down and upset and made me write that, I remember spirituality is something that did make me feel comforted,” they say. “The idea of manifesting that good things are going to come and feeling protected in a way. So, I just kind of wanted to incorporate that into the song like that.”
Deadbeat Girl wrote these songs as they were discovering themself and finding their identity. As they grew up with music being such a crucial part of their life, they now hope that What Will It Take? can be a piece of joy for other people just like many albums were for them.
“I want people to find a home in it … I just love a good collection of music that makes me feel safe and at home and I want to be able to do that for other people,” they say. “I love a little EP that you can just sit and just put it on shuffle and just listen through it. I love the idea of one of my songs playing in someone’s family home and people dancing to it together and everything.”
Although the record only came out nearly a month ago, Deadbeat Girl has big plans for the future. Besides tugging at the heartstrings of listeners everywhere, they want to take their sound “to another level”, as they plan to record more aggressive songs like “Another Day” and also experiment with more electronic sounds in their music going forward.
“I just started playing shows. I have a show coming May 14, and I just want to freaking go everywhere,” they say. “I want to experiment with my sound as well. I feel like a lot of the songs on that EP that I've written a long time ago, I don't like. I love them, but I just...in my mind, I think I want to shake it up a little bit…And I want to freaking go global.”
Deadbeat Girl is an extremely talented songwriter, producer and instrumentalist. But before becoming a professional musician, they were a music lover. Just like their listeners, they started out as, and still is, somebody who loves music and the power it has to bring people together. Above all, they want listeners to know that their music is meant to serve as a means of safety and acceptance.
“I just want to make it really clear that it comes from such a genuine place, and I genuinely want people to feel so comfortable. And I don't want people to feel intimidated,” they say. “Come to my shows. Come say hi. I want to meet people and I just want people to feel comfortable. I want people to find a little community in my music and it's awesome because I've even seen people meet each other through my music and it's so amazing and heartwarming to see.”
Music reminds people that they aren’t alone, and no matter where they come from, listeners can find solace and tranquility in the words and sounds of their favorite artists. When Olson was growing up, music was a constant presence and in it, they found their calling and passion. Music is a gift, and just like Deadbeat Girl found community through music, What Will It Take? is a nurturing EP that will give listeners a coveted sense of love and belonging.
Deadbeat Girl’s debut EP What Will It Take? is out now.