Independent Artist Geena Fontanella on Her First Headlining Tour, “MySpace Bulletin” EP, and Life Without a Label
Interview by Svetlana Khachiyan
Geena Fontanella is an independent singer-songwriter based in Los Angeles and a voice of millennial punk, raised in Southern California on MySpace, burned CDs, and 2000s pop-punk. Over 12 years in the industry, she has gone from church choirs and a move to Nashville to viral parking garage performances and hundreds of thousands of followers across social media. She is also a Top 40 American Idol contestant and ASCAP songwriter.
Ahead of her major February tour, Geena reflects on life as an independent musician, millennial nostalgia, and why she consciously chose a path without a label. Today, she runs her entire career on her own – without management, contracts, or compromises.
— Geena, tell us about your plans. What’s going on in your life right now?
— Yeah, I’m getting geared up for tour, so that’s like my full priority right now. I tour from February 3rd through the 17th,, visiting 9 cities: Sacramento, Los Angeles, Phoenix, Austin, Dallas, Houston, Oklahoma City, and Nashville. It’s just full-blown promo, content, you know, band rehearsals, like all of that, getting the merch together, the VIP experience together. Like, we got iPods that we’re gonna put out there! (laughs) We’re just going full millennial – we’re just going full out with this aesthetic. It’s going to be awesome!
— How do you deal with stress before your tour?
— You know, it’s so funny – it’s stressful until you actually get on tour. It’s kind of like a wedding day, so much build-up, and then you’re like, “Thank God, I’m done.” I’m in the pre-wedding phase right now. But once I get to the stage, I’m over the moon. That’s where I thrive.
— Tell me about your creative process. How are your songs born?
— Yeah, you know, it always depends on the song. When I’m writing something that is mid-tempo or slower, it’s very cathartic. It’s very me, looking into the things and emotions I haven’t maybe dealt with yet. There are things that you go through in life, and you go, “You know what? I’m gonna bury that one.” Like, I’m just, that one’s gonna be deep under. And the only time for me to get emotions out like that is when I’m writing. I force myself to resolve it within myself, in the hopes of, well, if I force myself to resolve it, maybe it’ll help somebody else.
But the uptempo ones are always like, I like being fun. Like, I live my entire life with humor. Like everything. There is nothing in my life that I’ve gone through that I’ve not made a joke about. Everything’s one big joke to me. Like, I definitely have to watch myself in certain settings because I’ll just make a joke and then I’m like, oh, maybe somebody’s not exactly like me. (laughs) But yeah, like Dylan’s Dad, right? It was this moment where I realized that I was at the age where I would see like a dad that was in his 50s and a son that’s like in his 20s, and I’m like, they both look hot. And I don’t know when that was appropriate. I don’t know when that switch happened.
Geena Fontanella’s photo archive
— Tell me more about your song “Normal Life.” What’s the story behind it?
— Oh, that’s one of my favorite songs because it’s very personal and at the same time very sarcastic. You know, as a musician, I’m obviously in a very kind of odd career. It’s not a normal career, right? And most of the people I know in my life are very traditional. They were constantly telling me how to live my life. They were constantly being like, “Don’t you think you’re getting a little old for this?” Or like, “How long are you going to do this for?”
And so I wrote it from the perspective of, “Okay, like you want me to change. I’m very happy with my life. And I love what I’ve built.” And then I looked at these people giving me advice, and I was like, how are you even giving advice right now? Like you’re not happy with your own situation. They got married really early, they don’t have any hobbies or interests, they gotta smoke weed to go to bed at night. And I don’t. So I like my life, and I go right to bed, happy, watching Golden Girls!
— But many people misunderstood the song?
— Yeah! People get it really confused about that song. They think I’m knocking the housewife life. Totally not knocking that. I actually think that being a mom is one of the most beautiful things that ever happened to a woman’s life. I have no problem with that! And it’s funny because women understand the sarcasm in the song. And all these housewives, stay-at-home moms – I had to learn what S-A-H-M meant. Because I was like, “What is S-A-H-M?” Everybody was like, “I’m a S-A-H-M, and I love this song!”
— So, even stay-at-home moms got your message?
— Absolutely! Because my message isn’t about career or family. My message is: whatever you pick, just be happy about it. If you’re not happy about it, then change it. But if you’re not happy about it, don’t tell me how to live my life when I am.
— You work completely independently? Do you have a team?
— (laughs) You’re looking at it. You’re looking at it. Just me. No manager. No label. Nothing. Yep. I mean, I do have a lawyer, but like, other than that, nothing. Just me. Yep. I run all my socials. I run all of, like, prepping and getting everything together and advancing the shows. I’m spinning a hundred plates.
I’m definitely in a space now where I’m looking for people to be a part of my team. But at the same time, I’m never in a rush to make a quick decision to work with somebody that may or may not be a good fit. You know, when you’ve been in this industry long enough, you’ve just seen both sides of the coin and you see people just get into these terrible scenarios because they signed with management right away and it just wasn’t a good fit for them, or they signed with a label and then they just have such regret because they’re stuck in that deal for years of their life.
Geena Fontanella’s photo archive
— It’s a tough path – being an independent artist…
— I’ve been independent my whole career. To play stadiums, you need an army, a team. But honestly, people aren’t managing and developing artists anymore – there’s hardly any money in it unless an artist pops off. Labels are stepping away from artist development, too. It’s a very interesting time in the industry.
— You also do sync placements in film and TV?
— Yeah! I literally just recently placed like five songs on a TV show, and eight out of the ten tracks they picked were mine. Right now, I’m trying to get into film soundtracks. I’m dreaming about remakes like American Pie or Scary Movie – my millennial punk style would fit perfectly there.
— What can fans expect in the near future?
— My new single “One Trick Pony” just dropped. It’s a song about nostalgia for things that don’t exist anymore – like Blockbuster. You remember how we would go there on Friday nights, grab pizza, ice cream, and a couple of movies for the weekend? It was a whole ritual, the last era of time, where you actually went out and experienced things. You weren’t so attached to your phone or like technology that it ruled your life. Like, the cameras weren’t basically a Canon R5 that you can vlog your whole life on, you know?
And then in the spring, April-May, I’m planning to release the EP “MySpace Bulletin.” It’s going to be a real nostalgic bomb for millennials, especially those who grew up in California.
— What will be on the EP “MySpace Bulletin”? Tell me more about this project.
— “MySpace Bulletin” is probably the most personal and mature release I’ve ever done. It’s everything I’ve gone through in the last few years. All the drama that I am. (laughs)
— What exactly do you mean?
— You know, when relationships end, and things just happen, and you have to change. I went through a pruning phase in my life. I realized I was surrounding myself with the wrong people – people that weren’t allowing me to be myself, people that made me feel like I wanted too much from life.
In this EP, I’m really getting into the weeds of heartbreak and loneliness. Just the pain of that. Because when you suddenly realize you’re alone, when all these people left your life – it hurts. But it’s also necessary.
— But you’re still keeping your signature style?
— Of course! Obviously, it’s still nostalgic, and obviously, it’s still gonna have that Gina millennial punk vibe. But it feels so much more developed and mature compared to my previous EP “Y2K.” Imagine: you’re writing MySpace bulletins as a teenager – something like “nobody understands me” or Fall Out Boy lyrics as your status. And now you’re in your thirties, and you understand these emotions on a completely different level, with real-life experience behind you.
— What moods will be on the album?
— There’s the whole spectrum. There are some really fun songs on it that are very tongue-in-cheek, like flipping the bird and the anger side of things. That’s the side of a breakup when you’re not sad, you’re pissed. When you’re like, “How dare you?!”
And then there’s the other side, which is the sad side of things. And everything that’s in between. Because heartbreak isn’t one emotion, it’s a whole journey: from anger to sadness, from denial to acceptance.
— When will we be able to hear it?
— Yeah, so I’m looking right now to drop the EP in the spring, so I think it’ll probably be like late April or early May. I’m gonna drop another single after this one, probably in March, and then that will lead into dropping the EP. So yeah, a lot of new music in the next few months.
— This sounds like a very emotional project.
— Yeah, it’s the most vulnerable version of me. But I think that’s what people need. We all go through these pruning phases when we realize we need to let people or situations go. And it hurts. But it’s also liberating. And I want people to hear this and be like, “Damn, I’m not the only one. She went through this, too.” That’s the power of music.
— Last question: What advice would you give to aspiring independent artists?
— Be stubborn. I’m like 12 years into this and just starting to see the light at the end of the tunnel. Believe in yourself so strongly that you’re willing to keep doing this no matter what. And remember – a 100% of zero dollars is still zero dollars. It’s better to share a part of success than own everything and nothing.
Tickets for Geena’s February tour are now on sale. Follow the artist on social media for updates.
