Getting To Know Vivienne Artur

Written by Erin Norton

Image courtesy of Callie Fitzgibbon

Vivienne Artur is a 21 year old, extremely talented vocalist from New Jersey. Her songs are contemplative, raw, and passionate with a sound reminiscent of Ethel Cain, Lizzy McAlpine, and beabadoobee. In this interview, we discuss her hometown venue, the power of journaling, designs from the 2000s, and why men should wash their sheets. Thank you, Vivienne, for chatting with us! You can stream her music everywhere.

What’s your first memory of creating music?

V: It’s funny that you ask that. I always loved music growing up. I was a really sensitive kid. I remember, if I was in trouble, I’d go to my room and I would write on a napkin. I would just write a song about what was going on. I’d keep [lyrics] in my sock drawer, I’d shove them in there. I grew up singing and I always resonated with writing [whenever] I was feeling stressed out. I think my earliest memory had to be when I was in first grade or kindergarten. I was really starting to write some bangers. I remember having this one friend, bless her heart, but I’d write these songs and I would sing them to her. The next day, she would come to me and be like:“ I wrote this song!” And it would be my song. And I’d be like:“ wait, I’m literally confused, what’s going on?!”

E: That’s insane.

V: I was like six or seven!

E: Girl, like you can join the band…

V: We had a band! Shout out to my girl. We had a band called the bloody roses. As a child, I was stressed out [though]. Someone was stealing my stuff!

E: That would stress me out too. Wow. You’re a survivor.

Dream act to open for?

V: I really want to open for a band, that sounds really cool. With the music I’m doing now, I’d love to open for Alessi Rose. She’s making some really great music now. I’d [also] love to open for Kevin Atwater, he’s really awesome. Then beabadoobee.

E: That would be so cool!

V: Or even flowerovlove, that would be incredible as well.

Dream act opening for you?

V: I love having my friends open for me or playing with me. My dream act would be my friend and my writer, Jasper Bickers. He makes really good music and I think he needs to play live more. It would be really awesome if we went on tour together. Or Ian Allen. She’s amazing. We all went to school together. That would be such a fun, amazing trio.

E: I feel like there’s something really special about having someone you know or someone that’s on your musical team opening for you.

V: It’s just a camaraderie factor too. I just want people around me who I know and who know me. People who I’ve seen put in the work that maybe aren’t getting their flowers. If I was able to, one day, go on a tour, it would be amazing to have a close friend as the opener.

Who are some of your musical inspirations?

V: I love Miley Cyrus. I actually have always been drawn to her. Her album with Rock Mafia is so slept on and I listen to it all the time. I think she’s someone I really look up to. Right now, I feel like there’s a lot of music to listen to and people to look up to. But I really resonate with artists with stories of longevity. Lady Gaga is someone I will never not stan.

E: She’s literally pop royalty.

V: She’s amazing, I saw her in New York. All of the videos of her, in the studio back when she was in her 20s. You don’t even know what was going on in her life then. Seeing her growth is just so crazy. She’s a badass. Her performance was so amazing. I look up to her. She reminds me that it’s not always about peaking. It’s about building and growing and enjoying performing. I will love her music forever.

E: I totally agree. Like growing your discography and also growing as a legend.

V: There’s a lot of pressure right now, especially on female artists, about their age and when they peak. I feel that all the time. It feels like this ticking time bomb, like: I’m 21, and if I’m not touring by 24 I’m going to be like… But I realize that the only way I’m going to be in that cycle is if I feed into that. My love for music shouldn’t be defined by that. I think artists like Miley, Ke$ha, and Lady Gaga have really made it known that they love [their careers]. Those are my queens.

“There’s a lot of pressure right now, especially on female artists, about their age and when they peak. I feel that all the time. It feels like this ticking time bomb...the only way I’m going to be in that cycle is if I feed into that.”

E: I even feel like the idea of blowing up too. I feel like you have to blow up on social media, but I don’t think that should necessarily be the goal.

V: This past year, I wrote a lot of music with my two collaborators, Nick Trapani and Jasper (my besties). We really tried to put the blinders up. Obviously, you want to blow up and you want to get the momentum. But at the same time, it’s just not sustainable. I see people I know blowing up, which is so amazing for them. But in two years from now, all of these labels will drop them. I’m really, really trying to get my brain to understand that. It’s really hard, and it feels like there’s a lot of lulls because I’m not blowing up. But it’s okay because it’s not everything.

E: Exactly!

V: Our generation is cooked. I literally bought an alarm clock because I was like: I need to get my phone out of my room at night.

E: I agree, it’s so bad.

V: Because I get on my phone and I’m like: ugh, this person is touring and I should be doing that. I try to be as transparent as I can with my audience. Dude, you have to build the small steps to get there…

When do you feel the most inspired?

V: My writing process looks like this: I’ll write a lot and then I pretend that I don’t write at all, and I’ll just live. Especially because I’ve been in a long term relationship for the past three and a half years. I think there is a part of me that feels like, as a woman right now, if I’m not writing about being dumped or dumping somebody, then what’s the point I’m trying to make? I really try to look at my life and my narrative as something that’s greater than that. I have so much more that I’m going through or has happened to me. Being a writer can be so toxic mentally because you sabotage your life just to write about it. It’s a thing. And it’s why people say don’t date musicians. My last project was inspired by a journal I found in my mom’s attic. With all of the songs collectively, you start to see the theme of it. I was playing with the concept of women and the question of: are we all sort of the same? We’re all feeling these same things. We all kind of hate each other and pin up against each other. This journal was from my mom when she was in her 40s and I was super young. It was about me, the dark times, being a woman, being married, being lost, and not being represented in the media. I wrote it all into an album. I also get inspired by looking at the other people in my life too. And kind of just existing as a fly on the wall. I work at a coffee shop and I’m a bartender too. I think making conversation with random people is gold for writing because you get to see how other people are existing. As a songwriter, you have to get the consensus of what the world is feeling and put it in a way where people can relate. When people say that they’re feeling uninspired, just go make conversation with a random person. Genuinely, just go talk. And be good at small talk.

“Being a writer can be so toxic mentally because you sabotage your life just to write about it. It’s a thing. And it’s why people say don’t date musicians.”

E: People are so antisocial now.

V: Yeah! Just be like: I like your shirt!

Favorite venue you’ve played?

V: I have a hometown venue. It’s called John and Peters. It’s a small dive bar, but Norah Jones played there a while ago when she was a small artist. There’s a picture of her on the wall. It’s just a little dive bar with, you know, super low ceilings, the stage is right in front of the seats. They started letting me play there when I was 14. I had to sneak in the back. But now, I’ve grown to sell it out. When I would come home and play, all of these hometown people, and even my fans, started coming. This girl and her mom came and I was like, what?! That’s my favorite venue because it’s always been there and it always welcomes me. I wouldn’t be able to be where I am without it. I played a music festival in Michigan two and a half years ago called Faster Horses. It was a country festival. I was kind of teetering in that sound for a little bit. That was the first time a fan drove, like three hours, to come see my show. And I was on the bottom of the lineup and it wasn’t a huge crowd, but she was there. Shout out Rachel. My queen. She came with my merch on. It was my birthday that week and she brought me all of these things. I just had this moment of: wow, that is crazy. Like, not even my family could come because it was so far. But she came from Chicago. That was a core memory. That made me realize that I should try and do this. 

E: That’s so precious, I’m so glad you had that experience.

V: I’ll never forget it.

What is your creative design inspiration, all of your shoots are so immaculate!

E: I was genuinely looking through your Instagram and I was like…

V: Yes! Thank you! For a while, visuals were put on the backburner. I would push them off and then the song would be coming out in a week. Then I’d be like: oh shit, we got to go film a visualizer. But honestly, it does matter. If you want to build a brand, you have to invest in it. I’m not saying go buy a bunch of stuff. I try to curate my closet to really represent who I am and shop at places that represent who I am. I have a store in my hometown, owned by one of my closest friends. It’s called Ditto Vintage, and her name is Jess.This has been a dream of hers to own a store for so long. I went there a year ago and met her. We just grew this friendship and she has sponsored every shoot of mine using all of her stuff. If I have an event, she’s like: I got you, girl, let me get you in some Betsy Johnson or something cute. Growing up, my parents owned a boutique. It was very: leopard prints, spunky, Betsy Johnson, maximalist energy. My house looks like that too. A TikTok went viral about my leopard print staircase. Can my music blow up too?! For a while, when I was in college and super depressed, I didn’t really put a lot of energy into my visuals. I was just wearing sweatshirts and not a lot of makeup. Then I started working with my two producers, and I don’t know, they kind of really brought out my fierceness and my crazy. I really want to work with people. I love working with women on my team and people who see the vision. This past year has definitely been a level up in my visuals. When my mom owned this boutique, it was filled with archives of 2000s stuff. For a while, I didn’t really realize how cool that stuff is. Now all of my shoots are in her clothes or clothes from Ditto. I really try to uplift the people around me. Those visuals people, they’re working overtime. I’m trying to be more spunky and colorful, and to have fun with it. Even on days when I don’t want to do that. 

“A TikTok went viral about my leopard print staircase. Can my music blow up too?”

E: I also just love when things are“ all hands on deck.”

V: Yeah! I did this shoot for Duvu Magazine. We did this two day long shoot. One of them was at my house, my childhood house. We had models and a male model. We had a stylist on deck. It was so weird, we were in my childhood bedroom doing all of this. I just really love working with people, especially on the visual side and the production side. They’re taking it seriously, even when it’s not that serious right now. Because you don’t want to work with teams that are like: eh, it’s whatever. Like they might not make a lot of money, but they just want to do it. That is why I work with the people I work with. I want to work with those who see the vision even though it might not be anything huge right now.

In the“ day in my life” you put on instagram, you said that you journal and write every night, what’s the process of turning a journal entry into a song?

V: I’ll be real, it’s hard. In the times when I’m busy, I don’t write every night. I’ll start journaling every night for a while, but then I’ll break the cycle. I remember that it is okay to take a break from it. It’s not like a relationship. This is my journal and I’ll write anytime I want to. Sometimes, I’ll write a full on diary entry like: dear diary, today I did this, this, this, and this. The other day I saw Dua Lipa and I wrote: it’s so strange going to live shows sometimes. It kind of shows how attainable and touchable dreams can feel. I feel like my head is in the right direction. I try to manifest it. I believe manifestation is real if you are treating yourself with kindness and motivating yourself. The other day I wrote: I am at the center of my own universe. I try to give myself mantras. Sometimes, I’ll literally write in the pitch black in my room. I can’t see it, and when I open it in the morning, my writing is all over. Like I said, when I read my mom’s journal, I noticed how important it is to write things down. It’s a whole different medium of expression than writing in your notes app.

What if the number one red flag of a man who is a“ Dime a Dozen”?

V: I wrote this song about someone I met in college that was dating this guy who literally brought her vibe down so much. They’re not together anymore, thank God. But it’s all about standards, guys. I made a joke once:“ let’s wash our sheets! If you’re going over all the time, he has to have clean sheets.” So that’s going to be my answer.

E: That’s a great answer! 

V: I feel like I’m a self-care queen. I love putting time into myself. I feel like certain men do, of course, I’m honoring that. But some don’t. Let’s go to the laundromat, put the sheets in. The song is kind of about your best friend who deserves better. We’re getting older, and it would be nice to have someone without mothering them. I’ve watched Sex and the City over and over again. There are times where Miranda is literally Steve’s mother. Like, no, I don’t want to do that. Let’s just not deal with people, in friendships and relationships, who dull our shine!

E: Exactly, you deserve to sleep in clean sheets.

V: Back when I was not in a relationship, there was this guy who didn’t want to walk me home. So he got his friend to come pick me up. It was bad. I literally lived a 10 minute walk away and I didn’t want to walk alone.

E: That is a flop. That is really disappointing.

What can we expect from you coming up?! Any fun surprises?

V: I’m releasing an acoustic version of“ Dime a Dozen” on Friday! And I just recorded over 17 songs this year with my friends and they’re all in the process of getting done. I have another song coming out in November! Stick around, I have a lot of music coming out soon, I’m just getting started!