INTERVIEW: Fletcher on new EP 'THE S(EX) TAPES': "I want people to see that it’s okay for life and love to be messy and that it isn’t so black and white."

American singer-songwriter Fletcher (full name Cari Fletcher) released new EP THE S(EX) TAPES in September. A collection of seven tracks that chronicles the breakdown of her relationship with her partner of four years Shannon Beveridge, the EP was created during lockdown - with Beveridge while the two were separated but quarantining together in their former LA home. Fletcher also created the music videos for the singles in lockdown with Beveridge. Not the most usual of breakdowns, but an approach that has created an outstanding collection of honest, raw but life-affirming music.

Despite the sometimes dark stories within the songs, the EP is mostly a collection of danceable, edgy pop, with Fletcher telling Nylon on the EP’s release: “I've done my fair share of just straight-up sad, crying in your bed music. I'm still going through shit, but I want to bop to it. We can still be emo and want to twerk at the same time.”

EP opener ‘Silence’ is a rolling, synthy track with hints of disco-funk and sees Fletcher in the defiant stage of a breakup. “I'm trying to learn that I can lose you and survive it” she sings. The second single from the EP ‘If I Hated You’ is arguably the standout track and explores a darker, troubled mind. “If I hated you I know that
I could do this on my own / If you weren't so good to me then I could change the background of my phone.” With it’s boisterous bassline and bedroom vibes it a song that is both sensual and heartbreaking at the same time.

Fletcher teams up with Kito for the track ‘Bitter’, whose lyrical vibe reflect exactly what it says on the tin, and ‘The One’ is a carefree, techno-flirting track with lyrics that team perfectly with the late night dancefloor vibes: ‘You’re not the one but you’re the one right now…I don't really need nobody, I just kinda want your body”.

The only true ballad on the EP ‘Feel’ explores the devastation when the realisation the relationship is over kicks in “So I'll drink this wine like it's medicine for the mind…Do anything so I don't feel you”, and the EP ends on the bittersweet ‘Sex (With My Ex)’ which opens up the relationship again, but perhaps not in the best way: I just had sex with my ex / In a New York apartment / Now I'm a mess, I'm obsessed / I'm right back where I started, broken-hearted.”

THE S(EX) TAPES is a very human and moving collection of songs which on one hand is the perfect companion to the more darker moments in our life, but on the other hand is also a solid collection of pop music overflowing with addictive melodies and sublime harmonies that can only me you smile.

We recently caught up with Fletcher to find our more about the creation of the EP.

Hey Cari! So good to chat with you. How is life with you at the moment in these crazy times?!
Ah life is interesting for sure. I’m definitely overwhelmed and have been really emotional. But there’s lots of growth happening so it all feels really worth it. I hope you’re doing okay too! 
 
Congratulations on the release of your new EP The S(EX) TAPES, it is absolutely brilliant. The theme of the EP is love, sex and the good and bad of relationships. What was the message you wanted to get across with this EP? 
I think often times in media relationships are only portrayed in one of two ways. It’s either everything’s perfect and it’s us together forever, or it’s like fuck you, you broke my heart and i hate you. But there’s this world in the middle where it’s like I love and care about you so much, but I know that there’s still so much growing I need to do independently. and I think it’s just a really complex space to navigate. 
 
I think mainly I just wanted people to see that it’s okay for life and love to be messy. And that it isn’t so black and white. And it’s normal to not have it all figured out. And rather than waiting till that process was over to talk about it, I figured I’d just let people in as I was experiencing it too. 
 
Can you tell us a little bit about the creative process for this EP and who you worked with?
So the EP is produced by Malay, aside from ‘Bitter’ which was produced by Kito. But i’ve been working with Malay for a couple years now and I’ve always been a really big fan of everything he’s done with Lorde and Frank Ocean. Working together on this has been so amazing, he really breathes so much life into every record. But every song on the EP was co-written by a female. Having the female perspective as a through line in my music is always so important to me, and getting to collaborate with so many badass girls on this project was everything. 
 
‘If I Hated You’ is such a raw, honest track and it is such a fresh take on the traditional breakup song. What is the story behind this track?
I mean it’s just really about how sometimes I wish that my ex had done something fucked up or screwed me over in a way to make it easier to go learn how to grow in the ways that I feel I need to. It’s always so much harder when someone is so loving, and so incredible it’s just like gah I wish I hated you, but I don’t. It’s the opposite. 

You created a self-made video for ‘If I Hated You’, what was that experience like?
It was honestly so fun. We did this with all the music videos. this was the first one we did though and it was inspired by Paris Hilton’s A Night In Paris sex tape. We didn’t have any crew on these videos so glam, production, set design - everything was just on us. For this one in particular we ordered a security camera footage system and set them up in the corners of the room and one on the ceiling. We turned a living room into a bedroom, ordered some coloured light bulbs and stole my parents lamps, and lit the room with an old Bud Light bar sign, and then shot between a couple different cameras. It was the most relaxed i’d ever been on a set because there was zero pressure and just so much room for us to create however we wanted to. 

The lyrics to the songs are personal and intimate, do you ever feel nervous about releasing songs and have complete strangers listen to and analyse your innermost thoughts? 
Definitely. I’ve been scared shitless about releasing this project and being so open with people. It’s a really scary thing to process your feelings at the same time as the public is too. While they’re simultaneously formulating their own opinions about the situation when you’re still just so in it. It’s weird.
 
But I think that’s what made this project so special for me, is that it’s a very real living and breathing experience that I am currently going through in this moment. It’s not some made up PR story to go along with the music. It just came right from my hands and heart to everyone. So it’s the most untouched project i’ve ever released, which made it feel so pure for me. It’s just really raw.
 
What part did music play in your life when you were growing up?
It’s been a part of my life for as long as I can member. I started with classical vocal training when I was 5. I was a Disney princess impersonator as well as Taylor Swift and Hannah Montana for little kids birthday parties ha ha! But growing up near Asbury Park and listening to our hometown hero Bruce Springsteen my whole life, from a really young age I developed such an appreciation for storytelling within music, as well as the ability to transport people into a really specific time and place and feeling. And that’s something I've always tried to do with my music. 
 
You have been releasing music since 2015, and have been performing for years before that, how do you think your music has developed from those early years to today and THE S(EX) TAPES?
I think my music has changed as I’ve changed. Every time I go through a new experience big or small, it shapes me into the person that I am. So as my life has changed and I’ve discovered more about myself, and have grown into me a little more, my music changes too. My music has always been a direct reflection of where I’m at in my life on a really personal level. 
 
Your 2018 single ‘I Believe You’ was in response to the #metoo movement, for far too long the music industry has been run by white, older, straight males which has lead to a lack of respect for female artists. What are your thoughts on gender equality and sexism in the music industry?
I think we have a really long way to go on gender equality within the music industry. The numbers of females in positions of power, and creative roles are rising but are astronomically lower than our male counterparts. It is all about representation and making people feel seen and heard and providing them with the opportunities to exist in these roles, so that younger women and generations can look and say ‘oh I can do that too!’

I recognize that I can’t personally change the world, but I do have control over how much I am learning, and then how I choose to act based off of that knowledge. I just shot a music video for my new single ‘Bitter’ featuring Trevor Daniel a few weeks ago, and the cast and crew was predominantly female and queer. Which meant so much to me. 
 
By no means is this a life changing thing that was done, but if everyone is making really conscious decisions about who they are employing and giving opportunities to on their own personal level, think about how much collective change would be happening with that shift. And I definitely feel that shift happening. It is not, and never has been, a women are better than men conversation. It is that we are equal, and deserve to be treated as such, paid as such, and represented as such. And gender equality is only just scratching the surface of the issues at hand.  
 
You are a member of the LGBTQI+ community and actively support the movement. What are the biggest social issues you are most passionate about?
The world is in a really scary place right now. Between the fight for racial justice, the presidential election, the alarming climate change and where we will be in the next seven years if we don’t do something about it, the rate of homelessness, the issue of human sex trafficking globally. Like it all needs our attention and action and passion. 
 
At the forefront of my mind, and what should be at the forefront of everyone’s is the Black Lives Matter movement about how we should all be thinking, listening, and acting upon about how we can make this world a safer place for the black community and stop turning a blind eye to the injustices they have faced since the beginning of time. All Black lives matter. And matter is the minimum. 
 
What else is coming up for Fletcher?
Well this year has been a really weird one. I originally had planned to be touring Europe and then on an arena tour with Niall Horan and Lewis Capaldi and then was set to release my debut album. But because of everything going on, I’ve had to get really creative with still getting stuff out. I’ve got some tricks up my sleeves to still bring people live performances and more music ha ha! And in terms of new music, I need to live a little life first, and figure out how to love me and learn who that person is on my own so I can stop writing about my exes so much!

THE S(EX) TAPES is out now via Universal Music. You can download and stream here.

To keep up with all things Fletcher you can follow her on Instagram, Facebook and Twitter.