Nectarine Girl is an alternative rock musician from Boston, Massachusetts. From debut album “Is This the Light?” to recent single “devour me,” Nectarine Girl delivers strikingly emotional lyrics and beautifully haunting compositions. WVAU had the pleasure of speaking with her before her performance at Capitol Boogie.
WVAU: Thanks for being here! Where does the name “Nectarine Girl” come from?
NECTARINE GIRL: It’s kind of a long story. In the summer of 2018, for a two week period of my life, I became obsessed, like hyper-fixated on nectarines. I actually, for two weeks straight, did not eat anything else. Breakfast lunch and dinner, I had nectarines. I was 16 or 17, and I was like, “I’m gonna change my Instagram handle to Nectarine Girl because I’m obsessed with nectarines.” I had released a bunch of music at that point and was doing musician stuff, but in 2020 I wanted to wipe everything I had done and start over. I already had this name from Instagram, and I was looking to inject a bit more meaning into it. So I looked into the genetic history and farming of nectarines and found out that nectarines are actually peaches, but they have a recessive trait that makes them not have the fuzz. Not having that fuzz actually makes them a lot more susceptible to disease, changes in weather, lack or surplus of sunlight, but it also makes them a lot sweeter. So they don’t have that fuzz that protects them from the elements, but in that defect they are also a lot juicier, a lot sweeter, a lot more pleasant to eat. Nectarine Girl kind of became this metaphor for sweet, sensitive girl.
WVAU: How would you describe your music?
NG: In terms of genre, I guess alternative rock music. I think I’ve oscillated between a lot of different subgenres within that. I’ve done more folky-rock-yeehaw stuff and now I’m kind of more in this alt-rock, shoegaze moment. The way I describe my music is just extremely, palpably emotional. I think that’s the nucleus of everything I do. Everything is very decadent and almost indulgent and just very intense, constant emotions, and I really try to inject that into my music. When I make something and listen back to it, it needs to satisfy every little itch or desire I have. It’s just very emotional.
WVAU: As listeners, that emotionality is definitely palpable. What does the writing process typically look like for you?
I always start with chords. Always. I don’t understand how people start with lyrics or a melody. I get starting with an idea, but if I’m writing a song, it’s always chords first. Then I’ll figure out what chords I like. I have a whole system for how I find chords I like. I’ll find a progression I like, then play it over and over and over again to myself. I have my Voice Memo audio going and hum or sing melodies over it until I find something I like. If I remember it, I keep singing it over and over and over again, or if I don’t remember it, I listen to it back and sing it over and over and over again until a word or something pops into my head. When I’m writing, I try to go to the world that the chords are creating for me. I don’t want to say meditate, because it’s not meditation and I’ve never been able to meditate ever in my life. I try to just sit with the progression and feel where it’s taking me, and feel all the things I feel when I’m in that world the chords give me. Sometimes it’s a more upbeat and exciting world, and other times it’s very somber and depressing and pensive. In that, I’ll find the melody. It’s like I’m exploring in that world, and I’ll sing the melody over and over again and I’ll see something in that universe. When I wrote my song “Aubergine,” I saw this blue eye in the world and thought, “Okay, I’ll just go with that and see where it takes me.” It’s very abstract as it begins, then once I have the first verse I kind of know what I’m talking about. I go back to edit and make sure everything is cohesive, then continue to write the song with that initial thesis in mind. It’s a mix of abstraction and making sense of that vomit.
WVAU: With that world you described, do you feel that when you perform as well?
NG: It’s mostly just when I write. I don’t do a lot of co-writing because it’s almost like I can’t get to that place if there’s someone else in the room. It’s just a me and me kind of thing.
WVAU: Are there any major influences that have contributed to your writing?
NG: Definitely, yeah. I love Rob Crow from his plethora of musical projects. When I wrote the songs that are going to come out in the next couple of months, I was really inspired by a lot of Pennsylvania-based shoegaze bands like They Are Gutting a Body of Water and feeble little horse. There are so many, I can’t even think of them off the top of my head! Full Body 2, Bleary Eyed, all those people. I was super into that when I was writing the songs that have come out and will come out.
WVAU: Speaking of songs that will come out, what’s next for you?
NG: I have 14 songs I’m sitting on right now. I was initially thinking of releasing them as an album, but after getting some unfortunate but very true advice from people in the industry, based on where I’m at right now it’s not the smartest move to release it all in one go. It’s a lot to ask of people. I do intend on releasing all that stuff, but maybe not all as one project. There will be frequent, consistent music coming from me for at least the next year. I’ll be playing a lot of shows and doing the social media thing. I’ll be trying to inject as much of myself and the world-building ideas I have for this project because I have so many. I feel like in the past couple months, everything has started to become real. I’m interested in telling more of Nectarine Girl’s story, who that character is and inviting people into her world. I’m really excited to be doing more of that.
WVAU: We’re excited to hear it! Is there anything you’d like to share about what Nectarine Girl’s world is like beyond what you’ve described, or anything you’re hoping to convey about her?
NG: A lot of it is beyond words. This character is me, but also almost an avatar of myself. I am me, but then I inject my personal experiences and emotions into my music, and Nectarine Girl is kind of the same thing. I have this avatar. I can project my lived experience through this thing without being like, “Hey, I’m just me, I’m a person and here’s what my life is like!” I have these floral installation displays I’ve made over the past year that I bring to all my shows. I go up onstage and I like to invite the audience to scream with me on the last song I play. Nectarine Girl is a place where both I and the people who decide to invest in it can be bleeding and emotional and vulnerable and fragile and soft, but also at the same time explosive and enraged and indulge in every single range of how your life might have made you feel. It’s a place where you can relish in your fragility and experience both the woundedness and the rage.
Nectarine Girl has songs and videos forthcoming; check out her YouTube and Instagram. Her music is available on all streaming services.
Feature image by Ben Ackman (benackman.com)