Exclusive Interview: margø Talks Empowerment Through Music

It’s spooky season year round at the Honey Pop! Especially with margø’s who are you when you’re alone? Her debut album is finally here, and it’s as personal as it is creepy. We’re celebrating the release with an exclusive chat with margø herself about how this album has empowered her, the joy of solitude, and her unique horror style. We’ll let margø speak for herself, but we hope who are you when you’re alone? can inspire you as much as it did her, and as much as it did us!

Welcome to the Honey Pop! Could you give our readers a quick introduction?
Hi, I’m margø! I’m a Canadian alternative pop artist whose music is here to make you embrace your inner supervillain! I write songs to empower you and remind you of your worth.

Congratulations on the release of your debut album! Was there one song or a moment that you felt completed the album? When you knew it was ready to go out in the world?
The moment where I felt like the album was finished was when I wrote the final two songs, ‘r.i.p.’ and ‘guts’ in the fall of 2023. Up until this point, the album felt like it was missing a very personal component about how it feels to be in a relationship with someone who makes you like you’re simultaneously too much, and not enough. I was struggling with a person who was making me feel small and awful about myself when I wrote these songs, and it was my way to finally feel like I could be honest about the hurt it was causing. Up until this point, that person had made me feel unheard and afraid of sharing my feelings – so it was very empowering to finally recognize the abusive nature of my relationship with them, and find my voice again. Once those songs were finished, I knew they had to be part of who are you when you’re alone? – as they provided a sense of closure that definitely let me know that this project was finally complete.

This album talks a lot about themes of being in the company of others versus solitude. So what was the writing process like? Was it collaborative?
This album is a mixture of songs that I wrote alone, and as well as many collaborations with producers and writers that I absolutely love working with. I was very lucky to create this album with a group of very, very talented producers – including Father Bobby Townsend, Adam Boukis, Nathaniel Clay, and Boda. As for lyrics, there are a few songs I wrote alone (such as ‘crawl’, ‘guts’, ‘pity party’, and ‘stranger’), which is always fun – as it sometimes feels like I can be a little bit more honest when I’m alone with my thoughts. However, I did a lot of co-writing with incredibly talented writers such as Maria Landi and Nicole Timm (‘breaking up with me’ and ‘love me ugly’), and Caylie Ganam (‘r.i.p.’) – they’re all so talented, and I had the best time working with them. I also was fortunate to have had ‘marionette’ brought to me by Miette Hope and Ben Antelis – when I gave it a listen for the first time I KNEW that I needed to finish writing the song with them. It means the world that they trusted me with this song – it’s definitely one of my favourites on the album. 

You’re writing about your deepest demons and anxieties here. Was there ever a time that you decided something was too personal to release?
I have *never* felt like something is too personal to release – one thing I love about music is that it’s kind of like therapy. When songwriting, I’m able to be completely honest with myself and work through issues that I think I’d have a hard time vocalizing otherwise. Being able to candidly share things that I feel, or share experiences that have hurt me, has definitely allowed me to form a deeper connection with my listeners. By allowing myself to be very honest in my songwriting, I feel that I also provide safe space for people who have had the same experiences (or have struggled with the same things) to feel understood. I truly believe that listeners form deeper connections with music when artists are genuine in their writing, and it means the world to me that I’m able to use my voice to empower others.

It must have been difficult to give us a look at who you are when you’re alone. What does it feel like to have these feelings out in the word now?
It actually feels really good to have all of these feelings in the world! Parts of 2023/2024 were very difficult for me – but many of the experiences I had led to a lot of growth, self reflection, and ultimately a better understanding of myself. I’ve always been very hard on myself for how I feel and process my emotions – so it was very liberating to vocalize my journey of self love through song lyrics. As evident by the title, this album is inspired by the idea of being able to embrace who you truly are when you’re alone in your head – including how you navigate your feelings, how you face your fears, and how you learn to love yourself, including all of your flaws. It means the world to be able to share this journey with my audience, and if it connects with listeners and makes them feel heard – that’s all I can ask for.

Right away, ‘crawl’ and ‘breaking up with me’ address your own fears of being alone. What was it like to reckon with that in this album? Did it provide any relief?
It absolutely did provide relief. I unfortunately went through a relationship that made me feel very isolated – so it felt good to be able to sing about it in an empowering way. It felt like closure to be able to release these songs – it was a way to finally get all of the feelings of insecurity and hurt that another person had caused me. I obviously love to be a little bit more unhinged in my lyrics than I am in real life, but within those lyrics is always a little bit of truth – and I think it really was cathartic to be able to sing about my deepest fears and finally feel some closure towards that chapter of my life.

Speaking of being alone, what’s a guilty pleasure of yours that just hits different when you’re alone? 
I actually love my alone time! One guilty pleasure that I have is playing video games. There are a few games that honestly got me through the pandemic in 2020 – most notably Skyrim. I put *so* many hours into Skyrim, and I actually have a tattoo of Dawnbreaker on my arm because that helped me survive a lot of very rough lonely days, and allowed me to escape from the world at a time of extreme uncertainty. On the opposite end of the video game spectrum, I also love Stardew Valley! It’s a complete switch up from Skyrim, but that silly little farming game is just so peaceful – I love how it allows me to shut my brain off for a little while.

There’s a lot of cool styles in these songs. Were there any specific songs or albums that inspired the sound?
Absolutely! My inspiration for this album was derived from a few different artists who I think are absolutely killing it in the alternative pop world right now. Of course Billie Eilish is always a huge inspiration – I love that her music has made such an impact on the alternative pop scene, and has paved the way for artists like me to be more widely sought out an accepted. Artists like Billie Eilish, Lady Gaga, Melanie Martinez, and Chappell Roan push the limits with their visual art – and as someone who also loves to tell a story, play different characters, and push visual boundaries – I really look up to these women in music as strong influences in my art.

This album is separated into your vulnerable, solitary thoughts, and relationships you’ve been in. Was there any difference between writing about the two ideas?
Yes and no, because a lot of those solitary, vulnerable thoughts are a result of relationships that I’ve been in. I’ve unfortunately experienced relationships that have made me question my self-worth – and I find that a lot of those reflective solitary moments have been directed towards untangling myself from the hurt that someone caused me, and finding ways to love myself again. So, in a way, I do believe they do they go hand-in-hand – as the relationships were very influential on the anxieties I faced in those solitary moments, as well as the moments where I found my strength again.

We especially love the song ‘stranger,’ and the music video is such a good depiction of the demons that we hear about in this album. What was it like to film?
‘stranger’ was definitely one of my favourite music videos to film. It started out a bit chaotically as the original filming location fell through less than a week out from the shoot date, however, I managed to find this beautiful old mansion last minute – and it ended up being a perfect fit for the video. I also had an incredible team of people step up to help me film this video – it was all family and friends who pulled this one together, and we had so much fun making it. The video was surrounding themes of sleep paralysis, so we needed the house to appear dark as if it was the middle of the night – however we were really filming during July in the evening, so it was VERY bright out. We remedied this by covering EVERY single window in the house with black garbage bags – and it truly did feel like a different world in there. Against all odds, and during a crazy heat wave, we made the filming happen in a span of about 5 hours – and I feel so lucky to have had a team who trusted all of my insane ideas to make this piece of visual art.  Also – I had some very real very creepy experiences within this house, like hearing footsteps when no one was there, and doors opening and closing on their own! I actually was told by the owners (after filming was all finished) that the house was known to be haunted – so that was kind of freaky. I definitely thought I was supposed to be the scariest person in that house, but it turns out there was a little bit more supernatural action going on than I had initially expected!

We love the moody, horror-inspired style of the album. Did you already have this look in mind when you started to write? 
Thank you so much – I’m so glad you loved the style! Horror leaning visuals are definitely a style of art that I love and resonate with – especially thanks to many vivid night terrors I’ve had throughout my life. The album imagery was definitely influenced by my real experiences with nightmares and sleep paralysis – and I wanted to bring this dream symbolism and imagery to life alongside my music to help translate the feelings of internal turmoil and change. This felt like a vital part of telling the story of who are you when you’re alone? – as a lot of these nightmares occurred while I was facing transitional or challenging parts of my life.

Given the spooky theme of the album, we’re in the perfect season to listen to it! How have you been celebrating the release? 
I’ve absolutely celebrated the release by continuing to work on new music! I truly wish that I had the ability to rest and enjoy the Halloween season, but I’m FAR too excited for all of the new music I’ve been making over the past year.  There’s so much more to look forward to next year – and I can’t wait to share all of my new music.

Thanks so much for chatting with us! What’s one last thing you want listeners to take away from this album?
One final idea that I hope you take away from this album is that you are powerful. You are strong, and you deserve to love yourself – including all of your flaws. Never let anyone else make you feel like you need to dim your light in order to be loved – you deserve the world, and you deserve to feel empowered every single day. I hope that anyone going through a hard time is able to be a little easier on themselves after listening to this album – because you truly do deserve to love who you are when you’re alone.

Now you’re set for years to come! And not just for Halloween. Any time of the year is the perfect time to embrace your creepy, moody inner self. Let us know which song spoke to you the most, and come talk to us all about margø at @thehoneypop on Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook!

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