Over the past 12 months Anja Kotar has released a group of tracks that address modern day issues such as online dating, toxic beauty standards and our generation’s relationship with technology. Now, the rising pop songstress is back with a new hit, ‘Love Song’.

Hello Anja, thanks so much for agreeing to have a chat with us. You’ve just released your newest single, ‘Love Song’… how’re you feeling about it? 

I am very glad it’s finally out! 🙂 I started it a year ago in July and I knew pretty early on that it was probably one of the best if not the best thing I’d written so far so I couldn’t wait to get the production going for it. Dimitri Morris (the producer on this track) created the most magical, gorgeous acoustic guitar-led instrumentation for the song that definitely solidified it as my favourite one yet. 

Could you tell us a fun fact about yourself?

I was originally born and raised in Slovenia (a tiny European country of two million people) and moved to California with my family when I was 14. When I was 12, me and my brother were supporting leads in a Slovenian movie about boy scouts that ended up being the most viewed film in the country history (mind = blown).

You mentioned that ‘Love Song’ has an enchanting, almost Disney Princess-like feel to the production, what inspired that sort of sound?

Yes! Funnily enough, when I was initially writing the song, I had imagined a more upbeat, musical theatre-inspired sound for it. However, when I sent the piano demo to Dimitri, he came back with the production that you hear in the final version, and I immediately fell in love. It was very different from where I thought the song was going to go, but it’s definitely where it should be. The first time I heard it, I thought ‘ wow, this sounds like a summer bike ride through a park’ and that first impression of the sound also inspired the music video for it. 

‘Love Song’ is all about meeting that perfect person, does your romantic streak inspire a lot of your songwriting?

Actually not at all haha. I have the most boring (or should I say, non-existent) social and love life. I think that’s also why the only personal experience-based love song that I released ends up being a song of daydreaming of the perfect person, not actually dating them. 🙂

What do you hope that fans and listeners get from this song?

I truly hope that it transports you away from reality for a bit – whether that’s a fairytale daydream or just a pocket of peace during a busy day. If someone is left with a smile on their face after listening to one of my songs, that is the absolute greatest reward. 

What is one of your favourite love songs of all time?

Oh man, I would have to say Billie Holiday’s ‘I’ll Be Seeing You’. A lot of it is probably directly related to the memories I have attached to the song – I first heard it in The Notebook (I was probably around 12 when I saw it for the first time) and the whole movie made such a huge impact on me. It was the first film that ever made me cry (hello scene in the rain after the boat ride, hello ‘it wasn’t over…. it still isn’t over!’) and seeing Rachel McAdams and Ryan Gosling dance in the middle of the street on a warm summer night will forever set the standards for my dates. 🙂

If given the opportunity to collaborate with any 3 artists, who would you choose and why?

Since this is the absolute wildest dream collaboration, I’m going to pick just one (I think she more than makes up for three, hehe):

Lady Gaga because she to me is the ultimate artist. She’s an incredible songwriter and performer who builds an entire world around her music. She’s definitely everything that I would aspire to be one day and I completely admire her incredible hard work and dedication to her craft.

Any tips for staying inspired during this difficult time?

During the past year, for me at least, my sources of inspiration have shifted significantly. I used to think I had to experience big, colorful events like a great night out or an impactful trip, but once everything got locked down and I had to stare at four walls all day, I had come to realize that inspiration can come from absolutely anything. There’s magic in the littlest, simplest everyday occurrences like pouring your morning coffee or going on a walk around your neighbourhood, it’s just up to us to take the time and shift our focus to all of the beautiful things that we encounter every single day. 

Lastly, what can fans and listeners look forward to next from Anja Kotar? 

My EP ‘Songs From Isolation’ is coming out in August! I like to think of it as my musical diary of life over the craziness of the past year, life during a pandemic (oh man, just typing that sounds insane, imagine we lived through all of it!?). Writing this album has kept me sane over the last 12+ months and has given me an outlet through which I could relate and speak to other people across the world – strangely enough when everyone was locked in our houses, the entire globe was going through an eerily similar experience. I’m excited for all of the songs I’ve released over the past year to finally have a permanent home on this EP, something that I can hopefully listen to years from now and remember this very, very strange time of our lives.

Anja Kotar – ‘Love Song’

 

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