Grace Gaustad discusses No You To Me, dream collaborations, and new music

In 2018, Grace Gaustad first caught the eyes and ears of many with her cover of Hozier‘s ‘Take Me To Church.’ Fast forward to today, at 19 years old, Grace has quickly become an artist to watch. In February, Alternative Press even named her one of “40 artists you need to hear.”

And in an exclusive interview with United By Pop, Grace discusses with us her single ‘No You To Me,’ dream collaborations, new music, and much more.

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First off, congrats on your new music. ‘No You To Me’ is so beautiful! What was it like writing this song with Scott Effman, who has worked with artists like Teddy Geiger, Sofia Reyes, Sody, The Saturdays, and Blithe?

Scott is one of my best friends and most frequent collaborators. He’s not only a super talented producer but also the funniest guy I know! We wrote this song really quickly one day when we were in our feelings, and we couldn’t be happier with how it turned out.

You mention that ‘No You To Me’ is about “that tendency to always go back to this one person you were in a relationship with at some point” and surely, this is something a lot of people can relate to. Do you think that relatability is important when crafting a new song?

I think the goal is to always create art that other people are going to be able to see themselves in and relate to. We as human beings share so many of the same experiences without even realizing it and I think art and especially music is a place where we realize just how universal so many different experiences are. Also, my favorite music has always made me feel less alone when I’m going through something hard so I hope that my music can do the same for other people.

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When it came to filming the music video for your ‘No You To Me,’ what was your process like in drawing up the concept?

‘No You To Me’ is a love song and I really wanted the video to be somewhere that I associate with love and happy memories. Although I won’t specifically say who the song is about, what I can say is that one of the first times we ever said I love you was on a beach and that has always been a very special place to me. The ocean also represents so much of what love is which is beautiful, deep, and terrifying all at the same time.

Artists like Taylor Swift and more have used the advantage of quarantine to sit down and create more music. Have you found this time to be easy in writing new songs or has it been difficult?

I have written so many songs in quarantine it’s hard to count! I was having a much harder time at the beginning of the pandemic because I was just feeling so hopeless about the world, but as things started looking a little better I was able to become really creative again and start working on a bunch of new music.

Also, more congrats are in order! What was it like seeing Alternative Press name you as one of “40 new artists you need to hear in February?” That must have been so exciting!

Honestly, any recognition means the world to me rather than whether it’s big or small. As an artist, the most rewarding thing is having your art heard and appreciated, so I couldn’t be more grateful.

Speaking of new artists, are there any new singers you have just discovered and are a fan of?

I wouldn’t call this a super recent discovery but over the last few months, I’ve been watching Tate McRae blow up! She’s incredible and her song ‘You Broke Me First’ is definitely on my playlists.

Rewinding a bit! When you uploaded your cover of Hozier’s ‘Take Me To Church,’ did you expect it to explode the way that it did?

There’s no way to know how anything will do once you put it out into the world but to this day that is one of my favorite songs and I’m super proud of the vocal delivery I was able to give. Most people don’t know this, but the day I sang that song I had a 102-degree fever and didn’t want to cancel! If anything, I was worried the video wasn’t going to come out well because I was sick, but it turned out to be such a great surprise!

On your YouTube channel, you cover songs of Demi Lovato, Billie Eilish, Lady Gaga, Shawn Mendes, and more. From the artists you have covered, are there any you would love to collaborate and/or write with in the future?

My favorite artist ever is Lady Gaga, so a collaboration with her would be an absolute dream come true but I also think Billie is a fantastic artist and is definitely someone I’d love to work with in the future.

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So far this year, you have released ‘Freedom’, ‘No You To Me’, and ‘Out Of Time’ – another great song that is raw and honest. Will there be more music that will give us a taste of your new EP, Welcome to Jupiter 1.0?

There will be one more single to complete the EP before switching into album mode. It’s a song dedicated to my mom and it’s probably one of my favorite things I’ve ever written. It’s called ‘Oxygen.’

And in talking about your new upcoming EP, Welcome To Jupiter 1.0, which will be released later this spring, what can we expect to hear on this that we didn’t get to hear on your 2019 EP Human?

When you’re only 19 you age so quickly and ‘Welcome To Jupiter 1.0’ shows a tremendous amount of growth from Human which I released at 17 years old. I’ve grown so much as not only a person but as a singer/songwriter as well and although I love ‘Human’, I’m happy with how my music has evolved.

You can stream “No You To Me” and more of Grace Gaustad’s music on Spotify and Apple Music.