Paige Fish on her new single Ego

Photo courtesy of Maegan Grendell

In conversation with country singer-songwriter Paige Fish, on the release of her new single Ego:  

Paige Fish is a singer-songwriter from Utah whose distinct voice and emotive songwriting in the country genre mark her out as an artist to watch. Her new single, Ego, is out February 14th.

Z: Hi Paige! Thank you so much for taking the time to talk to me today. I’m super excited for the release of Ego. So, to start off, you’ve been singing for a long time. How did you get into it? Is your family quite musical?

P: Yeah, so both my parents have that casual musician vibe: my Mom was always the leader of our church choir and she teaches little kids how to sing and dance. And my Dad was always playing with the guitar and piano growing up. I was just born into an environment where there was lots of music, but I totally loved it just the same: even if I wasn’t born into a musical family, I definitely found that passion on my own super early on. I had been writing music since I was four or five. I couldn’t write things very well yet but I would tell my Mom what I wanted to write down, so she would write it down for me and then I started playing music along with it when I was like six so it’s been a long time coming. 

Z: That’s amazing, do you still have any of the songs that you made when you were that young?

P: I do, I have videos, and they’re so bad. But that’s what makes it so cute. I started off very young.

Z: I came across your music on Instagram, so how do you view social media as a means of self-promotion? It’s obviously important to gain a greater fanbase, but how does it impact your relationship with songwriting for example: do you feel a pressure to put out a certain kind of song?

P: Honestly, there is a tiny amount of pressure to tease a song on social media and really have it catch people’s attention. But also, I love social media so much in the way that it is just so helpful for an artist like me who wants to start off and show people their work. I think it’s honestly super validating to post a video of a song that you wrote yourself and that you love and have other people love it and be just excited about it if not even more. There are those little pressures, but I feel like the good with social media when teasing a song totally outweighs the pressure of it.

Z: Have you noticed a difference with the reception of Ego?

P: I think I have that niche subjective kind of breakup song that I have always written and released.  For people who have been listening for a long time, Ego is totally different to songs I’ve released thus far, so there’s that new crowd of people I’ve been able to draw in and who like my music now.

Z: The hook is very sarcastic and sassy, and quite different to other songs you’ve written. I wanted to ask about the song. How did you come about writing it?

P: I had gone on a date with someone who was just so different from me. It wasn’t the fact that he was a bad person, it was just we were so opposite, and what he wanted to talk about was so different from what I wanted to talk about. The entire time I just ended up not really saying anything and just listening about his life. Then after the date, he had told his friends that I was in love with him and I was like “I sat quiet the whole time and just let you talk”. And honestly, I didn’t even think twice about it after the date but I was kind of in a writer’s block so I just started singing about that poor experience. It was just a situation that I was like, I got nothing good out of that. So I’m going to write a good song.

Z: Well, you got a great song out of that! 

P: Especially because it was an underwhelming experience. Like, it wasn’t something super hurtful or anything. I was just like “Oh that sucked”. That’s exactly how Ego came to be.

Z: Was it a quick process writing it?

P: A super quick process, it was an hour sit-down in my room. 

Z: Did you work with anyone on it?

P: I honestly had never written music with anyone before until last week, so I’m trying to transition into learning how to write with other people right now. But normally I’ll come in to the studio with a song completely finished and we’ll just do it as it is, and my producers suggest a slide guitar or some background vocals.

Z: How do you get inspired for your songs?

P: Usually, I really have to be inspired by something to write a song, but I’ve tried to become so much better at trying to write down something every day, even if it’s just a phrase or an idea. I use my Notes app a lot in my phone. Someone will say a word that’s super kind of artistic, but they just did not mean it to be that way. I’ll just write it down in my notes. I’ve been doing that a lot recently. It’s all my own experiences or watching someone close to me experience something. If I’m lacking in emotion, I’ll observe what others around me are feeling and write.

Z: I think that definitely comes through in your songs: they’re very emotive. Who are some of the artists that influence your work?

P: I love Noah Kahan: I’ve been a huge fan for two years now. I heard him on an Apple Radio show in 2020 but I really started listening fall of 2022. Right when Stick Season came out was when I really dialled in. I’m also a huge fan of Lennon Stella. I really love a lot of her lyricism. I’ve also been a big fan of Lizzy McAlpine for a few years. When I first listened to her, she really did speak to me because I feel like we have similar things within our writing. I am also a huge fan of Chris Stapleton – his style is so good. And I love Olivia Rodrigo’s lyricism and her ballads: my favourite song from GUTS is Lacy.

Z: I also think it’s quite cool that you’re balancing all this with high school. You’re graduating this year?

P: I’m graduating in May: I turn 18 next month. I’m super stoked to be out of high school; I’ve loved it, but now it’s super close to the end that I’m just like barely hanging on.

Z: Yeah, I felt the same when I was turning 18. How has growing up in Utah influenced your writing?

P: I grew up in Utah which is on the West Coast and super mountainous. All four seasons are so beautiful and I’ve loved growing up here. I’ve grown up in the same house my whole life. There’s three of us: my twin sister and I and then we have a sister who is just one year younger than us. I loved musical and theatre in elementary and junior high. Theatre was a big thing that definitely taught me to be confident while singing on stage. I also grew up competitive dancing all the time so I would be on stage and under lights and it would be a very comfortable thing for me.

Z: Your stage presence is really good: has it developed from competitive dancing?

P: There were a few years of really horrible stage fright, but switching from theatre and dance to being alone on stage with a guitar is a completely different experience. There was one day where I was singing at a coffee shop where all my nerves just kind of left and I was like “I just don’t want to be nervous anymore”. From the age of fifteen I performed as much as I could and the more and more you perform the better you get. That’s probably how my stage presence came to be: just kind of gaining that knowledge of knowing that this is what I want to do so I don’t have time to be nervous.

Z: That’s a really good way of looking at it for sure. What’s next for you? Is there any more music that you’re going to be releasing after Ego?

P: I plan to release as much music as I can this year: I want it to be my year of releases. I’m spending lots of time in the studio and writing. These last few years I’ve been really focused on posting TikToks of my songs and performing live and trying to get my name out there, but I really want to work up to the point where I am able to be a very professional artist. So, what’s next is some more frequent releases in 2024. I hope to release one in April, so pretty soon after February, but that’s about as far ahead as I know.

Z: Well, you’ve definitely got a lot going on at the moment.

P: It’s comforting to know that after high school ends it’s pedal to the metal. I’m so lucky that I have that want to do music forever. 

Z: Thank you so much Paige for talking to me! I’m looking forward to the release of Ego.

P: Thank you so much for taking the time!  

This interview was conducted in February 2024.