Anna Shoemaker on Her New EP, Finding Inspiration in Angel Wings and Jewelry
When Anna Shoemaker moved to New York six years ago, the reality of being a musician still seemed far from her grasp. But she started to have more and more meetings with producers in the city, plus her best friend was making the move — what better time? So Shoemaker found herself settling into New York, working full time as a nanny and writing songs in the time in between.
This summer, Shoemaker released her EP, “Hey Anna,” a collection of songs written within the last year centered around the theme of forgiving herself.
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“I think of the EP as really reflective and about looking back on situations and being a little bit easier on myself — and then also looking forward,” she says over the phone from her Brooklyn apartment. “This EP feels a little more like solid ground.”
“Hey Anna” was released with an angel wings motif, which Shoemaker explains inspired her throughout her process. In the “Hey Anna” video, for instance, wings are shown literally but represented by feathers. The meaning, she says, is still there.
“I just really wanted to show throughout all the visuals that life still goes on, whether you’ve found your wings or you’re not finding them or you buried them. There’re all these different phases of you and whether you’re really happy or you’re really upset, you’re still you, so you still just have to keep going.”
To mark the occasion of the EP’s release, she released a necklace collaboration with M Jewelers. She’s long been a fan of the jewelry brand and reached out to see if they’d be interested in doing something with her around her angel wings concept.
“I was like, ‘I have this idea to see this kind of party and bring the community together and I want to center it around like a piece that works with the EP because we’ve been working with a lot of angel wings and stuff,’” she recalls. The partnership served as the perfect release party at M Jewelers’ New York store the night before the EP dropped last month.
Thinking in a fashion-focused manner comes naturally to Shoemaker, who was invited by Celine to attend its Los Angeles show earlier this spring.
“Fashion for me, it’s just like this crossover between something that I feel really comfortable and confident in and then something that is inspiring and feels chic. A lot of times, that could be anything from a simple miniskirt to a tank top or big boots. I love mixing something really tiny with something big and baggy. I really like anything that can show people how I’m feeling without me having to explain myself, I guess,” she says. “When I was little I was really, really shy and I felt like the way I dressed was such a good way to express myself and I just think that’s always stuck with me.”
After playing New York last week, she heads to L.A. for a show on Aug. 2, with more live shows to come. Until then, she’ll be at work turning the EP into a full-length album.
“That is just my favorite part,” she says.
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