Singer Makena Hartlin chatted about recording Judy Garland’s “After The Holidays,” and shared why she has been inspired by Garland.
On her inspiration to record this song, she said, “I was shown this song for the first time earlier this year with the video of Judy singing it live on TV towards the end of her life.”
“I thought it was an interesting and surprising story that the song didn’t get as much of a life at the time and took on the challenge of giving it a modern take,” she added.
She is drawn to the legendary Judy Garland for many reasons. “Judy is enchanting in so many ways. I grew up watching her in the ‘Wizard of Oz’ and wore out that tape nearly every day when I was about three. Judy is an icon,” she said.
The digital age
On being an artist in the digital age, she expressed, “Being an artist in the digital age, my least favorite part is that artists are expected to be online lifestyle influencers in addition to creating great music.”
“There is an increasing appetite for artists’ entire lives to be available for public consumption in the name of keeping the attention of an audience. It’s very tempting to participate in trends that may garner more cheap attention but it can become a skewed metric as to whether those boosts in numbers are equated to people who genuinely enjoy your music.
“The challenge is reaching the people that do, and catering your online presence to them,” she said.
Advice for hopefuls in music
For young and aspiring artists, she remarked, “My advice to young artists is to stay true to what makes you different, as it will serve you best in the long run. No one knows what is best for your art better than you. Many people will give you opinions and some will be well-meaning but you don’t have to take them seriously.”
Future plans in music
On her future plans, she said, “My plans for the future include putting out collections of songs I am proud of.”
Dream collaboration choices in music
Hartlin listed Lana Del Rey, Chris Martin, and Tom Waits as her dream duet choices in music. “My dream collaborations right now are Lana Del Rey, Chris Martin, and this is ambitious, but singing a duet with Tom Waits would be great,” she said.
Success
On her definition of the word success, she said, “I will steal a quote from an Aaron Lee Tasjan song: ‘Success ain’t about being better than everybody else, success is about being better than yourself’.”
Closing thoughts on her new song
Hartlin concluded about her song “After the Holidays,” “I hope if you feel lonely during the holidays, at least you aren’t alone in that.”
“After The Holidays” is available on Apple Music by clicking here.
To learn more about Makena Hartlin, follow her on Instagram.
