A Singer-Songwriter's Story

Sometimes in life you find a wonderful and beautiful friend who astounds you with honesty and talent. I am lucky to have found such a friend in the selfless, musical, and creative person of Becca Tremmel. From nights of giggling fits, to watching Disney movies, crying over relationships, and even spontaneous trips to our favorite cupcake store, Becca somehow understands life in a more complex and vibrant way than anyone I have ever met. She shares her emotions and feelings by portraying daily and life events through her blogging and music career. And through these art forms, she connects all of us a little bit more to who we are and who we are destined to be.

1. What are you passionate about?

"I’m passionate about people. I absolutely adore human beings and learning about what drives them, you know? What makes them tick. The way that I happen to best accomplish that is through writing. I love telling stories about my own life experiences and then having someone reach out to me saying '…same.' It’s such an incredible feeling to connect with people like that, through vulnerability."

2. Why did you start blogging and writing?

"Well, I started writing songs when I was about five years old. I would write songs about the neighbor boy and my annoyingly, perfect older sister and all that angsty five-year-old stuff. But after that, I started playing guitar and writing songs with instruments and it kind of just grew from there. Blogging started around sophomore year of college when I felt like I had so many thoughts bottled up in my mind and I couldn’t share them in a song-type format. I needed something a little less structured."

3. How does it make you feel when you write?

"Honestly? Exhausted. Sometimes I sit down at my computer with an idea for word play or a story to tell and think, 'All right. It’s gonna happen…Today I am going to write something remarkable…. Yep…Just gonna put my hands on this keyboard and just type until I can’t feel feelings anymore.' But usually, I’ll end up sighing and walk away for a week until I can’t keep it in anymore. And then it’s just word vomit after that. But when it’s all done and I feel good about the piece, it is the most wonderful and relieving feeling I’ve ever felt."

4. Why do you write and play music?

"Because I literally cannot do anything else. It’s all I know. It’s the only talent I possess. It’s all that’s ever on my mind. It’s just who I am as a person now. Whenever I’m not writing, I’m thinking about writing or what I’ll write next."

5. What have you learned through your songwriting journey?

"Oh my goodness, I have learned so much. But probably one of the main things I’ve learned about songwriting, or just sharing your story in general, is that you are the only person on this earth who knows what your actual, true intentions are. If someone accuses you of asking for attention or calls you out for having some type of malintent (which I just learned is not actually a word according to Google), you just have to realize that you are the only person who knows what exactly you’re trying to accomplish by writing and sharing your stories. And if you know that at the end of the day that you are a decent human being who writes because they love it and can’t imagine doing anything else, then that’s all you can tell yourself."

6. How have you grown as a person through these two different art forms?

"I’ve grown so much because of music and writing. Songwriters have this unbelievable gift of taking an indescribable feeling and then describing it in 3:20, and because of that I’ve had some opportunities to dive into very complex people who have very complex feelings and then have attempted to twist those feelings into words. Learning about other peoples’ growth in that way and thinking about people as perfect, interesting, and complicated stories has contributed to how I think about myself and how I treat other people. Everyone is always fighting some type of battle and when you hear about some of those battles, you just want to be a kinder and more loving person."

7. Any advice for aspiring musicians or writers?

"Encourage other musicians and writers. Instead of treating them as competition, just treat them as a team member. There’s a place for everyone in this industry and I hear it’s better to be on top of the world with all of your friends and teammates rather than fighting everyone off of your lonely peak."

8. Any last words?

"There’s a reason why you are given specific talents and experiences. Your story is so incredibly important and it can help so many people. If it’s left untold, who can it help?"

Interview with Becca Tremmel was conducted on August 6th, 2016.