Mallory Pacific:
More to the Story
Taylor Harrington 7/1/2021 11:37am EST
Singer-songwriter Mallory Pacific closed out June at number one in the Pride month playlists with her hit single, “Emotional”. Mallory grew up in Chicago, and while she moved throughout the West Coast for most of her recent years, she now resides in Nashville. Mallory is paving the way for Queer artists, and is unapologetically herself. A self-proclaimed emotional empath, whose songs are both relatable and get you thinking, Mallory Pacific’s music can also send you running out to the dance floor with your best friends.
Mallory, can you tell us a little bit about yourself? Where did you grow up?
I’m initially from Chicago, Illinois. Really cool city to grow up in. I wouldn’t live there forever, but it’s awesome. Everyone needs to visit if you haven’t yet. I’ve kind of traveled all around, especially the West Coast. I lived in San Diego, LA, Palm Springs, and then in Portland. Now I’m in Nashville, so I’m a little bit of a traveler here. Now I’m just making music in Nashville, living the dream.
That’s amazing. Nashville is such a wonderful musical city. It’s got to feel great to be surrounded by other musicians.
It’s honestly a crazy kind of energy that I didn’t expect. I knew there’d be people here doing what I’m doing, but it just gives you a different vibe. It raises you up more than you think. Everyone’s kind of going for the same thing, but not in a competitive way, it’s like, “Let’s all go for it!” Great music, great city, great people.
There’s room for everybody under the sun, right?
Yeah, I actually I work with this one, um, she’s like a mindset coach and she always says, “I rise, you rise, we rise”, and I just try to live by that. I think it’s the most amazing thing to say and just include everybody, and, you know, go up together instead of trying to fight each other.
What can you tell us about your music? What’s your writing process like?
So writing for myself is honestly kind of newer to me. When I first moved to Nashville, I was writing anything and everything with everybody. I even wrote Country Music when I first moved here. So kind of switching that to write about things that were more special to me, or more important to me, it was definitely a mindset flip. Now I kind of just usually start out writing in my journal. I know, that’s very grade-school of me, but I’ll be in my journal, and I’ll just write about my day and then I take those ideas and those real feelings and conversational pieces from what I’m writing my journal, and then just turn them into a lyric. Sometimes it’ll be the hook of a song or the beginning of a song and then it just kind of leads into more than that once I get that out. It’s like the flow just continues. I also learned how to produce this year.
How exciting!
Honestly, producing is so hard. Props to all the producers out there. It is tough learning every aspect of a song from that perspective. It’s crazy, but so cool. I love that I kind of learned how to do that for myself. Now I’m a little bit better at portraying or telling people what I would want in my song. It definitely has helped, but man, what a journey.
Wow! I know you have a song right now that’s been hitting the top of all the Pride playlists! What can you tell me about this song?
Oh my gosh, okay, so “Emotional” was one of the first songs that I knew was going to be a song for myself and not for someone else. It kind of encompasses everything about me. Once I realized how much the song meant, I thought, ‘wow, a lot of people can relate’. Long story short, my whole life I was made fun of for being the emotional one, the sensitive one, and for just being different. Looking different, talking different, being into things that other people aren’t into. I told my friend Kiana, who I wrote the song with, “I want to celebrate being emotional since everyone makes fun of me for it. How can we make this a celebration of who we are?”, and that’s what came out of it. Once I started playing it for some friends they were like, “Oh my gosh, this isn’t just about being emotional, though.This is just completely who you are. Take it or leave it. That’s what you get.” I was like, “Wow, okay, that’s bigger than I thought it was.” People have been loving the Pride remix. I knew I wanted to do a remix for it and one of my friends, who is also a queer producer, approached me about doing it and I was like, “I want this remix to be like we’re drunk at Pride, just loving life, dancing, and lost in it,” and that’s what he did. It’s amazing.
It’s so much fun and everybody needs to check it out! How can people find your music?
I am on all streaming platforms. It’s under Mallory Pacific. So Spotify, Apple Music, Amazon Music, YouTube, all of the things, and social media as well.
Mallory, what advice would you give to somebody who might be trying to get into the music business, specifically a queer person, trying to find the strength and the inner voice to just really share their gifts?
I would say to just follow your truth. Stick to what you believe in and who you are. Try not to follow too much of what anybody else is saying or doing. I feel like that’s the kind of stuff that holds people back is when you’re listening to others around you. If you feel that fire inside of you to do something, just jump in, leap; take that chance and do it because it’s obviously calling you for a reason. Just follow that path and keep going. My biggest thing is, I’ve been doing this a really long time, and it’s like, just don’t give up. Just keep finding new ways. Just go for it. Believe in yourself. I’ve noticed that the more I’ve believed in myself, the more things shift, change, happen, and come into my world. It’s like, ‘Whoa, all because I just decided that I believe in myself.’ So yeah, believe yourself. You can do it.
Have you ever watched or read The Secret?
Yes, yes. I am a big manifestation, mindset, and positivity person. I love The Secret. There’s a book called Ask and it is Given, which is kind of on that level, but a little bit elevated, but it has the same concept. It’s like the next step after The Secret. I highly recommend it. I take that with me on this journey completely, and that would be my definite biggest advice for anybody is just to believe in yourself, stay positive, and just keep going. Do what’s best for you, not anybody else.
Where do you see yourself in the next five years both in the music industry and your own personal life?
Oh my gosh, okay. So my very dramatic response is gonna be like, ‘I’m gonna be super famous and on tour’, which I do definitely want. I just have to be dramatic about it first. I’d definitely love to do a Pride tour and many other tours. I’m releasing an album, hopefully, in the beginning of next year, which will be super exciting. I just want to keep making music and living life. Besides music, I own a spiritual business. I do Tarot, astrology, and emotional healing. I’m certified in Emotional Freedom Technique, which is like a healing modality. I definitely still want to include all that in my musical realm. As my brand grows, and as music grows, I want to include that. That’s definitely a part of the plan. Mostly someday, I want to have babies. I don’t know if that’s in the five year plan or not, but that’s in my plan at some point.
Where can people find you performing? Is there anything coming up?
I’m definitely in the process of getting some stuff booked. It’s crazy because I actually haven’t played a live show in a really long time. It’s been about seven years so I definitely know that’s the next step, especially because I have some new music coming out. If you’re in Nashville, I’ll definitely be playing sooner rather than later. There’s a queer showcase here on Tuesdays called Rainbow and they recently asked me to play. We’re trying to get that all scheduled, so if you’re in Nashville, definitely, and hopefully I’ll come back to Chicago and play again soon, too.
Even though you’ve been this in this industry for so long, I feel like every step is a new beginning. I’m just excited to see where else you go and continue listening to and supporting your music. So what is your name on social media?
I am under @MalloryIsEmotional on pretty much all social media. That handle is me kind of taking the power back of people saying that I’m too emotional, but yeah, it’s “Mallory is emotional” on Instagram and I’m on TikTok a little bit, too. Instagram is kind of my main thing, but I’m on it all. Follow me. Message me. Let’s be friends. Let’s hang out! I I love meeting people and I obviously, as you can tell, talk a lot. If people want to chat, I’m down to chat. I want to know you. Slide into those DMs people.
Well, Mallory, thank you so much for joining me today. It was so much fun getting to know you a little bit more.
Taylor Harrington
Originally from Edison, New Jersey, Taylor won the 2005 “Middlesex County Caring Award”, and hasn’t stopped caring since. When she is not writing or hosting More to the Story, Taylor can be found chasing her two mutts around Athens, Ohio where she currently resides with her husband. Moving to Appalachia has made a huge impact on her life, and she can’t wait to share some of her stories, laughs, and (mis)adventures with you!
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