18-year-old singer-songwriter Grace Gaustad believes in working harder and smarter, and it’s paid off in spades. Her cover song of “Take Me To Church” blew up on Instagram with over 19 million views, over 2 million streams on Spotify, and over 1.9 million views on Youtube. Her cover of “Chasing Cars” had over 9 million views on Instagram, 1.4 million on Spotify and over 1.1 million views on Youtube to date. 

However, the LA-based indie artist is not all about doing cover songs; Grace is a prolific songwriter having written over 1000 songs within the past ten years. She’s seeing success with her original songs as well with having 3.7 million streams overall on Spotify to date. Her latest single, “Louder”, from her debut EP Human, has racked up 73K streams to date. 

Her songwriting inspiration comes from observing all different aspects of the world and then translates their messages into songs. She believes it’s important to show love and hope in times of chaos, through forms of art, including the universal language of music.

Grace had the opportunity to meet Lady Gaga, at her Born This Way charity event and her genuineness left Grace speechless.  She also works with Lady Gaga’s voice coach Don Lawrence, whom Grace has been training with since she was 13.

I recently interviewed Grace about her streaming success, production process, meeting Lady Gaga, and what’s coming up next for her.   

Congratulations on the success of your latest release, “Louder” released in September 2019, racking up over 100,000 streams to date. What did you learn from the experience of getting that many streams?

Thank you so much! It is always extremely rewarding to see my music reaching bigger and bigger audiences. I hope one day those streaming numbers are in the hundreds of millions.

Your cover song, “Take Me To Church”, has over 2 million streams and “Chasing Cars” has 1.4 million streams on Spotify to date. Take me through the strategy for achieving that many streams for your songs. How were you able to achieve this?

Well, both videos gained a lot of attention on Instagram and then a lot of those viewers moved to platforms like Spotify and Apple Music to listen to the full versions of the songs. I’ve found that Instagram is a great platform to share my music and videos because it seems to direct a lot of traffic to other services as well! 

How did learning to play piano, guitar and other instruments at a young age enable you to write over 1000 songs within the past 10 years?

Take us through your songwriting process.  

It always varies slightly but a very general order that I tend to follow is the music first, then melody, then lyrics last. However, a lot of the time they happen simultaneously. 

What is the world experience that you draw on to write songs that your fans can relate to and “be comforted from”?

I think in a time of so much chaos it is important to show hope and love through forms of art. Music is a universal language and it’s something that everyone can understand so as I observe all different aspects of the world I do my best to translate those messages into music. 

Why do you release cover songs since you seem to be a prolific songwriter? 

I release cover’s simply because I truly enjoy singing songs from my favorite artists. It is an amazing feeling to take a song from someone you look up to and make it your own. 

Explain your production process.

I work alongside a variety of different producers and together we work on finding a unique combination of production elements for each song. Each song is totally different therefore it requires a specially designed approach.

What is your favorite microphone for live performances and why?

I use a Shure KSM9. It has a very clean and crisp sound and a great overall feel.

How was your voice was noticed by Lady Gaga’s voice coach Don Lawrence at an early age?

I auditioned with Don at age 13 and we have been inseparable ever since. He is a wonderful coach and mentor and I appreciate him deeply. 

What has been the biggest challenge in your music career so far? How did you overcome it?

My biggest challenge has been making the transition from posting mainly cover songs to my own original music.

You met your childhood idol and hero Lady Gaga in November. How did the opportunity come about and what was the experience like?  Why is she your idol and hero?

I can honestly say I have never met a more genuine and kind human being in my life. I was speechless meeting her at her Born This Way charity event. I respect her on a tremendous level and her talent is undeniable. I have loved her for well over a decade and will be a fan for the rest of my life. 

What does it mean to you personally to be an indie music woman artist?

To me, it’s all about being part of a group of women who are all striving to make the music industry a better place.

How do you think women artists can be better supported in the indie music industry?

A personal favorite advocate for musicians is Taylor Swift. She uses her enormous influence to help artists just starting out and I admire her greatly for that.

What projects do you have planned for 2020?

I plan to release my first full-length album hopefully before summer but definitely this year. 

What are your tour plans for 2020?

I will be playing many shows around the Los Angeles area but I am also hoping to secure a spot on tour as a larger artist’s opening act. 

Thank you, Grace, for the opportunity to interview you.

You can find Grace on Spotify, Twitter, Instagram, YouTube, and Facebook.

Grace’s debut EP, Human, is available to buy on Apple Music, and stream on Spotify.

Watch the official video for “Louder”