GINESSE ON NEW MUSIC, SETTING BOUNDARIES, AND IDENTITY
Known for Anaheim’s Disneyland Resort, Huntington Beach, impressive restaurants, shops, and even its own TV show, Orange County, California is an infamous hot spot for the showy, scandalous, and prominent. Orange County also happens to be where two-time Emmy nominated actress and musician Cait Fairbanks grew up after moving around frequently from Michigan.
“I ended up in Orange County, California, and I grew up there which was really strange. Yes, it was a really beautiful place, but just really strange,” says the 27 year-old singer-songwriter and actress, also known as ‘Ginesse’ who’s music career is currently going full steam ahead. Thanks to the constant moving around the environment around her, she found herself drawn to the idea of being an adult having already lived so many lives. Fairbanks began attending musical theatre where she began singing in front of people and auditioning. She refers to musical theatre as her “saving grace” as she realized she had finally found her calling.
Fairbanks has been balancing both a music and acting career which she notes is a tough and tiring thing to do. “On the days that I'm working, I really work and kind of smoosh everything into one day, and then the next day I do as minimal as possible when it comes to that kind of brainpower,” Fairbanks admits. “I just created these really intense boundaries in-place where I don’t answer emails after 9pm and I want to do one, maybe two auditions a day but nothing more than that.” Eager to follow both of her passions, she reminds herself of the importance of parameters and remembers the importance of not overworking herself in order to remain healthy, consistent, and part of the industry for as long as possible.
Now, after releasing her first EP ‘Somewhere to Die’ last year, Fairbanks’ latest project is her new single ‘Gatorade’ which is set to be released June 4 with a music video coming up shortly after. She intends on flipping a switch on her sound and going for a more raw and candid feeling as she bids farewell to her former sound. “I'm kind of like saying goodbye to this kind of poppy version of the project. I think I realized how much I miss live performing, obviously, and working with a band so this is kind of my last computer endeavor … you can't really escape the computer too much but I think this is like saying goodbye to the pre-quarantine Ginesse,” Fairbanks lamented. When asked what her new goal was, she declared her plan to pursue a more orchestral sound, drawing inspiration from things like art and astrology - although a specific sound and plan is still a mystery to her as she continues to experiment.
Blueprint Magazine: Do you have a story or a theme behind your new work?
Cait Fairbanks: Yeah, there are themes and stories I think what I'm trying to do is kind of go back and I, this is like the dorkiest way to say this, but I'm definitely an idealist, little dreamer kid, like I always was. So I always wrote stories. So what I wanted it to be was kind of going back and looking at the things that have happened in my life and like a different perspective from like different characters. So what I want to do is break each kind of song down and look at things that have happened in my life from a different perspective, Instead of just my own.
It's reflective in a way that I want to release a lot of the rage. I know my friends and my girlfriend's like we have a lot of feminine rage that I've had just boiling for years from working in the entertainment industry since I was a kid and releasing that kind of pain that comes along with that because there's a lot of unique experiences that I think only people who grew up, trying to be a part of the entertainment industry can really experience. It's a very unique experience so it's like I really kind of want to allow myself to go there instead of trying to shut that part out of myself and be okay with the fact that I'm a performer and an actress and like I have this part of me that I think I've done it for so long that sometimes there's like a lot of pain and resentment there and so it's kind of looking at it in a more fun way and celebrating that
Is it hard for you to be vulnerable in that way?
Oh my god, yeah. Like, I have a different artist's name and I always try to look different in the shoots that I'm doing and I think that's what this project right now feels like like putting out Gatorade it's actually it's funny it's about mercury, when it goes into retrograde and a lot of the nostalgia that we feel the exes that come back, the unfinished business. So I think that for me what that represents is now going back and being okay with that nostalgia and being okay with the fact that I’ve built a lot of walls, very quickly, because I had to and instead of playing a character I kind of want to just be myself.
How does Astrology play a part in your creative process?
I think I just love art, I mean I also love astrology, but I also love the art that wraps around astrology and the culture that it's from, it's like a really beautiful thing. I think a lot of people love having an idea of what's going on, emotionally as well. So, I do check my horoscope especially when I'm going into a session, and my producer Mateus, he's also very into astrology, so it's like we and he's an Aquarius and I'm a Leo so it's like we kind of sit on the opposite sides of each other, but we can really like view each other in more of an appreciative way I think because of that and that's cool.
Are you planning a tour or anything of the sort?
You know I think the one thing I'm trying to learn from quarantine is that we make plans and God laughs. So what I want to do is I want to see where I'm at, really emotionally after recording and see if that's something that I would like to do or not. Some artists choose just to do streaming and then perform when they can. You know I also feel like I'm such an indie artist in the way where I kind of just make art when I want to. I'm lucky enough to have a day job working on a soap opera. I'm so spoiled. But, because of that, I kind of want to take my time and see what I want to do.
It’s amazing that you're able to balance two careers while maintaining a sound mind and staying sane. Do you have a certain philosophy or advice to follow?
All I can say is that good things just take time for sure. And also, that everything I'm everything that's happening to me, is because of me, but that's not a bad thing, it's a way that I take my power back by reminding myself like hey, I'm the one experiencing my anxiety. I'm the one who has the insecurities right now. So when I'm saying things to someone else when I'm feeling that anxiety, especially after this year I always try to remember where I'm coming from. I'm trying to remind myself that I have to, it's my home and I have to upkeep my home, just as much as I have to upkeep my house. Just like a daily work, just like meditating, working out, staying up cleaning, making my bed, like, and then on the days that I don't want to do it then I'm like, “it's okay”. You just have to forgive yourself and let yourself be sweaty and dirty.
Written for Blueprint Zine
