In a 10-mile trek along the Appalachian Trail, McCormick sophomore and singer-songwriter Creed Bellamy found inspiration in the vivid landscape for an imagined scenario in “moss,” one of four tracks on her debut EP “way out there.”
“The mountain that we were on was the highest point in the surrounding valley. You could see more stars than I’ve ever seen in my life,” Bellamy said. “But it was very much a moment of it feels like we’re the center of everything, but we’re definitely not.”
This theme of nature and introspective thought extends throughout the EP, which was released April 20 after 10 months of production. Bellamy has released four singles in three years.
Bellamy’s love of hiking and backpacking fueled most of the collection, she said.
“A couple of the songs are inspired by moments of beauty,” Bellamy said.
She also writes her lyrics on lived experience, she added, involving the people closest to her.
Weinberg sophomore and Bellamy’s friend Aidan Einhorn saw her lyrical process firsthand in the midst of January’s polar vortex, he said.
Einhorn and Bellamy were together when Bellamy had a spur of inspiration and wrote down a “stream of consciousness.” These thoughts transformed into the second track on the EP, “wooden woman”.
“Getting to watch her play with different lyrics and hearing the song advance through the production process … was really awesome,” Einhorn said.
Einhorn was particularly impressed by her ability to pull inspiration from “virtually anything,” he said. For instance, “wooden woman” is based on the intricate lines that pattern a wooden door.
Bellamy said she writes with strands of narratives that craft subtle stories throughout each track.
“The lyrics aren’t exactly telling you like a point-by-point, cohesive storyline throughout,” Bellamy said.
Bellamy said her dream job revolves around songwriting, but as a computer science major, she prioritizes job security before considering pursuing music full-time.
Weinberg sophomore Malik Rice said he appreciates when the melodic tune of a song relates to its title. He said that this is especially true with the first track “i fell in love with the summer.”
“Cruising down the highway, sunroof down,” Rice said. “That’s exactly what you feel like when you listen to it.”
The production process had its challenges, Bellamy said.
She said encountered difficulties in figuring out how to tie down all of the parts of the song from the instrumentation to the lyrics, while also limiting unnecessary additions.
“Figuring out the best balance of all the elements is probably the hardest thing,” she said.
Bellamy is well-versed in the songwriting world, though. She started writing lyrics in the fifth grade and producing music publicly in her junior year of high school — when her mother gifted her studio time for her birthday.
Since then, she’s performed at SOZO Gallery and the Harvey B. Gantt Center for African American Arts and Culture in her hometown of Charlotte, North Carolina, and at NU’s Vertifest.
This is her first production entirely crafted by herself, with the exception of the drums and instrumentation. In her previous tracks, she recorded her music with the help of her hometown neighbor.
The production of “way out there” was recorded primarily in Bellamy’s home studio, using her closet to dampen the sound.
Prior to the release, Bellamy said she felt anxious about the final product and that the EP has received love and positive feedback.
“I absolutely loved it,” Einhorn said. “It’s got to be one of the coolest things to see one of your closest friends thrive so creatively.”
Email: [email protected]
X: @betsy_lecy
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