Gracie Abrams is a big name to know. And not just because she shares her surname with one of the world’s most famous filmmakers – her father JJ Abrams. Her mother, producer Katie McGrath, also changed the landscape for women’s rights in Hollywood by founding Time’s Up, the non-profit organisation supporting victims of sexual harassment that was launched in the wake of allegations against Harvey Weinstein in 2018.
Undoubtedly a talent in her own right, however, Gracie has been playing music since she was eight, and started writing songs in high school: the epicentre of where all heartbreak begins.
She signed her first record contract after becoming an Instagram sensation, helming the “bedroom pop” movement by performing both covers and original tracks from, you guessed it, her room – a vibe that increased in momentum in the lockdown era.
2023 may be her biggest year yet – not only is her debut album Good Riddance due for release next month, Gracie Abrams is set to join none other than Taylor Swift on tour this year as an opening act.
GLAMOUR catches up with Gracie during some much needed downtime in LA.
How do you feel about the album being released in a few months?
I've never been more excited for anything to come out. Of course, there's a degree of nervousness that surrounds any release, but it served such a significant purpose for me in my personal life, having that space as an outlet when I was going through some significant changes in my life. So to have that revealed makes me deeply excited.
I think lyrically, this album is the most specific, straight to the point I've ever gotten with my writing. I think I feel intimidated by the fact that it's all going to exist, just the collection of stories together. It feels confessional, which is the whole point for me, for my own sanity. The inspiration behind all the songs is quite literally what has been going on in my life over the past two years.
You produced it with a music industry legend, The National’s Aaron Dessner, who worked on two Taylor Swift albums, no less. What was it like sharing those personal experiences with someone as you were creating the album?
It was the most effortless process I've ever experienced – working together feels like breathing. He challenges me in all the ways that I could ever hope for someone to do. As soon as we finished the album, we already started working on the next one. I feel like I owe him so much. I told him 'you've had to hear more about my personal life than probably anyone else except for my therapist'.
There must be a vulnerability that comes with sharing your personal experiences in your lyrics. What’s that like for you?
I feel like the vulnerability aspect is rewarding. I feel infinitely less alone every time I am [performing] in a room full of people who have clearly gone through something similar – and it's nice to know that my feelings aren't rare. I feel so close to all of these people who technically in many ways are strangers, but they don't feel that way, after we've had one night together talking about the sh*t in our lives.
You reference your own heartbreak in your music – is it healing to write about these experiences?
Songwriting has helped me with being more reflective and aware that everything, [even heartbreak], is temporary and so music is a great place for me just as a writer to express myself. It’s similar to journaling, which I can’t advocate enough. It has always worked for me in terms of stopping myself from staying stuck in a moment for too long.
I feel infinitely less alone every time I am performing in a room full of people who have clearly gone through something similar – and it's nice to know that my feelings aren't rare.
You made your politics and views towards activism when it comes to Roe vs Wade very clear. How do you feel about using your platform to spotlight issues like this?
I will never shy away from talking about my stance on these issues on social media – there's the potential to reach people, regardless of the size of your platform.
We all need to be as awake as possible to the severity of what's going on around us. I'm especially devastated by Roe vs Wade being overturned, but it's just one of the trillion things on the list of the ways we’ve been betrayed. I think that voting is the number one way that we can actively show up and make a difference, along with basic human kindness and compassion that we should be showing each other on a daily basis – as well as curiosity about what it's like to be in anybody else's shoes.
I have faith in our generation to show up in ways that we haven't seen from those who've come before us. So I'm relieved to be a part of a group of people who care.
Have you put boundaries in place with your social media to protect your mental health and your private life?
I really suffer when I spend a lot of time on social media. I have one of those time limits on my phone for Instagram, I don't have Twitter on my phone. I rarely check TikTok anymore. I don't read my DMs often because it breaks my brain.
The past year has been a significant reminder for me of what is real, tangible and important. The experience of being in a room with fans and seeing their faces – that feels like what is worth focusing on for me instead of spending hours and hours doom scrolling. I learned over the course of the last year making the album that it's a choice, how we spend our time.
That being said, I'm so grateful to social media, because that's how I started connecting with people. But there's a limit for me personally, and I think I've gotten more sensitive over the years as to what that is.
You have two influential parents in the Hollywood world – how has that affected the goals you set for yourself? Has there been pressure? Inspiration?
I wouldn't say pressure. I’ve grown up in a house where storytelling is something that grown ups can do. That's been inspiring. My dad was writing about made up creatures, aliens, love, heartbreak and adventure. Growing up in close proximity to an adult who was telling stories like that had to have meant something, and I'm deeply grateful that I've had an example of someone who has done what they loved, for myself and my brothers, I think we feel very lucky to have been exposed to such crazy stories from such a young age.
I’ve grown up in a house where storytelling is something that grown ups can do. That's been inspiring.
Growing up, though, I kept my parents so far out of everything I've done musically, before I was ever, you know, on the Internet, or with a label releasing music. When I was really little, if they walked in the room, I would stop playing piano because it was so entirely mine and not theirs. And I loved that part about it, but sometimes maybe to a fault – just in terms of getting advice when I could have used it over the years, I kept them out of it.
Your Mum was one of the founders of Time's Up, what an incredible example she is! Has her work in that sphere impacted the way you see the world?
I admire her wholeheartedly. As I've gotten older, I just wanted to be more and more like her. To see her fearlessness in these spaces is something that inevitably has guided me as a woman. The coolest thing is seeing the sisterhood between her and the hundreds of women who rallied around Time's Up and were brave enough to use their voices, especially when it meant that they were putting themselves at risk.
There's a lot of focus on the #MeToo movement and its impact on Hollywood. How do you see its impact on the music industry?
I think that there's been a shift in terms of people being aware of accountability happening. That being said, we've not reached a point of equality by any means. And so while I'm grateful to exist at the start of this larger movement, I think working in these industries is the very starting point.
I feel very inspired by all of the women that have come before me, we're all aware that we're standing on the shoulders of women that have suffered through times before there was the space for being vocal – before people were listening. But I don't think any of us are satisfied yet.
Good Riddance will be available to buy and stream from 24th February.
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