We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Codi Smith a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.
Hi Codi, thanks for joining us today. Can you talk to us about a project that’s meant a lot to you?
My most meaningful project I’ve ever worked on was the ‘in the meantime’ – EP. That project is is now getting expanded into a full body of work called ‘MADE UNDER CIRCUMSTANCE’ dropping September 7th! The ‘in the meantime’ EP was cultivated in preparation for a heart surgery I had just discovered I needed like 10 months prior. I was in a very vulnerable state and with that I created a 5 song EP that was made with intention! Beyond the music I will always remember that era going through the health challenges I’ve faced and trying to not become a victim to those challenges. My new project ‘MADE UNDER CIRCUMSTANCE’ will feature songs that I started prior to ‘in the meantime’ that I think are more upbeat, sexy and fun! It only made sense for me to put them together, it is to me a yin yang moment.
Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.
I am Codi Smith and I’m a pop star singing sensation! I got into music from basically the delusions of being a kid. I never just listened to music. In my mind I actually WAS Hilary Duff, I WAS Britney. I always felt like I was a part of pop culture because that’s what I always naturally emulated. On my 15th birthday my mom got me the mac book I begged her for! The mac came with garageband. I started making my own songs with loops and the rest was history! I grew very slowly after I moved to LA at 18. I was so use to being a garageband soundcloud artist and it took me a while to get out of that. What really propelled me forward was the community I found from a queer collective event called Queer As Punk. They gave me space to really start performing and work out a lot of kinks as an artist. I’m so grateful for the opportunities they gave me because not everyone gets that. It led me to even doing a mini tour in 2019. Of course once COVID happened, the challenges started to arise. Not with just the virus but in 2020 I found out I needed a heart surgery. I got that surgery in 2021 and it led to complications afterwards. Then in 2022 I found out I had an auto immune disease called Multiple Sclerosis. I will say these things back to back did a working on my confidence. You think who will want me with this scar down my chest and a disease? Once that rocky confidence starts to leak into other places like the studio, it can be challenging to get out of that. But alas I always just continue to put my best foot forward and that lead me to being able to perform at LA Pride this summer! That really made me feel like anything can happen! I can go through all that and still get opportunities and grow and live a good life.
Is there something you think non-creatives will struggle to understand about your journey as a creative?
I think if you are a non-creative person, you could potentially not recognize the amount of work and bravery it takes for an artist to be an artist. People always look at the final project not realizing how much work, time, money, energy, and effort that was put in. It’s not really a bad thing because how would you know? I can’t speak for every artist but sometimes you’re not brave every single day. It’s vulnerable cultivating music that is going to be perceived. I think being brave in spite of fear can be half the battle and if nothing, that should stand for something.
Any resources you can share with us that might be helpful to other creatives?
I wish I knew how to distribute music on platforms sooner. Distrokid is a distribution service that I’ve been using since 2018! I wish I skipped the soundcloud mixtape phase and went right into original music on platforms because even if streaming services give you next to nothing for a stream, you’re at least getting something.
Contact Info:
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/codismith/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/CODISMITHMUSIC/
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC93DbMOD9tglLQP9we2Ckdw