We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Piper Page. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Piper below.
Hi Piper , thanks for joining us today. Learning the craft is often a unique journey from every creative – we’d love to hear about your journey and if knowing what you know now, you would have done anything differently to speed up the learning process.
I learned how to make music, and how to have a music career, in the same way that a lot of artists do–from experience. I had no idea what I was getting myself into when I first started, and I believed that the only way for me to truly know if this was a path I wanted to continue down, was for me to just *start*, no matter what obstacles or hardships I encountered. You learn by doing. When I first started songwriting, I was 12 years old. What do 12 year olds know about songwriting? I just tried, and then eventually as I got older and started to understand things like tone, style, cadence, and chord progression, I got better. When I went to college, I started honing my songwriting skills and expanding on the list of things I could write about. Then from there I started collaborating with producers, other songwriters and artists that could make me better, but also challenge me to write for others who may have a different style and sound.
I don’t think I would have done anything to speed up my learning process, I think I was (and am) on the right track. The only thing I would have changed, was maybe to learn the guitar!
I think a big part of being a great songwriter is natural talent and ability to understand music–but also learning how different genres can interact. A good songwriter can write in two main genres. A great one can write a country song on a Monday, a Bossa-Nova influenced pop song on a Wednesday, and a dance/electronic song on a Friday. I want to be a great songwriter.
The biggest obstacle I’ve faced, and still face, is confidence. I think imposter syndrome often gets the best of many artists and songwriters. The feeling that you’re not doing enough to achieve your dream, or that you aren’t going to “make it” (whatever your idea of “making it” is), is incredibly present in every campaign rollout or songwriting session I do. It’s a lot of time, money, and effort put into something that sees very little return. You have to be passionate about it, and confident. You have to believe that against all odds, it will work out for you. I also don’t believe that this is a fleeting feeling. The biggest artist in the world can still have this experience from time to time. This is an ongoing obstacle for many artists including myself, so the message should be that you can move through your music career despite it.
Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers.
I’m Piper Page! I’m a musician, songwriter, and music industry professional. For me, music started “late”. I feel like a lot of musicians can say they “have always been singing”. But for me, this was not the case. My parents encouraged me to do a lot of different activities as a kid–sports, sewing, piano lessons, dance, you name it!–and because of that I feel like I was kind of like Goldilocks. Just waiting to find the thing that fit “just right”–the thing that stuck. I’d written my first song at 12 years old (and was slowly teaching myself how to write music on the piano), but I’d never shared that with anyone. It wasn’t until I was cast in a middle school musical as a lead that anyone heard me sing, and my parents put me into voice lessons immediately to define my craft. I’d finally found the thing that was “just right” for me. After that I’d been in choirs, show choirs, multiple musicals and had taken a liking to writing poetry. By the time I’d reached my Junior year in high school I knew I wanted to be involved with music in some way. When I got to college and started studying Music Business at NYU, I knew I was on the right path.
I did internship after internship in the industry, soaking up every single bit of information that I could. I started releasing music, got a manager and a team, moved to LA, moved back to NYC, and made connections with other producers and songwriters in the Pop/R&B space to expand my catalog. Today, I feel like there are three sides to Piper Page. Firstly, I’m a developing (proudly) independent Pop artist. Second, I’m a songwriter–of both my own work and others. Third, I’m a music industry professional. I work in music marketing for an independent music company, and being on the business side of this industry has given me somewhat of an “upper hand” when it comes to knowledge. I’m very lucky to be able to make music for myself and others, while simultaneously developing other artists’ careers.
I’m most proud of my debut album, which comes out on September 27th, 2024! I’ve been working on this for a long time, and despite many obstacles, it’s finally coming out. This project is one that I’ve nearly ditched a thousand times, but I’m very excited to finally share this with fans, family and friends alike!
For you, what’s the most rewarding aspect of being a creative?
I think that the most rewarding aspect of being an artist is hearing how my music, ambition and creativity resonates with people. Whether its friends, family, or fans–when they tell me that my music has made them feel something, that’s the best part. Earlier this year, I was in Los Angeles during Grammy Week and I was at a panel discussion. After the panel was over, I stood up to walk out and a young guy sitting across the aisle blurted out “I love your music!!” Now, I was in the room with Victoria Monet, Noah Kahan, Jelly Roll, and a lot of other incredible people…I thought there was no way he could be saying that to me. I said to him, “Me?” and he nodded his head “Yes,” and said “You’re Piper Page, aren’t you?” I started crying on the spot. This was at a time where I had about 200 monthly listeners on Spotify, barely 3,000 followers on Instagram and I hadn’t been posting frequently on TikTok. I was in a gap of my music career where I thought “there’s no way that someone could be casually listening to my music”. I was so wrong! When he told me that he loved my songs and that they inspired him as an artist, it reminded me that I’m doing something right. The music is still resonating with someone, even if I take a 2 year break.
How about pivoting – can you share the story of a time you’ve had to pivot?
From the moment I signed my management contract in 2021, I knew something was off. I had always kind of felt like my idea of my music career didn’t match the one that they had in their head for me. At the same time, I was 20 years old and I didn’t even really know what it was I wanted out of my career yet. I wasn’t comfortable with someone else trying to make that decision for me. I was being put in session on session with cowriters and producers that didn’t really care about making good music. I was being asked to make 6 TikToks per day (minimum) and being told that “one day, one of them will go viral!!” I was failing classes in school because I was focused on producing the most amount of content I could to meet expectations I didn’t even set. I was releasing songs I didn’t think were that good. I burned out. After 10 months of this, I parted ways with my management team. While this was the best thing for me, it also meant that I was losing the help. I was back to doing everything on my own and to be honest, I didn’t like the sound of that!
I made the decision to push back the album that I had been working on. I stopped doing shows temporarily. I kept making music but started looking for collaborators that understood my vision and were willing to grow with me. I had never really experienced the music industry as a completely DIY artist–I always had some form of help. This was a new scenario for me and also forced me to use all the knowledge I’d gained at countless internships and college classes, in a very real setting. I’m 110% grateful that I took that chance on myself, because now I have a completed album that is exactly how I envisioned it. Pivoting from being an artist with a team, to being just an artist, changed my life and my outlook on my career. Though it was mentally, emotionally, physically and financially challenging, I wouldn’t change a thing!
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.piperpage.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/piperpage
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/itspiperpage
- Linkedin: https://linkedin.com/in/piper-page-4103a9194
- Twitter: https://x.com/itspiperpage
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCg-IRrgvHlm528U1rUyGIsQ
- Soundcloud: https://soundcloud.com/piperpage
- Other: https://www.tiktok.com/@itspiperpage?
https://piperpage.bandcamp.com/
Image Credits
All photo credits are Ashly Nicole
All artwork credits are Jessica Lin