CHLSY Front-Woman Chelsea Gilliland Chats Anticipated Upcoming Album
Drummer Sawyer Dodds, Front-Woman Chelsea Gilliland, and Bassist Sean Swanson - Photo Credit: Aristo PR
Music can make us feel seen. Making their listeners feel seen is a goal of Nashville based group, CHSLY. Composed of Front-woman Chelsea Gilliland, Bassist Sean Swanson and Drummer Sawyer Dodds, CHSLY hopes to reignite that nostalgia-inducing 90s sound whilst putting their own modern ‘dark rock’ signature on today’s musical zeitgeist. We had a chance to talk with Front-woman Chelsea Gilliland about the recent single, “555,” their upcoming album Quantum Entanglement and the journey of healing.
When I first saw the title of your single, “555”, I automatically thought of it as an angel number. When I read that the number 5 did play a part in your story, I was really intrigued. Do numbers and manifestation still play a role in your path?
Yes, definitely! I always see repeating numbers and have slowly begun to figure out what they mean to me. I’ve manifested pretty much everything I have. From my car, to my house, to my boyfriend. It sounds a little crazy, but this world really is whatever you want it to be and, with the right tools and state of mind, you can literally bring anything you want into your reality. If you’re looking to manifest, I would recommend focusing on the emotion that you’re trying to bring into your life, rather than the material thing. Manifest that emotion because oftentimes we have no idea what’s in our best interest.
I love how the track has these reflective and quiet moments, but then the chorus gets amped up. It reminds me of how life isn’t linear, how it takes all these twists and turns. What was the writing process like for this single?
I love that metaphor for the song. Life is full of peaks and valleys and that is truly the beauty of it all. The low points help us appreciate the high ones for sure. I actually wrote ‘555’ during one of my low points– in about 15 minutes the exact morning that I broke up with my boyfriend. At the time, I was really hurting from a previous relationship. I knew I had a lot of inner healing and work to do to be a good partner for my new boyfriend. I didn’t want to be a walking red flag in his life or make him feel the way my last relationship made me feel. So I decided it would be best for us to go our separate ways for a little bit. But internally, I knew we would find each other again. And when we did, everything was so much better than it had been. He’s helped me heal so much from my relationship trauma. He’s provided a correctional relational experience for me and for that, I am so grateful for him.
You said something I think most people can relate to, which is, “Healing yourself is hard work, and I didn’t realize how hard that was.” What would you tell someone who is on that journey?
It’s so crazy because me and my friend, Carly were literally just talking about that today! I like to think of healing as untangling a ball of yarn. Once you begin pulling out threads, it all begins to unravel. Memories that you didn’t know existed resurface and you sometimes find yourself crying in public; you also realize the ball of yarn you had is actually a lot more tangled than you initially thought. A big part of the healing process requires unlearning much of what we were taught in our early years. Everything in our later years is merely a reflection of the reality we hoped to have in our early years. It takes so much courage to open your personal ‘Pandora's box.’ And though it is a lifelong process, you will look back several months into it and realize that the mud you were once trudging through has dried and turned to dirt. You will feel so much lighter. It is the most selfless journey you can embark on, not only for yourself, but for everyone else in your life. The best piece of advice I can give is to always listen to your intuition.
It sounds like you packed a lot of emotions into your upcoming album, Quantum Entanglement. What are you hoping the listeners feel when they listen to this record?
‘Quantum Entanglement’ is most definitely a piece of my soul. It is what the inside of my soul sounds like. I hope that the music will be able to provide a healing experience to at least one person. If this album can achieve that, then I will consider it a success.
What song came together the fastest and which one took the longest?
‘555’ definitely was written the fastest. Like I previously mentioned, I wrote it in about 15 minutes. ‘Cloud’ took the longest to write. I initially began writing it when I was falling into what I thought was love. I intended for it to be a love song but always wondered why it felt somber. I wasn’t able to finish the lyrics for it until that relationship ended and I had the hindsight to realize that it was not love that I experienced at all. ‘Cloud’ changed from a love song into a tragedy. It is now about feeling the need to change yourself so that the person you care about also cares about you in return. It took me about a year to complete it.
If you could have coffee and pick the brain of any artist, dead or alive, who would you choose?
I would love to grab coffee with Thom Yorke. Actually, I’m pretty sure if I had that opportunity, I might pass out. He’s an absolute genius and my biggest inspiration.
Thanks to Chelsea for speaking with us, and to Taylor Dickens, Christy Walker-Watkins, and the team at Aristo PR for arranging this conversation!