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Photos courtesy of Grace Ives.<\/p>\n
In 2022, Grace Ives<\/a> made a splash with her critically acclaimed second studio album Janky Star. Then\u2014just when we were savoring her husky voice and electropop beats\u2014she disappeared. Following a much-needed three-year hiatus, the 30-year-old singer returns with a newfound confidence and a new album, Girlfriend. As she tells her internet friend, Hunter Schafer,<\/a> she\u2019s stripping down her identity and letting the music shine through, one track at a time.<\/p>\n \u2014\u2014\u2014<\/p>\n GRACE IVES: We\u2019re alone.\u00a0<\/p>\n HUNTER SCHAFER: We\u2019re doing it.<\/p>\n IVES: Wait, where are you?\u00a0<\/p>\n SCHAFER: I\u2019m in Budapest right now and have been going back and forth between here and Italy for the past month because I\u2019m doing two movies at once right now, which is really crazy.<\/p>\n IVES: Yay!<\/p>\n SCHAFER: Almost to the finish line, which is cool. Where are you?<\/p>\n IVES: I\u2019m in L.A. doing rehearsals for a release show for the album on Saturday.<\/p>\n SCHAFER: Oh my god. Are you excited?<\/p>\n IVES: I\u2019m excited. Yesterday, Ariel [Rechtshaid] sent a text that was like, \u201cReached out to Charli and she wants to come.\u201d And I\u2019m like, \u201cOh!\u201d<\/p>\n SCHAFER: Wait, Charli XCX?<\/p>\n IVES: Yeah.<\/p>\n SCHAFER: That makes a lot of sense though. The sonic relationship is there.<\/p>\n IVES: We\u2019re both just people.\u00a0<\/p>\n SCHAFER: Wait, do you live in L.A.?<\/p>\n IVES: No, I live in New York. Where are you from?\u00a0<\/p>\n SCHAFER: I grew up in a few different places, but I just say North Carolina because that\u2019s where I spent the longest time in my childhood. You grew up in New York, right?<\/p>\n IVES: Yeah. In Lower Manhattan, like 12th between 6th and 7th for a while. And then Brooklyn. Are you in L.A. mostly?<\/p>\n SCHAFER: I technically live there, but I\u2019m never there. It\u2019s just because of this little lifestyle I\u2019ve got going on. I\u2019m living out of suitcases right now. Maybe that\u2019ll change someday.\u00a0<\/p>\n IVES: I can relate. The suitcase life is so fucking hard.\u00a0<\/p>\n SCHAFER: Are there any parts of it that you like?<\/p>\n IVES: Yeah. I realized recently, \u201cOh, this is the fun part of this, a fucking tour.\u201d It\u2019s physically crazy and emotional. But then I\u2019m like, wait, It\u2019s so special.<\/p>\n SCHAFER: So you took a three-year hiatus?<\/p>\n IVES: Yes. I went on tour and then came back to Brooklyn and then started just collecting songs. But my last tour was like, \u201cI don\u2019t remember that.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n SCHAFER: Does this one feel different?<\/p>\n IVES: I think so. Before, I was like, \u201cI\u2019m disconnected from the people who interact with it.\u201d It\u2019s weird to have fans, especially when for so long been like, \u201cI don\u2019t know if anybody likes me.\u201d This time around, I\u2019m like, \u201cWe need to come together.\u201d<\/p>\n SCHAFER: And you feel ready to face that.<\/p>\n IVES: Exactly, and just be excited to get to show the music to people. Because it\u2019s not just for me, it\u2019s for people to hopefully be moved by.<\/p>\n SCHAFER: Yeah.<\/p>\n IVES: I mean, it\u2019s weird. I\u2019m sure you have a relationship with fans, but they\u2019re seeing you and identifying with your ability to become someone and use parts of yourself to do that. And then people are like, \u201cI love that. I love you.\u201d I wonder what that is.<\/p>\n SCHAFER: It\u2019s similar in a lot of ways, but where I imagine it\u2019s different is with fans or people who watch the work, they end up having a relationship with the characters that I do. And then I\u2019ve also had to create a character of myself, because I feel like it\u2019s much nicer for my brain to separate it. Do you feel like there\u2019s a little gap?<\/p>\n IVES: There probably should be, but I\u2019m not there yet. I\u2019m just being myself. If I looked at my Instagram, I would be like, \u201cI don\u2019t really know who this person is.\u201d<\/p>\n SCHAFER: Yeah.<\/p>\n IVES: There might be a gap because some people are like, \u201cOh my god, this song changed my life.\u201d And I\u2019m like, \u201cI hate that song of mine. That\u2019s my worst one.\u201d With musicians also, I love when I see people\u2019s personality. That\u2019s what has helped me make better music also, just literally being myself.<\/p>\n SCHAFER: Was that your approach with making this new album? Did you have one more holistic idea of what it would be, or was it more about just getting in the studio and you being you and letting that be it?<\/p>\n IVES: It\u2019s the latter where it\u2019s like I have all these songs, and then in order to make them with another person, I can\u2019t hide at all. You can\u2019t be shy about it or else you\u2019re not going to get what you want.<\/p>\n SCHAFER: Yeah.\u00a0<\/p>\n IVES: In the past I\u2019ve been afraid of speaking up because I don\u2019t want anybody to be mad at me.<\/p>\n SCHAFER: I feel that so much with acting, too. I have to remind myself that I\u2019m going into work to play this other person, but when it comes down to it, what really makes something sing are the moments of looseness and freeness when you might\u2019ve gone too far.<\/p>\n IVES: Where you just let yourself react to the other person?<\/p>\n SCHAFER: Yeah, you get a little lost in it, a little lost in the songs.<\/p>\n IVES: Yes. When you\u2019re crying, I assume that you\u2019re tapping into a true part of yourself that would be sad about something.<\/p>\n SCHAFER: It depends. Crying is always particular and funny because it\u2019s always like all I have to think about is what\u2019s actually happening in the scene or whatever. And then other times it\u2019s like, \u201cNo, I think I need to go visit somewhere that\u2019s hiding in my head and sit down there for a second and get cozy in the grossness or whatever it is.\u201d<\/p>\n IVES: Totally. I\u2019m fed so many acting class videos on TikTok or Instagram and I relate to it.\u00a0<\/p>\n SCHAFER: Wait, okay. I want to ask you specific album questions.<\/p>\n IVES: Okay.<\/p>\n SCHAFER: So it\u2019s your first album after a three-year hiatus. Do you feel like you have grown or changed as an artist? When did you know that you were ready to start making a new project again?<\/p>\n IVES: I was living this life as somebody who makes music in the way that a college kid would, where it\u2019s pretty unserious and a little bit self-involved. I\u2019ve moved away from being so scared of judgment or any kind of reaction that would make me feel bad about myself. I got there in the process of making this current album by actually physically working with someone else. I\u2019ve definitely changed. I mean, three years is crazy.<\/p>\n SCHAFER: It sounds like making music was more kind of a by yourself activity, right?<\/p>\n IVES: Yeah.<\/p>\n SCHAFER: Was there a process of figuring out who you want to let in and of breaking the walls down?<\/p>\n IVES: Totally. At first, I was very like, \u201cI\u2019m going to do it all myself because if I work with another person, everyone\u2019s going to think that they did it and not me.\u201d There\u2019s this fear of just not being a guy in the room, fear of people taking credit, of being overlooked.<\/p>\n SCHAFER: Yeah, totally.\u00a0<\/p>\n IVES: And then I got lucky in the people that I worked with like\u00a0 John DeBold and Ariel. I trust them. I\u2019m not \u201cother\u201d from them. I struggle with feeling like I don\u2019t belong, or like there\u2019s something wrong with me. But trusting these two people, John and Ariel, is like, \u201cOh yeah, we\u2019re all the same. At least in this room.\u201d<\/p>\n SCHAFER: Did your relationships change with them over the time you made it?<\/p>\n IVES: Definitely. When I started, it was just John and I, and I was kind of still in party mode, just being not nice to myself and everybody. So I was not really forming a real connection with him because I was just thinking about myself and what I did last night. John is close in age to me and he works out of his back garage and he\u2019s young in his career and I feel similar. So I kind of just felt like working with like we\u2019re kids.<\/p>\n SCHAFER: Yeah, or your neighbor or something.<\/p>\n IVES: And then Ariel is like my favorite.<\/p>\n SCHAFER: Aww. Wait, one thing I\u2019m always curious about is how you choose the order of songs, especially if you\u2019ve made them not with a particular sequence in mind. How do you figure out what the story and the evolution is?<\/p>\n IVES: I grew up being very playlist-minded, so when I\u2019m putting stuff together it\u2019s very like, \u201cHow does it feel to listen to this all the way?\u201d This time it\u2019s like, \u201cWhat feels good? If you were just sitting and closing your eyes and listening to this, would you want to fidget? Does it feel okay?\u201d<\/p>\n SCHAFER: My stylist, who works for Interview actually, is always talking about letting the eyes rest at something. Because we always go through this process of adding a bunch of stuff to an outfit and then realizing, \u201cOh, wait. We need to respect what\u2019s asking to be looked at, and then take away elements.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n IVES: I have goosebumps for no reason, but that was amazing.<\/p>\n SCHAFER: The words of Dara.<\/p>\n IVES: I love it. I\u2019ve done that where I\u2019ve had a really amazing song and then I\u2019ve just kind of destroyed it by adding and adding and trying to make it beautiful when it already was.<\/p>\n SCHAFER: What made you land on the name for this album?<\/p>\n IVES: I was thinking way too hard about it for so long.<\/p>\n SCHAFER: That just made me think of how daunting thinking of an album name would be.<\/p>\n IVES: I literally made a word cloud of all the lyrics and was like, \u201cOkay, most used word. What\u2019s the through line?\u201dIt\u2019s like me kind of stripping myself down to one identity. I\u2019m somebody\u2019s girlfriend and I have a responsibility to them and I belong to them happily. Each song is from the perspective of me in somebody\u2019s life.<\/p>\n SCHAFER: As their girlfriend.<\/p>\n IVES: Yeah, it\u2019s just also so cute as a word. [Laughs]<\/p>\n SCHAFER: It\u2019s really cute. I agree.\u00a0<\/p>\n IVES: It\u2019s a cool word also because it\u2019s kind of temporary, which is just interesting, especially as a name given to something because it will be over, and this album represents who I am right now. There\u2019s something kind of sweet about the label of girlfriend, new and young.<\/p>\n SCHAFER: You allegedly worked some odd jobs before making it to musician. Did you learn anything that helped you on the other side as a musician diva?<\/p>\n IVES: Oh my god, I worked as a coat check at a venue, which was so hard for me.\u00a0<\/p>\n SCHAFER: It\u2019s so hard.<\/p>\n IVES: I was a dog walker.<\/p>\n SCHAFER: Whoa.<\/p>\n IVES: And I said that I had a bike, but I didn\u2019t. So I did it by scooter.<\/p>\n SCHAFER: You walked dogs while moving on a vehicle?<\/p>\n IVES: No, like to get from place to place. It was like East Williamsburg and then true Bushwick, and then it was straight out. The woman who was facilitating it, hired just by phone. I never met her, and she was like, \u201cWhy is it taking you so long?\u201d I\u2019m like, \u201cTraffic. And it\u2019s raining.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n SCHAFER: Wait, Razor scooter or Bird scooter?<\/p>\n IVES: Razor scooter.<\/p>\n SCHAFER: Razor scooter, let\u2019s go!<\/p>\n IVES: I worked in a restaurant for a while. By the end, I didn\u2019t need a notepad or anything like that. And I think then I got frustrated with people because I wanted them to be uncomplicated, but then you realize that people are complicated.<\/p>\n SCHAFER: But that\u2019s such a mature take for a service worker.<\/p>\n IVES: Well, I was exhausted and pissed. But it\u2019s good to do good hard work. Sitting at home and making music is pretty romantic and makes it a little bit sweeter.<\/p>\n SCHAFER: Did you know early on that \u201cDance with Me\u201d was going to be a centerpiece in the album?\u00a0<\/p>\n IVES: No. That\u2019s one I was sitting on for a while, just had the guitar version of it. The chorus in my mumbling used to be like, \u201cWhy don\u2019t you come home and finger me?\u201d Which is, \u201cDelete!\u201d<\/p>\n SCHAFER: Kind of amazing. [Laughs]<\/p>\n IVES: I wasn\u2019t ready. Now I\u2019m like, \u201cOkay, I could go there next time.\u201d I didn\u2019t really know what it would be while I was making it, and then it just turned into something electric and fun. I mean, it\u2019s a song that says \u201cdance\u201d in it, so you want to do something in that world that\u2013<\/p>\n SCHAFER: Feels alive.<\/p>\n IVES: Yeah, I\u2019m happy where it ended up. It\u2019s nice to talk to someone about sharing art and to think about the similarities is really exciting. I liked these past 30 minutes.<\/p>\n SCHAFER: Me too. I find the musician archetype really yummy.<\/p>\n IVES: I just want to hang out and talk to you, but I think we did it.<\/p>\n \t\t\t\t![\"Grace](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/IMG_3206-scaled.jpg\")
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