After the show, WXYC DJ Lola Oliverio caught up with Bollinger to discuss her music and artistry. The full interview aired Oct. 18 on WXYC.

First and foremost, you’re from Charlottesville, Virginia, and you went to UVA. Did growing up in a college town influence your music at all? Were there any local bands that you were super into and got to watch come to fruition?

Yeah. That’s such a good question. I’ve never been asked that, and most of my favorite bands from growing up were local bands. Both of my older brothers are musicians, and so some of my first shows were going to see their bands play in Charlottesville. There’s this other band called The Extraordinaires that has been one of my favorite bands for pretty much my whole life. My dad and I loved them when I was in elementary school, and my oldest brother played violin on one of their albums, which is kind of how I found out about them. I think growing up in a college town did have a pretty big impact on me, just because there were always young people doing things, making music, going out and going downtown. I would see the students and things like that. And, It’s not around anymore, unfortunately, but there was this amazing house show venue called Magnolia House where I saw some amazing shows. So definitely, yeah.

That’s really cool, especially because Charlottesville and Chapel Hill are kind of similar, and I know UVA and UNC are very similar in a lot of ways. I just think it’s always interesting hearing that perspective from somebody else who, you know, grew up and then went there. Was it weird going to school where you grew up?

A little bit. There’s this documentary called The Parking Lot Movie that you should watch if you haven’t seen it. It’s about Charlottesville. It’s about this parking lot and the attendants that worked there. It’s all these kinds of weirdo musician artists – like, weird townie people – that work at the parking lot. It’s all about their interactions on a daily basis with the students. And there’s kind of this tension that exists, and I wonder if that’s just a Charlottesville thing or if there is that sort of tension in other college towns. But I definitely felt a little bit like I was, like, betraying some part of me by going to school in the town that I grew up in. I don’t know.

That’s a very understandable thing. I think the closest thing we have to that is actually the parking deck right [next to Cat’s Cradle]. Growing up here, I was like, “Why is this just a phenomenon that we all just gather here all the time?” Like, you go up there and you see everybody you know, and it’s just interesting. I think that’s a very common thing in small towns specifically. But that’s interesting. I will definitely check that out for sure.

There’s really great music in it too, so you should watch it.  

Your mom is a music therapist, and your brothers played in bands, as you said. I know you’re probably asked about this a lot, but how did that sort of impact your journey into music?

She’s still a music therapist, but growing up she was making children’s music and recording children’s music albums. I think it was special to be introduced to music and see it as, like, a tool for healing at the same time. That definitely impacted the way that I feel about music, and I got to sing on her albums as a little kid, which also sort of helped me feel familiar with making music. It just felt really natural because of it.

What kind of music did you consume growing up and how does that differ from what you do now? [Is there some] dissonance between what you like to listen to versus what you like to make? Or is it the same?

Oh, that’s a really good question. Growing up I loved local indie rock bands. That was sort of my first experience hearing, I guess, indie rock music, college rock, garage rock and stuff like that. I loved that kind of thing. And then I also loved radio pop – like, I was obsessed with Avril Lavigne. But it’s funny because I feel like I consumed those albums the same way that I listen to music now, which is like, I’ll get really obsessed with something. I feel like so much of my brain space is spent still on like, all of the lyrics to every single song on JoJo’s first album or whatever – stuff like that. I loved pop, I loved indie rock, rock ‘n’ roll and local stuff. And then both my brothers were kind of constantly feeding me music that they thought that I should be listening to – rather than Avril Lavigne and Ashlee Simpson and stuff – so I feel really lucky to have had both of those experiences at the same time because that’s kind of what I want to make now. Or not even what I want to make, but just what comes out of me is like a big combination of all of those things.  

That’s really interesting. I’m sure that having older brothers [influenced your taste]. I feel like it’s kind of a similar thing to having like, cool parents who like, feed you [good music], which I’m sure you had.

I mean, not all parents are like this, but I feel like my mom always talks about how she knows no 80s music because she had my brother in the 80s and she just like, had blinders on and didn’t listen to music. So a lot of the music was from my brothers. And then I feel like later, like ten years ago, I started to really get into what my parents loved. Like, my mom loved James Taylor. And growing up, I was like, “It’s so stupid.”  

He’s from here!

Oh, that’s so cool!

Your first EP was self-released in 2017 via Bandcamp. The backing band was, like you said, The Extraordinaires. What I’ve gathered is that they’re from Philadelphia – but were they active in Charlottesville as well?

I’m not sure about a few of the members, but Jay Purdy, the frontman, is from Charlottesville. He grew up in Charlottesville, and that’s how he met my oldest brother, Ross. When Ross was in high school, and they were a little bit older, like college-age, I guess, he played violin on one of their albums, and that’s sort of how my family got introduced to their music. But then they ended up relocating to Philly. 

[Their sound] is quite different from your sound, and I’m wondering, what was it like creating music [with them as your backing band]? Was it nice to have that insight? Did things mesh easily?  

It did. I feel like at the time I was just so excited. I was 17. I met them because I went to this songwriting camp when I was younger and I played my first show opening for my former songwriting teacher’s band. And then the second band on the bill just happened to be The Extraordinaires. And so I got the email and I was just like, “Aaaaaah!” I freaked out because it was my favorite band ever. And I met Jay and he was just like, extremely supportive and nice and was really excited about my songs, which is nice because it was so early on. So he was like, a really early believer in my songwriting. [He] was like, “You should come to Philly and we’ll record an EP for you.” My oldest brother was living in Philly at the time, so I just went up on the train and recorded with them and it was pretty natural. But at the time I was so young, I didn’t really know what I wanted things to sound like. I feel like I just figured out what I want things to sound like last year.  

Yeah, it’s, you know, it’s constantly changing too.

Yeah, totally! 

I guess speaking of your sound, there’s a lot of French influence, and you just released a cover of Jacques Dutronc’s “J’aime les filles.” Do you speak French? Is that something that you have had an interest in?

Yeah, I’ve had an interest in French for a long time. My oldest brother married someone from France. So my sister-in-law is French, and he’s ten years older than me, so they got married when I was like 13 or something. I got really excited about the idea of learning French and being able to speak French well. I studied it [in school] for a while. I just love a lot of French music from the 60s and I just feel very inspired by it and want to sing it. But I don’t speak very well. 

I mean, I don’t speak French well, but to me it sounded really good! Not that I’m the judge. You kind of have, like, the perfect voice for that type of singing. It’s very evident, the influence, and I think that it’s really beautiful!

How did you get involved with Ghostly International? Because they’re more [focused on] electronic music. I know that they have artists such as C418, who did the Minecraft soundtrack, and Phantogram, who are both pretty electronic artists. 

Yeah, it’s funny. They are, historically, sort of like, a techno label, like you said, from Michigan, which has a big electronic music scene. And it was kind of a funny thing where we were deep in the pandemic and I was starting to talk to labels over Zoom and email and stuff like that. And it really just came down to them sending me an email that described my music exactly how I would want someone to hear it. And from that moment I just knew that I wanted to sign with them. And also, I don’t know, I think it’s cool that the whole pitch was that they have been electronic, but they’re sort of turning a corner and they want to be genre-fluid. I like that because I feel like I have so many different influences and I don’t want to be boxed in.  

Have you been able to do music full-time? What is it like returning home after tour?

I am! I’m doing music full-time now. I actually moved to [Los Angeles] a year ago. It’s such a culture shock. It’s so different from Virginia – like the first time I visited, I just walked into this party and everyone there was just like an artist or a musician and they were talking about stuff that they were working on. So it’s inspiring going back there. And then when I get to go back to the East Coast and to Virginia, it’s refreshing – it’s like getting back to real life. I feel so lucky, but I also feel like [doing music full-time] you could just float off into this, like, imaginary world, which I don’t want to do. So I really like getting to be in Virginia and like, hanging out with my friends from my hometown. 

Is there anything else you want to add?

I’m working on an album and I’m really excited to have it out, because I feel like it’s exactly what I want to say.