We had a great conversation with Peyton Gilliland on The Chris & Sandy Show. We talked about family, music, passion, sacrifices, she told some stories to a whole lot more!
In conversation, Peyton Gilliland is soft-spoken, measured and deliberate. But unleash the 18-year-old behind a microphone, and the breaking teenage rocker is a firestorm of emotions. “I feel like there’s so many different sides to me,” says the small-town Alabama-raised Gilliland, whose new single “Not Bothered” is a slingshot of angst and unrequited love — a straight-up missile to the heart of anyone who’s ever desperately tried to make their ex feel jealous. Gilliland laughs at the idea that a well-behaving girl like her — the type who has raised and rode horses her near-entire life — could be so brutal in song. “It’s a very sassy song,” she admits with a chuckle. “I like to be diverse.”
Showcasing different sides of her personality and artistry is becoming second-nature for the young musician who is soon to graduate high school. Where “Not Bothered” is all attitude and aggression, her other new single “Empty” is beautiful and delicate. Written with Craig Wilson, Gilliland drew on her longtime love of female belters like Adele and Amy Winehouse for the more genteel cut. “It’s about falling in love with somebody and being invested in the relationship and realizing they are not putting forth the effort,” she offers. “You still try really hard and it just leaves you empty.” When she first wrote it roughly one year ago, “Empty” was more of a projection of what that relationship strife might feel like. “At the time it didn’t make sense for me because I hadn’t really been through that,” she says, “but then I broke up with my boyfriend and I was like, “OK, this all makes sense to me now!””
Lately Gilliland has been coming into her own like never before. She grew up singing in church but was always an avowed fan of rock music — Cage the Elephant, Arctic Monkeys, etc. Lucky for her, a few years back, at age 15, she linked up with former Cage member Lincoln Parish who has since gone on to become her mentor, producer and biggest champion. When she first heard she could work with one of her favorite musicians, “I freaked out,” Gilliland recalls with a laugh. “I was like “Hold up! Cage the Elephant is my favorite band and always has been.”” Parish, for his part, quickly recognized that the young singer, while prodigiously talented, may not have been tapping into her true rocker potential. “And so he would push me to my limits because he knew I could do it because he knew he did it at such a young age too,” Gilliland explains. “He knew I was capable.”
The result is a singer shedding her previous insecurities and stepping out in a major way. It’s extended to her live performance as well: where Gilliland admits to once having severe anxiety around performing, over the past year, ever since a standout gig at the Basement in Nashville, she’s never felt freer or more self-assured. “I guess I shed my shell at that show,” she says of the gig, her first with a full band. “When I came offstage, I was like, “Wow, I now understand why people like to do this so much!””
Looking ahead, Gilliland is ecstatic to get back in the “workshop” and begin writing and recording new songs with Parish for an as-yet-untitled upcoming project. To hear her tell it, she’s never felt more empowered as it relates to her professional ambition. “This past year I’ve taken a lot more ownership of my career and artistry,” she says. “I’ve got a lot of big ideas that I really wanna put out there.”
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