22 May 30th-June 5th, 2024 phoenixnewtimes.com PHOENIX NEW TIMES | NEWS | FEATURE | FOOD & DRINK | ARTS & CULTURE | MUSIC | CONCERTS | CANNABIS | Homecoming Queen Older, wiser and cooler than ever, UPSAHL returns to Phoenix. BY CHRIS COPLAN W hen we last spoke with Taylor Upsahl, we noted how long six months was in the young singer’s career. In that short time, her career as UPSAHL had grown to include a new EP and some prime opening slots for buzzy acts. Now, what happens to that very same career after five more years? “That’s a crazy question,” she says during a recent call. “The last time we spoke, I was like 19, 20 ... I had no idea what the fuck was going on.” That didn’t stop Upsahl from carving out a rather sizable career. She released her debut album, “Lady Jesus,” in October 2021, which she followed up with two EPs, December 2022’s “Sagittarius” and last October’s “UPSAHL PRESENTS: THE PHX TAPES.” And she’s toured a boatload, includingopening for Olivia O’Brien, Yungblud and Melanie Martinez. She’ll open for Madison Beer at May 31 at The Van Buren. Upsahl’s rise is especially impressive considering the pause she had to endure. During COVID, “I got to go back to Phoenix with my family, which was amazing,” Upsahl says. “It’s so strange to have lived in L.A. for a couple of years. Then, the second I’m seeing any sort of success or movement with my career, I’m back in my childhood home.” The pandemic informed something wondrous creatively, directly shaping the development of “Lady Jesus” and much more. “I’d been working on my album throughout COVID,” Upsahl says. “My friends and I during quarantine were in these ‘writing camps’ that we would put on for ourselves. We’d quarantine and lock ourselves in the studio for a couple of weeks and just write. And that’s how I made my album, which was a new way of working for me. I really had to lock in with my core people because I had no other choice.” Releasing a record is already an emotional process, so although a global pandemic complicated things, Upsahl’s view on her art and its place in the world is key here. It’s less about owning these songs (and their corresponding emotions) and more about realizing the role they play in the lives of others. “I think especially with ‘Lady Jesus’ because it was so deeply personal, as was most of my songwriting, I definitely had to have a moment like days before I released it, I was like, ‘OK, this is no longer mine. And I have to pass this off to everybody else.’ I’ve made my peace with every song on that album. And that’s just such a screenshot of ... it’s exactly where I was at the time. So it is sort of a stepping stone, but it also is, as is all art, definitely an arti- fact of that era of my life.” It’s partially why Upsahl has since focused on smaller releases such as “Sagittarius” and “PHX TAPES” — there’s huge power in a full-length, but sometimes you can express something equally impor- tant without the added time and space. But these recent releases are more than mere snapshots; they’re an interesting step forward for Upsahl both personally and creatively as she moves into her mid-20s. “Especially with the ‘PHX Tapes,’ it’s allowed for so much room for me to just experiment and have so much fun in the studio and not really have to worry about, like, does this fit into the concept of the project,” she said. “Or, do all of these sound similar and cohesive? I just got to have fun, to try different genres and try different approaches.” It’s an approach that let her grow and understand who she is and the artist she’s becoming. “It’s very scary, obviously, releasing something where maybe it’s different than shit you’ve done in the past and you don’t know if anyone’s going to love it,” Upsahl says. “It was a cool exercise for me in creative freedom. ... Like, I made a house record that I got to put out that was really fun. And it was the B-side to an alt-pop, rock-y sounding song. It allowed me to have so much fun, and for the first time, to really not care about how it was going to be perceived.” But perhaps the thing that even exceeds the gains that Upsahl’s made on records are how she’s wholly developed as a live musician. Her regular jaunts — both national and international — have given her heaps of confidence. “I’m obsessed with it,” she says of touring. “It’s such a different lifestyle, but for me, nothing beats it. I love songwriting obviously, but nothing beats that energy of getting to play those songs in a room full of people, whether it’s a sweaty small club headlining show or opening for someone in an arena.” And while she’s had lots of practice on stages of all sizes, Upsahl recognizes that being a bona fide road warrior is a lifelong learning experience. “I think I’m always developing,” she says. “I think that’ll always be a forever growing process for me, but I definitely feel like I’m at a point in my life where I always feel like no matter if I’ve been in L.A. for a couple of months, I could hop on a Taylor Upsahl (aka UPSAHL) continues building her own pop empire. (Photo by Abeiku Arthur) ▼ Music >> p 24
