Andress’ career as songwriter a happy accident
Trip to Fenway led to Berkle and then genre-spanning sessions that built skills
NEWYORK — Ina songwriting session with a group of rappers, which Ingrid Andresswas attending to helpwrite a hook, the conversation turned to immature guy talk about “all the different girls they had.”
Uncomfortable and over it, Andress left.
The musician with a publishing deal inNashville, Tennessee, vented to some of her industry friends, popped open a bottle ofwine and turned her frustration into songwriting gold.
She began writing “Boys,” a pop bop which later became an international hit for British singer CharliXCX. Rolling Stone, Pitchfork, Entertainment Weekly and others named “Boys” one of the best songs of 2017.
The experience of being in rooms with all kinds of artists— pop, rap, R&B, country, rock— helped Andress build her songwriting skills, and now she’s being praised for lyrical prowess on her own album, “Lady Like.” It’s not just one of the year’s best debuts, but one of the year’s strongest albums.
Andress said she’s learned to write honest lyrics and stay true to herself— even if thatmeans being an outsider.
“You’re not just born with the gift of songwriting. It takes time just like any sport or learning a language. You have to practice it,” she said. “I feel like I can adapt to any situation now. Tome, it’s about making a good song that makes you feel something. That can be in any genre.”
She added that sometimes “people think if you’re too specific, you’re alienating yourself and not as relatable. I just kind of went for it.”
“Lady Like” is filled with lyrical gems that reflect the budding star’s maturity and knack for one-liners.
Andress, 29, has also written songs for Bebe Rexha, Halestorm, Lauren Jauregui, FLETCHER, WhyDon’tWe andDove Cameron. She’s had writing sessions with AliciaKeys and SamHunt, though those songs haven’t been released, and she co-wrote (and even co-produced) every song on her debut album.
It might seem shewas destined to be a songwriter, but itwas a happy accident. The young girl fromColoradowhomadly played sports also sang in choir, wrote jingles, played piano and appeared in musicals. But she didn’t thinkmusic wouldmake a career.
That changed one day when shewent to see the ColoradoRockies take on the BostonRed Sox in the World Series, and on her way to Fenway Park, she heard loud, beautiful music blasting froma building. She headed over, not realizing shewaswalking into the Berklee College of Music.
“All thesemusicians just jamming out together— I was like, ‘This is a school? This is a college?’ Iwas like, ‘What? What have I been doing this whole time?’” she recalled.
The junior high school student “dropped every sport. Whenwe got home,
Iwas like, ‘I quit.’ I need to getmy resume up for Berklee.”
In college, she took poetry and songwriting classes, eventually meeting songwriter andmusic executive KaraDioGuardi, who has written hits forKelly Clarkson, ChristinaAguilera and Pink, appeared as a judge on “American Idol” and signed JasonDerulo to a deal.
DioGuardiwas impressedwith a song Andress wrote atBerklee and signed her to a publishing deal inNashville after Andress left school early.
“Whenyou live inNashville and you’re writing downhere, you’reworking with some of the best lyricists, perhaps, in the world. Shewasmentored up with that sort of writing style— making every line count and everyword count. Everyword has an opportunity to tell a story,” DioGuardi said.
“I’ve knownIngrid for a long time now. ... Shewas my student, and nowI see her on late-night shows,” DioGuardi said, yet she “still is the Ingrid I know.”
Andress enjoyedwriting for others but then began “writing songs that I didn’twant to give away.” One song, in particular, “pushedmeover the edge, for sure. Itwas personal. I said, I didn’twant to give it to anybody unless they were really awesome. They weren’t. Thatmademe madand rebel.’ ”
So she began to focus on her own album, eventually crafting “LadyLike,” a pop-leaning country record about the different stages of a roller-coaster relationship she had been in. On album opener, “Bad Advice,” she’s drunk on merlot in hopes of getting over her man; she’s starting a relationship over on “The Stranger”; and she’s dealing with her lover playing two sides on “Both.”
The standout track, “MoreHearts ThanMine,” came to lifeasAndress panicked aboutwhether to bring the boy shewas dating homefor the holidays.
“Iwas like,‘Why amI so worried about that?’ I’m like, ‘Oh, it’s because I care aboutmy family somuch.’ The last time I brought somebody home, they still ask about him to this day. Even though thiswas forever ago, and he hates menow, they still are like, ‘Well hewas our favorite,’” she said.
“MoreHearts Than Mine” resonatedwith listeners and country radio — it reachedNo. 5 on Billboard’sHot country songs chart and crossed over to the popworld, reaching the Top 40.
Andress also received nominations at this year’s Academy ofCountryMusic Awards, CountryMusic AssociationAwards and CMTMusicAwards.
It’s a 180-degree turn fromearlier this year, whenAndress released her album— the samemonth the coronavirus pandemic hit.
“Iwas like, ‘This could be a terrible idea,’” she recalled. “Then I realized ... we still need music. Music always getsmethroughmy stuff, so let’s hope it helps everyone else, too.”
The accolades are also a far cry fromwhat Andress felt when she firstmoved to Nashville.
“Iwas told all the time that Iwasn’t ladylike,” she said. “If Iwas recording a demo and I’dmess up, I’d yell, ‘(Expletive).’ All everybodywould just be like is, ‘Uh, OK, calm down.’ Everybodywas very shocked bymy behavior and howI spoke and even howI dressed. People wouldmake comments. It just really confusedme because I grewup not really thinking about that stuff.”
So— likeAndress typically does— she wrote a song about it. And named her album after it.
“I tried playing the whole sweet girl game for probably a little bit, but I just ended up imploding. It didn’twork forme,” she said. “It’s somuchwork and it’s exhausting to be something you’re not— so let’s embracewhowe are.”