Singer and songwriter Marina Fleming started writing songs in middle school to make sense of her changing emotions.
“Music has always been there for me as an outlet to express my longing, frustration, or excitement,” she says. “In high school, I started producing my music, experimenting with electronic sounds and vocal distortion. I would perform by myself with an electric guitar. A few years later, I started writing songs with a harder sound and collaborating with other musicians to create a really strong live sound. That was when I really fell in love with performing.”
In describing her sound, Fleming says that she writes confessional songs. “Most of my songs have been about that ramshackle bridge between childhood and adulthood, because that has been my experience in life so far,” she says. “Sonically, I am very influenced by ‘60s pop, ‘80s new wave, and 2010s indie rock. I love experimenting with layered guitar tracks, digital synths, unexpected vocoders, and accordion played through guitar pedals. I love creating songs with a dream-like atmosphere.”
That can be heard in her new record, Groupies in the Age of Consent, “an emotional roller-coaster ride about a girl who runs away from home to become a groupie. Along the way, she encounters fleeting friendships, father figures, a taste of freedom, and a sobering coming of age. It was such a life-changing experience to record and produce this album. And it is so, so rewarding to perform these songs live with my incredible band.”
As far as Fleming is concerned, as an artist, DIY is everything. “It means fighting through the learning curve, whether that be learning an instrument intuitively, recording an album in my dorm room, watching endless YouTube tutorials on how to master songs, getting photo shop free trial to make a show poster, screen printing last minute band merch, learning how to change my own guitar strings in a pinch, because I believe in my music. Because when you’re an artist, you can’t wait around for someone to do it for you. That sense of agency can transform your life.”
Looking ahead, Fleming is planning a DIY West Coast tour of The Bay, Seattle, Portland, and Oregon with Lomie Blum, (“my bass player, roommate, and bestie”) who is set to release an album if her own with Fleming producing.
“After that, I would love to go on tour with a larger artist as the opener Fleming says. “I think it would be such a meaningful way for people to hear my songs for the first time.”
