Welcome to The Drop, Refinery29's new home for exclusive music video premieres. We want to shine the spotlight on women artists whose music inspires, excites, and (literally) moves us. This is where we'll champion their voices.
Herizen Guardiola, 22, wants you to get on her level. In her song "Come Over To My House," she literally encourages you to join her in sure-footed journey.
"Get lost with me, get high," she implores in the opening notes of the song. "Life's much better when you don't know."
That's Guardiola's current philosophy, actually, as she navigates the broader world of music. She's not exactly crafting a strategy, and she's not desperately seeking answers.
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"I don't really overthink a lot of things," Guardiola tells Refinery29 over the phone. Born and raised in Miami, Florida, Guardiola has been singing her whole life. She found fame in Baz Luhruman's 2016 Netflix show The Get Down, where she played hopeful songstress Mylene Cruz. (Mylene wanted to be a disco queen.) The Get Down ended in 2017 after just one season, but Guardiola's fame has stuck: She recorded songs for the show, and her talent is pretty difficult to forget.
"Come Over To My House" is part of her post-Get Down music rollout, something Guardiola is doing slowly and carefully. The song itself is free, wandering up into Guardiola's upper register, which is grounded by insistent drums. She says she mostly free styled it. The music video is just as free, featuring Guardiola and a group of friends dancing in Big Sur, California. (The singer says the exact location of the shoot should remain secret.) Refinery29 spoke to Guardiola about the song, being patient, and the Get Down fandom.
Refinery29: What inspired "Come Over To My House"?
Herizen Guardiola: "The day I wrote 'Come Over To My House,' I was in a really happy mood. I was just knitting and dancing. I don't know; the song just happened naturally. It was a freestyle most of the way. I would say what inspired it was just the mood I was in. The music and the overall mentality."
The video is very woodland sprite-esque. What did you want to evoke with that style?
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"I was raised in nature and that's just a part of who I am and it's one of the first things I want to put forward and show people. I'm really into magic and fairies and 'woodland sprite,' as you say. And nature. I want to just put all of those together. Those things make me happy and the song makes me happy. So, it just blends together. "
What's the purpose of the aerial yoga going on here?
"That just happened. It was just a friend of a friend who's like, 'I'll just come do some cool stuff.' I was just like, 'Yeah. Why not?' There's no real special meaning to that.
I mean, I guess, if I thought about it, there's a shot with me in the silk and it's like me coming out of the egg, and I guess it's like raising — I'm not sure. There's not too much meaning. Everyone can interpret it in their own way. "
In the song, you repeat "I said it, I meant it." What point are you trying to drive home?
"It's just that. It's literally that. If I said it, I meant it. When I say things, I mean them. I guess then I was, in the song, speaking from a place of liking someone and saying something that I meant to say to them and being cute, I guess.
There are some songs that have [meaning], but this one is just a very free song. There's really no meaning. It's just music."
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What's been the hardest part about transitioning out of The Get Down and into your music career?
"Dealing with the fans that were only in it for a character and having to break away from it. [I have to] fight against a character that I'm not. I don't know if it's been, like, difficult. It's just been like trying to get away from this TV character. A lot of people, when you're new [to Hollywood] and you have very memorable characters they just remember you as that. By showing who I am and kind of being free and not really caring and being a completely opposite person from my character, I get a lot of negativity and, 'Oh, you're not really who you are.' Just bullshit, pretty much."
"I guess what's been annoying is time. I wish all of this had happened a while ago. As far as music goes. I know it's all about the process and making sure you have the right everything and not rushing it. I'm just impatient. I just want to release every song I write every single day, but when you're doing it kind of independently, you have to be strategic."
Watch the full video for "Come Over To My House," below.
Editor's Note: This conversation has been edited for clarity and length.