Welcome to The Drop, Refinery29's 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.
Nashville-based artist Josie Dunne is making moves. After releasing her first EP with Atlantic Records, To Be The Little Fish, in 2018, Dunne has toured with singer-songwriters Ben Rector and Julia Michaels, making a name for herself as a songwriter and up-and-coming pop act to watch. Her new single, "Same," plays with love song conventions while also infusing some fun into the "wish I could tell you how I feel" sentiment that so many musicians have tackled before. Dunne's new music video for the track, premiering exclusively on Refinery29, will bring you back to the days of not quite knowing how to spell out your deepest feelings to your crush.
AdvertisementADVERTISEMENT
Hmm...maybe we should just play "Same" for them next time.
Refinery29 spoke to Dunne over the phone about her new single, why love songs are hard, and what the best piece of advice she received as a musician.
Refinery29: What was the inspiration behind the song?
Josie Dunne: "This song is about saying 'I love you' for the first time. I really wanted this song to be super real. I feel like anytime that that moment has happened for me it's like, in a grocery store — it's not this big movie moment with fireworks. It happens in aisle four of the Kroger."
What's the hardest part of writing a love song?
"It's definitely saying something that hasn't been said yet. And saying something that's not cheesy! It's so easy to go super cheesy with a love song. It was finding a way to make it really real, instead of just telling of any random story...that's the key to writing a love song."
How did you come up with the concept for the video?
"My original idea for the video actually was to do this a big grand movie production. I wanted it to about a person is leaving for space, on a spaceship, and longing for them. However, we had a week to put it together and I was talking with the video's director, and she said, 'The charm of this song is that it's so based in reality. We always do videos that are not based in reality. Let's make this a real story about a couple that's moving away and we can take the heart of your original idea and then just put it in a real house, in a real time, and tell a story of this couple that miss each other.'"
AdvertisementADVERTISEMENT
Do you feel like you're playing yourself in this video, or a character?
"I think I'm playing myself in this video. I always play a character, with the exception of maybe the 'Old School' video. But here, it was less like acting."
What was the best advice you got going into the music industry?
"I think that the best advice I've ever been given was just write, write, write, write, write. Even if you think the songs are bad, just keep writing. My uncle told me, before I had ever written a song, 'Just go lock yourself in your room and write like the worst song you could possibly ever imagine. Just write a really crappy song, and then before you know it, your crappy songs will just turn into good. And then you'll figure out who you are based on the common thread of all these songs that like slowly by surely slowly but surely you start to love and see yourself in.'"
Check out The Drop's premiere of Dunne's "Same" video, below:
This interview has been edited and condensed for clarity and length.