“The thing about punk music that made me fall in love with it was the creative freedom that comes with it”, says an 18-year-old Southern California singer carolesdaughter as to why she fell in love with punk music following a Mormon upbringing. After recently signing to Arista Records/Sony Music Entertainment, carolesdaughter releases her first single ‘violent’.
Born Thea Taylor, carolesdaughter is the youngest out of ten kids of educator parents. She grew up south of Los Angeles and just north of San Diego in Oceanside, CA. With the pressure of being the youngest in the house, and dropping out of high school, carolesdaughter has been through a lot. Today she embodies an alternative/pop singer/songwriter and multi-instrumentalist with no fear and filter.
As to her career on the rise, ‘violent’ already earned over three million streams, carolesdaugher admits “I couldn’t do anything else so I’m very glad it’s working out”. The urge to assert herself in such a busy household was at an all-time high. She explains: “I think one of the biggest effects it had on me was the desire to show that I’m different. It’s hard to stand out as 1 of 10 so it really pushed me to find my unique talents. I was also the youngest so it was even more pressure I put on myself to always be older and smarter and prove myself”.
The singer avows that she has been ‘an outsider since birth’. In spite of her getting shuffled in and out of middle school, attending five different high schools, after all, she ended up dropping out. Carolesdaughter shares some advice for other struggling kids in school: “Use your resources! Both my parents are teachers and even though I did drop out of high school I know that if you ask for help most times you can get it. The American school system is extremely forgiving no matter what your scary teacher tells you”
Growing up in a strict Mormon household prevented her from “listening to anything beyond what was on the radio”. One day, when she beheld a tattoo of their iconic logo, she researched everything about Black Flag, an American punk rock band. Since then, carolesdaughter immersed herself into the world of punk. She elaborates: “The thing about punk music that made me fall in love with it was the creative freedom that comes with it. It can be simple and chaotic but still totally expressive. There’s no rules to it. I’m a self-taught musician and I sometimes feel less than others because I don’t know scales or the right names for chords or shit like that but punk utilizes every mistake and ‘flaw’ as just part of the art. It’s liberating”.
Once the door of punk, hardcore, and goth has opened, carolesdaughter’s influences included a variety of THe Doors, Crystal Castles, E.L.O., Rico Nasty, and Lil Peep. Besides that, the artist began to go down the rabbit hole and the slippery slope of drug abuse. Today, she’s been to treatment centers several times and looks back with gratitude: “Treatment saved my life. It is such a unique opportunity for growth but when you are 13 (the first time I went to treatment) it was so hard and so scary all I wanted to do was go home. Looking back on my time spent in rehabs I learned the most about people and their nature, there’s no better sense of peace than a community working together to all get better. Knowing every tear and the hard moment is worth it in the end and getting to see others change and grow and support them as well”.
The last time she’s been to a rehab center had an especially significant impact on her life. During the span of six months, she spent there, carolesdaughter found herself under a creative writing spell and made a promise to start recording once she leaves. Later, she released ‘wish I wuz dead” which was praised right from the start.
Her most recent creation is in the form of ‘violent’, a strangely soothing alternative pop anthem featuring creaky acoustic guitar and a sense of elegant goth. Carolesdaughter recognizes the relatability of the song’s theme, as most of us encountered the feeling of being fed up in a toxic relationship. “Violent specifically was a really throwup kinda song. All my emotions had bubbled up and it kinda exploded onto the track. I’ve found that my best work is like that, kind of spontaneous. I think it’s a song everyone can relate to, I love to hear all the different interpretations because it really isn’t about one situation it’s a collective of many experiences resulting in that specific emotion of ‘don’t make me get violent’. It got such a quick response through Tik Tok especially because I think a lot of young people can find familiarity in my experiences as a girl in this generation and the struggles we face.”
Follow carolesdaughter On Instagram
Words: Karolina Kramplova