Today we’d like to introduce you to Adeline Garland.
Alright, so thank you so much for sharing your story and insight with our readers. To kick things off, can you tell us a bit about how you got started?
I have been obsessed with girls in bands since I was 4ish, when Smoosh (now Chaos Chaos) played on Yo Gabba Gabba. I kind of lucked out here, because both of my parents had been in bands, and my mom still is a music teacher. I started instrument lessons really early, but nothing stuck until I first played a guitar when I was 13. I didn’t have much else going on besides gaming with online friends, so I tried to learn every song I ever enjoyed on Ultimate Guitar Tabs. Around that same time, I started voice lessons at a shop in my hometown – that same place ended up being my first job, as the receptionist. I didn’t have the confidence to even think that I could write my own song, but I was confident in my covers: my first gig was a wedding when I was 14. I couldn’t play guitar and sing simultaneously on stage yet, but John, the owner of that music store, accompanied me. I kept up with my lessons until i was 17 or so, but life got in the way. The store closed and I was headed off to a college I didn’t want to go to, not sure what my plan was with anything. I dropped out quickly, and had a quarantine-sponsored gap year. A lot of bullshit ensued, but in that storm I figured out how to write my own songs; just me and a guitar. From 20-24, I tried to keep up with jobs I felt were ‘good enough’, but eventually I realized that I made it well enough to have my own apartment right in Manhattan, and it was my one shot to really try freelancing. Since that summer one year ago, I’ve organized my own shows, thrown and performed at multiple charity events, made merch for myself and other artists, and taken countless random jobs that help me scoot along.
Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
Holy guacamole 🙂 Well, the reason Denver matters to me is that it’s where I feel I truly earned my stripes. In my 3 years there, I escaped 2 back to back abusive relationships, and went from the kind of girl who would do anything as long as you (please) don’t leave her, to someone who has a wide network of reciprocally respectful and loving relationships. I moved to that city in the first place because some guy wanted me to, felt it would be good for his ‘music career’, and I was desperate to make that career work. I was the rnb accomplice to a rapper…things were not good. That’s how i made my first song, and it at least gave me the confidence to move laterally. However, in order to escape the severe financial abuse, I had to move in with someone else. In this time I psychically wrote a few songs on guitar, not knowing it was about the pain I was currently going through yet. The first relationship was where I learned to make every penny stretch, and then the second one was golden handcuffs, because I was just so tired of being broke even though I had a good job. It was class whiplash. All the sudden I could do anything I wanted…as long as it was within his guidelines. It’s not that I didn’t think anything was wrong, it’s that I thought I really couldn’t do any better. This is all I saw at home. It took me until I was 23 years old to realize that you don’t have to smile and take it when someone walks up and pisses all over you. I needed to realize that; otherwise Adeline wouldn’t have happened.
Thanks – so what else should our readers know about your work and what you’re currently focused on?
I’m a musician, who makes all of my own everything. The art, the strategy, the style, all of it. “Adeline” is really a conglomerate of one; eventually Adeline wants to do everything. I’m known mostly for singing and playing guitar in my band, but I’m most proud that I’m known for being a community organizer. I always beat myself up for not being on the frontlines, but someone has to organize the fundraisers and spend time with the real people in the neighborhood, finding out what they need and delivering. That’s also what I think sets me apart; that music is just something I enjoy to do, but really it’s the best way to get people out there doing something with me. I don’t care what subgenres you’re into or if you’re on the guestlist. I don’t care if you’re dressed in tripp pants or a nike tech. Nobody at my shows looks or thinks the same, and every time I really push for something it’s never just for me.
So maybe we end on discussing what matters most to you and why?
Me. I know that won’t win me miss congeniality, and I know everyone who’s seen me in a depressive episode might jump to disagree, but it’s true. Everything that matters most to me, comes back to me. My friends are the friends that I chose out of self love. My favorite things are my favorites because I picked them. These things matter to me because I value my own thoughts and opinions. The whole world matters because I matter.
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