Carley Bearden

1. Your music has so much self-confidence, but the story of your first song is kind of…

Not that? Yeah. I used to have stage fright beyond belief. I was 16, and I had written “Yet Again”on my guitar. I never in my life thought I would sing it for anyone else. But I have a really great friend, Averi, she’s been a huge influence in my life. One day, I sat her down and I said, “I’ve got to tell you something. I wrote a song. I’m going to sound shaky and terrible, but I want you to hear it.” At first, I tried to sing it face-to-face, but I kept messing up the words, so I made her turn around and I turned around as well. I was just like, “Bear with me,” and when I finished, she was like, “Dude, why are you not doing something with music? Why are you not letting people know about this?”


2. What happened next?

Her reaction gave me a huge burst of encouragement and joy, and so ten minutes later, she sat down at the piano, and I got my guitar, and we recorded it on my phone. Averi pushed me to post it, so after listening to it a million times, I posted it to Facebook.


3. Brave!

The crazy thing is that right after, I got a DM from a man who runs a studio in Dallas, and he

said, “Hey, I would like to record your song for free. I think it’s a great song. I think you have a great personality, and I’d like you to come in.”


4. This story is kind of unreal.

Totally. There was so much I didn’t know. I didn’t realize how time stops in a studio. It was an

eight- or nine-hour session. Averi came with me and played piano and did backup vocals. I had to get over my stage fright at that point because I thought, “Hey, this guy opened up his studio for free for me.” Afterward, I posted it on SoundCloud. I wasn’t ready for Spotify or Apple Music yet, because I didn’t know how to post there.




5. “Yet Again” got a lot of love pretty quickly. Did that inspire you to just keep going?

It did, but when I got to school, I was kind of adjusting so there was a break. Then I met Jasmine, and everything started flowing again. “Sweet Disgrace” is about her. Before meeting me, she had never really been with a girl before. She was shy and insecure about what other people would think. And the song is like, “Don’t run away from me, because we both know we want to be with each other.”


6. You write a lot about…

Love, yeah. I’m a super emotional person, and when feelings happen, I jump straight into

writing. It’s so much easier for me to write it than to speak it aloud. My mom says, “When are

you going to stop writing about love?” She’s right, but it’s the easiest, most natural thing for me, and a lot of people like hearing songs about love. Everyone has a playlist for their crush.


7. Tell us about “Let You Down,” which was a breakthrough for you, in terms of reaching a

larger audience.

Before I met Jasmine, I was in another relationship, and the song is about me – about my

behavior, which was not great, and I was sorry. Then it blew up on social media, and I started to get great feedback from strangers. I love feedback from people now because they will tell you the harsh truth, and I like hearing that. But strangers were messaging me with comments like, “This is really good, I want to hear more from you.”

But there’s this thought that sticks with me every day. I always used to post on Insta, asking,

“Hey, what do you guys want to hear from me next?” And someone told me, “Yo, Dude, you got to do it for you. The people who like it, they’re going to like it. You can’t base your life story and music off of what other people want to hear.”




8. Who inspires you?

Stevie Nicks. The way she carries herself. Her whole aesthetic. She fuels me to do my own thing. I want to get to the point where I’m doing a cover with her. That’s my ultimate goal of

everything. It would have to be “Landslide.” I cry every time. Dude, I can’t even fathom it.


9. Who else?

Jimi Hendrix. King Princess. Mac Miller singing “The Question” live. That song makes me feel like I could jump off a freaking mountain top and land on my feet.

Also, there’s a singer, Lauren Sanderson. She’s not famous but she’s getting there. She’s Billie

Eilish mixed with Pink. Tatted head to toe. She’s also gay, and an LGBT advocate for music. She doesn’t care about how people view her and her music. As long as she loves it, she’s going to do it. She doesn’t portray herself as anyone but who she is. That’s really inspiring to me.


10. Crystal ball – where are you in ten years?

I just hope I’m happy and changing lives, and my music does more than makes people bop their heads. I want people to feel OK when they hear my music, like they’re not alone. I’ve had people message me, saying that they haven’t been able to come out or they’re stuck with their music, and they say, “I just so admire that you fully do you.” In ten years, I just want people to think, “She’s just a normal girl, doing what she loves. Why can’t I?” - Quadio Media

Today we’d like to introduce you to Carley Bearden.

Carley, please kick things off for us by telling us about yourself and your journey so far.
Growing up, music has always been the one thing I could rely on. When I was 11, I started Guitar lessons and stuck with it until sports took over. For a while instead of focusing on my guitar and my piano I focused on other things and eventually felt like those things weren’t really for me. Fast forward a couple years down the road, I solely focused on my music. I had to teach myself chords on the guitar by ear and on the piano as well.

I would always cover songs for my friends and family, but never took it extremely seriously until I turned 18. I always had a fear of what people would think of my music, of my voice, so I never allowed myself to sing to my full potential until I gained the courage by the help of some friends. After that, I gained the strength to release my first song “Yet again”, that I wrote while I was going through some obstacles in my life. I was so infatuated with the sounds, the beat, the process, the way it made me feel , and the way it made my peers feel, that I continued to work, and work, and work promoting myself all over so everyone could receive my message of who I am through my music. I have been working on my most recent song “Let you down”, and it has made me realize the power of music and how it can change my life and the lives of everyone who listens to what I have to offer. I have found myself, and my home through my music.

Can you give our readers some background on your art?
I write acoustic and EDM upbeat happy chill vibes that are typically sad sappy love songs, doesn’t make much sense. When people ask me why I write about these things, it’s funny. It’s simply because love is the easiest topic in my book to write about when you’re experiencing it in full force. Eventually, I want to write about other things, but in today’s world, I feel like everyone my age is going through something similar and needs a boost of “Hey you’re not alone”, and I want to give that to them.

Writing music and hearing it once it is finished is euphoric to me and allows me to feel again. Through my veins and whole entire body, it’s a rush. My message is simply that I am not perfect, I am just someone who wants to use my issues and obstacles as a way to help people and guide them through theirs and allow them feel like somebody is there who is feeling exactly what they are in that moment. It’s a scary feeling not knowing exactly how to describe emotions and I am hoping to make it clearer to everyone who enjoys my music.

What responsibility, if any, do you think artists have to use their art to help alleviate problems faced by others? Has your art been affected by issues you’ve concerned about?
I think that this generation is FILLED with incredible upcoming artists who have tons of potential. I don’t necessarily think the role of artists have changed, I just think that this new era of music has grown and has sprouted into this original creative sound, futuristic almost. I live in Denton; Texas and the music scene are huge here. There are so many opportunities for upcoming musicians to get their music noticed, whether it’s on stage doing open mics at a bar, or at a coffee shop. The opportunities are endless if you are really committed!

What’s the best way for someone to check out your work and provide support?
I release my music through Spotify, iTunes, Soundcloud, Pandora, Apple Music, etc. I also post a lot of my upcoming things on my Instagram, which is @Carleybearden_. I always have my direct messages open for people to leave opinions on my music, and if they ever need help or to talk about anything going on in their lives. I want to be there for the people who support me! - Voyage