Exclusive Interview: Savannah Outen Talks “Coins,” YouTube Covers And More!

Savannah Outen initially blew up the music scene after posting her amazing covers on YouTube and has been taking over the music industry ever since. I had the awesome opportunity to interview Savannah and we discussed her new single, “Coins,” her jewelry line with Stilnest, advice for others breaking into the industry, and more!

Your new single, “Coins,” has an incredible sound and meaningful lyrics behind it. What is the inspiration behind this song?

The inspiration behind “Coins” was my whole journey being in the music industry so far. I’ve been doing this for about 10 years now and it just seems like every situation I’ve been in, or people on my old team were telling me who to be, how to dress, what color hair to have, how I should sing, and what my music should sound like. “Coins” is my response to them, ‘I don’t care what you think, I’m not gonna change, I’m just gonna be who I am.’ It’s cool because my supporters told me that “Coins” is their anthem and they aren’t going to change for anyone.

How would you describe your musical sound?

Before when I started out, I was doing a lot of pop music and as I started growing I started falling in love with John Mayer and a lot of different artists that are lyrically so talented and so real and raw and I just started taking after them, lyrically. And that made my music more mature sounding, production wise. So now, I go into the studio always wanting to have a really cool message or story to tell and the production just follows that. Sometimes it is rhythmic pop or pop soulful. I jut always try and be honest and vulnerable with my music.

Over the past few years you have reached over 120 million views on your youtube channel, what does it mean to you to have this platform for your music?

It’s crazy. It means so much to me. I think YouTube is an incredible platform and it has been such a great way for me to connect with my fans. I am super lucky to have gained that following on YouTube and with covers and more original music it’s great.

You initially blew up on the scene after posting amazing covers on your Youtube page. What are you planning on covering in the future?

I do have a cover that will come on my EP, it’s really fun and you would not expect it. On my YouTube I just uploaded a cover of Taylor Swift’s, “Look What You Made Me Do,” and people are really responding to that very well. I am planning my next cover but I haven’t chosen the song yet. Definitely in the next couple weeks I will be posting one.

One of your songs, “Goodbyes” was charting for 18 straight weeks and peaked at #5 on the Top 30 Countdown on Radio Disney, making it the highest rated song an unsigned artist has ever achieved on Radio Disney. How did it feel accomplishing this and knowing it was reaching out to so many people for such a long time?

It was so cool. It was also the first song I had ever written so it was super nerve-wracking. And I had always been such a huge fan of Disney growing up so once that song was doing so well on the charts they started playing my music video on Disney Channel and it was so cool. It felt amazing and gave me a boost of confidence to continue sharing stories through my music.

Aside from music, you also have your own jewelry line with Stilnest. How did you get involved with them?

I have always wanted to do something outside of music and touch a different world like fashion, jewelry or..coffee. But someone reached out to me last year and I immediately wanted to jump on board and create a collection with them. It was definitely a pretty long process and took months of going back and forth and figuring out what we wanted the pieces to look like and what materials to use. So we came to five different pieces, including earnings and rings. I am so proud of them, they have a really classic look to them but also an edge, which I feel like is my style.

Tell us about performing a Summer residency at the Sofitel Hotel in LA.

That was awesome to have a steady performance and perform at the same venue every week. A lot of my friends would come out and a lot of my fans that have been supporting me along the way would come out too. It was fun to perform new music and we are really excited because now we are going on tour with Haley Reinhart from American Idol.

What advice do you have to others looking to break into the music industry?

It is so difficult to give advice for the music industry because it changes everyday – but you need to be persistent because it is really a grueling industry and you get told no so many times or told to change. You just have to stay true to yourself and don’t take no for an answer.

What is one motto that you live by everyday?

Before my motto was to “never give up.” It’s so simple and cliche but my parents always told me that, and it is so true. But now as I get older, I really overthink things and overanalyze them, thinking about the future. I need to teach myself to be in the moment. So I got “be” tattooed on my arm to remind me all the time. It is a really important to me to be in the moment, accept the now, and not worry too much.

Check out her new single, “Coins” right here!

And be sure to follow Savannah on all social media!

Instagram: @therealsavannah

Twitter: @therealsavannah

Snapchat: @RealSavannahO