Interview with Annissa Murad

From beginning her musical journey on the piano at the tender age of four, to playing in the world renown O2 Arena at the age of 12, Annissa is now 15 and has racked up over 100 million views and devoted fanbase of over 100,000 on Instagram. Proving to be the fresh new flame of the music industry, certified city girl Annissa Murad released her highly anticipated debut EP “Diary of The Girl Next Door” on July 16th,

Her 3-track debut EP “Diary of The Girl Next Door”, unravels the honest and unapologetic diary entries of a teenage girl navigating her way through life. From finding love and excitement, to enduring heartbreak and frustration, just as the EP title alludes, Annissa’s songs have the ability to resonate with not only girls her age, but even your own “Next Door” neighbour.

Alongside her carefully crafted track-list, Annissa blends cinematography with music, creating 3 mini movies, retelling the diary entries which inspired her songs, allowing fans to be swept into the universe of the “Girl Next Door”. What’s more is that she has written, edited, directed AND starred in every music video project she has been a part of as of yet, truly proving her drive and dedication towards her artistry.

Of your EP, do you have a favourite song? If so, can you pin down why?

Yes, if do! My favourite song the EP would have to be Bad @ Luv because I really think it’s the most vulnerable and self reflective song I’ve ever written. If you listen to each line, it tells a story which is really personal to me and as I’ve released it, so many people have told me how much they relate to it too and that it describes their life perfectly…that was one of the most gratifying things to ever hear!

What sets your EP apart? What is unique, or at least uncommon?

Well, alongside my EP I decided to create 3 mini movies for each song in order to dive deeper into the story behind each track. Since I was young, I’ve always been script writing and creating iMovie’s with my younger brother and so for this EP I really wanted to take it as an opportunity to experiment blending film and music to create a world for my fans to be immersed into.

Do you plan your music releases, or do you just finish a song and release it?

I definitely plan my music releases!!! In fact, it’s actually my favourite thing to do! For instance, alongside this EP, I’ve designed a summer camp for my fans where each day we do something fun, related to the EP! Me and my brother also have a tradition of hosting a live event on the day of my music releases which is always SO MUCH FUNN!!!

With the pandemic, how have you found a way to get your music and your message out there?

Well, at the very beginning of the pandemic I decided to open up an Instagram account so I could post videos of me performing in this singing competition for my family in Italy to watch since they weren’t able to travel to London. However, since me and my brother love making videos, we started making funny reels just for fun and since there wasn’t much to do in lockdown we’d post tonnes of them, and I mean tonnes!!

So…eventually one day there was a video that started ramping up views, I think at the time it had like 10,000 views but we were going absolutely crazy excited. So, as you do, I kept posting more videos and that helped me grow a fanbase of over 100,000 people which allowed me to share my music with so many amazing and cool supporters!!

Have you written songs for any other artists?

Yes, I actually have! The funny thing about this is that it was a complete accident. I was at this singing competition and performing one of my original songs “be yourself”, I think I was about 11 years old so as you can imagine it was rather dreadful…

Anyways, somehow a few weeks or so after the performance my mum receives this email from an executive producer of a Netflix show asking if he could buy my song…of course I said yes because I didn’t really have any plans for the song and the guy then sent me this whole package of merchandise from the show and a handwritten letter which I think is the coolest most magical and random thing that could happen!! That’s the crazy accidental and only instance I’ve ever sold a song.

You are a new addition to a crayon box. What colour would you be and why?

Oooh, I love this question! And I would definitely say I’m the hot pink crayon. In my mind I think that everyone has a colour, I think even my songs and numbers all have a specific colour assigned to them. For example, when I hear my song “Chill out”, I just see green or when I hear my song “Bad @ Luv”, I see red, so in the same way when I see myself, I think and see pink!

As a kid were you ever frightened of a monster under the bed or in the cupboard?

No, I don’t think I’ve ever been frightened of monsters under the bed. However, when I was younger, I was obsessed with power rangers mystic force and I was definitely afraid of the monsters in that show because it did take me a couple of years to realise the show wasn’t real. I thought the show was so real that when my dad asked me what I wanted to be, I said I wanted to be a power ranger.

Do you have any lucky items, objects, or traditions?

Yes! I have lucky jewellery. I first discovered my lucky jewellery when I was doing my GCSE exams because I wore the jewellery every day and every exam was just oddly in my favour…It’s a snake earring that my auntie from Italy got me and this silver chain sparkly necklace with an eye that my mum got me!

If you were talking to a younger version of you, what advice would you give yourself?

I would tell them to not stress over the little things, because soon the little things won’t matter at all.

What would be a good theme song for your life?

Definitely my own song “Soundtrack to My Life” , the title says it all.