"I Literally Grew Up On The Internet!" Chloe Moriondo Interviewed
The Gen Z rebel-pop icon on her film inspirations, coping with online attention, and the future...
*Chloe Moriondo* is ready to kickstart a gritty new musical era. A fast-rising Gen Z pop-punk icon, the 18-year-old has remerged as a frank, unapologetic rising star.
A self-professed “internet kid”, the Michigan star is a long way from her endearing ukulele YouTube covers and soft toned lyrics. The singer has shed her dainty persona and has confidently established herself as a killer artist. Sitting in her childhood bedroom, one that has long been the background to her immensely popular online videos, the singer beams on-screen debuting her freshly bleached buzzcut and her signature weighted eyelashes.
Moriondo quickly made a name for herself with her delicate covers of alternative artists Panic at the Disco! and girl in red. Shortly after, the breakout artist toured around side fellow Gen Z big names *mxmtoon* and *Cavetown*. In 2018, the star released her folksy acoustic debut album 'Rabbit Hearted.' which garnered her a dedicated fanbase. It wasn’t long after the teen was scooped up by Fuelled By Ramen and well on her way to becoming a rock-pop.
Clash caught up with the 'Blood Bunny' singer to hear more about her exciting record label debut, her love for gory thrillers movies, and how she made a name for herself on social media.
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*You’ve got a new album out. How are you feeling?*
I'm good! I woke up at my girlfriend's house and she made me English muffins with peanut butter and bananas on them. It was fantastic. And... I’ve got an album out which is pretty crazy. I'm very hyped up about it. I've been waiting a really long time to share this album. I'm really proud of it.
*What inspired your debut album title 'Blood Bunny'?*
I’ve always been really into bunnies. I love them. I think they're really sweet. 'Rabbit Hearted.' was the first project that I ever did. I called it an EP, even though I learned it was album length. So, it is technically my first album, even though I didn't know it was an album. I got the title from an old poem that I read on the internet. I can't remember what it was now, but it said “rabbit hearted” and I thought that was a really sweet phrase.
So, now, I think this is a really nice evolution from that project. A really big evolution, hopefully. It's a bit gorier and I like to mess around with blood and talk about some gross stuff. I really like horror so I thought Blood Bunny was pretty fitting.
*What are you hoping fans take away from this new record?*
I hope people see this album as an evolution from my previous music. If they've never listened to me before, I hope people feel inspired to do whatever they want. I really want it to be a danceable album and something to really rock out to or scream with. I want it to be something fans can take comfort in and feel like themselves when they listen to it.
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*What led to the label to your “internet kid” label?*
I think it definitely encompasses my growing up and my introduction to music. I'm always going to label myself as an internet kid because I literally grew up on the internet. When I was younger, I started watching different YouTubers and I had been on the internet for a while which is really weird to a lot of people.
I had Tumblr in late Elementary School and that shaped a lot the way that I deal with a lot of the world and the way that I treat other people. I’ve been exposed to a lot of things in an overwhelming way, and sometimes in a bad way. But, it also made me a lot more honest and empathetic with people. I have gotten a lot more experience learning about other people's lives, because of it.
*Can you share your earliest music memory?*
That’s a hard one! There's never been a time where I haven't been interested and attracted to music. I grew constantly up around music. I don't think I've ever talked about this in an interview ever, but I think it’s really funny.
When I was younger, I loved Barbies and I loved playing the games online and there was an American Idol and Barbie mashup game. I don't know f anyone will connect with this, but it had Barbies on little American Idol stages singing songs. One of them was 'What I like about you' and I sang it for my mom and she was obsessed with it. I got really embarrassed and really nervous when she tried to record me, and I never did it again.
I think that was the start of my performance anxiety, but it’s also an early memory of something endearing.
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*Your single 'I Eat Boys' was inspired by the cult-classic Jennifer’s Body. How did you incorporate that cultural influences into your song and music video?*
It kind of all fell together, but once it did, I realised it was a Jennifer's Body song. I wanted to make my own Jennifer’s body spin-off song where I get to be her and kill a bunch of gross boys who are mean and terrible.
I definitely knew I wanted to write a song based on that movie, but I also wanted to make a cool, powerful song that could feel like a reclamation of power. I know a lot of girls feel really nervous, just walking down the street and if there's a guy or group of guys they’ll cross the street. I wanted to take that concept and flip it… and then make it cannibalism! I thought was really, really fun, especially to infuse the Jennifer's Body theme into it. I'm really proud of that song and I thought the music video was really awesome — it turned out really good.
*'Girl On TV' has an undeniable Avril Lavigne catchy pop-punk feel to it. What inspired that track?*
I thought the concept of comparing yourself to this ideal version of a person we see on screen was very universal. ‘Girl On TV’ was a quarantine write, as were most of these songs. I wanted to write a song about how you see rich, hot influencers with plastic surgery and you kind of envy them in a weird way because you wish you had enough comfort and money like them. It’s a whole different world where you can do whatever you want. But, also, I felt very gross and angry about it, especially knowing that you're never gonna be that way. It’s a very vent-y song.
I feel like this whole new wave of kids growing up on the internet can be very dangerous when TikTok is around. There's a lot of people actively trying to fight the standards that you have to look a certain way to be beautiful or that your body has to look a certain way, but there are also people who are the complete opposite. I'm astounded there's such a big culture of it. It feels very 2013 Tumblr to me, so, I’m hoping to inspire people to feel comfortable in their own skin because everyone should be able to do that, especially in my age group. It's important not to compare yourself to other people.
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*The song ‘I Want To Be With You’ is a very open, direct song to a love interest. Can you break down the meaning of the song?*
That song was one of the first co-writes I ever did. I flew out to LA like right before COVID was a real thing, like we weren't supposed to fly anymore. It was over a weekend during senior year, and I was in a very 'teenage emotional' state where I was nervous and anxious all the time and had a kind of relationship with this girl that was not really going anywhere. I was frustrated about it and wanted there to be more, it was a lot of just teenage angst. It was surprisingly really easy to write though.
I think being able to have something that fun comes out of it is really awesome. I really like to play it now, so I think something good coming out of that is really awesome.
*You have a song titled ‘Favourite Band’ where you name drop a few acts like Paramore, Simple Plan, and Blink-182. Who are your ultimate favourite artists?*
Oh, I really love a lot of different artists. I'm reverting, a little, to older bands and artists. I've been listening to a lot of old Paramore and *the new Hayley Williams a lot*. I've been listening to a lot of Cherry Glazerr and *Raveena* I think is fantastic. There are so many really awesome women in music. We're constantly making crazy new shit. I've been also listening to the Charli XCX album that came out last year.
There are so many different cool styles of music that I want to make and I'm so inspired by that. It's really exciting for me to think about the fact this is my first album and I'm really proud of what I've done so far.
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*You’ve gone from a stripped back acoustic sound to a full-throttle pop-punk image. Do you feel this new image better represents you?*
Oh, for sure. I love making soft music and I think that will always be a part of me and I’ll probably make soft music in the future, but I have a lot of energy and I've always really loved watching bands play rock music. I remember watching Beach Bunny and I'd seen them a couple times. They’re fantastic.
I’ve also seen Charly Bliss and I'd never seen them before, but after seeing them I was like 'Oh shit, I need a band. I need to make band music like now'. So, it was really cool to finally be able to do that. I never really thought I would be able to, but now I'm here, which is pretty cool.
*What’s something nobody knows about you?*
That's a hard question. I'm a pretty open book. I don't think I've ever publicly spoken about this yet but I have a tattoo of a Tamagotchi on my leg. Do you wanna see it? It's kind of high up. It's not finished yet, so it's kind of hard to see. It’s here a tiny little Tamagotchi.
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'Blood Bunny' is out now.
Words: *Zoya Raza-Sheikh*
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