Cariss Auburn believes we all deserve a little ‘Daydream’ in our lives
This is A HOT MINUTE WITH, a quick-fire interview series championing all the rising talent catapulting into fashion, art and music’s fickle stratosphere. From pinch-me moments to bad dates and even worse chat-up lines, think of it as an overindulgent conversation – like the ones you have in sticky club toilets at 4.A.M. Except these guests don’t regret the overshare…
Courtesy of @carissauburn
NAME CARISS AUBURN
LOCATION Wolvo, England
OCCUPATION Singer-songwriter
STAR SIGN Gemini
BIGGEST PET PEEVE Hearing people eat/chew food.
Safe to say after a year of the living nightmare we’ve experienced, we all need a new found sense of “daydream” in our lives. Thankfully, this is something that Wolverhampton based alt-pop princess, Cariss Auburn, provides in spades. A rising star on the UK music scene, Auburn is gearing up to release her new EP, REFRACTION, next week following a slew of singles including Oblivion and Daydream, the latter of which she made in the space of three hours (and that includes the journey from Wolverhampton to London to record the track).
Of course, it’s not only in music and songwriting where Auburn excels - she gives pretty great life advice, too. Discussing the sure fire way to feel your best at your worst, she explains: “If you wake up having a bad day, it’s already the worst to have to be outdoors, so for me it helps to wear my failsafe favourite outfit or to put on the perfume and gloss.” So next time you find yourself in a bit of a rut, stick on Daydream by Cariss Auburn, slap on that beloved Fenty lip gloss and remember how good you look. After all, you’ve come this far, so enjoy the ride; day-dreaming a little here and there is the best medicine.
Victoria Monari: What did you discover about yourself during lockdown?
Cariss Auburn: I am a very resourceful person, PVA-glue-trousers resourceful.
VM: Which app do you spend too much time on?
CA: Twitter, I don’t even tweet a lot, I’m just there cackling in the background.
VM: What are you listening to at the moment?
CA: Hot Hot by Bree Runway.
VM: What are you most looking forward to post-lockdown?
CA: Seeing my family and friends but also the build up of looking through a menu and deciding on your meal.
VM: What was the last shower thought you had?
CA: I need to wash my hair this week (dread).
Courtesy of @carissauburn
VM: Favourite project you’ve worked on as a musician?
CA: Daydream was super fun to work on because I produced a demo for the chorus half an hour before I caught my train to London for my session with Iziah Yarde and we had the whole song produced, backing vocals arranged and everything recorded in like three hours. For the music video I got to wear amazing pieces by designers NATSUKI HANYU, ANASTASIA BULL and ALICE HAMPTON so the whole thing was dreamy - excuse the pun.
VM: What are you hopeful for this year?
CA: I’m really hoping I can perform my EP this year to a live audience to see and chat with people there. So far I have a headline show in June at Centrala, Birmingham and I’m performing at Liverpool Soundcity, I’m just speaking into existence that everything will go ahead and more plans will continue to come together.
VM: Worst fashion trend you participated in?
CA: Straightening my fringe to the side but the roots would absolutely be back to 4c by the end of the day.
VM: Best/worst advice you’ve ever been given?
CA: I actually have a little motto I made up which is that if you feel rubbish and you have to go out somewhere, make sure you look fire! Not in a superficial way but if you wake up having a bad day it’s already the worst to have to be outdoors, so for me it helps to wear my failsafe favourite outfit or to put on the perfume and gloss I save for special occasions or to take time doing my hair. Those tiny things and the process of doing them add up to quite a nice barrier against a blah day.
VM: Biggest pinch me moment in your career?
CA: I’m so grateful for things that have happened for me this year and I’ve done a lot of screaming but Daydream being named The Line of Best Fit’s Song of the Day was unreal.
VM: Balenciaga Crocs for the rest of your life or the Balenciaga Triple S trainers?
CA: A thousand times Crocs.
VM: Dinner party dates - dead or alive?
CA: BTS, OTEGHA UWAGBA, Sarah Vaughan.
VM: If you could teleport anywhere in the world right now where would you go?
CA: I’ve always wanted to go to Vietnam.
VM: Have you ever made a TikTok? What was it?
CA: I’ve made a few sporadically, I did one of me struggling to do my graphic eyeliner design in time to the lyrics of my song Float, didn’t go viral for some reason....