While the joys of TikTok are endless, one of the most exciting aspects of the social media platform is its ability to catapult rising artists towards musical fame. And, this is exactly what occurred when 20-year-old Devon Again released some of her most infectious cuts onto the platform. And now, in the name of continuing on with her rise to the forefront of the music scene, the artist has lent her irreverent pen and nonchalant vocals to the new track “Burn Down”, centred around the trials of moving into the depths of the Hollywood Hills in a bid to break into the illustrious industry.

When speaking on how she and her collaborators crafted the new track, Devon claimed, “for this song specifically, I was really just feeling so god awful about how my week had gone and my decision to live in L.A., and as I listened to Jon and Deza talk about their feeling towards the city, the lyrics just started getting more negative until we landed on our wonderfully spiteful, overly-dramatic chorus.”

Upon the release of “Burn Down”, the artist took some time to sit down with Wonderland to discuss how her move between Denver and L.A. has informed her sound and her experience with releasing music into the world. Head below to enjoy our interview with Devon Again…

Hi Devon, how are you?
Hey! I’m feeling so freaking wonderful today. Thank you for asking.

You are from Denver but made the move to LA! Do you think that both places have influenced your sound?
When I started writing, I lived in Denver as a sad little teenager, and more than anything music was essentially my only healthy coping mechanism. I think there is nothing more special than the process of starting to write because it’s so insanely personal. I wasn’t writing for anyone other than myself. Living and working in L.A. and in the music industry, there are so many more “rules”, and outside opinions that make it challenging for music to feel as healing as it used to. Regardless, L.A. has absolutely made me think harder about how a song can be loved by people other than myself, which has been very very rewarding.

Talk us through your name, Devon Again! Is there any particular meaning behind it?
It was taking me so long to think of a fun name that at one point, I just sat in the notes app on my phone putting random words after my first name. Eventually, I wrote “Devon Devon”, and then my brain went “Devon Again” and it stuck!

Congratulations on the release of “Burn Down”! Talk us through the production process! And, it would be fair to describe your lyricism as bold and unapologetic! How do you approach writing lyrics?
Thank you! “Burn Down” was written with Deza and Jon Buscema, who produced the track, and the day we started the song was the first time I had ever worked with Deza – who just so happens to be an incredible artist, so I was sufficiently nervous. I came into the session in a really yucky mood about living in L.A., and Deza and Jon just happened to be on the same wavelength. The song started just with guitar and was looking like it was heading in somewhat of a calm direction. Fast forward to the second or third session with Jon, and we are adding audio of things exploding and sirens. I am so in love with all of the little bits of ear candy in this song – it is one of my favourite productions ever. I always approach lyrics differently just depending on what I’m writing over. For this song specifically, I was really just feeling so god awful about how my week had gone and my decision to live in L.A. and as I listened to Jon and Deza talk about their feeling towards the city, the lyrics just started getting more negative until we landed on our wonderfully spiteful, overly-dramatic chorus.

And, this track comes shortly after your debut track, “Suburbia”. Can you tell us how you were feeling releasing music to the world for the first time?
Releasing music for the first time was absolutely terrifying and awful and amazing. I had wanted to start putting things out somewhere other than SoundCloud for years, and when it finally happened it was kind of painful to compare the way I had always imagined it would feel to how it actually felt. It was so stunning to be able to see my song added to people’s playlists and be able to type it into the little “music” button on Instagram stories. Among other things, I was mainly just insanely excited and grateful to even be able to release a song to the whole world that I was really proud of.

How would you describe your sound to those who have not heard your work? Do you think that you fit into a particular genre?
I think new music is becoming more genreless every day, which is freaking sick, but I would go with a nice simple indie-pop on that one.

Who is one person that you’d love to work with in the future? Maybe, someone you’d like to collaborate with on a track?
I am disgustingly obsessed with Teezo Touchdown – that would be – so cool.

What is next for you? Do you have any other projects that you are currently working on?
Yeah I mean, I have been cookin’.