Review Fix Exclusive: Angela Predhomme Talks ‘So Good to Be Free’

Review Fix chats with singer/songwriter Angela Predhomme who discusses her influences and new single, “So Good to Be Free.”

Review Fix: How did you get involved in music?

Angela Predhomme: I started playing the piano not long before I took up the clarinet in middle school band. In high school, they put me on alto sax, too. I was an instrumentalist long before I was a singer or songwriter. My older brother had a basement rock band when we were growing up, so music was always around in some form or other. Sometimes it was classical piano music, other times school band music, or the rock and pop covers I heard rising up from the basement. I didn’t get the guts to sing until I was in my late 20s, and around the same time I learned acoustic guitar. I thought, if those guys in the basement could do it, why not me? I got this.

Review Fix: What’s your creative process like?

Predhomme: In all honesty, my creative process might be a little unusual. It’s a feel thing. It’s a spiritual, metaphysical co-write with the mystical unseen powers that be. I get little bits of ideas, short melodic phrases, that come to me like magic when I’m relaxed. Sometimes they even come in dreams. Then, later I sit down and develop them into full songs. Sometimes the lyrics or song ideas come that way too, but usually, the music comes to me first, and it’s fairly effortless. Then, I struggle and toil over the lyrics until I feel like they’re decent and get the message across clearly, with words all fitting in the rhythmic spaces allowed, and with rhymes. It’s tricky.

Review Fix: What inspires you?

Predhomme: First, I’m inspired by the inexplicable beauty of music. If I wasn’t a singer, I’d be writing instrumental pieces. I love to create. The feeling of creating inspires me in itself. It’s a blissful state of flow for me. In a broader sense, what motivates me lyrically are other people and the state of the world. Sometimes I feel like people need music that will say something positive and lift them up instead of just songs reflecting back the negativity of the world. I’m inspired to contribute a higher energy to the world, in my own unique way, through music.

Review Fix: What does music mean to you?

Predhomme: Music by itself means nothing, but its value to me lies in what it does. A song with words or without words can uplift someone and make them feel something. It can make them happy or help them cry and let the pain out. Perhaps most importantly is how music connects us to each other. We share common experiences through music. We hear songs we can relate to. We reach out to each other and give support through music. Those things make music meaningful to me. Music is the gift I’ve been given, and I’m honored to share it to add some much-needed love to this world.

Review Fix: How would you describe your sound to someone who has never heard you?

Predhomme: Feel-good, smooth, organic, melodic and authentic singer-songwriter music that’s easy on the ears.

Review Fix: How are your live shows different from your studio work?

Predhomme: Live shows are all in the moment as opposed to retakes in the studio, where I’m a total perfectionist. With live shows, I have one chance, and that pushes me to work really hard to prepare. Sometimes it pays off, and sometimes things don’t go as planned, but such is the live experience.

Most of all, it’s interesting to see how certain songs connect with people. I’ve had people come and hug me after a show, saying a song made them cry. I can’t describe how touching that is. It’s amazing, and those times reaffirm why I do this. My live shows tend to be touchy-feely intimate-connection kind of shows. I talk between songs and try to share who I am with the audience. It’s a feel-good thing.

Review Fix: What inspired your latest single?

Predhomme: My latest single, “So Good to Be Free” (July 31, 2020), has a couple inspirations. The music was inspired by my dad’s lifelong love of Bo Diddley. The music in “So Good to Be Free” is a tribute to Bo Diddley’s music and style – a specific and well-known syncopated rhythm with maracas over it.

The lyrics were inspired by my own journey, and just realizing, hey, I don’t need to be anything that the media and the culture is telling me I should be. I don’t have to be hip or look a certain way or have money or status. I’m declaring myself free of all that, and I’m gonna just be me. It’s very freeing. That’s what the song is about – bold self-confidence – and I gotta be honest, it feels pretty good. I’ve been there – striving to fit a certain image or be something people want or expect – and I’m just done with that. I choose to be free.

Review Fix: What are your goals for the rest of 2020?

Predhomme: My goals are to continue to make the best music I possibly can and continue to get it out to people however I can – through recordings, live shows, videos, or whatever. I want to celebrate the goodness in this world through music, and encourage other people to do the same.

Review Fix: What’s next?

Predhomme: Next on my agenda is more music. I’ve been collaborating a lot with other musicians and I really enjoy it. I hope to collaborate more with other creators, because a team effort can really augment the end product when everybody’s on the same page. There’s been talk of touring, but it’s a wait-and-see thing at the moment.

Review Fix: Anything else you’d like to add? 

Thank you for giving me the opportunity to share what I’m all about. As an artist, I’m not claiming to be anything special, or do something that hasn’t been done before. I’m just trying to put out quality music with thoughtful lyrics that can change the world. You know… isn’t everybody? ;)