Describing herself as “an emo-positive Nashville-based genre-defying singer-songwriter and artist,” Meghan Pulles creates sweeping, cinematic music that speaks to the human condition. Her debut album ear baby presents a heroine’s journey through grief, anxiety, trauma, and depression. Pulles explains that she created the album “for all of us who have kept trauma hidden away under our beds” and that its purpose is create “a safe atmosphere for you to come and face it and unpack it” and to “teach us that healing is possible.”

Before we get going, I just want to check on the pronunciation of your last name. Should we pronounce the “e”? 

Puh-less is how you say it 🙂 It’s actually Dutch.

And ear baby is your first album. That’s a real accomplishment! How do you feel?

It feels like such a dream honestly, this has been a 3 year process and the fact that everyone is going to finally come into this magical land with me is rather exciting but also overwhelming.

What was the process like? How did it go from the idea stage to the completed project?

This started with me writing songs in my bedroom in the pandemic while everything was shut down when I was living in NYC. I was sitting alone a lot feeling very present with my feelings, and I felt like I was experiencing some delayed trauma processing which I ended up writing through and came out with some really beautiful songs and a story, some of them made the album and some didn’t. I’ve had so many different drafts of what this album was going to be, but I really really like how it ended up this beautiful cohesive expression of what it means to be a human going through suffering and finding healing. Once we got somewhat back to normal and I had the songs, I was putting it out into the universe that I wanted to work with a producer who could also play music and bring inspiration. I wanted this album to be a collaboration and not just about me. Thankfully the universe brought me Harper James, and he was an absolute perfect fit. Whenever we got together it was like two kids playing in a sandbox, and just making art for the sake of art. I will never forget it. We recorded the songs over the past 2 years, and finally finished the last track in July of this year.

I’m curious about the album’s focus on grief, anxiety, trauma, and depression. What inspired you to address such weighty issues?

Yes, these are indeed weighty issues but they are imperative to being able to move through the darkness. I find that if I acknowledge these heavy things I am feeling, I am able to move through the moments, and situations with a little more grace. Life is so hard. It’s so hard, we are faced with so much but I think the whole point of it is how we survive this hard stuff, and how we can take the journey to heal some of it. I think that has been the point for me. Music has always been a safe space for me to come to, and heal whatever is going on, and I know for the listener it’s the same.

What does the phrase “ear baby” mean to you, and how does it relate to the themes of the album?

Really good question, and I know my album name is so quirky. There are multiple explanations behind this name. I have actually had 3 ear surgeries (including 2 during this album process). My ear drum in my left ear has been pretty weak over the past 3 years due to repetitive surgeries and I have conductive hearing loss (tympanoplasty, essentially I get holes in my eardrum pretty easily). I have a friend who suggested to me that she had heard that people from Sweden call people with ear issues “ear babies,” and she suggested that might make a good album name. She was very right, I heard it and immediately loved it. I think “ear baby” also stands for being an empath, over the past years I have really had some self-discoveries about myself and how I move through the world. I think I have always been an empath but I haven’t always owned it and now I believe I am finally living unapologetically in that space.

You live in Nashville. How does the music scene there influence your music – both in terms of ear baby and more generally?

I have lived in Nashville for the past 6 months, and wow oh wow has it really awakened me a lot as an artist. I think to live in this place that has so much history, to be around musicians who care about music just as much as you, and make you feel accepted, you just cannot put a price on that. I knew that I wanted to be living in Nashville when the album came out, I just felt in my gut I needed to be here and Nashville needed to hear this album because what I am doing is very unique and I think people miss that authenticity here. I have been writing a ton, and I have had the privilege to work with some amazing musicians who just make me want to be a better musician myself. There really is no place like it.

What does it mean to be “emo-positive”?

I made this phrase up to describe my music because as a versatile songwriter, I don’t really like to be put in a box. The “emo” is a reference to the sort of emo music I used to listen to when I was younger, and not really processing my emotions outwardly but through music and “positive” is looking forward toward the light.

If I want to write a folk song, I do, If I want to write a pop song, I do, and if I want to move into more country writing, then I will. I want my music to be purely about feeling rather than genre. It’s about moving through the dark emotions and releasing them, that’s what it means to me and a lot of people have been resonating with it.

Along similar lines, what do you see as the value of defying genre—and how do you personally defy genre?

I see that defying genre means that you are just writing a song, and letting it become what it is without having any expectations around it or the genre (this is a pop song so I have to write in the structure, this is a country song so I have to do this, etc). I think it is much more fun to go in open minded and open hearted and discover a new genre or simply just create something that is meaningful to you without all of these preconceived boundaries you have to stay in.

Does defying genre present any difficulties or obstacles for you? If so, how do you overcome them?

Honestly it used to. If you don’t know, I was a classically trained opera singer before I became a singer-songwriter. As an opera singer in school, I was looked down on if I wanted to mix vocal genres, so I think the same thing kind of translated over to my music career for a while. I have definitely moved past this now though, this album is the first time you are going to really hear me mix different vocal genres, and even music genres. I have to remember that what I have to give to people is special, and unique and that is what is ultimately going to “pull” people in.

What does your team look like? Who are the people you look to for guidance or who have helped you develop as a musician? 

I love my team, and it’s exciting I finally have one (Special thanks to Jill, and Gabbi at Publicity Nation PR, and Mary Knoblock, my beloved Manager and CEO of our label). 

I think the people who have helped me over the past couple years are Mary Knoblock, and Harper James. Mary has always seen the greatness in me before I even did when I released my first project 4 years ago, and she has always been on my team. She is literally my soul sister, and I am so grateful everyday to get to collaborate with her.

Harper is my collaborative soulmate, I just feel like what we did together defied everything I could’ve ever imagined, and he put so much care and heart into what he did. He made sure that all of the mixes were perfect, and that my artistic vision shone through above all. He also just makes me want to be a better musician and human.

What’s on the horizon?

There are some developments for sure, but nothing I can announce officially. I hope to tour the album next year, and play these songs around the world. I have been planning some other projects, so stay tuned!

Thanks for taking the time to talk to me! 

It’s my pleasure, this was amazing!