Interview with Vestal Magazine and article in Pulp Magazine
Interview with Vestal Magazine
Interview and photoshoot for Vestal Magazine
Grace was interviewed and photographed for Vestal Magazine. The interviewer introduced Grace and Childstar writing: "With her raw, poetic new album 'CHILDSTAR,' Grace VanderWaal is shedding the script and telling her story, bruises and all. No filter. No performance. Just the truth. This isn’t a rebrand. It’s a reckoning. … With CHILDSTAR, her raw and poetic new album, she’s finally telling her version of the story: the unfiltered one, the one with bruises and contradictions, the one that doesn’t care if you’re uncomfortable. … It’s not an easy listen. And that’s the point. Grace doesn’t flinch as she sings about dissociation, identity, and the strange grief of growing up in front of millions. .. It’s clear Grace is thinking not just as a musician, but as a storyteller in full command of her voice, her aesthetic, and her message. This is not a rebrand. This is Grace VanderWaal cutting through the noise and finding clarity. And if you think you know her, this album invites you to listen again. This time, without the script. Grace VanderWaal is no longer trying to live up to anyone else’s idea of who she should be. She’s not here to play the prodigy, the golden child, or the “next big thing."
Talking about Grace’s younger self and her idea of 'home', Grace explained. "I've only ever had one home in my life, my childhood home in New York, and it actually got bulldozed and doesn’t exist anymore. It’s fucking crazy!" She also said that acting had changed the way she approaches things: "Acting has pushed me to be more strikingly vulnerable — a goal I'm still working toward. I’m also really inspired by film scoring and the psychology behind it. It’s something I love bringing into my music." The interview specifically discussed two of the songs on the album:
Proud: "'Promise I'll be small. I won't take up space at all.' That lyric is really personal for me. It relates to my experience in the industry, too. I always had an odd and unhealthy relationship with my identity. As a little girl, I was scared of growing up. I was terrified of puberty and womanhood. Emotionally, it’s about feeling like there wasn't room for me in the spaces I existed in."
Brand New: "Brand New is not about freedom for me. If anything, it’s about longing for structure. When you’re raised inside a box and then suddenly handed the entire world, part of you just wants to crawl back into the box."
Grace was interviewed by David Gargiulo, co-founder of the magazine. Photography by Jason Kibbler. Styling by Julia Müller.
The article in Pulp Magazine appears to have been based on other articles and did not add to what those other articles had said.