Very Alora just released her Michael Wagner produced single, 'Don't Make Me,' and to celebrate we asked her to tell us about the track. Here is the story:
"Momma Don't Make Me" wasn't what I had in mind when I walked into a co-write session with Ray Horton and Mark McGuinn at Mucho Love Music in 2018. As most co-writes go, we started by getting to know each other and just chatting about life in general. Ray talked about his kids and the very real struggle with getting them to school in the mornings. That started me flashing back to the complete and utter misery I felt during my junior high days at a small private school, and a song was born.
The misery for me, came from three places: I was feeling creatively suffocated, I was being ridiculed for being different, and I wasn't able to fully express how I felt at 13 years old. I was in the throes of forming a band and writing songs for the first time. I was just beginning to find and express my individuality and I felt like I couldn't conform to the norms of my "little school" world anymore. Being one kid in a class of 16 at a school of less than 200 students in total (K-12), makes it hard for the "weird" like me to find their tribe. I began to feel more and more alone which made me an easy target for the "normal" kids, which created more isolation. I DID NOT WANT TO GO TO SCHOOL. Of course I had to, but, I came up with every excuse to get out of it. Many of those reasons were written into "Momma Don't Make Me", along with a small glimpse of the epic battles between my mom and me. I think every teenager and mother deals with a few slammed doors, rolled eyes, and stomping of the feet, ya know?
Thankfully, I found my voice and was able to express myself in a more productive way. Then my parents moved me from the private school to public school where I found a small tribe of other "weird" people. So, that was better, I guess. As I began writing, I realized that there are a lot of people who feel the way I did and maybe we could connect with a song. Of course, all teenagers are awkward, nervous, uneasy, and overloaded with hormones...so, I wrote about it. Actually, 3 of the other 4 songs on my upcoming ep were also pretty cleansing. I think these songs let me work out those pent up anxieties from not so long ago. In releasing them, my hope is they might touch some other person, whether adult or kid, and help them work through some of the social stresses they may be experiencing. I know writing is a release, just like performing, and for me the two go hand in hand.
Hearing is believing. Now that you know the story behind the song, listen for yourself right here!
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