Gigi Perez: 2024

If you’ve missed “Sailor Song” spinning on WFUV, you’ve probably stumbled across it on TikTok, where the queer alt-folk love song from Gigi Perez went mega-viral this summer before breaking into — and climbing up — the Billboard 100. (The song more recently took the No. 1 spot on the UK Singles Chart.)

This wasn’t Perez's first experience with internet fame, however. In 2021, two of her songs went viral, resulting in a record deal with Interscope Records and a dream gig supporting Coldplay. But much like romance, not all business relationships are built to last. Although she released an EP, How To Catch A Falling Knife, in 2023, she was dropped from her label.  Perez found herself going back to her roots—writing songs alone, back home in her bedroom, and operating as an independent artist once again.

And, as it turns out, there’s perhaps no better place she could’ve been. When Perez was playing around with lyrics in her room one day with the door open, her younger sister, who was walking by, poked her head in to say she liked what she heard. That piece of music, with its sibling stamp of approval, became “Sailor Song,” and unlocked the next big chapter of Perez's career.

Fast-forward to fall, and the singer-songwriter has found a new home with Island Records as her star continues to rise with appearances on international charts, a feature on a Times Square billboard and occasionally the most permanent (and flattering) placement of all: on the body of a super-fan with a Gigi Perez tattoo.

On a visit back to New York City, where she used to live, Perez swung by Studio A to play three songs — “Sometimes (Backwood),” “Please Be Rude” and “Sailor Song”— and she talked about her songwriting process, the pros and cons of internet connection, and transforming her life’s tragedies into songs.

[Recorded: 10/11/24; Engineered by Erin Merriman, Jim O'Hara, and Olivia Grant; produced by Meghan Offtermatt. Videographers: Olivia Iannaccone; Mia Vilke, and Adithi Vimalanathan.]