The 23-year-old singer, songwriter, and performer Bebe Stockwell is brand new to the music scene and creating quite a buzz. Born in Boston and now based in Los Angeles, she was recently named one of BMI’s artists on the rise. Jill Riley of The Current’s Morning Show had a chance to talk with Bebe Stockwell about her song “Minor Inconveniences” and the Bob Dylan inspiration behind it. Use the audio player above to listen to the interview, and find a full transcript below.

Interview Transcript

Jill Riley: You're listening to The Current. I'm Jill Riley. Singer-songwriter Bebe Stockwell is a new artist that we've been playing on The Current, based in New York City, who has been creating a lot of buzz. In fact, named one of BMI's artists on the rise. Well, here on The Current, we've been playing her song "Minor Inconveniences", and let's get to know more about Bebe Stockwell, Bebe's on the line. Hey, nice to meet you.

Bebe Stockwell: Hey, nice to meet you, too.

Jill Riley: Here in Minnesota, we have a big connection to Bob Dylan, and I know that Bob Dylan had a little bit of an influence on this song we've been playing. But before we get you to tell that story, it would be great to know a little more about your background. Now, I understand you're based in New York City, but that you're from Boston. So could you tell me a little bit about growing up in Boston and what led you to New York?

 Bebe Stockwell: I grew up in Boston, right in the center of the city, in Beacon Hill. I mean, I started doing music at around, like, six, and I worked with a lot of, students from Berklee [College of Music], because we live so close to Berklee that my parents would have kids come over and we took drum lessons and banjo, guitar and piano, kind of everything. And I kind of just stuck with it. And then eventually was like, damn, I love this. This is what I want to do. And then senior year of high school, I met with a teacher during the college process, a school called Clive Davis at NYU, and I loved him, and I loved the school he was talking about, and then I applied, and that’s kind of what led me to New York. But I actually just moved to L.A. so it's a whole new adventure. But I loved New York, and it was awesome, and I loved NYU.

Jill Riley: Okay, so Boston to New York to Los Angeles. Talking with Bebe Stockwell on The Current's Morning Show. Hey, let's talk about that song "Minor Inconveniences." I love it. I think it is just incredibly catchy. And I read that the song was born out of, well, a combination of a terrible hangover and, listening to the music of Bob Dylan. Now, as Minnesotans, we find this very relatable, because this could happen to any of us. But in all seriousness, could you expand a little bit on the influence of Bob Dylan's music, on the creation of that song?

Bebe Stockwell: Yeah I mean, I love Bob Dylan. I grew up listening to him. And my parents, they love records. They're very old timey. So we had a bunch of Bob Dylan records, and that day I was actually with my friends, and we were recording another song. I think I was listening to, "Don't Think Twice It's Alright." And I was like, "Oh, Bob Dylan would be like, and it's fine." And then we kind of just were mumbling around "and it's fine." And then I was hungover, and we were all like, bit tired, and we were talking about minor inconveniences of the day. And that word to me was like, oh, that's such a weird like, I just never really say that. And that's kind of how we kind of just messed around with it. For a while, we were pretending to be Bob Dylan.

Jill Riley: And that's okay! I'm talking with Bebe Stockwell on The Current. Hey, I was taking a look at some things you have coming up in the near future. And I'm curious if this feels like a full circle moment for you. You're part of the upcoming Boston Calling Festival lineup. Could you talk about that a little bit?

Bebe Stockwell: Yeah, I'm so excited, because I've only played one other festival. I played Newport last year, and performing is a whole new thing for me, and I'm just so excited I get to do it in Boston, because one, I have a really great community there, so it's gonna feel awesome, like having all my friends and family and everyone. Cause Boston's so small, so it's nice to see everyone you know and grew up with, and people I've really haven't talked to since high school, like, "I'm coming!" So it's, it's really nice. Yeah, it just feels really lovely to be a part of something from my community

Jill Riley: That's really exciting. Now, hey, you mentioned that the first festival you played was the Newport Festival? That's pretty incredible for a first one. Can you talk about that experience a little bit?

Bebe Stockwell: Oh God, it was a little messy, because I have TMJ, so it was a bit of a stressful one, because I couldn't actually open my mouth. But it was really cool because it's a small festival, and there were so many oysters, which is was an amazing part of it. But it was cool because it was all folk artists, and everyone was so sweet. Like, all the artists were so nice and welcoming. And I've met so many of the people I've reached out to online, or looked up to, so it's, it was awesome. And then performing was also everyone was so quiet and nice, and it felt like really homey. It was a great first one to play.

Jill Riley: Yeah, I would say that, you know, almost like a couple full circle moments coming true for you as you know you're, you're new to performing and the music scene. And then, you know, we were talking about Bob Dylan, and then you get to play the Newport Folk Festival. I mean, that's, that's, that's a really cool thing to hear about. I'm talking with Bebe Stockwell on The Current. So we've been talking about "Minor Inconveniences." I know you've got another song that you've shared called "Speak Too Soon", and I wonder if you could talk about that song a little bit.

Bebe Stockwell: So, I went abroad in London last year, and I met a guy, and I wrote it at the very beginning. It didn't work out, but I met him, it was when I wrote it. It was like the very beginning of the relationship, and I was like, how do I tell him that I like him because I'm leaving London to go back to the U.S.? And I wrote it really randomly, like the chorus. I just wrote really randomly. And then I had a session in L.A. a couple months later. We kind of went back to it, and I was just talking about the whole situation, and I'm a huge fan of Hans Williams, and I just reached out. And we have so many weird connections. So I was like, I have to reach out, because I love his voice and love his work. And he was down. So that's how that came to be, how he was on the song, too. And I don't know, I love it so much. It's like, honestly, one of my favorite songs I've written.

Jill Riley: Incredibly relatable. Talking with Bebe Stockwell on The Current. Hey, you've released a couple songs so far. You know, you go from Boston to New York to L.A., and we expect to hear more about you down the line. I mean, I would assume that you know, you're making plans, perhaps for a record and for a tour, and that work is probably kind of just like, in motion as we're talking.

Bebe Stockwell:  Yeah. I mean, I have a song coming out next week, which I'm very excited about. And then an EP coming out in the spring, so I'm, yeah, I'm just excited. And then after that, more stuff.

Jill Riley: Yeah. Well, we look forward to it, and thank you for letting us get to know you a little bit this morning on The Current's Morning Show. Just like wish you all the best, and we'll hopefully see you performing in the Twin Cities someday. Don't forget about us. We are not flyover country, the home of Bob Dylan, so we'd love to see you. Thank you so much for checking in with The Current's Morning Show. Bebe, hope to talk to you down the line okay?

Bebe Stockwell: Thank you so much for having me.

Jill Riley: Yep, you are listening to The Current.

Credits

Guest – Bebe Stockwell
Host – Jill Riley
Producer – Nilufer Arsala
Digital Producer – Natalia Toledo

External Links