Unplugged Lounge Conversations with Anna Hay

NYC-based singer-songwriter Anna Hay has been shaping music long before she ever stepped into a studio. Born and raised in the German countryside, she grew up moving between piano lessons, flute studies, and the early spark of writing her own melodies—eventually finding her true creative voice in songwriting at just twelve years old. What began as a private, almost ritualistic form of expression soon evolved into a lifelong artistic path, carried forward through guitar-driven pop-rock influences, vocal training, and years of study at The New School in New York City. Now 25, Hay is carving out her own space in contemporary pop-rock, blending early 2000s-inspired guitar energy with honest, emotionally sharp storytelling. Her latest single, “It’s All Good,” captures that balance perfectly—turning quiet heartbreak into an anthemic, hook-driven reflection on unspoken feelings and emotional restraint. With new releases on the horizon, including acoustic reinterpretations of her work and upcoming projects at Berklee NYC, she continues to refine a sound that is both nostalgic and distinctly her own.

We caught up with Anna to talk about her beginnings, her influences, and the personal stories behind her music.

Thanks for chatting with us at Sonic Sisters Magazine! Can you share a bit about how your journey into music began?

Music has always been super important to me. Long before I took my first piano lesson, I can remember trying to reach really high to where my CD player was on a shelf next to my bed. The volume knob was always turned up pretty high and I tried to sing along even though I had no idea what the words meant (English is not my first language). I finally took my first piano lesson when I was almost eight years old and immediately started making up little songs. I got  more serious about writing around age twelve and it just evolved from there. I took flute lessons at age ten and got my first guitar when I was fifteen. That was a turning point for me because lyrics and specifically writing in English became more important to me as I was writing on guitar, an instrument that I mainly use to accompany my singing. Making music felt like an escape into whatever world I wanted to explore. I never did it to impress anyone. In fact, I barely ever performed. It was just for me. In college, I finally got the chance to perform for people and then I discovered how much I love being on stage too, but the love for it is grounded in my passion for music itself, not the need for validation.  

Who have been some of the most significant influences on your musical style?

I must have been around the age of ten when I bought my first Taylor Swift CD. Her ability to blend genres with such ease has been super encouraging for me in my own career. Another artist who has had a massive impact on me is Avril Lavigne. I cannot remember a time when her music was not playing in the background from the kitchen radio. Her debut album was released on my second birthday - the birthday gift that keeps on giving. She too manages to bust the genre myth while also always sounding like herself. There is something so special about listening to music that you cannot even remember living life without. It does not feel like a time capsule, but more like a familiar space where I always feel welcome regardless of what is happening in my life. There is this timelessness about both Taylor Swift’s and Avril Lavigne’s music that I think comes from the emphasis on a good melody that would work even if the instrumentation was stripped down to the bare minimum. I really appreciate that quality in a song which is why I enjoy releasing acoustic versions of my songs. I have three more acoustic versions of my songs lined up, ready to be released soon. 

And which female musicians or women in the music industry have inspired your journey?

The list of women I want to mention here is endless. My holy trinity of artists includes Taylor Swift, Avril Lavigne and Hayley Williams, so of course they have all inspired my journey greatly. I could talk about each of them for days. One of my favorite artists is Marit Larsen, a super versatile singer songwriter from Norway. Her career is such a perfect example of what longevity can look like in the music industry. She started out in an internationally known pop duo called M2M with her friend Marion Ravn. Marit went on to have a solo career later which was what I first knew her music from. At one point, she even wrote a children's book. She also fairly recently revisited her old catalog with Marion and recorded absolutely stunning new versions of their songs that they wrote together when they were barely teenagers. Another thing I love about her is that she releases songs in English and Norwegian. It is fun to see an artist be unafraid of experimenting with genres, re-recordings and playing around with language too. I am also half Norwegian, so that makes her music extra special to me. I have yet to see her live, but I hope that one day I will get the chance. 

How do your personal experiences shape your songwriting, and what do you hope listeners take away from those connections?

I think it is nearly impossible for me to write something that is not shaped by my personal life. This is not to say that every single thing I write necessarily has to be entirely autobiographical, but even when I take a step back and find inspiration from what other people around me might be going through, I still control the narration and performance of the song. No matter what I write, there is always a piece of me in it. I think songwriting is a space where I can allow myself to be way pettier and more dramatic than I am. It is pure emotion without logic. I hope that listeners can relate in some way and feel seen and understood even if the context of how it connects to their life might be very different from the particular experience I was writing about. I know and love the feeling of listening to music that makes you feel like you are entering a space where you are welcome and not judged for intense emotions. I try not to let myself feel afraid or restricted while I am writing and I think that listeners would appreciate this honesty in my music.

Congratulations on the release ‘It’s All Good’! What inspired this particular song?

Thank you! This song is about being in love with your best friend and having to watch them fall in love with someone else. I play around with this really common phrase "It's All Good". That is something we say all the time without meaning it - especially when we are trying to spare someone else's or perhaps even our own feelings. Essentially, this song is about the three little words that lie between the three big ones: 'I love you' disguised by 'It's all good'. It is probably a lot sadder than the song sounds. 

What song (not your own) has had the biggest influence on you and why?

That would be the opening track on the first Taylor Swift CD I ever bought. When I first played  Fearless on our tiny CD player in the kitchen, I was instantly hooked and knew that I would be listening to her music for the rest of my life. At that point in time, I had never heard someone blend genres in the way that she does. Every song was a new story and every track had something unforgettable to it. Fearless encapsulates that vibe on the album perfectly. 

Is there a song in your catalog that holds a special personal meaning for you? We'd love to hear the story or inspiration behind it.

I had a very intense experience listening to an unmastered, unfinished mix of my song Cloud Nine, the acoustic version. My co-producer and mixing engineer Farin Kautz and I had been working on this song for a while and it was also our second time recording it as I had released an electric version of Cloud Nine first. We had gotten the acoustic version to a point where it was not nearly finished, but it finally felt like with the new equipment (a lot of analog gear) we were starting to get the mix sounding exactly the way I always envisioned it. When you are an independent artist, you cannot always assume that everything you do is going to look or sound like it was made on a million dollar budget, but somehow we hit that perfect spot with the acoustic version of Cloud Nine where I could finally forget about all the things I thought were not sounding good enough. The critiquing voices went silent in my head and I just started crying at 2:00 am listening to that unfinished mix again because I felt so, so proud of how far we had come. I guess I just had a moment of clarity that allowed for my younger self to be very grateful for all the work we had put into recording and mixing this song. This song is a good reminder for me to take moments to feel proud of where I have come.  

What are some of the aspirations you have for your music moving forward?

In the future, I hope that I can play shows and festivals on a regular basis. I really hope that I can have an audience that is large enough that I would be considered as an opener for other artists. A specific example would be someone like LØLØ. Her latest album is so good! She would be so much fun to open for. I have also always dreamed of being on the soundtrack for a movie or show. Landing any kind of sync-licensing deal would be awesome!

What advice would you give to emerging female artists who are just starting out in the music world?

I would never underestimate the importance of building a team that you can trust. It may take more time to meet the right people, but making art with your friends and building real friendships along the way makes the whole journey infinitely more fun. Another big piece of advice I would give is to just be authentically and uniquely you. For female artists specifically, the pressure to fit into a specific genre and the associated aesthetic is definitely heightened. Personally, I am not interested in putting on a costume to try and fulfill other people’s expectations. I just want to write what I write, sing how I want to and dress in a way that I think is fun. Anything other than that just feels boring to me. Why would I put in effort to be someone else when I could simply be myself? 

Before we wrap up, is there anything else you’d like to say to our readers?

Of course I dream about what my break though moment will be, when it will happen or if it will ever even happen, but it is moments like this when I get the chance to sit down and talk about my music that I realize that I am already living the dream. I ground myself in gratitude every day because as much fun as it is to try and chase the right streaming numbers, it is also about making art for the sake of making it. Every song I write and record feels like a gift to myself regardless of the reception. The fact that I have reached a small audience with my music is absolutely mind-blowing to me and I really hope that my music can impact people and make them feel empowered and encouraged to go through life with an open heart