Q&A: Caroline Carter is Facing Their Fears on New EP “Fetch!”
INTERVIEW
INTERVIEW
☆ BY KIMBERLY KAPELA ☆
FEAR DOESN’T ALWAYS ARRIVE AS A FEELING TO AVOID — For Caroline Carter, it became something closer to a magnet. Carter has released their sophomore EP Fetch! The Nashville-based indie-rock artist leans fully into all her messy, uncertain, and often uncomfortable feelings. It’s a record that doesn’t just sit with fear, but interrogates it, pulling apart the instinct to either chase it or retreat. In that tension, Carter finds a sound and their sense of self that feels sharper, louder and more unguarded than ever before.
Where their debut EP I Did What I Promised carried a softer indie-pop sound, Fetch! arrives with teeth. The shift is immediate on lead single “Watchdog,” a punchy, glitch-laced track that sets the tone for the EP’s sonic direction. Distortion crackles beneath Carter’s voice, where guitars feel frayed at the edges. Fetch! doesn’t frame fear as a simple obstacle to overcome; instead, it examines the ways people return to it and how discomfort can become familiar, even addictive.
Carter frames the project around surrender, though not in the traditional sense.
“It’s the feeling of throwing your hands up,” Carter explains through the project’s narrative lens. “Not to give up, but to acknowledge your weaknesses and move forward anyway.”
Every song is based on a feeling or experience that scared Carter enough to write about it.
“I found that even though there was an underlying sense of fear in everything I was writing about, there was also something that oddly pulled me to chase that feeling, which is why the project is called Fetch!,” Carter says to Luna. “I wanted to mirror the cyclical nature of going and chasing something that isn't benefiting you in any way. The whole project is based around fear and why it can be easier than we think to get caught in a cycle of chasing something, even if it's not doing you anything good.”
Carter’s roots in Fort Worth, Texas continue to shape their storytelling, grounding Fetch! in the complexities of growing up and coming into identity within the queer Southern experience. Now based in Nashville, Carter occupies a space that bridges introspective songwriting with a more abrasive indie- rock edge.
To celebrate the release, Carter will host an EP release show at The Blue Room in Nashville on May 29.
LUNA: Thank you for talking to Luna. Our readers would love to get to know you and your music more. For any readers who aren’t familiar with you yet, what inspires your artistic style and sound?
CAROLINE: I would say Soccer Mommy is my longest running influence as someone who makes indie-rock and pop music, but she was the gateway I discovered until the indie scene when I was 13.
LUNA: What kind of atmosphere or emotional space do you aim to create for your listeners?
CAROLINE: I grew up in the South, and I'm a lesbian, so I've always hoped that you can hear that in the in the music and in the lyrics, and that my discography, and my artistry, and my social media, and whatnot provides a space where other people who grew up in a similar place as me, or just anyone who grew up queer really can feel themselves represented in my music and in my genre.
LUNA: Say if someone hasn't heard of your music yet, which song would you introduce them to that best encapsulates your artistic growth and maturity?
CAROLINE: I think that “Watchdog” was a hard 180 from anything else that I'd put out in the past. This is the grown up Caroline Carter sound.
LUNA: You just released your sophomore EP Fetch! and huge congratulations are in order! What emotions or inspirations did you feel compelled to explore this time around?
CAROLINE: The whole project is about fear. Every song is about something that scared me enough to write about it, whether it turned into something good or bad, mostly not great. But I found that even though there was an underlying sense of fear in everything I was writing about, there was also something that oddly pulled me to chase that feeling, which is why the project is called Fetch! I wanted to mirror the cyclical nature of going and chasing something that isn't benefiting you in any way. The whole project is based around fear and why it can be easier than we think to get caught in a cycle of chasing something, even if it's not doing you anything good.
LUNA: Did this EP give you permission to explore sides of yourself you hadn’t fully leaned into before? How does this record feel different from past releases like I Did What I Promised?
CAROLINE: In a lot of ways, but especially on the surface, the production, the sound, and the genre is just so different from anything else that I put out. My last release was an EP that was more singer-songwriter and indie-pop, maybe even indie-folk, not necessarily because that's what I was listening to a lot at the time, definitely more so than now, but also that's what I wasn't as afraid to make.
With making this project, I really allowed myself to write about parts that felt ugly to write about at times, and maybe I was even embarrassed or ashamed to feel. It was really scary putting it out for a second becauseI was just really hoping that people would hear it and not be afraid to relate to the songs, even if they're not super happy. I'm writing a lot about fear, guilt, about feeling a certain way, or embarrassed about feelings I'm having, so that that might not be what someone wants to relate to, but I think once I put the shame of it all aside and realize that there will be someone that at least relates to a part of that, I let myself really dive into it and explore the production. I think it ended up working really well and resonating with a lot more people than I thought it would originally.
LUNA: Do you have a personal favorite song on Fetch! — one that feels closest to your heart or most revealing of who Caroline Carter is right now?
CAROLINE: I think my favorite is definitely “321.” I was listening to a lot of album openers and was trying to get a sense of what really invites you into a project and I think we did a really good job at this world building. I think it has to happen pretty fast in an intro track. It was the first song that Ryan and I made for the project, so it just felt like a really, really good place to start. I think it's so fun and it's fun to sing. I'm really proud of that one.
LUNA: What is the best environment to listen to the EP in?
CAROLINE: When I think of the EP visually, I think of something really dark and moody. My first thought would be a windows down drive when it's dark outside. There's a lot of mentions of rain in the project, so maybe the second listen would be headphones on alone in your room when it's raining outside.
LUNA: How did you celebrate the EP release?
CAROLINE: I will play a show at the end of this month here in Nashville, at the Blue Room, which I'm super stoked about. When it came out, I went to my favorite bar here with a group of my close friends, and we really didn't even stay out that long. I watched it come out, and I took a shot, and then 30 minutes later, I went home and went to sleep. It was perfect. It was great.
LUNA: How have the reactions been from friends, family and listeners?
CAROLINE: It's been really rewarding and it's felt really good. I think initially going into it, I was really nervous, because it sounds so different than what I'd put out before, and I was really hoping that it would translate well, and my previous audience would grow and adapt with me and still hear it's still me that's making the music. It might sound a little bit heavier than the last few songs I put out, but that's exactly what happened. Everyone has been very kind about it. I've heard a lot of people say that they can tell it feels like you've grown into your sound. I would agree. I really appreciate when people say things like that, because it's been what I'm trying really hard to do.
LUNA: How do you hope listeners — especially your femme and queer audiences — can connect with or find power in this new era of music from you? What emotions or messages do you want to leave with them?
CAROLINE: If writing the EP taught me anything, it's that even the feelings that we may be scared to feel they're still helpful, and it brought me these songs, and it allowed me to see a side of myself that I hadn't before, and become a lot more confident in myself. So at first, when I was feeling so embarrassed to have a crush that didn't like me back, when I was writing these songs, I just took it for what it was, very surface level, like shame and guilt and embarrassment. When I thought about it deeper, I realized that I'm so lucky to even be able to feel something that deeply, whether or not that's shared by somebody else, I still am capable of feeling something like that. I think that's still a great thing.
LUNA: How are you feeling in this current era of your career and what does the rest of the year look like that you would like to share with Luna?
CAROLINE: I feel great. I'm so proud of this project, and I'm so glad that it's out in the world, and it's just been a blast seeing what people think about it. I've been listening to the EP a lot, which never happened before. I never listened to my own music, but now I do. I'm super excited for my release show. The Blue Room is my favorite venue in Nashville, so it's crazy that we get to headline it with a band. I'm putting more music out towards the end of the summer, maybe early fall, that I'm also really pumped about. I’m trying to make and release as much as possible.
LUNA: Is there anything that I didn't ask that you would like to add?
CAROLINE: I would say to pay attention to a lot of female indie artists in Nashville right now. I think there's a really, really strong and rising scene, specifically, of women that are just making so much good music, and I cannot recommend it to people enough. My roommate, Jane Leopardo, one of my close friends, Reilly Costello, and one of my best friends, Kayla Phillips. Kaylee Keeney is putting a record, and it's incredible. I hope that people latch on to her really, really quick. Emma Ogier is great. They're everywhere. I could go on and on for so long, but those are the women who come to mind.
