Lauren Gill isn’t just making music; she’s facing her fears. Emerging from New Jersey’s remarkable local scene, the alternative singer-songwriter recently dropped her latest single “Footage I Can’t Delete.” Once fearful of others’ perception of her work, Gill now finds herself ready to quiet any internal doubts as she shares her art and vulnerability with the world around her.
“Footage I Can’t Delete” erupts into a rush of emotions from the start. The haunting track captures the overwhelming ache of losing someone important and the soul-crushing grief that lingers after. Gill flawlessly turns her pain into something beautiful, with all of her emotions coming to the surface as she urgently belts out, “One day you’ll know / I wasn’t your villain / Now I’m your ghost.”
The blistering guitars combined with her evocative lyricism and intense vocal delivery seamlessly enhance the song’s bone-chilling edge. “Footage I Can’t Delete” is a bold, powerful effort that introduces Gill’s ability to redefine angry feelings and traumatic experiences with killer precision.
Gill opened up to CRAVE about the creative process behind “Footage I Can’t Delete,” overcoming anxiety as a growing artist, her biggest musical influences and more.
★ INTERVIEW ★
CRAVE: Your latest single “Footage I Can’t Delete” was released on Jan. 31. Can you walk me through the meaning behind this track?
LAUREN: This track is something I kept to myself for about two years. I wrote it back in March of 2024 and didn’t record it until December of that year. And obviously… it didn’t release until 2026. I wrote this song about losing something very important to me, the toll that took on me and my well-being and how I had to find my way out of the dark mindset I was trapped in.
For a long time, I couldn’t grasp the loss that I and many others who were close to my heart had just experienced. The music I was making before that time period was my entire life, so to then shift to a completely different lifestyle in college, meeting new people, seeing and experiencing new things — it was so overwhelming. But if anything, it’s a major triumph of mine that I was able to seek and find happiness where I am now. I even developed a fear of showing my music to the world, so I’ve been feeling very grateful to have gotten over that fear, even if I still feel some anxiety about returning to music sometimes, if that makes sense.
CRAVE: In an Instagram post announcing the song’s release, you shared that you wrote “Footage I Can’t Delete” over a year ago before deciding it wasn’t quite ready to come out then. How do you determine when a song is “ready”? What factors influenced the timing of this specific song?
LAUREN: I don’t know if a song is ever “ready,” in my opinion. I think, for me at least, it was a fear thing. I had to get over the anxiety I was feeling and it took a really long time to do so. What is so important to me, though, is remembering that even though there may never be a “right time,” especially when artists are so critical of themselves and their work, you have a decision to make: do it or don’t. So after a certain point, I had to tell my brain to be quiet for a second and take a leap of faith.
I love the song, the recording experience was magical for me, the production feels fantastic to me and the sound is exactly what I was searching to create. So really, it just came down not necessarily to whether or not the song was ready, but whether or not I was ready.
CRAVE: What was your favorite part of the creative process for this new single? How do you feel now that it’s finally released to the world?
LAUREN: I love this question. For starters, I got to go down to Nashville to record with a longtime friend — Kile Odell — and it was sick. Leading to my favorite part, when I came into the studio, I had a very rough version of this song that I presented to him. The cool thing about Kile is that you could explain any concept or idea you have to him and he’ll know exactly what to do.
For the most part, how we wrote a lot of the parts was me making melodies with my mouth, him making sounds back and then boom — he locks into his software and he has a whole demo down within the hour. I felt extremely privileged to get to watch him do his thing. I felt so much anxiety at the start of the process, kind of wondering what if what I had wasn’t good enough? But Kile instilled me with so much faith and confidence; he’s so chill and level-headed, there was no way I could panic while he was there. That was the best; we shared a lot of laughs in that studio and around the city that I’ll never forget.
As for how I feel now that it’s out, I feel really giddy about it. I think it’ll be a second until I gain as much traction as I had going on before I took a break, but that’s not what it’s about for me anymore when I really think about it. I just feel so grateful that my friends, family and collaborators didn’t let me give up. Everyone’s been so kind of supportive, I’ve met so many people through this project and talked to so many people I haven’t seen in years because of it.
It feels really full circle to me, especially when the song is so personal to me, you know? I don’t know, it just feels like a major privilege to get to do what I love again. I’ve loved hearing about all the people screaming and crying to my music; it makes me feel like I accomplished the main goal, which for me is connecting with people.
CRAVE: How has being an artist in the New Jersey DIY scene influenced your art and growth as a musician?
LAUREN: Jesus, I mean it influenced everything. I started in this scene when I was like 8 years old. I started at this music academy in Asbury called Lakehouse Music Academy, that’s where I met all the musicians I hold closest to my heart. It’s such a busy scene, it’s so full of life. You meet so many people any time you walk into a show and everyone’s so supportive and welcoming. It’s none of that super competitive stuff; everyone’s genuinely in it for the love of the game, which is so cool because one of the things I love most is watching other people share their art and getting to come along for that ride.
I’ve been in bands here for over 11 years. I was in one band that literally was together for 11 years, starting as some silly kid cover band and then turned into the project I hold closest to my heart to this day. We were called Personal Space, and I don’t mean to blow smoke up mine or anyone else’s ass (pardon my language), but that band was awesome. I got to work with some of the most creative musicians I’ve ever met who were my age and all love music as much as I do. Even though that band came to an end, I’ll never forget the memories I made there. My favorite shows and experiences as a musician were all throughout that time and I have this scene to thank for that!
There are also so many phenomenal mentors here, so much inspiration too and when you grow up in it, it makes you want to push yourself creatively. I think my style has changed a lot over the years, but I’m comfortable with every era I’ve experienced so far simply because I know I had the most fun doing it all. That’s just Jersey, though. I think we got a pretty sick scene going on here.
CRAVE: Who are some of your biggest musical influences? How does that translate into your work?
LAUREN: First of all, I have way too many influences to name all here… making that known.But, I do have some big ones that have always inspired me through the years. I love this band Nothing But Thieves, they’re my faves. They have this album called Broken Machine and I think it was in my Spotify Wrapped every single year for the last four years.
I’m a big Deftones guy — that feels super cliché but I don’t even care. I love them. Oh!Alice in Chains too, holy sh*t (pardon my French.) I love Alice in Chains. Layne Staley, he is my king. I think if I ever got the “What dead person would you have dinner with?” question, it would probably be Layne. I just want to pick his mind about all the band’s creative choices, they’re so sick. Oh my god, Amira Elfeky too, she heavily inspired me for my release. Her song “Will You Love Me When I’m Dead” sends me into full orbit. I think I could pass the sun at least 10 times as long as that song is playing. Kile actually put me on to her. I’m going to see her in a couple months and I’m really gleeful about it.
I think the best part about these artists, from an influence perspective, is that they’re all so unique as far as their sound goes. All of them have some quality about them that makes me be like“holy shit.” I want to be doing what they’re doing and then put my spin on it. I don’t know, I just love music that makes me feel all my intense emotions—it’s how I write best, so naturally that’s where I find the most inspiration.
CRAVE: You also recently released a self-made music video for the song that was shot on your phone with friends. What gave you the idea to create a visualizer to accompany “Footage I Can’t Delete” in this way? What was your favorite part of filming the video?
LAUREN: The music video is so funny to me. Hear me out, I do love a well-produced release project and all the content that follows it. But personally, given the anxiety I was feeling about the release, I wanted to be as DIY and lowquality as possible for that silly raw feel to it. My friends kept asking me about a video, when I would do it, so I kind of said “Ok… here, damn.” I went to the bar with my friends, we shared some laughs about the video, came up with a funny idea to film our walk home and that’s what we did!
I included all the old videos of shows because those are my memories that I’m looking back on throughout the song. As angry as I think I was during the song, I don’t feel angry now. I feel very positively about those memories, so to be candid and true to what I was envisioning for the project, I included them. My favorite part was how much my friends and I laughed while we edited it, we tried not to take it too seriously and we ended up loving it, as silly as it is.
CRAVE: How would you describe “Footage I Can’t Delete” to someone who’s never heard of your music before?
LAUREN: What a good question! I had to think on this one for a second. I think I would say, have you ever yearned and been angry at the world at the same time? Boom, there’s the feel behind the song. Maybe also that it’s a more alternative-grunge-pop fusion thing that doesn’t really make much sense to me as far as trying to put it in one genre, but that’s kind of the beauty of it! It’s a song that you could make your own story around, feel whatever the song makes you feel and hopefully you’re able to scream your heart out to it. And then I’d say it’s a song for people who feel a million emotions at once. That’s about it!
Keep up with Lauren Gill:
Instagram / YouTube / Spotify / Apple Music
