Q: Can you tell us a bit about yourself and how your childhood impacted your musical direction?
Hi, my name is Josephine De Smet. I’m a Belgian artist born and raised.
My childhood had a huge impact on my music and artistic direction. I wouldn’t necessarily describe it as completely bad, but there was a lot of instability, emotional trauma, and a constant feeling of not really being safe or understood. I also experienced severe bullying during my teenage years, which deeply affected my self-esteem and the way I viewed the world.
Music became a form of escape, but also a way to process emotions I didn’t know how to express otherwise. A lot of my songs revolve around themes like self-worth, vulnerability, empowerment, emotional survival, and trying to find peace within yourself.
I think growing up in environments where I often felt misunderstood made me incredibly emotionally aware. Even though those experiences were painful, they shaped me into the artist and songwriter I am today.
Q: How are you planning on growing your fan base and sharing your music with the world? What message do you have for anyone who is about to discover “Josephine De Smet “?
I’m currently focusing heavily on releasing singles rather than full albums because it allows me to give every song as much focus, intention, and strategy as possible rather than letting songs disappear in a larger project. For Butterflies specifically we shot a music video that’s coming out soon!
I also believe in grassroots promotion and genuine human connection. I’m not afraid to put myself out there, talk to people about my music, hand out flyers, or ask people to share my work. I think being an independent artist today requires both creativity and persistence.
I hope that people who discover my music feel seen and understood. I think my music often explores emotional complexity and emotions people are sometimes uncomfortable admitting to, like powerlessness, frustration, anger, resentment, sadness, and the desire to reclaim control over yourself and your life. I generally write what people are scared to say out loud. So if my music can make someone feel less alone, or more honest with themselves, or more empowered to face what they’re going through, then I’ve done what I wanted to do as an artist. One of the most beautiful moments as a songwriter is when someone tells you that your music has helped them. Or when you write about something that is taboo and it gives people a platform or an opening to feel safe enough to talk about that in the first place. Because that alone can be a huge threshold sometimes.
Q: Who is the most inspiring artist for you right now? And where do you find inspiration for making music?
Right now, I’m inspired by artists who bring something emotionally honest to the table in their own way. I also love the subtlety and softness in Selena Gomez’s vocals, the raw honesty Demi Lovato has always had in her writing, and the production and vocal approach of early Billie Eilish. I genuinely think Billie Eilish and Tate McRae changed the industry in a huge way because before that people often associated good vocals only with power and belting but they showed that fragility, intimacy and softness could be just as impactful I think that opened doors for a lot of artists with gentler voices.
When it comes to inspiration for my own music, I am constantly writing. I have a highly associative mind hence why I probably have over 6,000 voice notes and song ideas at this point. People close to me joke that it feels like I have a new song every day because songwriting is just how my brain naturally processes things. I am always creating, always collecting ideas, melodies, lyrics, concepts or emotions. What I struggle with more is actually finishing songs from a technical standpoint, the mixing, mastering and finalizing process. But the creative part never really stops for me. I also don’t necessarily work on songs based on what I’m currently experiencing in real time. sometimes I’m drawn toward a song simply because the emotion inside it feels powerful or honest even if I’m no longer in that exact emotional state I can still feel when a song carries something meaningful and those are usually the songs I’m most excited to keep developing.
Q: Can you tell us about the story or message behind the song, “Butterflies.”?
Butterflies is about holding up a mirror to haters without becoming hateful yourself.
Butterflies was written during a period where I was posting a lot of raw songwriting and vocal brainstorming sessions online. I would improvise melodies and lyrics in real time over chords or a beat and simply follow whatever ideas came naturally. The focus was creativity and emotional expression, but I think a lot of people misunderstood that format. At the time, I received a lot of hateful comments about my voice, my music, and even myself as a person. Today, I’m much more resilient when it comes to online criticism, but back then, I was in a very vulnerable place emotionally, so those comments really stayed with me.
Around that same time, I attended a songwriting workshop at Trix in Antwerp where we had to build a mind map around a specific word. The word I chose was hate and Butterflies came out of that process almost immediately. Within maybe half an hour, most of the song already existed. The song is basically about holding up a mirror to people who spread hate online. It talks about how easy it is for people to hurt others while hiding behind anonymous accounts, private profiles, and phone screens without ever making themselves vulnerable in return. But at the same time, it’s not really a hateful song. It’s more me saying, I understand what you’re doing, but I’m not going to stop creating because of it. Ironically, the song that came out of that negativity became one of the songs that empowers me the most now.
Q: How would you describe your sound in one word for potential listeners?
“layered”
I would describe my sound as layered. There are so many different aspects to my music. The harmonies, the emotions, the lyrics, the production, the inner conflict behind certain songs. And every one of those aspects has layers of its own. There is usually so much more happening beneath the surface than what you hear on first listen. I think a lot of my music can initially come across as straightforward pop music, but the deeper you dig, the more details and emotional layers you start to uncover. Even production-wise, there are sounds people might assume are instruments that are actually vocals layered and manipulated into the production itself. I love creating music that reveals more of itself over time.
Q: Did you face any challenges while writing or recording “Butterflies”?
One of the challenges while writing Butterflies was actually stepping outside of my comfort zone structurally. I rarely write bridges unless a song genuinely feels like it needs one. But during the songwriting workshop I attended, the hosts challenged me to write one anyway. In the end, I’m really glad they pushed me to do that because it helped the song grow. Another big challenge was learning to let go of ego while collaborating. Butterflies was the first song where I worked closely with a producer and he made certain changes to the production and arrangement that honestly improved the song a lot. But when you’ve listened to your own music hundreds of times and become emotionally attached to every detail, it can be difficult to suddenly hear something different and accept it. I think collaboration taught me that songs need room to evolve. In a way, songs feel like your children. You care about them so deeply that you wanna protect every part of them. But at some point, you also have to allow them to grow, change, and eventually let them go into the world.
Q: What is the message of your music? And what are your goals as an artist?
I think the overall message of my music is to express yourself honestly and unapologetically, because people are always gonna have something to say no matter what you do. Some of my music is emotional and vulnerable. Some of it is darker, weirder, more fun, or even uncomfortable, but all of it comes from a very real place. I never wanna limit myself creatively just to fit into what people expect an artist should sound or act like. For me, music is about freedom of expression, emotional honesty, and allowing yourself to fully explore every side of who you are. As an artist, my goal is to keep growing creatively, keep releasing music that genuinely connects with people, and eventually build a sustainable career where I can continue creating, performing, and evolving without losing that authenticity.
Q: Who is your dream artist to collaborate with? (dead or alive)
I would love to collaborate with people like Finneas or Sofia Isella, not just because I love their music, but because I’m fascinated by the way they think creatively and approach their work. Their music feels very intentional, emotionally layered, and artistically authentic to me. Honestly, I would probably just love being around that creative process. and learning from it. Seeing how they build songs, make production choices and translate emotions into sound. That kind of environment feels incredibly inspiring to me both as a songwriter and a producer.
Q: What is your advice for people interested in pursuing music as a career or for those trying to enter the industry?
I would honestly recommend working part-time if you can, especially in the beginning. Having some financial stability takes a huge amount of pressure off creatively and allows you to make better long term decisions instead of desperately depending on music to survive immediately.
I also think it’s incredibly important to find the balance between perfectionism and complacency. If you’re too ego driven and already think your work is amazing, you stop growing because you stop accepting feedback. But if you’re such a perfectionist that you never allow anyone to hear your work because it’s not good enough yet, then you also stop growing. You need both confidence and humility as an artist.
One of the biggest lessons I’ve learned is that done is better than perfect. Stop waiting for the perfect circumstances to create or release music. Stop endlessly strategizing without actually doing the work. Growth comes from creating, finishing things, putting them out into the world, and learning from the response. I also think artists underestimate how important feedback and community are. Ask for feedback everywhere, Reddit, Discord, workshops, live environments, online communities, because that’s how people discover your music, how connections are built, and how you improve over time.
Trust your intuition.
Q: If you could go back in time and give a younger you some words of wisdom, what would they be?
I would tell her “oh my god, stop hunching over girl!! You’re making my back hurt” just kidding.
More than giving advice, I would honestly just hold my younger self and tell her that she’s going to be okay. Back then, a lot of my people-pleasing came from not feeling emotionally safe, loved, wanted or even welcome. So I understand now why she became that way. I’d tell her that one day she’s going to be loved for who she really is, that she’ll find genuine friendships and that she’ll build a life that actually feels meaningful and exciting. I’d tell her that she’s not difficult or broken, and that it’s a shame so many people around her couldn’t see her worth at the time. When I was younger, I genuinely struggled to imagine a future for myself at all. I didn’t think I would make it this far. So I think more than anything, I’d tell her to hold on because there’s so much life, growth, creativity and happiness waiting for her that she simply can’t see yet.
