For someone discovering you for the first time, who is Stella Lefty when you’re not making music?

I mean, I’m a normal girl! I’m a normal girl, doing all the normal things, ya know? I hang out with my friends, I hang out with my boyfriend. I’m writing all the time and have been on tour a bunch, so this year has not been as normal as years in the past. But when I’m not, I sit with my friends and eat food [ha ha ha].

Blazer, top and shorts Dries Van Noten / Shoes Prada / Earrings L’Atelier Nawbar

You recently played Lollapalooza in your hometown of Chicago. What did it feel like to look out at that crowd knowing you grew up here?

It was surreal! I mean, Lolla is a festival I’ve been going to since I was 15. So it was an honor to get to stand on that stage that I’ve watched so many of my favorite artists stand on. It was surreal, it was crazy! I was looking out – my brothers were there, so many of my family friends were there. It was a crazy, crazy moment.

When it comes to your songwriting, what usually comes first for you: a lyric, a melody, a feeling, or a story you need to get off your chest?

I’m a melody girl through and through, like, my whole life. Ever since I’ve started writing songs, I’ve always been a melody person. I feel like I’ve had days where I wake up with a melody stuck in my head. I always have a melody stuck in my head, so I think when it comes to songwriting, I’m always melody first, then lyrics. But a lot of the time, there’s a feeling that’s accompanied by it. I think guitar chords or piano chords, when you’re playing something, a feeling is naturally there. Like, you can hear a melody a lot of the time when you start playing, and so there’s a feeling that comes along with that. Yeah, I’m a melody girl. Long way of saying I’m a melody girl.

Dress Zimmermann / Earrings L’Atelier Nawbar

Even when you’re listening to music that is not yours, are you still a melody person?

Melody. I grew up listening to country music, so I’m a huge country fan. There is nothing like country lyricism. Like, that’s what it’s all about! Which I subscribe to, and I think some of my favorite songs in the world, I love them because of the lyrics, but I think that if the melody is bad, it’s really hard for me to subscribe. It needs to be both. For me, if the melody is amazing, it’s an “A” song. But then if the lyrics are amazing, then that’s like an “A+++,” like, I’m sold forever.

What would you say is the number one country melody song?

There’s a lot of amazing melodies in country! Like Tim McGraw, amazing melodies. Keith Whitley, amazing melodies. What comes to mind is, obviously, Morgan Wallen, he’s so tapped into melodies, but also Luke Combs. So I’m going to give it to them for my favorite melodies. I don’t know what song in particular I would say is the best because I have a million favorite songs. Like, I can go on forever and ever. Like, “Blue Ain’t Your Color” by Keith Urban, amazing melody! Like, oh my god, the best Luke Combs song ever, “The Kind of Love We Make,” amazing melody! There is so much good stuff.

What makes a lyric feel honest to you rather than just “good”?

I have realized this recently. You get this feeling when somebody says something. I felt it in Bella Kay’s song “we don’t have to get into what that says about me,” lyric from “iloveitiloveitiloveit.” When she says that, there’s a feeling that immediately I get where I’m like, “Oh, that’s so true!” And then the context of what she’s saying, you’re just like, “Oh my god!” There’s a feeling, and I think, you know, with Luke Combs’ song “Better Together,” there’s lines in there that just get me. It’s all down to a feeling.

Jumper and Microshorts Tod’s / Shoes Malone Souliers / Earrings L’Atelier Nawbar

Is there a lyric you’ve written that you’re particularly proud of — not necessarily because it’s clever, but because it says something you couldn’t have said any other way or got that same feeling from?

Yes, I think I’m proud of this one song coming out on the album called “Feel Better.” And there’s a line, and I don’t know why I like it. I’ve been drawn to it since the minute I wrote it, but it was like, “When will I feel better, when will I not feel the weight of the world? I’ve fallen like a steel feather. I’ve never been a dark cloud kind of girl.” And I think that, in itself, you know, some people are born sadder. I think that especially in songwriting, that’s a common thing. You’re really in touch with your emotions, and some people are just wired to be sadder. And for me, I’m wired to be happier. I feel like I never really took anything so seriously, but I think in that particular song I’m like, “Wow, it’s true. I’m not a dark cloud kind of girl,” but all of a sudden, there is something there.

Congrats on “Boston”, it has obviously become this massive hit. When you wrote it, could you have ever imagined what it has become?

No, oh my god, no! Not for one minute of time had I thought that song would go! When I wrote it and posted it on social media, there wasn’t even a full song. It was a line. So I think it’s just crazy to see what it’s done. But it’s amazing, I’m so grateful for it.

You also released “Lean In, Kiss Me” recently, which you describe as capturing the risk of potentially ruining a friendship for the possibility of love. Are you someone who tends to take that risk, or do you play it safe?

I am someone to always take that risk, for better or for worse. I mean, ruin the friendship! I always have to subscribe to that because, what if something is there… My parents were friends before they got married, so I think I’m conditioned to believe that, like, the friends-to-lovers narrative, it’s a good one.

Dress Zimmermann / Earrings L’Atelier Nawbar

Your debut album is called Long Way Home. What does “home” mean to you now? Is it a place, a person, or something you’ve had to create for yourself?

I love that question! I think home, for me, obviously, with the way things are now, I think it’s hard to have a concept of home being a physical place because I’m not really in one place for so long. As of recently, I think it’s people. There’s people that feel like home. My friends feel like home, my parents feel like home, my brothers feel like home. So the album is really just an ode to the people that have made me the way that I am. Also, finding and being in love with someone that feels like home is a crazy thing! I feel like I have spent so much time trying to understand, because I thought that I was in love so many times before, and I never felt like that. So yeah, home is a million different things, but I think more so people and a feeling than it is a place right now.

After the year you’ve had, what part of the album feels most like the real Stella? The part people might not necessarily see from the singles released?

The album is exciting because there’s just so many different emotions that are shown on there, where I think a lot of the singles I release are happy, fun, and dancey. Which I love, ’cause I think that is the real part of me, but I also think that, you know, there are songs on the album that are deeper and talk about dealing with things that are not so bubbly and light all the time. So I think it’s a good representation of me as a person dealing with a million different situations. I think it’s a good bird’s-eye view, a good lens into my life, and how I deal with things. I think there’s a lot of emotions in there.

Blazer, top and shorts Dries Van Noten / Shoes Prada / Earrings L’Atelier Nawbar

What do you think country music is doing really well right now, and what do you think it could be doing better?

Women. I think women in country music, I mean, like, Ella Langley is doing amazing things! Lainey Wilson is doing amazing things for women in country music! I think that the representation of women in country music is so important, and they are doing a better job. I think in recent years, the representation of women has been so prominent. But I think that always giving women that chance to share their narrative, especially in country music, is important, and I think country music should always shed light on that. But I think they do a great job of that now. They’re crushing right now! Country music is dominating the world! It’s like the best music.

And I also think in terms of, like, this AI shit… That’s happening, and all these AI-generated artists, all these things that are going on with AI. I think country music is such a refreshing and honest side of music, and it’s so—it feels so real and raw. There’s so much connection in country music, so I think that’s what it does amazing at. You can’t generate that.

You’ve mentioned a couple artists already, but who are the artists you look at right now and think, “I want to be part of what they’re building”?

There are so many, like, I’m such a fan! It’s amazing to see what Ella has done. She’s an obvious one. Luke Combs, I’ve been a fan of him forever. He’s amazing, so I’m excited by him, like, all the time. I’ve been having a huge Dolly Parton moment again. I feel like I go in waves of Dolly. I’m just excited by everybody. I love being a fan of music! I’m always rooting for everyone.

Dress Zimmermann / Earrings L’Atelier Nawbar

This question might just be for me, but I’ll ask anyway. You’re part of this new generation of artists who are blurring the lines between country and pop, but you also came from Chicago, a city with such a distinct musical identity of its own. Do you think there’s a version of country music coming out of places like Chicago that Nashville hasn’t fully discovered yet?

Yes! I mean, I can name, like, two girls from my high school that are also doing country music. Like, one of them lives in Nashville, the other one lives in New York, but is still doing it. I think, you know, Chicago, as much as it is a melting pot of every genre, like, obviously when I think about the artists that have come out of Chicago, like Chance the Rapper, it’s more urban music or pop, whatever it is. But I feel like, I don’t know, I feel like Chicago obviously is home to one of the best country music festivals, in my opinion, the Windy City Smokeout. I think there’s fans there that are real fans. Like, I grew up listening to country music. That’s what I was exposed to, so I think there’s gotta be so many people coming out of Chicago that also had that.

So I think, you know, Nashville should pay attention to the Chicago people. I think that Chicago does fall into, like, no one ever thinks of Chicago as a music city because, in comparison to L.A. or New York, or anywhere else, but there’s real music there. It’s just underground and not discovered, but maybe that’s what makes Chicago so special and awesome.

If you could sum up your new album in 3 words, what would they be?

I would say honest. Fun, it’s a fun album… I would say honest, fun, and… Oh, there’s another adjective I can’t think of but, me. If you know me, it’s very me! My boyfriend has always said to me, my music sounds exactly like who I am in real time. So I think it’s very, if you want to know me better, this album will get you there for sure!

Jumper and Microshorts Tod’s / Earrings L’Atelier Nawbar

Tough question, but how would you want people to perceive you based on that?

I don’t take things too seriously. I want to have fun and enjoy life. I want to laugh, and I think that these songs feel that. Sometimes there’s lyrics to my songs that are ridiculous! So, not to be taken seriously, but then there’s another side of these songs that are like, you know, I’m hesitant to fall in love. I think you can get a lot out of my personality from these songs just in the way of, I’m just a 23-year-old girl! I’m excited for people to have that.

Stella’s debut album Long Way Home is available to stream now.

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