Genevieve Goings’ 2020 Indoor Time — with Son Kamari and Family — Inspires Upbeat Record in Early 2021

15 Jan Genevieve Goings’ 2020 Indoor Time — with Son Kamari and Family — Inspires Upbeat Record in Early 2021

By Marisa Torrieri Bloom

This month, Rockmommy talks to artists about their plans or the coming year. Up next: Genevieve Goings, whose upbeat engaging, soulful pop is the perfect energizer for a cold winter’s day. Here, she talks about getting creative, and balancing life as a working mom of a toddler. 

Rockmommy: For those who might not be familiar with your music, how would you describe your sound? 

Genevieve Goings: I describe myself as making ‘kids music with soul!’ My career began in Hip-hop & R&B in the San Francisco Bay Area. There is an urban influence in my sound, paired with soulful vocals. I truly sing to kids as people, not ‘kids’ – I make music that the whole family will love, with a pop and polished sound. 

Rockmommy: What were the biggest challenges you encountered in the last 12 months? 

Genevieve Goings: My son Kamari was born in December of 2019. I learned to navigate having a baby, being a working mom, and coronavirus all in the same year! We are a social family and in my mind I always imagined having the baby out at various places, events, and having some help from our “village” to help care for Kamari. Having to remain inside while working on producing music, editing, detailed things like that with a small infant was challenging to say the least! My husband and I (who also had detailed editing work to do) learned to section out our days and make sure to plan our calendars strategically. Some things though, only mommy can do.

Rockmommy: How did 2020 influence your music and creative process? 

Genevieve Goings: I grew so much as a producer and engineer in 2020, because I had to take on a lot of work myself. I usually would outsource my mixing and a lot of my production on a music project, and this lockdown really made me dig down deep and learn more about the process of mixing sound. This year I wrote and produced 14 songs for the Disney Junior “Ready for Preschool” short-form music show, and I mixed most of the album as well as playing the instruments, and singing the songs. 

As women, often we have an ‘imposter syndrome’ complex, and I was guilty of this. I would say things like, ‘I produce a little bit,’ or ‘I can produce, with help.’ The truth of the matter is, I AM a producer. There, I said it!  

Rockmommy: What are you most hopeful for in 2021? 

Genevieve Goings: I hope that We as a nation can come together and forgive each other, have compassion, and can really get creative on how to navigate our new normal. We are amazing, and driven, and we can do it! We have learned so much about our flaws as a society, and I hope that we can move forward with a fresh look at the world and ourselves.

Rockmommy: Any recent or upcoming projects you’d like to share? 

Genevieve Goings: YES!!! I recently released a single called “Grateful” off my upcoming EP Great Indoors. This is a collection of songs to be enjoyed while we shelter in place. “Shadow Puppets,” my next single, out January 15, is really fun and imaginative song about the endless possibilities of shadow puppetry. I also have a really fun video to accompany that. The full project will be released February 5 on the new label 8 Pound Gorilla Records, and you can pre-order now on iTunes! Disney will also be releasing Vol. 5 of “Ready for Preschool” in January and you can hear my newest work that was produced entirely from my home studio! 

Rockmommy: What advice do you have on balancing parenthood with creative life? 

Genevieve Goings: I am still learning this, but I am finding that really putting the electronics down at a certain time is pretty much a MUST for a balanced life. Just because technology allows us to be reached at any given moment, that doesn’t mean we have to be.

Marisa Torrieri Bloom is the editor and founder of Rockmommy.