New Jersey’s Gina Royale has a gift for turning ordinary emotions into melodic confessions. A singer-songwriter who bridges alt-pop polish with raw piano-born storytelling, she’s equally at home crafting glossy hooks or stripped-down heartbreak. Her music has already found its way into film (After Everything) and earned accolades like SongwriterUniverse’s “Best Song of the Month” for her single Low, but it’s the honesty running through every lyric that defines her. Whether she’s teaching, performing, or catching song ideas in her car between jobs, Gina channels life as it happens — proof that vulnerability can be both catchy and courageous.
SNQLX: You started writing songs when you were just a kid — do you remember what that first one was about, and what made you realize, “yeah, I want to keep doing this”?
GINA: The first song I ever wrote was technically named “Family Rainbow” when I was 4 years old, listing my family’s favorite colors. But after that, it was a song called “Tightrope” that I wrote about my high school choir teacher who didn’t like me.. It has since been removed from streaming services; not my best lyrical work. The moment I decided I wanted to keep doing this was exactly then, even in my amateur songwriting days, I wanted to continue over sharing my thoughts to music.
SNQLX: Growing up in Blairstown, New Jersey, what did your musical world look like? Was there a local scene, or were you mostly finding inspiration online and on your own?
GINA: My hometown and I have a complicated relationship. Blairstown, NJ is gorgeous and I’ve met some of the most cherished people in my life there! I was also a pretty anxious, socially awkward kid. With that, I spent a lot of my time there riddled with anxiety, playing piano in my room, so I can’t say I spent much time immersing myself in the local music scene. However, it sparked the start of a lot of cool songs!
SNQLX: You’ve played piano, saxophone, and flute — that’s a serious range. How do those instruments sneak their way into your songwriting today?
GINA: Piano is still a huge part of my songwriting process; it’s how majority of my songs are written to this day. I still teach piano and flute lessons privately, but you probably won’t hear me ripping a sax solo any time soon.
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SNQLX: Your sound walks a fine line between pop polish and raw emotion. How do you protect that honesty while still making something catchy and radio-ready?
GINA: I put so much thought into lyrics when I write, so I really appreciate this perspective! So often in pop music, the focus can shift away from the lyrics, which is a totally valid way of writing pop songs! For me, I want to make sure I maintain lyrical integrity within the genre. To (hopefully) achieve that, I take a ton of inspiration from lyrical geniuses like Taylor Swift, Noah Kahan, Maddie Zahm, and John Mayer.
SNQLX: “Small girl sings sad songs” — What does that line mean to you now, as your music grows beyond those early heartbreak tracks?
GINA: So much of my songs are highly produced pop songs. Everything has its time and place, and for that I love those songs! But each of those songs started the same way: at the piano, totally stripped down. “Small girl sings sad songs” pays homage to that process, just a 5’2” girl singing her feels out at piano.
SNQLX: Your song “Low” won SongwriterUniverse’s Best Song of the Month — a huge recognition. What did that moment teach you about the kind of artist you want to be?
GINA: “Low” being song of the month for SongwriterUniverse was awesome – it was a chance to acknowledge music & lyrics, nothing else attached. No success, no streams, just the song as it is. “Low” is part of a major move franchise, known as “After Everything”. That’s one of the biggest honors of my life, and it was cool to watch “Low” be celebrated for something unrelated to the movie.
SNQLX: The new single “Black Widow” feels like another side of you — confident, cinematic, but still vulnerable. Where did that song come from emotionally?
GINA: “Black Widow”, produced by Thomas Monaco, started from a stellar track he made. We initially intended for “Black Widow” to actually be called “Lazy Sunday”, off the concept of having no plans on a Sunday. This sparked the one of the first lines of the song: “call me your lazy Sunday girl”. From there, the song took a whole new meaning after I hit a long period of writer’s block. I couldn’t be more excited about what we did with it!
SNQLX: When you’re building visuals — photos, cover art, stage setup — how do you decide what fits the music and what feels like “too much”?
GINA: With visuals, it honestly comes down to how much laundry I have to do. If I have cool clean clothes, you’ll see them in a photoshoot, video, etc. Otherwise, I just have to pull it together.
SNQLX: You’ve mentioned juggling different roles outside of music — how does life outside the studio feed your creative process?
GINA: I work a few jobs outside of music. I’m a music teacher across a few different schools and a fitness instructor at a boutique fitness studio that focuses on empowering women in a group fitness setting. These roles are super rewarding, but sometimes can leave me feeling too tired or “music-ed out” to dive into my own music after work. It can be draining, but also super rewarding. Before I got into teaching fitness, my social anxiety was through the roof. Helping foster a space where women can feel empowered, confident, and safe has been crucial to my own confidence journey. The way that translates to the stage has evolved over the years, and for that I am so grateful.
SNQLX: What’s your usual writing process? Do songs come in bursts or do you need to sit down and make yourself write?
GINA: My life is so “on the move” across my 3 different jobs, that I often don’t have the time to sit down and write a song! Even without a hectic schedule, I’ve always written songs in bursts. Often, they’re at least started in the car!
SNQLX: Every artist hits those moments of doubt. What do you do when you start second-guessing your work?
GINA: I definitely have bouts of imposter syndrome; and it hits the hardest when I find I’m not doing anything about it. To fight my self doubt, I have to prove to myself I can work hard at this. As long as I’m clearly trying, I can work through it.
SNQLX: Looking at where you are now, what do you hope people feel when they listen to your songs — not just this year, but five years from now?
GINA: If someone’s listening to my songs 5 years from now, I hope they feel a little less alone. My songs typically lean towards the sad side of the coin, but my hope is not for people to sink further into their sadness, but to remind them that I, and so many others, have been through something that made us feel the same way. In relating, it ties us closer together.
There’s an easy honesty to Gina Royale — the kind that makes you forget you’re talking to a rising alt-pop artist with sync placements and awards already under her belt. She laughs about laundry influencing her visuals and owns up to writing her first song about a choir teacher who didn’t like her. But behind that humor is intent. Whether it’s the cinematic shimmer of Black Widow, the aching vulnerability of Low, or the stripped-down sketches that start at her piano, Gina builds songs that walk the line between confession and craft — tiny emotional snapshots wrapped in pop clarity.
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