Navigating your life as a teenager is hard to say the least, but Annissa Murad is letting you know that you’re not alone.
The London native is letting people into her “diary” with the release of her three-track debut EP Diary of The Girl Next Door, which is available now on all music streaming platforms.
According to her team, the extended play “unravels the honest and unapologetic diary entries of a teenage girl navigating her way through life. From finding love and excitement, to enduring heartbreak and frustration, Annissa’s songs have the ability to resonate with not only girls her age, but even your own ‘Next Door’ neighbor.”
At the young age of four, Murad began her musical journey playing the piano. where she immediately fell in love with the instrument.
“My Dad grew up in Afghanistan, and it’s a place where girls unfairly do not have the opportunity to pursue certain interests such as music, therefore it became his dream for me to play the piano as a small girl living in London,” Murrad tells Celeb Secrets of her early beginnings in an exclusive interview. “I absolutely fell in love with the piano and went on to write my first song ever on it, so I’m really thankful towards him for having that vision.”
After mastering the piano, Annissa played at the massive O2 Arena in London at just 12-years-old. Fast forward three years later and the English teen now has over 100,000 followers on Instagram and over 100 millions views across all of her videos.
Alongside her carefully crafted track-list, Annissa blends cinematography with music, creating 3 mini movies, retelling the diary entries which inspired her songs, allowing fans to be swept into the universe of the “Girl Next Door.” What’s more is that she has written, edited, directed AND starred in every music video project she has been a part of as of yet, truly proving her drive and dedication towards her artistry.
Annissa Murad chatted with Celeb Secrets (virtually) to talk about all things Diary of The Girl Next Door, her favorite lyrics from the tracks, and share a funny story about a boy who thought this EP was written about him!
Keep scrolling for our full Q&A down below and don’t forget to let us know what you think of “Diary of The Girl Next Door by either leaving a reaction at the bottom of the post or by sliding into our DMs on Instagram at @celebsecrets.
You can connect with Annissa Murad by following her on Instagram @annissamuradmusic.
Celeb Secrets: You began playing piano at the young age of 4, could you tell us a little bit about what made you play? Did anyone in your family play piano? Have you always been drawn to the instrument?
Annissa Murad: “Yes I did! The funny thing is that I can’t name anybody in my family who has played a musical instrument or come close to one except from me and my younger brother. My parents are the least musical people ever and my mum used to joke that she would never sing me lullabies and instead put on a classical opera CD on for me because she didn’t want me to inherit her ‘bad voice.’ The whole reason why I started playing piano was because my Dad grew up in Afghanistan, and it’s a place where girls unfairly do not have the opportunity to pursue certain interests such as music, therefore it became his dream for me to play the piano as a small girl living in London. I absolutely fell in love with the piano and went on to write my first song ever on it so I’m really thankful towards him for having that vision.”
CS: What inspired the name of your new EP “Diary of The Girl Next Door?” Do you see yourself as the “Girl Next Door?”
AM: “Yes I definitely do see myself as the ‘Girl Next Door,’ and I think thinking of ourselves as all the boys/girls next door really evokes this sense of community and interconnection between ourselves as a generation despite our differences. The reason I decided to title my EP ‘Diary of The Girl Next Door’ was because I had had these 3 songs, which recounted a time when I had really liked someone for the first time, and they had all been inspired by these 3 diary entries I had written. So when it came time to promote the release, I thought to myself why not share the actual diary entries with my fans so they can grasp the true authentic essence of the emotions in the songs…with that idea, the title of the EP came naturally when I was out on one of those refreshing nature walks and I remember being really happy with the title, I told my whole family when I got home!”
CS: Wow! You have written, edited, directed, AND starred in all your music video projects. Can you tell us about where this drive comes from? Is it a passion/hobby or both?
AM: “This is definitely a passion of mine. I remember being 10 years old and writing this script called ‘The Terrible Teachers about my primary school which I was so proud of (at the time I thought it was amazing) so any guest that would show up to our house, I’d gladly bore them by reading this 50 page long script stemming directly from my little imagination. After this, I swiftly moved on to ‘directing’ cover music videos of me and my brother and it is honestly the funniest thing rewatching those now, thank God they live in a little unknown corner of the Internet.
So therefore, when it came time to make actual real music videos, I immediately jumped to the idea of directing and writing them myself because it had always been a childhood dream and I’m so thrilled to have been able to fulfil the dream and hope that I’ll get to do it even as the future progresses.”
CS: Playing at the O2 Arena at the age of 12 is SO impressive!! How was that experience?
AM: “The experience was absolutely unbelievable. I remember there being a super cool lounge with purple and blue lights before it was time to go on stage and massive golden mirrors too which I was really stoked about! When it was just a few minutes before it was my turn to go on stage, there was this girl performing before me with massive angel wings, when I say massive they were as tall as her and half as wide, with colourful LED lights built into them and I was thinking oh my god, I am so understated compared to the whole spectacle this girl was putting on since It was just me, my guitar I had only just bought a month ago and my small jean mini skirt. However, when I went on stage I threw that all out of my mind, smiled at my little brother and parents watching and just performed my song. It turned out really great and I still cherish that moment to this day!”
CS: Are there any lyrics or lines from your EP that are special to you for some reason? Why do the words deeply resonate with you?
AM: “I really like this one lyrics from ‘Bad at Luv,’ ‘I blew the burning flames on your birthday cake,’ because I feel as though on birthdays, especially younger siblings, tend to blow out your candles on your big day. Recently, I was watching this YouTube video, that was meant to be really funny, but there was basically this girl’s birthday and her younger sister blows out all her candles, the girl manages to keep her tears in until she can’t anymore and they all start streaming out. So watching this video, made me think back to the lyric I mentioned because I think it’s so common and easy to hurt someones feeling/ blow out their birthday candles, even when you have good intentions or never meant to hurt them in the first place. Therefore, I feel the lyric just really reinforces the idea that ‘Bad at Luv’ is a song apology to someone that I hurt without meaning to and having to bear with the consequences.”
CS: As you’re turning 16 next week, do you have anything special planned?
AM: “Well, I’ve got two things planned! One special thing is that I’ve got a surprise planned for my fans which I can’t reveal on here yet but I’m very excited for, and my second thing planned, is that I’m going to travel to Italy to visit my family on my birthday to have a celebration with them which I’m super excited for!!!!!! The island we are going to (Sardinia), is absolutely mesmerising!!!”
CS: Your music gives off the BEST 2000s vibes. What inspired your love for the 2000s aesthetic of electric guitars and punk-pop? Which artists from this era do you look up to?
AM: “I LOVE 2000s music because I think they are the best movie soundtracks. I remember watching ‘The Devil Wears Prada’ for the first time and loving the scene where ‘Suddenly I See’ comes on! That was a really important moment for me because it taught me a lot about the direction I wanted to head in as an artist and opened me up to that kind of 2000s music which I absolutely loved and went on to include in my trailer for the ‘Diary of The Girl Next Door’ EP.”
CS: Can fans expect any live performances for this new EP?
AM: “One of the things I would love to accomplish live would be to play my songs as piano versions. This would be one of the live performance projects most important to me since, unfortunately, my piano teacher of over a decade recently passed away. This was absolutely devastating to me because he had been my teacher since I was four years old and we had held such a strong bond. Although this was incredibly sad news, I remember her last words to me being to continue my passion for music and so by creating these 3 piano versions of my songs, I feel as though I’m keeping her word alive.”
CS: We know you have co-written with Nashville renown writers such as Britton Cameron and GRAMMY nominated Kim McLean and Margaret Becker, how has this experience shaped you as an artist?
AM: “The experience has shaped me so much as an artist and continues to do so right now. I started co-writing when I was 12 and at the time it was the scariest idea to me. Having to share my thoughts and vulnerable emotions with adults 4 times my age was my idea of scary, and I remember having tears in my eyes the first few songwriting sessions because I didn’t know how to tell the co-writers I wanted the song to go in a different direction. But soon by 13 I got very used to it and started improving rapidly, so I’m really happy that I decided to take that petrifying but really important step.”
CS: Since we’re Celeb Secrets, do you have any secrets (fun facts) about yourself and making the EP “Diary of The Girl Next Door” that we wouldn’t know just by listening to the song?
AM: “Funny you ask this question because I actually have the most bizarre and funny story to tell you guys. Not many people know this, but when I was 12 I acted in this Music Video for James Smith’s song “Call Me When It’s Over” and had to kiss this boy on the cheek since we were playing mini boyfriend and girlfriend. Of course, we were just acting so I didn’t think much about it, but when I got on the train back home with my Mum, she got a text from the boy.
We hadn’t even made it home yet and he had already found my Mum’s phone number from the shoot book and was asking for my number. So later on we started talking but it was nothing much to be honest and we fell out of touch.
However, fast forward about 3 years, I get a text from this guy again and I quote he says: ‘Are these songs about me?’ I literally gave out the biggest laugh, I could not believe still to this day he could not distinguish an on screen relationship from an offscreen relationship…in my head I was thinking ‘of course these songs are not about you!’
So there goes the story of the boy who thinks ‘Diary of The Girl Next Door’ was written about him!”
LISTEN TO ANNISSA MURAD’S EP “DIARY OF THE GIRL NEXT DOOR” HERE:
