Semler
Semler, aka Grace Baldridge, is one of the boldest, brightest voices in contemporary Christian music. Their work, including their recent EP Night Aches and its follow-up single “Heartbreak Hero,” combines heartfelt indie pop with nostalgic Christian rock. They’ve toured with artists like Reliant K, Katie Pruitt and Joy Oladakun, and their songs have topped the iTunes Christian charts without backing by a major label.
But Semler isn’t a household name, even in the Bible Belt. They’ve faced critical and public backlash for being an LGBTQ artist in an unwelcoming industry. Ahead of their show at The Basement on Monday, Oct. 16 — which will also feature North Carolina Christian drag queen Flamy Grant — the Scene talked with Semler about their new music and their experiences with the Contemporary Christian Music industry.
What was the process of writing your new Night Aches EP like?
I'm kind of always writing music. So it's just a matter of figuring out which songs live in which era for me, as I write and go sort of see which feels cohesive. And I wrote a song while I was on our last tour in January called “Same Lover” and I just knew sonically almost right away — I was like, “I think that's the direction of what I want to release.”
I wanted to write songs that could lend themselves to a great live show, and the energy that I received from doing that. So that was a big inspiration for me. And then also, I was struggling with a lot of insomnia, wrestling with the aftermath of becoming a full-time musician where I'm writing about my life and what that kind of kicks up in my personal life. Because, it went from, “Grace’s writing songs, and isn't that fun?” to Grace's kind of, like, Euphoria — “Is this play about us?”
And so, a lot of Night Aches is grappling with that, with the sort of the severity, the gravity of “this is real,” you know, and what happens when my life is a source of inspiration. What am I pulling from, what am I tapping into? And that was keeping me up at night.
One of the most poignant and powerful songs on the EP is the last track, “Be Like Jesus.” What inspired you to write that song?
I didn't really sit down to write it. … A lot of times I'll see something, I'll hear something, somebody will come on my feed — and then my brain very mercifully will untangle it for me in my mind and the song forms. And that's what happened to “Be like Jesus,” really trying to piece together my theology. You know, what do I believe? That's a big question that comes up [when I talk with] career Christian artists. … All of a sudden, I'm a theologian. They're like, “What do you believe?”
And I still don't have a concise answer. I think everyone's relationship to faith is going to be different — and should be different, so long as it informs you to, I think, care for yourself and others. That that's the golden rule for me. So for “Be Like Jesus,” there was a time where I was just trying to figure out what I believed, and how I could express that. The song kind of happened at me and I wrote it really fast.
It was, like, a ’90s pop-punk song initially. … I think I was intimidated by taking [a stripped-back] approach. Because when you slow down the song, I think it emphasizes the sincerity, and sometimes that can be a really intimidating thing to express — especially about God, especially given my background. I never want to be preachy, and I so I think that I was nervous about that. But I love how the song turned out and I'm happy that you did as well.
Last year, you weren’t nominated for or invited to the Gospel Music Association’s Dove Awards, despite the success you’ve achieved. To a lot of observers, this had to do with your gender identity and sexuality. How did that experience make you feel? Did it change how you view the CCM industry as a whole?
I understand logistically why wasn't nominated. I feel of two minds about it depending on the day you talk to me.
You need, like, cosigns in order to get a nomination for the Doves [and I didn’t have the required amount]. It really, I think, would be very difficult for any independent artist — much less a queer independent artist — to be nominated. It really felt like there were a lot of hoops to jump through, and I just felt like no matter how hard I was trying … I couldn't [chase down the responses] to make sure that we had everything checked off, you know.
So I know that last year, we were not eligible, and that is what it is. But I also the other part of me is like, “What if independent Christian artists — that met their standard of what it means to be a person of faith — had the type of success that we were fortunate to have with the music we put out?” They would have been, like, holding my hand the whole way.
I think that if I was a different person, I really feel like they would have helped me out a lot more, and made sure that I checked all the boxes. I really felt left out to lunch. You know, I just really feel like we don't have any help — or curiosity to help us, like, get eligible to be nominated. But I still really wanted to go just to honor the work that we put in. And I feel the same way this year, because of “Faith,” that went No. 1 again on iTunes, and wanting to celebrate that.
So we're going [to the ceremony]. Flamy Grant is also coming with me, which is gonna be amazing. She's going in full drag. My band is coming with me and we're just going to represent a possibility of belonging. … Sometimes people will ask, “Do you want to like be in step with, like, K-LOVE [radio] and the Doves?” Like, “Do you want to be one of them?”
I definitely don't. But I do think it's important for people in that room to understand that there is a possibility of belonging and inclusion beyond the parameters that this organizational body has set. And that we exist. Because there are going to be queer people in that space that are not within our team, that are not within our group of friends, that are going. I am going there for them.
There are queer artists that are currently going to the Doves that are playing, having their songs played on K-LOVE, that are not comfortable to be themselves. And you do it for those people. And you do it for the ones who have kids, and they're afraid to tell their co-workers that their kid came out because of what their co-workers might say — because of what it implicitly means to attend the Doves.
Monday’s show at The Basement comes on the eve of this year’s Doves. How are you feeling ahead of the show, and how did you connect up with Flamy Grant?
I'm so excited. We played this venue before, late last year. And you know, The Basement is a super fun rock ’n’ roll venue.
And I do view it as like kind of a like an alt-Doves celebration a little bit. You know, I’d love to keep doing it every year, of just like building out something the night before or after, around the time the Doves for people who are attending. I hear from a lot of people that are going to the Doves but, like, are not excited about a lot of the programming. “Well, you can come have a beer at our show. And we'll have a blast. You can hang out and be yourself at our show.”
And we also are going to be singing songs about, like, youth group, and faith, and questions, and doubt — and it's gonna be messy. And we're doing a Sixpence cover, because “Kiss Me” was written by a Christian band. I'm excited to, like, lean into that, and kind of allow yourself to have like a messy Christian rock show.
Flamy I found on Tiktok, and immediately, like, you fall in love with her. She's so talented and sweet, and she's … I've opened for her before, when she's been in L.A., and now I'm so honored that she's opening for me. She is absolutely the best new artist in Christian music this year. Like, I know she's not eligible for that category, but she has my vote, and she has my heart, and I am thrilled to share things with her.
