Ivy Getty Goes Pop

Every summer needs an unabashedly bubblegum pop song. We’ve had Rihanna’s “Umbrella,” Carly Rae Jepsen’s “Call Me Maybe,” and most recently, Sabrina Carpenter’s “Espresso” (and “Please, Please, Please” — she’s on a roll). Now, Ivy Getty is throwing her hat in the ring.

On July 26, Getty, the model, heiress, and all-around girl about town, released her debut song “One Hit Wonder.” “Been working on this for over a year so excited to finally have everyone hear it,” she wrote in an Instagram post promoting the single. Finally, she’s able to talk about it — and to get people on the dance floor.

“It’s a very girly pop song,” Getty, 29, tells NYLON exclusively. “It’s no secret to people that know me that I listen to pop music. I listen to all types, but I just thought it would be so much fun to create a song that I could play while getting dressed in my closet or one so I could request myself at a karaoke bar.” Here, the newly minted pop star breaks down the new song and what’s to come, noting, in a nod to another pop girl of the summer: “The brattiest part of my summer is probably releasing this song.”

What sparked this move to music? Is it something you've been thinking about before?

My grandfather is a composer and my dad was a musician, so I’ve been surrounded by music my whole life. I have a lot of unreleased music and covers I did when I was younger — those will never see the light of day.

Why was this the right track for your debut?

The track was written before we had a plan to release it and way before we even used the word debut. It was my first time fully recording a song I had written as an adult. Within the first half of the day at the studio we knew we were probably going to release it.

What was the process of making this song?

I had always envisioned myself being in a girl pop group, so I kind of veered away from the idea of making music just to release because I cared so much about this idea of age and not having my moment, but I realized that was ridiculous. Generally, I am very open to things happening at the right time and feeling right. My friend Alice, an incredible musician herself, was staying at my place in New York, and through her I met Madison Love, who I ended up writing this song with.

How do you want people to feel listening to the song? What is the ideal setting for it to be played?

There are so many settings and I feel like every day I think of a new place I could see the song being played in. Everything I envision with the song includes me in the vision so it’s very specific. I love those songs, and am always Shazam-ing the pop songs in the in-between scenes on reality shows like Love Island, or always envisioned the song being lip synced by a drag queen at JackieO’ Mykonos Beach Club which is my favorite place to dance in the world.

What are the biggest influences for the track?

It was really cool because when Madison and I met up at the studio, one of the first people that I said I was influenced by was Natasha Bedingfield. She magically happened to be next door in the studio and we got to meet. I have different inspirations for music in general versus this song. Specifically for this song, some influences were Carly Rae Jepsen, Kylie Minogue, and then “Want U Back: by Cher Lloyd and “Nothing in this World” by Paris Hilton. The song also initially was written without completing a bridge, and for that (mine is in no way comparable), I went to Taylor Swift, obviously.

What are your next steps for your music career? Is calling your debut “One Hit Wonder” a cheeky nod to what's coming next?

Not really. I can’t stress enough how I’m really surrendering to this process, and by that I mean if things happen they happen. I just know I had so much fun doing this and I'm so proud of myself for making this song. The title came before the lyrics actually because I saw myself releasing just one and done. But I genuinely enjoyed it more than I ever expected to, so who knows what will happen. I’ve never stopped writing songs my whole life, I have so many lyrics I've written so it is cool seeing things I've written put into another form.

Whose music career would you want to emulate?

This is a tricky question because there are so many people I respect in the industry and find inspiring. With that being said, there is no one I find myself emulating because that feels contradictory to why I’m making music which is as a form of self expression and to discover myself more and challenge myself - not so much for expectations but for revelations. It helps me figure out more of who I am and to dig deeper into myself, challenging myself to do things I wouldn't normally do. I hope whether the public hears it or not that I'm able to find my own style of music and get better at making it from an engineering level on my own.