Queen Anne makes a bold entrance onto the indie-pop scene today with the release of their debut single and video, “Real Enough,” out now via Share It Music. Anchored by Katie Silverman’s darkly addictive vocals and the punchy, post-modern production of Sandy Chila, the track blends ‘80s pop punk sensibilities with a contemporary edge. Silverman, known for her roles in New Girl and Pen15, now steps into the spotlight as a singer-songwriter, channeling the absurdity of everyday frustrations – like a misordered chicken sandwich – into catchy, biting lyricism. The “Real Enough” video is now streaming on YouTube, and the single is available on all major platforms, with proceeds supporting the Malaria Consortium.

Congratulations on the release of “Real Enough”! Can you tell us what inspired the song and how it came to life?
So “Real Enough” was the first song Sandy and I ever wrote together—I came to his studio, and was just sitting on the couch, and he played me this track he had made. And I had never really been in the position of being on the spot, listening to a track, and having to come up with lyrics and a melody, so I was just scrolling furiously through my Notes app looking to see if I’d written anything compelling in my journaling. I hadn’t, so I wrote this song instead.

Katie, you’ve had a successful acting career — how did your experiences in film and television influence your songwriting and the creation of Queen Anne?
To be honest, acting is a lot of trying to please other people, because you’re part of a team creating a larger vision. So while there’s something really magical about being a part of that process, I think at some point I realized I was waiting around for someone to just hand me a role that allow me to express myself fully, and that was never going to happen, because the writer would have to have somehow gotten ahold of a lot of personal information about me to do that. And so I decided to make the kind of art that I had been hoping someone else would, and for me that’s Queen Anne. 

The song has a playful yet profound tone. How do you strike that balance between humor and deeper meaning in your music?
I wasn’t cool in high school, so improv comedy is a big part of my life. One of my improv friends told me that my style of humor is “saying insane shit like it’s normal,” and in that regard I think a lot of the humor is unintentional. As for the deeper meaning, there isn’t any, as far as I know.

Sandy, as the producer and co-writer, how did you approach blending 80’s pop punk with a post-modern edge for “Real Enough”?
Growing up in the 80’s, my influence was just that of the times and It’s what I still listen to now. Keeping the instrumentation organic, and humanly playable has always been important to me. Ok, I might swap out a snare for a Lindrum occasionally.

Katie, you mentioned that the song explores the paradox of attacking yourself while being under attack. How do you channel those conflicting emotions into your vocal performance?
Sometimes, I play checkers against myself while I sing. I’m very bad at checkers, so I always find it frustrating to lose to myself, and that gets me in the right headspace. Other times, I’ll imagine that I’m someone I really dislike singing the song.

Can you share any behind-the-scenes moments or stories from the music video shoot?
While I won’t say we broke into that office space, we were there after hours, and technically speaking, we weren’t allowed to be there. We shot in the basement, and I think we were banking on that, if someone were to walk in, and see me in the gown and Sandy filming this fake therapy session, they would get confused and leave. The alarm did go off a couple times.
As far as the editing, I did the graphics with Canva, but I don’t have premium, so that was a bit of a limitation. Sandy has a premium, but he wouldn’t give me his account login because he knew I’d go haywire and do identity fraud.

Queen Anne has a unique ability to turn everyday frustrations into compelling narratives. How do you choose which mundane experiences to elevate into music?
This is a cliche, but I really don’t choose what to write songs about. There are certain experiences that I genuinely can only cope with through music, and I know which ones those are because I hear myself singing about them. Or there have been times I literally won’t be able to talk, and so I have to go to the piano. And those experiences are small, mundane things—they just happen to come with songs.

The press release humorously mentions a chicken sandwich order gone wrong — is there a real-life story behind that, or is it part of the creative storytelling?
Oh, there’s absolutely a real-life story. I’m lactose intolerant, and people are always putting cheese on things. They don’t think about it, or they think it’s benevolent—I once had a guy put in an order for a cheeseburger for me because “hamburgers are sad.” My ex got me into lactase supplements, but those tend to be quite chalky. So I guess it’s not “creative storytelling”—more like raising awareness.

What do you hope listeners take away from “Real Enough,” and how does it set the tone for what we can expect from Queen Anne in the future?
I think the most important thing to me, with “Real Enough” and with all my music, is that it be open for interpretation. I want people to make their own meaning of it, and I want them to send me detailed explanations of that meaning, because I can’t afford a psychoanalyst to tell me what it is I’m actually upset about. A lot of people have referred to “Real Enough” as a debut, but it’s actually a threat. I’m committed to making music that’s real, and sometimes my “real” is that I’m losing it a little bit.

Now that the single is out, what’s next for Queen Anne? Can we expect more music, live performances, or other creative projects soon?

Yes, yes, and 100% yes. We’re so excited about the music we’re working on now, and not just about making it but also about releasing it and going out and playing it, and about getting really drunk after, and potentially before and during as well.