Salem Ilese: How I Wrote “Mad At Disney”
Photo Credit: Kate Biel
I wrote “Mad at Disney” with my boyfriend, Bendik Møller, and our good friend, Jason Hahs. We were in Jason's bedroom in Venice. It was one of my first sessions in Los Angeles, and still one of my favorites! He started telling us about how he had watched the new Lion King movie, and that it was far worse than the original that we had grown up with. He said he was mad at Disney for remaking all of their classics. We then started to discuss every reason there was to be mad at Disney. Personally, I was jaded because of the false expectations for love that those movies gave me. Every fairytale only depicts one specific type of love, and it involves a beautiful girl, a dashing young man, true love’s kiss, and living happily ever after. No matter how much I had wanted to meet a prince with a glass slipper, I instead got my heart broken time after time by commitment-scared, greasy-haired boys in high school. Also, princesses in the movies I avidly consumed as a toddler were always portrayed as the “damsel in distress.” The prince would rescue the helpless princess, coming off as the tale’s hero every single time. I hate that young girls are exposed to this toxic message, as it is simply not true. Women don’t need saving, and they don’t need a prince to feel like a princess. Once we had unpacked these various ideas, the song practically wrote itself! We recorded all of the vocals in his room. The majority of the takes were from the original demo, recorded over a year ago now. Originally, the second verse had nothing to do with Disney, but we re-wrote it a few months after the initial session, thinking it was better to stick with the whimsical fairytale theme. I’m really glad we did, because now the second verse is actually my favorite part of the song!
In my opinion, one of the coolest things about Mad at Disney’s success is that the first verse is the most popular part of the song. As a songwriter, it’s drilled into my brain the chorus has to be the best and most memorable portion of any song, as that is the part that people will sing along to. In this case, though, the first 15 seconds are what most people have gravitated towards. I think we wrote the first verse in maybe 5 minutes; it was definitely the easiest part of the song to create. Once we came up with the line “I'm mad at Disney,” the rest just poured out!
Jason Hahs produced the original demo of “Mad at Disney,” and Bendik Møller made it his own months later, producing it up to the current version. I always like to be involved in the production process as much as possible, even if I’m not actually pressing the buttons. The three of us spent numerous hours sitting in various bedrooms, trying out idea after idea until something stuck. It was a truly collaborative, rewarding process. Nothing is better than making music with friends!
Photo Credit: Kate Biel
I never worry too much about keeping a cohesive sound as an artist in sessions. In my opinion, my sound is my voice as a writer, as well as my literal voice. Those things will never change, despite the genre or production. Whenever I go into a session, I just want to write the very best song possible that day. “Mad at Disney” was one of those songs that really grew on me. The day we wrote it, I hadn’t actually intended to release it. It wasn’t until I showed it to friends and mentors in the industry that I decided to keep it for myself as an artist. I can’t tell you how thankful I am for that! When you write songs everyday, it can be really hard sometimes to tell if a song is “good” or not. Getting feedback from your peers is extremely important, as everyone listens with a different pair of ears and a unique perspective!
The feedback I’ve received on “Mad at Disney” has been truly unbelievable. I feel as if I’m living my own version of a Disney fairytale. Within the span of 2 months, I’ve been given a platform I never imagined having. I feel like I have 1 million new best friends! People have been so incredibly kind to not just the song, but also me as an artist and person. My pets have fans! 3 months ago, if someone were to tell me that this would happen, I wouldn’t believe a word of it. Having a song blow up in quarantine is very interesting though, because although my life has completely changed online, I’m still sitting on the same couch for the majority of my days, recording vocals in my closet, and watching “How I Met Your Mother” in my free time. Everything and nothing has changed all at once. I’ve never been more excited to tour and travel once it’s safe to do so! I want to have the world’s biggest group hug with every “Mad at Disney” fan.
To whoever is reading this, thank you so much for all of the support and love on my song “Mad at Disney!” Every stream, DM, and sweet comment means the world to me. Stay safe, happy, and healthy!