Blending ambient darkness with cinematic rock, Callie Joy Porter unveils the deeply personal world behind “9”—a powerful exploration of resilience, rebirth, empowerment, and confronting hidden truths through music.
1. Your album “9” blends soft ambient dark music with cinematic and alternative rock elements. How did you develop this unique sonic identity, and what emotions were you hoping listeners would feel throughout the record?
Due to my mystical development and my knowledge in mythology, I tried to infuse the energy of resilience and learning more than guilt-tripping and disserving in my songs. Some of them help in acquiring the feelings they give the audience. Everyone, no matter biological gender, can take away from the experiences, the stories in this album have a lot to do with what most people have a tendency to hide in shadows, over fear of others judging them over their life experiences. With this album, I’m trying to infuse energy, acknowledgement, sensuality and strength. Empowerment. Of course, dedicated to women, but everyone who has ever been diminished or guilted into feeling small can take the energy of release and empowerment, the returning to the core, and the experience of rebirth from the album.
2. The concept of the album is built around “what if” scenarios, especially the idea of January birthdays being overlooked or misunderstood. What inspired you to explore this theme, and how personal is this story for you?
It is enormously personal, because I named this album after the most energetically tied to me. I was born in January 9th, and because of having working parents, and working summers myself, I’m from Chile, it’s a highly touristic season, it’s summer then, my family has always worked Summers, so I worked tourism for over 15 years, sometimes I still come back, besides everything I do on my daily life. Whenever I don’t want to forget something, I give it that number. When it came time, and I realized who I am, it was also a January 9th.
3. Songs like “Hero” and “Just Rise” focus strongly on resilience and self-empowerment. How important is it for you to include messages of strength and self-worth in your songwriting?
It’s very important, because I hope kids, from 25 and lower, can listen to empowering songs and think they can still be that person for themselves or someone else. I went through a lot in my 40 years on this earth. Most of it was caused because of my impostor syndrome, the fact that I posponed things I wanted for myself, the binds that broke me, ended up being my version of rock bottom and when I thought I wouldn’t blind, my music returned to me, my will for my music, acting, performing in all ways, returned to me. I realized one of the gods I believe in, the one that is the reason for my second album’s track, Liminal Goddess, Hekate, was once more giving me the choice to either stay the same or move on. Make the move. And this time I made it. I just hope some of my music gives younger generations, the will to go for their dreams sooner. Earlier than I did.
4. Tracks such as “Sweet Darling” and “Stellan” carry a dark, femme-fatale atmosphere. What draws you to this aesthetic, and how does it help you express the stories behind these songs?
I teach mythology, tarot and I read tarot cards, as I’ve said before, I’ve been reading tarot cards since I was 9, so I’ve been literally called a femme fatale, or told that ‘I did something’ to someone when they wanted me but they were with someone else. People, men and even some lesbians, were blaming me over their feelings for me. I don’t consider me a femme fatale, I’m too filterless to be one. I speak my mind and I’m opinionated and to me, relationships are important. So, if someone, anyone, lies to someone about me, which has happened as well, those songs are one – if you want me, you need to be single and not be a creep, no matter how hot you are – that’s mostly Stellan. And well, Sweet Darling is the typical one that I gave a shout out because they were going to hell on the first line. Why? because most of the ones who have gone on me or my friends in my time when I used to go out more, well, were supposed to be committed in one way or another or people who went to their religious temple or church many times … But they lied a lot. Faked a lot. And many younger women believe men. I’m trying to warn them. And no, it doesn’t matter how much people think it’s the woman’s fault. In the song the femme fatale was literally saying that she wasn’t going for him.
5. The number 9 plays a symbolic role in the album, representing closure and rebirth. How did this symbolism shape the structure and narrative arc of the record?
It’s a death and rebirth album, because it was released on my birthday. I left 39-year-old me behind, and I’ve been shedding, and new music will be coming in about 3 months, another couple of EPs or Singles, and an album by the end of this semester should be expected, something tells me you will know when all of that will happen earlier. But yes, I’m working on some Singles in Spanish, and some more in English, I’m picking up some instruments that I want to try my hand at. I’m recharging the dream. I’m choosing which thing comes when and where and if they pass me, because I’m very much a perfectionist when it comes to what comes through
6. Your music blends fantasy, reality, and themes of empowerment for women. What do you hope listeners—especially women who relate to these experiences—take away after hearing the album?
All my albums have a thing, I make it with intentions. Depending on the song, and the more they listen to the lyrics, the more the intention will creep inside their brains and command their psyche to release the lousy attachments. Will release them from the chains that bind them to people and things and situations that made them feel less-than and destroyed or chained. Fantasy is part of us, in frequency, quantum physics tells us that everything we dream, in some way or another, in another frequency, it’s possible that we either have it or had it in the past. Most people try to keep themselves short. I was one of them. I am physically short, I’m 4’11ft, which in centimeters is like 1,50 or 1,49. I’m short and aware that I’m short, but feeling emotionally short is terrible, while everyone who knows a shorter woman knows us to be extremely sweet, kind and also like an angry chihuahua, most of us have depth and enormous hearts and souls and some of us believe in the divine and try to work around it. I do. I know I do. There is also a saying about short women in my country “todo lo bueno, viene en frasco chico, y el veneno también” – it translates to everything good comes in a short base, venom does too”. It’s different, when people make others feel short within. Short people are strong. Short SOULED people are done. Finished. And depression, PTSD, it doesn’t matter how good someone else, there is always something that they couldn’t control that could’ve given them CPTSD or PTSD, out casting, breaking someone’s spirit or heart, that makes for a broken heart and a broken spirit. A short soul is not something we want for ourselves, it’s something repeated pain turns us into. There is nobody, no female I know, no millennial or gen X woman who has not suffered some sort of abuse growing up or already grown. This is a release, not just for young women, but for them. And for younger women, this is a warning sign. A learning method. An eye opener. A spell if you will, a spell to release what no longer serves them and give themselves permission to be free, and be themselves. Whoever that turns out to be.
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