Watching the "Breathe Underwater" music video from a high-definition monitor in the 519 studio, you can actually see the goosebumps on Victoria Anthony’s skin. It is not a digital effect. It is the raw, shivering reality of a teenage artist standing under a freezing rain machine while the rest of the world was locked inside during the height of a global standstill. Most kids her age were struggling with Zoom geometry. Anthony was co-directing a visual that looked like a big-budget label production despite her independent status.
The industry first caught wind of her in 2018. It was a moment that could have easily been a fleeting digital blip. A 12-year-old girl at Rogers Arena in Vancouver catches Pink’s eye and belts out a powerhouse vocal in front of 18,000 spectators. The clip racked up 100 million views. Usually, that’s where the story ends—a "where are they now" trivia question for a slow news day. But Anthony didn’t just take the viral win and go home. She used it as a launchpad for a legitimate, self-governed career.
By 2021, the Recording Academy was paying attention. They tapped her for their *Press Play at Home* series, a curated digital stage that usually plays host to established chart-toppers. Anthony showed up twice. She delivered a stripped-down version of her original "Breathe Underwater" and a calculated, moody cover of Taylor Swift’s "Blank Space." It was a bold move that signaled she wasn't just a fan with a lucky break. She was a peer.
The numbers back the ambition. Her debut album arrived with a string of music videos that consistently pull in 40,000 views a piece. In an era where the algorithm buries independent artists under a mountain of noise, Anthony is finding a way to cut through. We sat down to talk about the mechanics of her debut, the synesthesia of her songwriting and why she refused to wait for the pandemic to end before making her move.
The timing of her debut album seemed counterintuitive to some. Why drop a record when you can’t tour? But Anthony viewed it through the lens of biological urgency.
"I was working on this album for two years and I just wanted the music to get out," Anthony says. "It happened to be when everything was complete and ready. We were mid pandemic and we really don’t know when this is going to end and I have to get this music out. It’s so relevant to me now. I’m young, my voice changes as I grow and I just felt like this music had to be said now."
It is a valid point. For a teen artist, six months is an eternity in vocal development. Waiting for a "perfect" market window could have meant releasing a record that sounded like a version of herself she no longer recognized. And that urgency paid off when the Grammys came calling.
"I heard from my publicist that the Grammy organization wanted me to perform one of my songs for their online Press Play at Home segment," she explains. "I was so honored, so surprised, and just really, really excited. I chose my song “Breathe Underwater” because it’s an acoustic live performance. I just love the strings and the drums and every part of that song live. On the real track, there’s live strings, live drums, so I thought this would be so cool to do live with a full band."
The logistics of that performance were a microcosm of the 2021 era. It was a "live" performance that required surgical precision to assemble while keeping everyone safe.
"We couldn’t all be in the same room when it happened, which is really weird, but we were all in the same room, just at different times," Anthony says. "In the video, it looks lovely. I’m actually singing for an acoustic EP with “Breathe Underwater” acoustic, “Blank Space” acoustic (which I also did for the Grammys), and “We Are Young”, which was a backup option, but I really loved the performance. So that’s coming out soon."
"Breathe Underwater" stands out as the emotional anchor of her recent work. It was penned alongside Justin Gray and Jessica Karpov, and it lacks the bubblegum sheen that often plagues teen pop. There is a weight to it.
"I wrote this song with Justin Gray and Jessica Karpov," she says. "I remember it started from the weirdest conversation about layers of something and the layers of a person - what makes someone unique, strong and what makes people persevere."
The songwriting process was uncharacteristically rapid. Sometimes the best tracks are the ones that refuse to be overthought.
"I just knew that I wanted, because this was near the end of writing the album, a song that was powerful and more broken down than a lot of the more upbeat pop songs on the album," Anthony notes. "We just got into it; it was a really, really quick write, compared to the other ones we were writing. I think we got everything done in three hours and it flows so nicely, because I just knew exactly what I wanted to say. It’s that moment when you are alone and just waiting - you feel like everything’s going to collapse on you. It’s like a slingshot where you bounce back and explode into what you are capable of. And you may not even have known what you’re capable of."
But a song is only half the battle in the visual age. Anthony took the reins on the music video, assuming a co-director role that many artists three times her age are too intimidated to touch.
"I drew up a treatment for the “Breathe Underwater” video," she says. "It was actually a very quick process of maybe two weeks. We had the time at that point and I had all these ideas in the water with rain coming down. I didn’t exactly know how or why, but I just drew up the treatment. I didn’t really understand what I was doing, but I was looking at how do you direct a music video, and then I just kind of did it. I also learned from a bunch of incredible directors that I’ve worked with in the past and just seeing their process, I was able to take my own crack at it. And then I brought it to my co-director, Brock Newman. It was an amazing collaborative process."
Her lack of formal film school training didn't hinder her. In fact, her "outsider" status probably helped her avoid the clichés of the genre.
"I’ve not really been on any sets of film or TV, except once when I was like 10," she admits. "I remember every single time that I film a music video, even if I don’t get a director credit. I really care about every single part of the video, whether I’m in it or not."
This level of control is rare for an emerging artist. Usually, the label or a hired gun dictates the "look." Anthony, however, views the visual as an extension of the composition itself.
"It’s my music, I write it, and I want the visual that goes along with it to really accentuate that meaning," she says. "I’m always collaborating with the directors who always send me a treatment first. In fact, for instance, for my music video for “Real Life”, which is the music video before “Breathe Underwater”, I worked with Brock Newman again, who’s amazing."
I was very scared for sure. I mean, there’s 15 - 18,000 people there. ... So just go for it. Sing your heart out. And that’s just what I did. She gave me the mic and I’m not just gonna stop now. I better go for it.
She isn't afraid to scrap a plan if it doesn't feel authentic.
"He sent me this treatment, and then I completely changed my mind," she recalls. "I wanted a completely different storyline. We worked on it together, so that was really helpful in teaching me how to create a treatment and then how to, direct, or co-direct my music video for “Breathe Underwater”."
The actual shoot for "Breathe Underwater" was a test of endurance. While the final product looks polished, the reality was a shivering, multi-tasking nightmare.
"It was not exactly what I anticipated," she says. "It was so cold. I remember that day was the most incredible, most surreal, overwhelming day of my life because that was the day my album came out. It was the day we were filming the “Breathe Underwater” music video because it was the only day it would work."
And she wasn't just focusing on the performance. She was running a press junket from the set.
"I was doing these press things during the music video filming and so much was going on," Anthony says. "I was just weirdly present in creating this music video more than I think anything I’ve ever done. This is probably the last music video I get to do for this album."
Despite the temperature, there was a sense of finality and catharsis in the water.
"My favorite thing is shooting music videos," she says. "It’s so much fun. It combines live performing with just emoting and really getting into the meaning of the song, so I just love it. I was just so present, feeling the water fall on me. I don’t think I understood how cold the water was. I was freezing the whole time, but it was actually lovely. When we wrapped I wanted to do one more because I just loved being in the water, letting it take over. It’s a really, really liberating thing."
The aesthetic of her work is heavily tied to colour. It isn't just about what looks good on a social media grid; it’s a form of synesthesia that dictates how she perceives her own discography.
"When I write songs, I visualize a colour along with them," Anthony explains. "For instance, “Breathe Underwater”, obviously blue. My song “Sleep” is purple and then “Real Life” initially I thought was orange, but my favorite colour is purple, so I just wanted this entire album branding to really center around purple."
She understands the power of branding, citing one of the industry's most successful visual architects as a reference point.
"I did that and I just love when you think of something for instance, the album “Red” by Taylor Swift, you automatically associate the colour red," she says. "I just love that association with colours. Now when I look at Blue, I might think of “Breathe Underwater”, or I might think of other things associated with blue like 1989 by Taylor Swift. So, I just think colours are such a huge part of the visuals of music, but also music itself. I can’t really explain it, but it just feels that way to me."
Her reverence for Swift isn't just fan-service. It’s a study of the craft. When it came time to pick a cover for the Grammy series, she went straight for the heavy hitters.
"I love Taylor Swift," Anthony says. "She’s my biggest inspiration when it comes to songwriting and just life as a performer and a human being. I love “Blank Space”. I think it’s honestly one of her best songs, which is crazy because it’s also a single - and when you’re a fan, it’s almost like you don’t say a single is your favorite song, but it is definitely one of my favorite songs of hers."
She breaks down the song with the clinical eye of a writer, appreciating the lyrical economy that Swift mastered on *1989*.
"I just love the multifaceted parts of that song where every line is a winner," she says. "Like, ‘Nice to meet you, where you been?’, Who thinks of that? It’s so random ‘darling, I’m a nightmare dressed like a daydream’ - it hits hard, you know? And I just I thought, when you think of Grammys, you think of Taylor Swift. I could only do Grammy nominated songs for Song of the Year and that was one of them. This had to be the one I do. It’s just perfect."
While Anthony is often seen at the piano, it wasn't her first entry point into music. Her journey was one of self-teaching and a bit of mathematical logic.
"No, actually, I’ve always loved singing," she says. "I first actually learned guitar. I taught myself guitar maybe four years ago now. I was bored in my room and decided I want to play guitar. Then maybe six months after that, I just decided to teach myself how to play piano."
The piano became a more functional tool for her, specifically because of the physical limitations of being a young performer.
"It’s basically just math if you think about it, when you think of major and minor chords, it’s four and then three semitones or whatever it is," Anthony explains. "I just quickly learned from there and it was great tool for my songwriting. The piano is so special, because it’s very easy to change keys and my hands are so small. Even though I love guitar, I literally can’t play some chords."
But we have to talk about the Pink moment. It is the origin story that refuses to fade. Looking back, it seems like a miracle of social media and sheer audacity.
"That moment was, like you said, so surreal," she says. "I couldn’t believe it was happening. It actually all started when one day, my mom told me that Pink was coming to Vancouver and she was going to the concert. I was so jealous. I really wanted to go, but she’s like, no, I’m going with friends. I don’t remember the actual conversation that led to wanting to sing with Pink. Somehow there was a switch in my head that was like, I really want to sing at Pink’s concert. I don’t know where this little girl got this idea. But I did."
She didn't just wish for it; she campaigned for it.
"Then I put it out into the universe. I put it on Twitter," Anthony recalls. "Pink saw it somehow and I didn’t know before the concert, I literally went there. Midway through the concert, her song What About Us played, which was the song that I put in my little, Hey, can I sing with you video? And so I was like, okay this probably isn’t gonna happen. And that’s totally fine."
Then, the world shifted.
"Flash forward 15 minutes later and she’s like, “Are you the girl who I read about on the news?” Oh, my God, what is happening right now? It was crazy. I sang to her and she told me I was amazing and to never stop. Those words have really stuck with me. I’m just so appreciative of her grace and how involved she is with her fans, it’s just incredible. I hope that if I ever get to sing for people on that level, that I get to interact with people like that."
It takes a specific kind of nerve to stand in front of a stadium-sized crowd and perform without a soundcheck or a rehearsal.
"I was very scared for sure," she says. "I mean, there’s 15 - 18,000 people there. I think I have this philosophy where this happens to me before I go on stage. It’s like, okay, people are expecting you to do something now. So you can just decide not to do it, but that would be way worse than just crying. So just go for it. Sing your heart out. And that’s just what I did. She gave me the mic and I’m not just gonna stop now. I better go for it."
That anxiety hasn't vanished. If anything, the stakes are higher now that she is the one responsible for the ticket sales.
"I’ve had to overcome a lot of anxiety when it comes to performing live, because it’s really, really something that takes practice," Anthony notes. "And I’m lucky that even during this COVID time, I get to perform live online and stuff, which definitely isn’t the same. But for me it comes with the same anxiety and nervousness. I think Shawn Mendes said nerves mean, you care. And I really believe that. I’m always nervous, because I want to put on a good show for people who paid to be there - they deserve a good show and they’re expecting me to give them a good show. I need to do that, because that’s what they deserve."
The underlying theme of her work is empowerment. It isn't forced or preachy, but it is present in the DNA of her lyrics.
"I honestly didn’t do that intentionally," she says. "It was something that came along as I continued to write and record the album. I think a huge part of that is that this album is really just my perspective on life, the way that I see the world and the way I see myself."
Her songs act as a diary of a teenager navigating the transition into the high-pressure environment of high school and the public eye.
"During this time, I was at the brink of going into high school and just starting a lot of things that can be terrifying. And just, finding myself a bit. My song “Gotta Get Up” is really talking to myself and saying you can do it. A lot of it just has to do with what I was trying to say to myself at the time."
As 2021 rolls on, Anthony isn't slowing down. The acoustic EP is the current focus, but the pipeline is full.
"Well, first I have my acoustic EP of three songs that came out on Saturday, March 19," she says. "March 5 was when the first single came out. I’m just writing and seeing where that takes me. I have a few songs that I want to put out as soon as I can. But obviously, there’s a lot of back end stuff that has to happen. They’re just demos right now, but I hope to have some new music out by summer. I’m just really, really excited to keep performing and keep putting out music."
The reality of the indie grind is that the "back end stuff" is where the real work happens. But if her track record since that 2018 Rogers Arena moment is any indication, Victoria Anthony isn't just waiting for things to happen. She’s directing the whole show. Check out VictoriaAnthony.com for the latest visuals and the new EP.
