Ava Morse/Babe America

Styled by Cameron Alastaire
Wardrobe: Untitled&Co

You may have heard Ava Morse’s voice in Pixar’s Turning Red or seen her TV debut (at age 9) on Chicago Fire. Now, she’s focused on music as Babe America. Her new single “Domino$” is out now.

“Babe America is an amalgamation of everything I've ever wanted to be. Babe is me. She's every inspiration that I've ever had and every version of me that doesn't exist yet. Every single time I get to be her I become a little bit more myself. Babe America was born when I stopped being afraid to be me.”

”Domino$” is about that speed. How momentum feels infinite until it disappears. How easily everything you stack can fall once the music stops. It’s also about what this city and this industry do to intimacy. How they turn sex into currency and friendship into a quiet competition. How you’re taught to perform confidence while spiraling privately. How you can love your best friend, believe in her, party with her, and still want exactly what she has. How you can celebrate someone’s rise while secretly bracing for their fall. And the guilt of knowing those thoughts exist at all. Domino$ is the sound of watching it happen in real time. Desire, ambition, friendship, and self destruction all moving at once. One by one. Until everyone is on the floor.”

“I recently read Valley of the Dolls, and I really resonated with the character of Neely. I saw so much of myself in her, while also clearly recognizing the ways I don’t wanna be like her. She felt both inspiring and cautionary to me. This city, as incredible and full of opportunity as it is, can also eat you alive and the last thing I would ever want is to lose myself in it.”

“The biggest blonde icon to me, has and will always be, my mother. Her grace, elegance and fierce determination has always motivated me, supported me, and always reminded me that no dream is too big. My second icon would have to be Anna Nicole Smith. I love the way that coming from absolutely nothing she was able to build this incredible life for herself. The media was so cruel to her throughout her career but it never stopped her. She was so beautiful, confident, glamorous, and had such a fascinating contribution to culture. We lost her way too soon. Another would be Goldie Hawn. It's so difficult for women in Hollywood to transition from being young and beautiful and sexualized into a career that's truly respected. That is something that I've always seen and wanted for myself.”