Long before songwriting became something serious for Layla Adams, a freshman at Santa Monica High School, it was just part of the background. The steady beat of rock and roll on car rides, as well as the frantic rhythms of competitive dance throughout her childhood, shaped Layla’s world until music stopped being something floating around her and became something she could reach towards and seize.
Layla’s musical journey reached a turning point in 2025 when she was accepted into the Grammy Museum’s prestigious summer songwriting program — the same program Chappell Roan attended a decade earlier. At Grammy Camp, Layla worked closely with industry mentors and Grammy-winning artists to refine her songwriting skills.
The camp experience broadened her perspective on finding inspiration from nature, symbolism, and other songs, emphasizing that major life events are unnecessary to find inspiration beneath her feet. “I think it really helped me realize that you don’t necessarily have to have a crazy impactful event happen in your life to be able to write,” she tells Clique.
During her tenure at the camp, she worked on a project with two co-artists called “Say It Again,” as a response song to Fleetwood Mac’s “Dreams”. She praised the chorus’s metaphors in “Dreams,” noting, “Thunder only happens when it’s raining,” plus, “Players only love you when they’re playing.” This served as a potent symbol, illustrating how even catastrophic events are merely fragments of a grander, interconnected design.
Within her response lyrics, she portrayed the idea that, “Maybe it’s raining, but we could have made it out alive,” as a way of escaping the thunder.
Even though her path has just begun, Layla imbues her music with a raw, emotional truth and a bold drive for innovation. Through poetry, songwriting, and performance, she is exploring the evolving potential of her voice.
| Follow Layla on Instagram: @laylaadamsmusic |
Photos by: @katiedalyphotography
