Nyah
Interview conducted on May 31, 2020
By Dan Locke
Nyah was born in Oreogn and with the exception of short stays in Michigan and Washington and two years in Paris, France (as her dad changed jobs) she has spent the majority of her time living in Oreogn. She comes from a strong and stable family with 3 siblings; her mother and father first met on a blind date 33 years ago and have been together ever since
What is your upbringing?
Music was all around me. My parents would play a lot of music around the house. A lot of The Cure and Depeche Mode.
How did you discover music?
I don’t really remember how it started. I simply had thoughts, gave them melodies, and wrote them down.
Do you remember how you got your first guitar? And do you still have it?
I do remember how I got my first guitar. I was maybe seven or eight and I got one of those junior guitars for Christmas. It was nice and currently in the possession of my younger brother.
How did you get your name?
According to my father, I was named after a Mission Impossible character.
What was your first performance like?
My first time singing in front of an audience was for a musical theatre Cinderella inspired camp I took in Washington. It was just parents but I still remember being nervous. Every performance is nerve wracking but still fun.
How was it to sing the National Anthem for 20,000 plus people?
Singing the National Anthem in front of 20,000 people is exhilarating. There’s this buzzing wow feeling. It can also be absolutely terrifying. Even though I know it by heart, there’s always a voice in the back of my skull telling me I could miss a note or mess up a lyric. Messing up in front of that many people would be scary. On the other hand, I love doing it. I feel grateful every time I get to sing the anthem.
You are the only out of state artist that has been signed to InRage Entertainment. How did they find you?
Funny story. I originally auditioned for a kpop group InRage was trying to start. I didn’t know a word of Korean and I’d never listened to kpop previously, but it was a good gig. Obviously, I didn’t land that specific audition, but they liked my voice and wanted to meet me. That’s how we met and I think it was a pretty sweet deal.
How is Ebony Rae Vanderveer as a vocal coach? What did she teach you about singing that you didn’t know?
Ebony is a great vocal coach! We work a lot on dynamics and tone. She also comes up with these amazing runs and are fun to practice.
Tell me about your debut EP “Disconnected”? How did you come up with the title for the EP?
So “Disconnected” is my debut EP. it got its name because the majority of the songs we’re written as a standalone. There’s no intended over arcing theme, storyline, or style to the songs. They’re “Disconnected” from each other (with the exception of “Midnight” and “Legends In The Stars”, which have some lyrical parallels). I would give the EP a lot of joke titles like, “Crying and the Terrifying Inevitably of Time and Death” or something like that, but that doesn’t roll off the tongue. Besides, a title like that wouldn’t fit a song like “Empty Spaces”, which is more optimistic than anything. The songs certainly have similarities, but they’re different enough to where I couldn’t think of a word that could be applied to all five songs.
Your single “A Thousand Wishes” is available now and portion of the proceeds are going to Feeding American to help families in need during and after the Covid-19 pandemic. Why did you pick this song to help people?
A lot of people are getting hurt by this pandemic. Whether it’s losing jobs or losing life to this virus, life is going to be difficult for a lot of people. I chose “A Thousand Wishes“ over every other song because it’s a song that is a very important song to me. It was the first song I wrote lyrics for out of the five. No tricks or complicated metaphors. It’s a song about wanting someone you care about to be alright. It’s how I feel about the situation. Nobody deserves what’s happening right now. We need to get out of this alright. A lot of people who listened to my music say this is the song that’s most important to them off of my EP and that’s a statement that makes me glad.
What is your favorite track on the album?
That being said, I don’t know which track is my absolute favorite. Music is an emotional thing for me, so I guess it’s whatever I’m feeling at the moment. I’m currently liking “Flowers On My Grave”.
You are still young. How is school going?
I currently do online school (Oregon Connections Academy, to be specific) and have been since 8th grade. I’m finishing off my sophomore year. It’s really convenient for my schedule.
What are you’re feeling about streaming music?
If you know the music business, you know that artists don’t get paid for streams, they get paid for downloads. That being said, streaming is convenient and it’s something I do. When I’m passionate about a song, I will buy it to support the artist. If it’s something I just want to check out, I’ll hop onto Spotify. When it comes to people streaming my music, I do appreciate it. What I want at the moment is for people to hear my songs.
Digital vs. vinyl?
Digital is more convenient but there’s this feeling to owning a physical record. I use digital more but I get super giddy when I go to a thrift store and find a vinyl with show tunes on it.
Any plans to tour?
I would like to tour. It’s been a discussion around my house for a while now.
How do you feel the Covid-19 virus going to affect the music business in the future?
Covid-19 has been affecting everything. When it comes to entertainment, you notice how many homemade songs and videos are popping up. People are getting creative.
What have you been doing with your self-quarantine?
During quarantine, I’ve been playing a lot of video games. Like a lot of people right now, I’ve been obsessed with the new Animal Crossing. I’ve also been journaling, writing and practicing guitar.
Have you discovered or rediscovered any new hobbies?
I’ve rediscovered my love of poetry. Going back to the basics on that one. I’ve also started studying different mythologies and ancient/modern religions. It’s really interesting to learn about the way people think the world works.
Lots of people are doing nightly concerts over either YouTube, Facebook, Twitter or Instagram. You yourself are using Zoom. Are you getting a lot of people showing up?
I don’t know the exact numbers of people I’ll see on zoom, but there’s a really decent amount of people who come to the quarensings.
Do you think it will be possible to make a living doing concerts this way? First it was an article in the New York Times, then Rolling Stones talked about it and finally Live Nation CEO said that concerts may not start again until fall of 2021. Do you think this could happen?
Digital concerts could prove to be a difficult way to make money. Sure, you get more people showing up who couldn’t go to a live one due to location or anxiety, but you would be insane to charge someone the same amount for a digital concert that you would a live one. Unless the numbers multiply significantly, you’d make less money. However, I do think it’s a lovely idea for right now. All a lot of people have is entertainment, so the more the merrier. Only time can tell.
You parents met on a blind date. Would you do a blind date?
My parents did meet on a blind date. That’s nice for them. I might try it just to try it but I don’t trust them haha.
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