We recently connected with LEMARA and have shared our conversation below.

LEMARA, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. Can you open up about a risk you’ve taken – what it was like taking that risk, why you took the risk and how it turned out?

I have loved song writing since I was as young as I can remember. I have vivid memories of using my mother’s Motorola razor at the time to record songs I had written before I could even properly write. I actually still have a folder of songs I wrote as a child that I treasure and hold as a representation of my long love for music.

Fast forward, years later, to my college experience. After many years of keeping my love of music fairly private and never thinking to pursue it, I found myself lost and feeling purposeless while studying for a general business degree. And so, I made the decision to switch to study music and production and it was a great experience. I met so many other creatives and really flourished in my song writing at this time. However, during my time there and even more so once I completed my degree, I found myself still afraid to share my music with the world. The songs I’d written (and still write) are so special and dear to me and I was always afraid that no one would see it that way. “What if nobody loves these songs the way I do?” That thought constantly played over in my head for years. And so I fell into normalcy of a regular 9-5 and going through the motions of every day life.

Amazingly, at some point early last year it kind of just clicked in my head in a sense, I realized how empty I felt not doing anything musically and so I reached out to a friend from college who is now a producer and was just like “Hey, I know we’ve tried this before but I have some songs I seriously want to work on.” So, we did. And even in the midst of releasing it I still had that fear but by that point I basically figured “If I’m not doing music then what am I doing?”

I feel it took a lot of courage on my part to overcome the fears I was experiencing and still experience. But, I choose to believe it gets easier as you walk in line with your purpose!

Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers.

Well, my name is LEMARA and I’m from Miami, FL, born and raised. My family is very creative especially in music, my mother and aunts/uncle were singers, my brothers sing, dance and are talented musicians. Growing up I was always surrounded by different kinds of music and, especially as I got older, naturally I was drawn to using song writing as means to process my own feelings and my own circumstances. And so, throughout the years that’s what I’ve done and since last year I’ve begun to share those songs and stories with the world.

My debut song “june” released June 23, 2023 is one of my most proudest moments as a songwriter. Since I cannot play an instrument, a lot of my songs exists (musically) only in my head and working with my NYC based producer, Sebastian Olaya, to kind of transfer the story from my mind to the listener’s ear was such a fulfilling experience. It felt like life was breathed into these melodies that only I’ve truly experienced since writing the song in 2021. Once it was out, the feedback was overwhelmingly and being told by listeners how it took them to a moment in their mind and they felt themselves in the story of the song had me filled with nothing but gratitude.

Music is so powerful and there are so many songs and artists who create these works of art that evoke so many feelings and even memories you maybe never knew you had. When it comes to my music, I just want to make music that makes people feel the way music makes me feel. I really hope I can achieve that.

What’s a lesson you had to unlearn and what’s the backstory?

For me, I think as I get older I realize how important happiness is. Which sounds so obvious but I think I had to unlearn what it would take for me to be happy.

I think depending on who you’re surrounded with growing up, you’re not really encouraged and sometimes even discouraged from doing music or anything creative because it is not guaranteed income or sustainable income when you get older. And I think, I fell victim to pushing away the things that truly fulfilled me and I was truly happy doing because of this narrative. And while there is some truth to the financial aspect (especially for independent artists,) I am having to learn how to balance it.

If I never do what is truly fulfilling to me, I don’t think I would be happy.

For you, what’s the most rewarding aspect of being a creative?

For me, I think the most rewarding aspect of being a creative is the endless possibilities of ways to express yourself. As a musician/singer/songwriter, you could tell the same story so many different ways depending sometimes on the instrument, the melodies, the notes, the choice of words etc.

This unique but still relatable was to express and story-tell is so rewarding. When you make song or a piece of work and someone else is like “Wow, I really FEEL that.” It’s like wow, I did that.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://linktr.ee/lemaramusic
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/lemaramusic/
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCT5jmtp51_HmtNbeLpAM4nA
• Other: Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/artist/4WviBVWibNITw0rfvdVMdw Apple Music: https://music.apple.com/us/artist/lemara/1690726615

Image Credits
Jesus Garcia; Catherine Magarino