We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful NOU. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with NOU below.

Alright, NOU thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. How did you learn to do what you do? Knowing what you know now, what could you have done to speed up your learning process? What skills do you think were most essential? What obstacles stood in the way of learning more?

I’m still learning the craft of singing & songwriting — how to be more efficient, more intuitive and less reliant on what’s already out there even though I’ve learned a great deal from the skills & craft of others. I’ve had great mentors & peers in the industry and business who continue to help me expand my knowledge but I have to say I’ve gained a lot from digital resources such as Instagram. I’ve made some great relationships on Ig and have been able to use it to connect and make music & friendships. There are tons of information from industry folks who share some serious knowledge and I’m here soaking in as much as I can.

In my experience, it has been about attaching & reattaching from the greats in this industry and absorbing all that works for me, my style and what speaks to me; whether it be 16 yo me, 21 yo me, me now or even me later (in terms of writing for sync). More importantly, it is about listening to myself and my experiences, and creating something that can help me understand what I was going through and how that has made me better.

I’ve learned how to navigate working with others but as someone who deals with anxiety & self consciousness, I didn’t understand how people could freely create with others around. Was it that I rarely felt safe to express myself outside my mind that hindered free thinking out loud & afraid to not be judged? I’m working thru it.

The pressures you tend to take on in and outside of yourself can be detrimental when you’re not aware of your own emotions. It can be big and only you feel it & understand it. Writing in general helps me to work thru those bouts of emotions and understand the why’s. Songwriting is the icing on the cake.

Leaning into my true self has been a coming of age & though it’s still uncomfortable for me, I’ve allowed myself to step foot into opportunities when they present themself in a timely and appropriate fashion. I feel I’ll never stop learning & that’s the biggest lesson yet. To be humbled, in the moment and unfazed has been my greatest tools to date.

Throughout my four years of writing & recording, I’ve met with a lot of peers starting off at the same levels who rarely have egos and share the same goals to help one another elevate and that’s been the most refreshing. On the flip side, i’ve also met with a handful of people who have a lot to offer but rarely an ear to listen. That’s been the biggest red flag in my journey. Big ideas others have for you & not what you have for yourself. Sometimes it’d cloud my vision I had for myself and though it felt like it held me back or wasted my time. It was important lessons I needed to see in order to keep clear on my path. They served as reminders to not be naive but patient and trusting that what is for me will feel clear and will align.

Though I appreciate every obstacle so far, as it contributed to what I know now, I think knowing more about the music business is essential: how to negotiate for yourself as an independent artist, standard rules & rates, if at all, having good people skills and listening to your gut is critical. There’s nothing google can’t help me with these days but having a few trusted individuals who you can turn to in and out of the business and industry is really helpful and important.

As I dig deeper, I realize there are a lot of gatekeepers who have been doing music for a while and that has made me realize how much more I have yet to learn but also tells me how much more independent I need to be.

As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?

My name is NOU. I’m a first generation Hmong American woman (southeast Asian descent) living in Honolulu, Hawaii. Born & raised in Detroit, on 6 mile & Waltham, I realized early on that not everyone would be a fan of you and that was okay even though it didn’t always feel like it. Life always seemed like a long walk on egg shells when all I really wanted to do was stomp my feet proudly like many others around me were.

It’s the 90’s and in our basement at 17145 Waltham in Detroit, Michigan was where my mother wrote, composed & recorded her 2 solo albums, helped form a tiny community band with all my aunts and uncles. For the short years they played together, they were pretty mediocre but they were an inspiration to me because they loved to gather, have fun and make music for community events. It’s the effort for me. :) .

Growing up, I’d resort to journals and poetry and soon discovered the breakdown of songwriting from printed lyrics on album covers such as Aaliyah, Brandy, Monica, Britney Spears and more. But life happened and years went by; filling up with many events that’d become the fuel and inspiration that lead me here today.

After many years of running my own company with my husband and working in advertising, I’d tapped out. At the end of 2019, I took a leap of faith to prove the true love I had for myself. I wanted to write & record music with hopes to create projects I could listen back to & share with my babies. I’d met with several peers which poured into 2020. Of course, the pandemic hit, leaving me with much time to experiment. I released my first single, “Alright.” It was all the rhyme and reason to release something that I was dealing with at the time and to just simply get something out there as if to get my feet wet. It didn’t matter if it was mediocre production. All I cared about at that time was it being a stamp in real time that represented how I felt and setting up base to build on top of.

Since then, I’ve release several other RNB and POP singles such as; “Take You There” “Alright,” “Just Kiss Me,” “All Mine,” “Merry Go Round,” “Turn,” “Hav It Bak,” “Let’s Go,” “Wish I May “ and my latest EDM single, “Sinking” (my first single signed to an EDM label), and many more to come.

My heart and mind is scattered with different moments, trials and feelings that I must compartmentalize into albums and singles as keepsakes for not just myself but for my children and anyone else who’s listening. I want them to know for themself that life keeps going, to push thru for what you deeply desire. You should do what fulfills you at that time of calling because everything comes in phases in our lives and there’s no telling what we will become next.

Putting myself first has allowed me to show up for those that need me most and I intend to show up for those like me; women, mothers, sisters, daughters, friends, lovers, etc. so that we can continue to show up as the best versions of ourselves.

Learning and unlearning are both critical parts of growth – can you share a story of a time when you had to unlearn a lesson?

I had to unlearn that I knew everything when I really didn’t. That my life was the way it was whether I liked it or not even though deep down I felt a change could come about. I had to learn to be a student to many things including allowing my children to lead me in discovering my inner child. Being a mother allowed me to unlearn what I thought I knew to be true. Having them was a rebirth for me and I’m grateful for the opportunity to be gifted three beautifully talented and kind humans.

Have you ever had to pivot?

Changing my course in life is nothing new. I’ve come to realize that and accepted that change is good — change is growth. Relating to music however, the big change came about when I made the decision to make music and put it into the forefront. My husband and I ran a business for 10 years when I announced I wanted to take the back seat. It was not a pleasant time. I was once again walking on egg shells, pleasing someone other than myself even though I had been complaining for years. It was a dark time for us, but a bright time for me. As selfish as that sounds, I needed my creative control & freedom…to do what I desired where no one else could tell me what to do. Things changed and they made a big shift but it’s a big shift within our relationship and marriage that brought us here to Hawaii. A change in pace, outlook on life and being present with nature is all I wanted and that stance I took was the partial pivot to my music journey.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.nouxmusic.com
• Instagram: Instagram.com/nou_music
• Facebook: Facebook.com/noumusic85
• Youtube: YouTube.com/@nou_music

Image Credits
Dennvision Christopher Phillips Yorg Kerasiotis Alex Monti Fox Preston Kue