Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Melanie Burckes. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.

Melanie , thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. What were some of the most unexpected problems you’ve faced in your career and how did you resolve those issues?

There’s issues in every area of work. Following my passion of singing, gave a sense of pressure of the desire to succeed. To be the best that I can be. To present myself to world, the way I really want to. That takes time and effort to find your sound and the right words to melodically explain how you feel to the world. I’ve realized I must release the pressure and just build momentum. Create to create, not create to be “understood” or be the “best.” Another issue is finding the right people to work with and honestly be vulnerable with. I like to think of building collaborative relationships, as dating. It has that importance of feeling comfortable creating from your most raw truth , to feeling like they can understand you musically. It’s a language that must be understood in the collaboration. I’m not a producer but I know I will find the right one to help me make my dream projects come to life. Furthermore, learning from them and becoming a producer as well. It takes time. It takes time to find the right people. Takes patience to get to know yourself and know what you’re meant for , is coming your way. I’m the talent ,I sing and that’s what I loved all my life. When I’m pursuing this craft I’m realizing how many layers I have to go through to find Me in Music. That’s a type of relationship I’m willing to work on for as long as I’m here.

Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.

My friend recently asked me this question. “If you never live in LA , do you think you still would be pursuing music ?” That question hit me with so many things to think about. I was blessed to live in a city like LA that has music and opportunities flowing everyday. That thrives on expression. I’m 21 years old and I was born and raised in LA. I was fortunate to live in a school district that had the arts and my favorite elective, show choir. I was in show choir middle school and high school. It gave me friends, travel ,unity, drive and ambition. If it wasn’t the love for singing, then I wouldn’t have gained so much respect and validation in what I was doing. Whether I gave it to myself or I was told from supporting peers. I came in the program with the intention of learning and becoming the best I could be. It gave me hard-working dedication to visualize myself performing in front of thousands. To work day and night on making the material , learning choreography and understanding it takes a village to make a show. I took these lessons and teachings to my future career. Back to my friend’s thoughtful question. My answer was yes. My follow up question to him was , “ would I have the same family?” He said “sure why not.” I asked that because my family and culture is how I started falling in love with singing , performing and expressing how I felt. Even at such a young age. I am a proud Latina and had powerful icons such as Shakira and Thalia to look up to. Being Mexican gave me the confidence and pure happiness to show my family how happy I was to simply sing and move my body the way I wanted to. Singing and being feminine is an art form. Especially in Latin culture it’s considered beautiful and sacred . My goal in life since I was a child is to make quality art like that. To touch a humans spirit. To make them want to dance , enjoy themselves, or simply to feel. I’m grateful to have met amazing creatives in my city to catapult me into starting my singing career. I’ve been in rooms that I proudly flowed in and let myself shine. I believe how my story is unfolding, is leading me to the right path of entering this music industry. There’s lots of darkness in this industry so you have to be tough and follow your intuition. To know how to navigate yourself through potential scary situations. Being a woman in this industry, was a realization of how hard it is to make it. There’s many men that will try to take advantage or even women that will alter you to please them and be a marketable product. Being famous is not my concern , but I want to reach a lot of people and affect them in a beautiful way.

Are there any books, videos, essays or other resources that have significantly impacted your management and entrepreneurial thinking and philosophy?

I have been reading the War of Art. It gives the anxiety or inability to create, a name. The author named it resistance. It is a negative power that clouds your judgment upon yourself and halts you from your purpose. The author explains that we have two lives. The life we live and the unlived life within us. Between is “resistance.” It’s the dichotomy of such two powerful energies. It’s the creative blocks that you have to push through, to create what you’re meant to create . It distracts and prevents you from living your truth. The energy lies , it tries to deceive you , falsify everything you’re meant to do. It comes from within us. It isn’t a personal attack , it’s just an energy that is a force of nature. So how do we confront it and beat it ? We can use it as a guiding system. A compass as referenced in the book. The author says “rule of thumb: the more important, a call or action is to our souls evolution, the more Resistance we will feel towards pursuing it. “ To me, it’s like a feeling we all know but it’s a validating feeling that we know what we want. We just let a negative energy that we are all used to , let us waste our lives. To sit down and make that song, to get up and start is the hardest part. The resistance will learn to shut up when your power stomps on it. Which we are ALL capable of.

What do you find most rewarding about being a creative?

It’s a wild ride of life that I’m gladly strapped to. I’m happy that through the highs and lows, I can make art out of it . Like Lana Del Rey says ,“ I can turn blue into something , beautiful.” I’m so blessed and grateful for art and the feeling I feel when experiencing it. Being a creative isn’t logical or the “safe” route. It’s different and uniquely tailored to each unique life . I see it as serving your life and developing a masterpiece of inspiration. To be able to affect others in a good way makes me feel on top of the world. Making people smile , sing and to be in the moment is such a prize.

Contact Info:

• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/melanie.burckes/?hl=en
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/melanie-burckes-49a1211bb
• Twitter: https://mobile.twitter.com/meluhhnayy
• Youtube: https://youtube.com/@melanieburckes

Image Credits
Carianne Older , Lilly St. Laurent , NNW. , Dan Wooden