We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Nena Hayes a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.
Nena, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today Has your work ever been misunderstood or mischaracterized?
As a person who lives their day to day with anxiety, I often find myself over explaining my actions, thoughts, desires, etc. Even if I am not being misunderstood I feel the need to provide information and overcompensate to avoid being misunderstood. It’s hard for me to give myself mercy because of my anxiety but within my art is where I allow myself to exist freely with no explanation. I write what I write and leave it at that. However people want to interpret it is up to them because at the end of the day, I know where I’m coming from and I know my purpose with my art. I also look forward to people’s interpretations of my music and other writing because it serves as a reminder that there is beauty in ambiguity. Knowing that someone has taken something from my art even if it is different from my intention means a lot to me. Everybody’s human experience is different yet we are all here together!
Nena, before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?
I am a creative, I work in music composition, lyricism, poetry, fictional writing for books and screenplays, and filmmaking. The intention with my art is recreational to feed my soul but I share the love wherever I can. I mostly write for myself but I find joy in sharing my songs, films, and poetry to social media because maybe there’s someone out there who needs my words as much as I did. I have provided filmmaking services for my peers at Spelman College with their campaigns and for other organizations. I also do gigs with my music and commissions as well and love to collaborate with other artists.
I am most proud of my ability to stretch genre’s and test my own capacity for what I create. In terms of my music, I write songs nearly every day and I try to dabble in different genres/sounds as I do so. I often remind myself that I do not need to be confined to one box in terms of my art. Of course I have my specialties in indie/folk-ish music but I like to play around with R&B alternative, Neo-soul, and trying to create my own sound. I am open to all ideas and down to create anything!
How can we best help foster a strong, supportive environment for artists and creatives?
We live in a very transactional and short attention span fueled society where success is based on the amount of clicks, views, shares, etc. I find it hard to be a musician in this space because most people do not have the attention span to sit through a 3 minute video of me singing, so they scroll past and carry on. We’ve catered to this idea that the media we intake has to be attention grabbing within the first 5 seconds of viewing or else it is not worth our attention. The best way for society to support creatives trying to thrive is to actually take the time and watch the videos we post and interact with our content. For me, I don’t post my videos to get likes. I want to create a space for safe vulnerability and connection that may not be found in other spaces. I want to know what my listeners think of my lyrics, how it makes them feel, what they got from it. This cannot happen if people pass me by because of short attention spans. I know sometimes it is tricky to come across a post that requires audio and not be in the space to listen to it, so at the minimum, liking, saving, and sharing our art goes a long way as well so that it can reach more audiences. It’s easy for friends or people who know you to be like “I support your art!” and do nothing to actually support the art we are producing. In order to support someone, you have to show up for them. I would also say that getting to know artists on a more personal level is another way to support them. This way, the artist is seen as a human first and not a bot through a screen that only produces art for external pleasure. Come to our shows and talk to us, dm us, get to know us!
Is there something you think non-creatives will struggle to understand about your journey as a creative? Maybe you can provide some insight – you never know who might benefit from the enlightenment.
Something that non-creatives don’t understand about my journey as a creative is that my art is a direct extension of me. My music is my brain in sonic form and my books are my heart on pages. When I say I am a writer, musician, etc, they often think of this as a hobby I do when I get bored. No, being a creative is what breathes life into my lungs. If not for writing and music, I simply would not be. The reason why I get up every day and live my life is because I know I have music and writing to support me. If I did not write, I would not be okay. Again, I have anxiety that is often debilitating which restricts my ability to leave the house, do certain things, taints my perception of my relationships, and so much more. When I write, I am untwining all my jumbled and catastrophic thoughts into a coherent (sometimes not) streamline of truths. I don’t write to exploit my experiences or other people, I write because I have to. It’s the only way for everything to make sense to me. One thing I find freeing about singing is that it is essentially a step down from screaming. I get to open my mouth and unleash all my hearts desires and my minds toils but make it controlled and beautiful. With my voice, I am freed into the air carried with the winds of the world. My guitar is another arm of my body, just with wooden bones and steel strings. My piano is my ribcage with 88 more bones to protect my heart. They hold me together in a way that non-creatives will not understand. I’m learning that it’s okay to not be understood as long as I am respected.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://linktr.ee/nenahayes
- Instagram: nenahayes
- Twitter: nenaahayees
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCGzEwID3Xk5J_Ehf-CCcRYw
Image Credits
Svnflwrchild, Ricchk1d