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

Hi Bianca, thanks for joining us 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’m currently living in one of the most exciting yet uncertain moments in my life, and as I’m writing this I’m sitting in a dimly lit dorm room trying to navigate a city 830 miles away from my hometown. I’ve recently taken the risk of moving to Nashville, Tennessee in order to pursue my dreams and goals of becoming a full time artist. I’ve dreamt of becoming a singer since before I can remember, and once I wrote my first song at 8 years old it pretty much sealed the deal for me. Along the way I’ve had a few much smaller risks, such as posting my songs online, and the fear of what my classmates may think was a big deal for my 13 year old self. I started performing soon after, and that came with its own set of hurdles, and trust when I say I’ve had my own fair share of bad gigs and embarrassing interactions with those I put on a pedestal. However, my recent move to Nashville has proven to be the biggest risk of all. Music city, home to all things country music and hungry musicians. I find myself feeling out of place in just the two weeks I’ve been here; I’m not a country singer, and the competitive nature of outdoing every other musician is immense. My imposter syndrome has begun to settle in and has already overridden my home sickness, it’s a big risk to come to a place where everyone wants the same thing. I fear I’ll come back home and disappoint my family, friends, and teachers. I fear I’ll never make it as an artist, whether that’s singing in arenas of people or writing songs for other artists or T.V. shows. But most of all, I’m afraid I’ll let my 4 year old self down. Although, this risk of leaving my family and friends behind and facing my fears of failure feels worth it. Despite how cliche it is, I feel that I’m exactly where I’m meant to be, doing exactly what I need to be doing. I know that if I stayed back in Texas I would regret not taking the opportunity when I could. I didn’t make it this far to stop because I was afraid I wouldn’t make it in the music industry, and while it may be high risk to some to think I have what it takes to make it in a city like Nashville, it’s a risk that I know will work out exactly the way it’s supposed to.

Bianca, 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?

Throughout the last six years of my life I’ve been going by the name Bianca May, which has a much less interesting origin story than one might assume, being just my first and middle name. However, I’ve added my last name, Cerecero, to the writing and production credits of my songs in pride of my Hispanic culture and to stop feeling the need to alter my name to something that can be more widely and easily pronounced. I’ve found myself having conversations with many other hispanic artists whose names they’ve felt were mocked or wouldn’t be easily remembered and creating stage names that erased the culture. It’s important to me, especially in the industry today, that I don’t disclose my heritage from my music and brand for the comfort others. When I began posting online at 13, I wouldn’t have considered this, but I was just getting started and figuring out the type of artist I would be. I have Instagram to thank for the opportunities I received in the San Antonio area, it’s how Nikita The Artist, the first person who booked me, found my music. She kickstarted my dream at 16 years old as I played my first show in a then small coffee shop, Folklores Coffee House, for a Christmas special event hosted by her organization BigVibesArtHouse. I started performing monthly, but once COVID hit I found myself feeling robbed of everything I worked so hard to get. However, through the magic of TikTok and YouTube, I continued to post more of my own original songs and started learning how to produce my own music. I released 3 songs in the year of 2021, and began playing shows once again. I have San Antonio Sound Garden to thank as well for the access they gave me to professional producers whom I mentored under, Jed Craddock and Dillon O’Conn, and the abundance of gigs I was able to perform at. Throughout it all, my songwriting has always been what I’m most proud of in terms of my career. It’s my coping mechanism as much as it is my way of relating to other people. I find myself writing more and more not just about my own experiences and feelings, but about others experiences as well. I take pride in knowing songwriting is what brought me to Nashville in the first place, and I hope that my future supporters value my songwriting just as much as my current ones do.

In your view, what can society to do to best support artists, creatives and a thriving creative ecosystem?

Too many times have I been told to have a backup plan, “just in case” things don’t work out as a creative. And many more times have I been asked what I ACTUALLY want to do as a career. The truth is, people still won’t take creative jobs seriously or find them unstable and volatile. While the latter may be true, the stigma surrounding creative jobs and artists is toxic for both those in the field and even children in schools. I found myself lying to teachers and my parents that I wanted to be an educator for years in fear of being told my dreams of being a performer were too far fetched. I’m lucky that I was defiant enough to reach for my goals regardless, but many aren’t as lucky and have their dreams stampeded on before they have the chance to showcase their potential. As a society we should be erasing what we define as a creative job and end the stigma that one must have millions of followers and be the biggest pop star in the world in order to be a successful creative. We need to take more time to nurture our creativity and provide more access to creative jobs behind the scenes. Being a performer is one side of the wide array of jobs in the creative field, and even being an artist doesn’t truly require one to constantly be in the public eye. We should be more accepting of those who are creatives, and instead uplift their ideas in their field. Many times those ideas have helped shape our futures in other aspects unrelated to the industry.

What do you find most rewarding about being a creative?

To know there are so many people who connect with my lyrics and find my music itself soothing is the best feeling I could ever ask for. I’ve struggled finding the courage to speak up about the things I’m feeling, whether it’s good or bad, and it often leaves me feeling alone and isolated. However, being able to write out how I feel in the form of a song and have people truly feel connected to it lets me know I’m not as alone as I’ve made myself feel. It’s a rewarding feeling in itself to be able to write my feelings and experiences down in the form of a song, but to know that people are actually listening and finding comfort in them is one of the best feelings in the world. I have always feared no one would take my dream of becoming an artist seriously, and often still find myself doubting if I’m making the right career choice, but the moment someone comments or messages me saying my song has comforted them or helped them through a challenging time, that doubt is quickly gone. Connecting with people in itself is a reward I find myself grateful for daily, but connecting through my emotions and songwriting is the most rewarding aspect of not just being an artist but in my life as a whole.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://linktr.ee/beeonkuhmay
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/biancamaymusic/
• Twitter: https://twitter.com/beeonkuhmay
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/c/BiancaMay
• Other: https://www.tiktok.com/@bionicuh?lang=en

Image Credits
Gannon Gager, Bri Sweet, Milo Ren, Taylor Alton