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

Eleni, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. Do you wish you had started sooner?

I love this question. I decided to take my creative career seriously when I was about to graduate with a psych degree over at Loyola University in Chicago. I was 22 at the time, I believe, and never felt more behind. However, coming to Nashville in the same year, I realized how much of a slow burn a career like this takes. I wouldn’t be where I am if I didn’t have the lessons and obstacles I pushed through before realizing my true passion. I think songwriting as a career found me at the right time. If it was sooner, surely one can say I could have accomplished more by now but that’s the fun part for me. Every year I hone in on what music means to me and getting to document my progress and meet the people that have grown to be some of my closest friends all while chasing the same dream is sick. For the first time in my three years of living in Nashville I can genuinely say this city feels like home.

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.

I was born and raised in Acapulco, Mexico, where music blended into everything I did. Though I didn’t go to an arts school, I often found myself performing covers of songs with pals for school based events. We did these for quite genuinely every occasion you can think of that it almost became second nature to keep singing on my own. There wasn’t a day that went by where I didn’t pretend I was singing to a big crowd of people (my stuffed animals) in sold out arenas (my bedroom). Watching movies like School of Rock and hearing albums from The Beatles and Red Hot Chili Peppers alike, I knew being in a band would be a dream come true. When I moved to Chicago at the ripe age of 10, I wanted to be like my brother and finally have the courage to take guitar seriously. I also wanted to get girls and, well, I thought this was a potentially good way to do it as the little closeted self I was back then. I saw the opportunity and learned how to play my little heart out (still not a shredder though).

I used to write poetry before I moved to the States and slowly I started to figure out I could combine my poems with melody and chords. The rest was history. I’ve been writing ever since I’ve lived in the States and haven’t stopped. I always thought of songwriting as just a medium for my emotional release and nothing more than a hobby. I ended up studying clinical psychology trying to find a career in it that made sense for me. Though I found it interesting, being a part of that industry was not my passion. I think what truly shifted my career path from therapist to songwriter was when I realized what it took to put out a song and that it wasn’t just the artist writing their own songs. There’s a full team behind the songs I heard on the radio and I wanted to know everything about them.

Writers like Justin Tranter, Sarah Hudson, and Julia Michaels started to pop into my radar. I went to work and started to research the possibility of a creative writing career and all the intricacies behind them. The dream I have of collaborating with artists I admire has fueled my fire so much so that I packed my bags and moved to Nashville. Where for the first time ever, I truly believe that I’m on the right path. I used to be more eager and less patient at the beginning of my time in this city, but the slow burn of this career overtime has become my favorite part of this whole experience. It can be raw, emotional and sad but the tender, sweet, and heart filling moments (though are fewer and far between) are what make it worth it. I’m currently most proud of my latest release WAISTLINE, which has developed into a project that I never thought I’d create but am thankful to have started this era.

We often hear about learning lessons – but just as important is unlearning lessons. Have you ever had to unlearn a lesson?

If people don’t reply to you, it usually doesn’t mean they don’t like you. We’re all just overstimulated, overworked and trying to figure it out. Patience will be one of your strongest assets because this career isn’t for the faint of heart. So, if you follow up one or two times and hear crickets, odds are they are prioritizing their time elsewhere. Especially in the music industry, I feel like we’re all trying to get each other’s attention. Whether it’s with a new release or an upcoming show, we want our peers to show up for us in the same way we do for them. At least for me, when I try to connect with as many people as I can, I tend to spread myself so thin that the connections that I could nurture felt like they crumbled in front of me. In turn, I use to think that when people didn’t reply or cancelled writes, I wasn’t enough to be worth their time in writing a new song. I know, very self deprecative of me but that summer was one of the hardest pills I had to swallow. I’m just thankful that I’m unlearning the habit because it’s not a matter of if but a matter of when the next write gets pushed back and that is what? Totally understandable.

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

Something I did not recognize in the beginning of this journey is that people related to my songs. Egocentric of me I must say but I think I couldn’t believe it because I always felt like no one saw me for me. I’m a pretty social butterfly so I would get to know people but not a lot of people wanted to get to know me past a surface level. To put it into perspective, the first time I played an original was in my high school talent show (classic). At the sound check, one of the girlies that was also performing came up to me right after I sang and she said she saw herself in the song and was appreciative that I shared. That’s when I knew I wanted to help people feel seen. Also, just the opportunity to create and collaborate with like minded individuals is so cool. We all just want to write songs that make you want to dance, cry and everything in between. There’s truly nothing quite like it.

Contact Info:

• Website: eleniiglesias.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/eleni.iglesias/
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC1cU8TDQ9e8ENK9vOvv8XpA

Image Credits
Kalin Gordon Gina Di Maio Lucienne Nghiem Your Friend Juniper