We were lucky to catch up with Emilia Cataldo recently and have shared our conversation below.

Emilia, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. What did your parents do right and how has that impacted you in your life and career?

My parents were completely anti-establishment which led me to be curious about the establishment which led me to realize why my parents raised me the way they did, and ultimately try to find a middle ground between “the establishment” and my parents’ radicalness.

They were both musicians so they immersed us in music without even thinking about it.

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?

I’m an extremely prolific independent and underground artist. I have a YouTube channel with (currently) 48 music videos, and 21 independent releases of my original songs.

I produce my own music, and am hired by other independent artists to arrange / produce / and sing backup vocals for their work.

What’s the most rewarding aspect of being a creative in your experience?

The reward is the work itself.

How can we best help foster a strong, supportive environment for artists and creatives?

I can picture a community space in every town, like a library (probably next to the library), but instead of books, there are instruments and other creative tools / maker’s space, AV etc.

I’ve heard about how in some places in Europe, there is a lot of grant money for creative work, since it’s understood to be good for the community.

The idea that art has to be commercially viable is a death sentence for creativity. And I think that all of us need to have a creative outlet.

Contact Info:

• Youtube: https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLdScf-LCpziMdHNg0x0pL4LspMwgBBy9m&si=kzZiMPVvvOAz74Zz
• Other: https://music.nehedar.com/