We were lucky to catch up with Heather Nation recently and have shared our conversation below.

Heather, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. I’m sure there have been days where the challenges of being an artist or creative force you to think about what it would be like to just have a regular job. When’s the last time you felt that way? Did you have any insights from the experience?

Happiness is a strange pursuit when it comes to being a professional artist. I believe I exist in this melancholic middle ground. There is something to be said about the timeless struggle of an artist, but I also believe we earn happiness, and we deserve every single second of our happiness.

I’ve been in the music industry for over a decade now, session work as a vocalist for other artists, having my own original music catalogue as a recording artist, touring the world as a side-woman for other bands. It’s all very stimulating, life is one huge adventure, there are so many things to be grateful about, though as time goes on, I find that happiness is this myth, this illusion just past my vision of what I want to feel. Most of the time I’m searching for success. Or to be more prolific. There was a time when happiness was a goal, a big goal, maybe it was THE goal. Now it’s more of an after thought, a side effect of something good happening.

Life as an artist gets heady. I never really wish I had a “regular” job, though it is funny to put that into those terms specifically. Societal elements have really pushed us into these little boxes that we’re supposed to jump into and believe that this or that is or isn’t normal. This question is a great example, implying that a job in the music industry is not normal, implying that there are “regular jobs” out there. I sometimes ponder what it would be like to have a job that doesn’t require so much of my heart and soul and full self to make a living. But this is the life that chose me, that bared itself to me saying ‘you don’t really have a choice, this is you, this is what you need to do with your life’. So yes, I sometimes wonder what it would be like to live in Switzerland and make cheese for a living. I sometimes wonder what it would be like to live in Hesperia CA and raise babies, start a family with my husband. I sometimes wonder about moving to Washington state and starting a flower farm with my best friends. But the wonder stops as a daydream, and I ruthlessly push forward in my pursuit of what I know I was born to do.

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 am in the music industry, I am a singer/songwriter/multi-instrumentalist mostly on guitar. I have been in the industry for over a decade, mostly as a performer, also as a session musician in recording studios. It has been an ever-growing and very fruitful and affirming career for me so far. Most recently, my work is divided between my own recording artist project ‘Heather Nation’, as well as background vocalist + multi-instrumentalist for Lauren Mayberry (lead singer for ‘Chvrches’), and Baby Bushka. Along with performing, I’ve also been a session musician, recording voice and guitar for other artists as well as my own project, and have cultivated a humble yet exciting (for me!) home recording studio that I’ve named ‘Bluelight Studio’, where I’ve just self-produced and engineered my latest single “Pool of Mystery” and continue to work on my catalogue, also where aspiring artists are trusting me to aid in engineering their original works, and I am producing and co-producing for artists here as well.

I’ve experienced a lot of growth, a lot of new phases within maintaining a steady hold on making sure it’s music industry related. I started as a soloist, writing americana/folk songs on an acoustic guitar. Since then I’ve evolved to new more dynamic styles and genres, as well as have been playing lead electric guitar which was a huge change for me, and one that has lead to some of the more exciting and fruitful projects within my career.

Having roots in San Diego has been interesting and effective for the role I’ve assumed, playing lead guitar, and being able to hold down the fronting of a band, lead vocals, or background vocals, that’s not a role a lot of musicians fulfill in this city. I know of some bands that have hired me and would have had to outsource to LA because I just don’t know if there are many female lead guitarists who also sing and can hold their own on synth, or bass.

Most recently as a member of the backing band for Lauren Mayberry – lead singer of Chvrches who has set off on the endeavor of her own solo project – I’ve taken on the bass as a semi-new tool of trade. Initially in the formation of the band, I was asked to take on the roll of multi-instrumentalist, incorporating the electric bass into my repertoire.

At this point in my career, I’ve been able to loosen the grip on making sure I can survive, and have been able to really focus in on new points of growth I am looking to reach. Expanding my original music catalogue, continuing to learn about and excel at home recording, focus on a smaller amount of projects to be involved in, value over volume, quality over quantity.

We’d love to hear the story of how you built up your social media audience?

I’d say the biggest piece of advice I can offer in the wild world of social media is to know yourself and understand what it is you’re wanting to portray on your socials. If you can be authentic, and still manage to project a compelling brand, you’re on the right path in my opinion.

I’ve been building a humble but also dedicated fan base and it has been a joy to find my audience, a lot of whom have come from activity on my socials. I’ve always wanted to focus my posts on sharing my authentic self with my fans, with the thought that if I am consistent enough, know myself well enough, and can commit to my own authenticity, thats how I will find the audience that’s meant for me.

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

This is an interesting time for being a professional creative. Now more than ever, the best thing you can do to support an artist is to support, buy a ticket to a show, even if you don’t end up being able to make it out, the ticket count still supports the metrics, and that is crucial to booking bigger better shows. If you want to support a painter, come to their opening night at the gallery they’re showing at, and lend your presence, be in the moment and truly take their art in. Same with a concert, or any performance.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://heathernationmusic.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/heathernationmusic/
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/c/HeatherNation

Image Credits
All photos by Jesse Sutton of Sutton Photography