Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Lia Menaker. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.
Lia, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. We’d love to hear about a project that you’ve worked on that’s meant a lot to you.
So the first thing that comes to mind is Carnegie Hall and Musicopia’s “Lullaby Project”. I adore this work. I love seeing the joy it brings to families and communities, and as a singer, songwriter, producer, and now mom to a young toddler, it’s also been the perfect mix of all the parts of myself. It’s also taught me a lot about the power of making music.
The Lullaby Project pairs a small cohort of moms and caregivers with professional artists to write, sing and record a personal lullaby for their child. Each cohort typically meets weekly, over a period of 4-6 weeks, singing songs as a group first, and then breaking off with their artist to write and/or record the song. At the end of the six weeks, when the songs have been recorded, the families all gather to share the song they’ve written.
When I found this work, I was 6 months postpartum, and slowly integrating music back into my life. The Lullaby Project brought me back to myself. It allowed me to reconnect with so many talented, dedicated, open-minded, diverse artists that also wanted to make a difference in the community. The staff has also been incredibly supportive, constantly asking how to adjust or improve things to make the work as successful and aligned with each unique cohort and situation as possible. It’s sad to say, but that kind of persistent dedication from team members and organizations is incredibly hard to find!
The writing process with each family has been a challenging yet rewarding experience! Each family, child, and story is so unique – with their own level of comfort, musical preference, approach and personality. It requires families to be vulnerable and share with me – a practical stranger – aspects of them, their history, and their hopes and dreams for their child. They are tapping into emotions that may feel new, raw or uncomfortable. And working together, we form a sort of trust that must happen when co-writing a song.
The result is empowering for not just the caregiver – for me too! Writing a song is hard – most of them are doing so for the first time; most have little to no singing or musical experience. And most of them have full time jobs and busy schedules. Yet by the end of the program, they’ve embraced the challenge and uncomfort and have put their thoughts and dreams for their child to music – and sometimes even sing on the recording! I’ve been amazed and inspired by what these moms and caregivers do. On the day that we share our final songs with each other, you can feel the sense of accomplishment and empowerment in the room. The community has grown together, and it’s a beautiful thing.
In the music industry, it can be so easy to get caught up in what I call the “not enough” cycle – “I’m not ___ enough” (writing, releasing, performing), or “not enough people are ____” (listening or engaging with my music, following me on social media, etc). This stress is very real, and we all get hit with it at points, to some degree. But it isn’t what makes us fall in love with music. It’s not what makes music so powerful and important, and it’s not what brings us true value as musicians. Any time I get to engage with music, and make music, in a way that truly impacts people, it reminds me of why I love it, why I do it, and why it’s such a powerful shared language. And the Lullaby Project is definitely work that brings me back into that space.
Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.
Hi, y’all! I’m Lia Menaker – a Philadelphia-based singer/songwriter, producer, teaching artist, and mom to an amazing little toddler.
Ever since I was a kid, music has been how I calmed myself and processed the world. I remember plunking around the beat up piano in our home, writing little songs to express my 13 year-old self. I was always simultaneously involved in musical theatre, and would eventually work in that field for much of my young adult life. But it didn’t feel quite right for me. So something led me to go study Public Health in my late 20’s. And while that ended up not being quite the right path for me either, it ended up playing a big part, as I realized a life of music and health-related music work was what I could best offer the world.
These days, you can find me performing both originals and covers (solo, duo, or with a band) all around the NJ/PA area. But the core of my heart and soul can be found within my own music (yep, are you ready for the plug?), which can be found under my name wherever you stream music. It’s soulful pop / R&B / electronic music, with expressive vocals at the forefront (think Amy Winehouse meets Erykah Badu). Connecting with others through my music is an honor and privilege I hold close to my heart. There’s nothing better than when something that I’ve written straight from my heart speaks to another person. If it can play even a small part in helping someone fully move through a feeling, experience, or emotion, well… it’s the greatest feeling.
When I both write and play my originals live, I often experiment with percussive and atmospheric vocal instrumentation, using loopers. I love, love, love to play with the unique ways the voice can move and shake, both live and in the studio… the various percussive and breathy layers of instrumentation we can add, just using the voice. There is so much more musical element and possibility to the voice than people (me included) realize. It’s an endless exploration.
In general, a lot of my work is vocally-focused. And I take pride in that. Our voice is an intimate expression of who we are. It’s one of the most powerful, expressive, versatile instruments we have. We all have one, and each one is unique. So I like to use this in my own songwriting, production and teaching in as many ways as possible. It can be as simple as helping people write a melody (yep, no theory needed), or guiding their voices to new places. I can remember a few years back giving a 65 year old woman her first singing lesson; it was so beautiful watching her discover new parts of her voice for the first time!
As a producer, I love working with any and all types of music and creatives – from experimental scores, to indie singer/songwriters, Americana artists, rappers… to folks who may just want a simple recording of their favorite song for an anniversary or wedding ceremony! I’ve been growing my home studio for the past 5 years; it took off during the pandemic and has become the ultimate place where I can get lost in the music. One thing I love about the studio work is the beautiful back and forth between the songwriter, other collaborators, and my gut, until we reach the perfect final result – a production that elevates the song while also staying true to what the artist intended.
One of my favorite studio projects – and one I’m incredibly proud of – is an original score I composed for the dance play and subsequent film “Subject” (by Welcome to Campfire). It was written in collaboration with the two dancers/choreographers who wrote/performed the piece. I watched them perform, matching the music to their movement, meaning, and overall concept. They’d then alter the choreography a bit to match what I created; I’d watch them move more, so I could adjust again, and etc. This back and forth collaboration, and the use of space, experimental sounds, and musical repetition felt like such a different, exciting way to write.
As you can probably gather… I get so passionate about so many aspects of music, that I find myself dipping my toes in a lot of different things. But mostly, I can sum it up like this: everything I do is about bringing music to life in new ways or about using music as a means to empower, heal, and unite. I’m pretty low on the glamour and high on the soul. I choose to write and sing and create and guide others to do so, so that we can all connect and express and work through the spectrum of both dark and light emotions we all experience. I think this is really what’s at the core of everything I do.
We often hear about learning lessons – but just as important is unlearning lessons. Have you ever had to unlearn a lesson?
It’s going to sound cliche, but the biggest belief I’ve had to unlearn is that saying “yes” to everything, and pushing myself beyond my limits, would get me to “where I want to go”. That vision of where I wanted to go was, for a long time, where I felt like I HAD to go.
It’s hard, because as an independent musician, everything starts to grab your time and attention – all the gigs, get togethers, trainings, opportunities, etc. I think a lot of us have a habit of going going going because we think we need to in order to reach a certain something that feels successful. We want to stay relevant; to keep moving forward; etc. And this was my life until I had a baby. But to be honest, no success felt like enough, and my mental health often suffered.
My daughter truly helped me unlearn this idea that I had to take every opportunity and that my life had to look a certain way to reach success and fulfillment. I’m at a point now at 38, where I don’t want to (and can’t even) just keep going like that. I have a young child to tend to, and a family life to enjoy; I want the space and balance in my life to be able to stop and take in the other beauty around me that does not involve my music work. I’ve learned that I can be a professional in this industry while also occasionally holding other jobs – and that I can work these other jobs because I wan’t to – not because I “have” to! I’ve learned to redefine what success and fulfillment in this industry looks for my own desired path and lifestyle – and that to my surprise, it actually doesn’t include regular tours and a certain amount of Spotify listeners. All this has helped me really cut down on what I say yes to and allow into my life.
In your view, what can society to do to best support artists, creatives and a thriving creative ecosystem?
Go out and see live music! It’s beneficial for the creatives, those consuming the art, and the whole independent artist ecosystem! Buy merch at the show. If you enjoyed it, tip the artist; talk to the artist. Engaging with their social media and digital music is great too; listening, sharing, adding to playlists. Tell your friends and share with you friends. Any and all of this helps, on various levels. Also – I’d be remiss if I didn’t say this… that if you are hiring live music for something, please pay them what they are worth. Keep in mind that you’re not just paying for 1 or 2 hours of their playing time. You’re usually also paying them for for travel, rehearsal, running sound, set lists, adjusting to the audience, getting there early for setup and sound check, years of mastering an instrument/craft, etc.
On a larger scale, I’d like to see people support the integration of music and the arts into the healthcare system. Look up what’s going on in your area, and support those organizations working to integrate this. There’s research that shows how much music and art can impact our health, and we’d truly have a more connected, empathetic, emotionally and physically health society if we incorporated it into our current broken system. The Lullaby Project recently partnered with an organization here in Philly (Puentes de Salud) to bring their music making work with mothers and caregiver into the healthcare setting, and it was a success. I’d like to see more of this for maternal health, childhood development, mental health outcomes, and more.
Contact Info:
- Website: http://www.liamenaker.com
- Instagram: http://www.instagram.com/liamenaker
- Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/liamenaker
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/liamenaker
- Soundcloud: https://soundcloud.com/liamenaker
- Other: Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/artist/37NS0lpeIGIA2qNDr5HtyM
Apple Music: https://music.apple.com/us/artist/lia-menaker/938388191
Image Credits
Elijah Dreuitt (last “Sofar” photo)
Rachael Anne Photography (1st photo)