We were lucky to catch up with Melody Nowakowsky recently and have shared our conversation below.

Alright, Melody thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. It’s always helpful to hear about times when someone’s had to take a risk – how did they think through the decision, why did they take the risk, and what ended up happening. We’d love to hear about a risk you’ve taken.

A risk I have taken is pursuing a creative career at my age, especially because I learned many of my skills independently. I’m a high school student, so I have to do all my studying at the same time as rehearsal, booking, and everything else! I work with a small production company, but it isn’t like a major record label, so I have to be my own manager or producer. Just some of the things I have done as my own staff are booking management, social media management, songwriting (including the composition and lyrics), music production, choreography, merchandise production, photography, videography…
Another part of the “risk” is the steps taken to learn all of it, which also takes up a lot of my time. I have over a decade of experience in singing, but dancing is also part of my job, so I had to learn choreography and all about dance, which I haven’t been doing for as long. I also spend some time researching the industry to help give me ideas of what to do with my own work.
I’m really early into my career, but I think it all works out! I’m going to do everything I can to make my creative job work for my whole life. It’s what I always dreamed of.

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 work in the idol industry, specifically the overseas idol industry. Overseas idols can be described as “idols who perform internationally”. It is still a very niche subculture, but all of us performers are working to expand the scene. The performance style of overseas idols ranging from the music, dance, and stage costumes is largely inspired by Japanese pop music.
An idol’s dream is to spread happiness with the power of performing and music. However, part of what sets me apart from the rest of the scene is the music itself. Idol performers in groups or as soloists put a lot of work into stage presence and performance, which I do to, but I prioritise the music too. I write all of my music including the lyrics to express my own thoughts and feelings in the form of a song!
Another thing that sets me apart is professionalism. Many overseas idols are hobbyists, but I put a lot of investment in my time and money into my career because it’s so important to me. I hope it can be my career for the rest of my life.
An important thing I want fans and readers to know about me is how much I love my work and the different parts of it! I love music, and I’m always willing to try listening to different music, even though my own songs could be considered as pretty alternative. I love learning new things every day, and getting to meet people who have the same dream, and the fans who want to see me succeed. I love dancing and making promotional art and photos, and I love the business side of my job too. Working with organisers and programming staff to find performance opportunities and working out how to make it go as perfect as I can is so fun and it makes me feel so professional!

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

Creative artists should be taken more seriously! Many people are quick to dismiss someone’s work because it doesn’t personally appeal to them. After all, art is art, so some people will love it and some people won’t. But just because you don’t find something appealing doesn’t mean it doesn’t have value or other people wouldn’t pay for it. Some companies might take advantage of creatives, especially us musicians by offering a performance opportunity without any kind of financial compensation. In that kind of situation, any other type of worker would probably be fairly paid/ The truth is that music artists’ work has value, even if they work with a smaller subculture like mine.

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

The most rewarding part is the direct response from people supporting me! It’s really nice for people to say kind things to me on social media, but it’s so different seeing it in person. I live in a remote area in Canada so couldn’t have many in person performances with the people who like my music. However, I recently started performing in Vancouver where there’s a bigger audience and when I performed at an event in the area, people were cheering so loudly for me and lots of people stopped by my merchandise table! This is definitely the most rewarding part and also one of the most fun parts.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://melodyidol.com
• Instagram: melodynowa
• Linkedin: Melody Nowakowsky
• Twitter: melodynowa
• Youtube: melodynowakowsky
• Soundcloud: Melody Nowakowsky
• Other: TikTok: melody.nowa

Image Credits

Studio photos: @2460photo on Instagram