We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Mya Noél a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Mya, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. Can you talk to us about a project that’s meant a lot to you?

Storytelling is honestly one of my favorite things in the world. It is how we as human beings communicate, entertain, and learn. It is also a very diverse practice in the sense that it has many different forms. These being film, television, music, literature, etc… I am a firm believer in the idea that not all storytelling has to be factual and literal. It is perfectly okay to make stuff up at times, of course within reason. I am sure that we can all recount a movie or a song where the message was very profound and it moved us, whether we could relate to it or not. I can name countless titles that have deeply influenced and inspired me, for better or for worse. This is why I am so fond of projects that have intention behind them. Albums, where you can tell that the artist had a set message that they wanted to convey throughout the project, are my favorite albums by far. A couple of projects that I can name off the top of my head are “a tree planted by water” by Eryn Allen Kane, “Lemonade” by Beyoncé, “Heaux Tales” by Jazmine Sullivan, and “Mother” by Cleo Sol. These four projects have inspired me endlessly not just because they are exceptional bodies of work sonically but because each artist sought out to teach their audience something. To inspire. My dream is to make at least one body of work that inspires and entertains people as much as these projects have done for me. I am currently in the very early stages of creating my very first collective body of work and I am incredibly excited. I simply cannot wait to see it fully embodied and to see what it will mean to people. Being able to connect with people through the art that I make is one of the greatest gifts that I have ever received and I am excited to see where it will take me in this lifetime.

Mya, love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?

To start off my name is Mya Noél and I am singer/songwriter currently based in Durham, North Carolina. I have been making music for around three years now and I consider every moment that I get to create a privilege and a blessing. I was lucky enough to have a best friend who advocated for me when one of her coworkers mentioned that he and his producers were looking for female vocals. They were able to reach out to me via Instagram (@m.ya.n) and since then I have had the pleasure of releasing four songs that range from pop to alternative to samba to techno. I immensely enjoy experimenting and I am blessed to be able to work with such a talented and diverse producer, Mammalien Sound, who excels at nearly every genre. I am pretty proud to say that I haven’t limited myself to just one genre, although I am sure that someone could argue that my music falls under the vast “Pop” category, I would consider myself to be a genre-bender. I think that it is incredibly important to not force your art into a box when creating, it can be very stifling and counterproductive. Although I don’t have that many releases under my belt and I have yet to release a full project, I want audiences and future fans to see me as a free-formed artist who puts the craft first and who makes an honest effort to be sincere. I want everything that I do to come from a place of genuineness and I never want to devote my time to something that I am not passionate about.

What do you think is the goal or mission that drives your creative journey?

As a queer Black woman living in the south, one thing that I have always aspired to do with my art is what I feel was never done for me when I was growing up. When I was younger I never felt truly seen or like I could see myself in the media, within the stories that I would consume. It was very depressing. I felt like there wasn’t space for me, I still don’t to be honest. However, I know that through my art, through the stories that I create– I can make space for myself and other young women like myself. This is honestly all I have ever truly wanted, I feel like it is what I was put on this planet to do.

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

I feel like as a collective we could do a lot better at creating space for original bodies of work. I am honestly so tired of seeing remakes and hearing songs with the same recycled samples. Art is losing its identity and purpose. Every body of work should be unique, we shouldn’t seek to recreate someone else’s work, to me that defeats the purpose of creating at all.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://open.spotify.com/artist/4T8j7J6GnMnopg64esZXUN?si=oTSGop1gTIyjsV6RAhlNEA
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/m.ya.n/
• Other: https://soxoradio.com/mya-noel-musical-artist https://music.apple.com/us/artist/mya-no%C3%A9l/1611094315