We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Natalia Rueda. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Natalia below.
Natalia, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. If you could go back in time do you wish you had started your creative career sooner or later?
Very particular question that I have actually asked myself before. I started learning and doing music in my home country, Colombia, from a young age, just 7 years old. It started with latin percussion and it escalated from there. I was always involved in school bands; I was part of the Caribbean folklore ensemble in middle school and part of the Latin Jazz in high school, gaining academic recognition given my development in music. Once high school graduation hit, I decided to try something different and signed myself up for Film School, but music has a special place in my life, to the point that music itself claims its space if I ever take too much distance haha. After graduating film school I was selected to receive a 50% scholarship at EMMAT, which is the only Colombian school part of the prestigious Berklee College of Music’s Global Network. By this point in my life I hadn’t truly pursued music as a career; I had always looked at it as a hobby, something to enjoy. But being in music school allowed me to connect with new colleagues and start creating music projects together. I started creating, producing, managing and building projects from the ground up: I co-founded a recording studio and formed a music duo, all while also doing these things for other upcoming artists in the Colombian independent scene. Here’s why this question particularly resonates in my story: I started young, I just didn’t go through a path where I wanted to network or make money off of it, I was just enjoying myself. I sometimes think could’ve started “earlier”, had I taken a more “professional” approach, nonetheless, I recognize now that the timing was perfect– Things needed to brew and mature before I started to ‘walk the walk’.
Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers.
Well, hey everyone! My name is Natalia Rueda and I am an artist and production manager working in the music industry. I first got my foot into this world when I co-founded Memophonic Studio, a recording studio in Bogota, Colombia. Simultaneously, I co-formed a music duo called Monía. After 5 years, both projects were amicably dissolved as I moved to the US to pursue a degree in Music Business. Being in Miami has opened new doors for me as I now specialize in creative development and production management for artists. Currently, I’m part of the managerial and creative team for Velaviee, a promising rising star, based in Miami, that’s releasing her debut album in 2025 after a very positive end of her 2024: 4 singles released and a staggering 800k combined listens accross all platforms. I am also part of the managerial team for the 2023 Best New Artist Latin GRAMMY winner, Joaquina. With Joaquina, we’re also working on the very much expected release of her debut album, all while also establishing her as one of the biggest latin singer-songwriter acts to watch out for.
I think the main key to working in such positions and projects, is to never part ways with your creative side. Even though artist management can be more of a logistical task, creative solutions and an open perspective have proven to be infallible. This is what has allowed me to create my own space within this industry– always think outside of the box. This is both what sets me apart and what I’m most proud of in this current stage in my career.
Learning and unlearning are both critical parts of growth – can you share a story of a time when you had to unlearn a lesson?
Ooff the biggest one is to let things go. When you are an artist, you have a never-ending conciousness that, as time goes by, you’ll get better at your craft. Although it is lovely to know that your abilities will mature over time, it can also be a double-edged sword as you keep pushing yourself to be better and maybe overthinking some otherwise very simple decisions; specially when you’re sharing your craft with the world. When I first started releasing music on my own I took too long to decide a release date or if my makeup should be lighter for the photoshoot I was about to be in. Looking back on it, I wouldn’t twist my head too much over those things, it takes time away from the craft.
In your view, what can society to do to best support artists, creatives and a thriving creative ecosystem?
Artists thrive when there’s an involved audience. Be curious, explore new artists on platforms, go listen to live music in your local venues. Curiosity is an investigative task, I’m counting on us to rise up to the challenge. Some of it is also on how the system is setup and how artists get rewarded or gain recognition. But I honestly believe it has to do with the way we discover music. Right now we’re all very used to having well-rounded platforms with everything on it, but very little ways to explore new things. If we let ourselves be more curious about what we want to listen, it already serves the solution.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://linktr.ee/natrueda?fbclid=PAZXh0bgNhZW0CMTEAAaacBtbjfTF6Y66EXob6enuYHdhPJuA4Cq9nmSPmQ9o4kPc3DF7Dk8S6zEo_aem_-WCO4Qbhta0mznoBL4GERw
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/natrueda_/
