Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Nina. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.

Nina, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today Do you wish you had waited to pursue your creative career or do you wish you had started sooner?

If I could go back in time, I would have started much sooner. I think when I was younger my voice and self confidence was not yet fully developed, leading me down roads of self doubt which would always lead to my dream of being an artist fizzling out. I started singing when I was 7 years old, started writing my own music around 9 years old, and began recording my own music when I was 19. I didn’t release my own work until just this past year after I went through a major life shift personally. Career wise, I had just quit my full time job spontaneously. I was in no place to go for it, yet I am, and I continue to. I continue to have faith that eventually this will happen for me. I now have the self confidence I did not possess as a child. I now can say that I am giving this my all, and I can confidently say I am having the best time trying.

Nina, before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?

My name is Nina! I am a singer/songwriter from Winchester, VA now relocating to Texas who started singing when I was seven. I clearly remember sitting in my living room watching American Idol. “Big Black Horse and a Cherry Tree” had just been performed and I grabbed my notebook and started writing. I wanted to write a song that good, a song that I could sing that well to.
I started writing anything that came to my mind, most of my songs from that time period are drenched with childhood angst and learning how to become a teenager. In my teen years, my songs became more complex- leaning towards love angles and story webs that I began to weave together inspired by peers. When I went to college, I began to take it all in, and learned to write about others’ perspectives instead of just my own. That’s something most people might not know about me or my songwriting… that most of my songs are not about my personal situations. I take scenarios a friend could have gone through and can turn it into five songs if I wanted to. I started then to observe more than contribute. I started to observe everything I could… I knew there was something that could come out of it. Some song that could be written about it.
I started releasing my own work about seven months ago, and it has been one hell of a ride since. Having my own thoughts, or more so other’s stories released from my own perspective to the world is terrifying. It’s something I think about daily. Who is listening to me now? Do they know this song was inspired by them? Do they know what this is about?
I try to tell stories with my songs, but try to be mysterious in my songwriting at the same time. I never want to give too much away but want to give enough for the listener to portray their own meaning.
I’m proud of how much I have grown in the past seven months. When I first started writing music, I never imagined releasing my lyrics eventually for others to listen to. I am so proud of the fact that it is shared with the world, and cannot wait to release more for you all.

We often hear about learning lessons – but just as important is unlearning lessons. Have you ever had to unlearn a lesson?

A lesson I had to unlearn in this process of becoming a creative is learning that it all has to be done on my own. I think we learn it is necessary to ask for help, to ask for other’s opinions and to crave other’s approval. When starting out in this industry… approval is the last thing you will get first hand. Nobody will make this happen for yourself if you do not start on your own. I have now learned to not wait on others with what I want and to take my own growth and music into my own hands. That is something that I try to stay true to, relying on myself and myself only. I believe now that relying on others only sets me up for disappointment.

Have you ever had to pivot?

I’ve pivoted many times in my career, and never have really stayed true to a certain path throughout my life. I was initially going down the path of a historian, which led me to becoming an avid writer and reader. I then pivoted to work in finance in New York City, and had to pivot back to square one after that due to Covid-19. I then turned to the medical field, becoming inspired by learning and the human body. The largest pivot in my life occurred after having my daughter, when becoming a mother made my entire life turn upside down for the better. I became inspired, confident, began singing again. I became so confident in my writing, ability to tell a story in my songs, and my voice that I began releasing my music. I now have pivoted to a singer, an artist, a creative, and so much more. I am the most confident I have ever been and can honestly say I am having a blast doing this.

Contact Info:

• Instagram: @_nina_records
• Other: TikTok: @__ninaaaaaaaaa

Image Credits

Kaitlyn Bridger, Kelly Spaine Photography