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

NOVA ONE, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. Have you been able to earn a full-time living from your creative work? If so, can you walk us through your journey and how you made it happen? Was it like that from day one? If not, what were some of the major steps and milestones and do you think you could have sped up the process somehow knowing what you know now?

I’m currently a full time musician and feel really fortunate and privileged to be able to make a decent living from my art. It’s taken a lot of years and trial and error to get here. At the moment, I tour professionally with my band NOVA ONE and I also teach private piano and songwriting lessons. I love touring but it’s extremely expensive in this economy so having the opportunity to teach has been wonderful. I feel lucky to have so many amazing students who also are okay with me hitting the road with my band. If I had the chance to go back, I don’t know that I would have changed anything to speed up the process. The music industry changes so fast these days and it looked so so different when I first started. Streaming barely existed just yet!

Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.

Nova One makes lush, dreamy music that celebrates and centers vulnerability, self-love, self-expression, and queer futurity. We are a Providence, RI -based band and we just released our newest LP, create myself (Community Records). In this project, I often write about celebrating self-acceptance, becoming, and inviting each of us to find our own voices and see ourselves with compassion and love. We all dress in identical costumes, a sort of drag which features a bob wig, tights and high heels. It’s to dress up every night, it feels like Halloween.

What do you find most rewarding about being a creative?

I think a driving force for me is being able to connect with other people through my music. We recently went on a US tour opening for our buddy’s in the band Boyscott and we got to play a bunch of all ages venues. At several shows, we had young people come up to our merch table and tell us that they were attending their very first concert. What an honor for us! I also frequently speak about queerness in our music and it was exciting to see so many young queer people at our shows.

What can society do to ensure an environment that’s helpful to artists and creatives?

I wish there was more general funding for artists and creatives to make their work. I went to a public middle school in Providence growing up and I saw the state defund the arts programs first hand. I wish more people would understand the importance of the arts especially for young people finding their voice in this wild world. I would love to see our world at a place where society understands the importance of people having creative outlets. Creativity can be an amazing space for people to be their authentic selves, share their feelings, and process the many things we deal with in our day to day lives.

Contact Info:

• Website: http://www.ilovenovaone.com
• Instagram: http://www.instagram.com/novaone_
• Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/novaonenovaone
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@NOVAONENOVAONE

Image Credits
Sword photo by Maurisa Mackey Film photo in leather Leiyana Simone Peach wig photos press photos Brittanny Taylor