LEAH NAWY – AN ARTIST SPOTLIGHT AND IN-DEPTH INTERVIEW
Photo credit: Stephanie Axelrod
By Ralph Beauchamp
Leah Nawy is a Taiwanese-American songwriter, producer and multi-instrumentalist who just released her shimmery new single entitled “Quicksand”. Leah Nawy crafts a sound that feel both fresh and totally original in scope. She builds her music with a careful attention to textured feel and layered soundscapes. Her music pairs an ethereal spirit with illuminating orchestrations. Leah Nawy has a background in classical music and theory and uses this expertise to create music that sets itself apart from the mainstream.
Vocally, her style is effervescent yet still down to earth. Nawy‘s voice rises and falls with an amazing dexterity that is utterly captivating. Lyrically, she is grounded in honest storytelling and emotional lucidity. Nawy fuses soulful vocal phrasing with delightful indie intonations in order to create an atmospheric tsunami. Her blending of electronic elements with live instrumentation is superb. She has the innate ability to construct music that feels mystical as well as alive and relatable.
Leah Nawy‘s new single, “Quicksand”, expands her sonic identity with a dynamic and evolving structure. It was written, arranged and produced by Nawy over a two year period. The track opens with a pulsating electronic bass and subdued verses before morphing into a fluorescent indie-rock carousel. Expanding on the track’s meaning and structure, inspired by artists like Alabama Shakes and WILLOW, Leah Nawy shares,
“Framed as a conversation between my present self and my younger self, the song reckons with how early mindsets and choices quietly shape where one ends up. The repeated refrain ‘run little girl’ functions as both a warning and a reflection, blurring the line between who I was and who I’m still becoming.”
Leah Nawy was kind enough to sit for this in-depth interview.
AMP: What usually sparks a song for you – lyrics, a moment or something else entirely?
LEAH: For me, I can be inspired to start a song from many different places. But the songs that usually take off into something more begin with the lyrics, with a few solid lines that feel good. Oftentimes, I don’t even fully understand what the song is about when it starts, I just like to follow the sentences, melody and chords where they want to go and refine it after.
AMP: Your songs feel very personal. Do you write more from lived experiences or observation?
LEAH: I do a mix of writing both from lived experiences and observation. Sometimes there are scenarios that haven’t exactly happened to me but have a strong emotional truth I can resonate with. I’m always writing from my own personal feelings and experiences through the stories I tell.
AMP: Which artists or songwriters had the biggest influence on your sound?
LEAH: When I was young and spending all my time in rock bands, Fleetwood Mac, Led Zeppelin, and Janis Joplin were huge influences on my songwriting and story crafting. As my sound evolves, I’ll always have my backing in live instrumentation because of this.
As I have gotten older and started producing, artists like Alabama Shakes, Saya Gray, and Japanese Breakfast have heavily influenced me in how to write and produce in imaginative ways. I also adore how they are able to tell stories that unfold as the songs unfold, and their rich sonic textures. I also just love badass women who are true musicians and artists.
AMP What role does collaboration have on your work?
LEAH: Collaboration to me is one of the most beautiful ways you can allow your song to grow and find itself. There are songs where I feel it’s right to let them marinate and play around in my own head for a long time before I want feedback, and there are other songs where the best part is not having it figured out yet and getting to bounce off others and find the way together. I am extremely grateful to get to have so many amazing creatives surrounding me where this is possible.
AMP: Your new single is “Quicksand”. Can you give us a little insight into the track?
LEAH: Yes! “Quicksand” began as an experiment, with me wanting to get away from the typical guitar and vocal acoustic feeling my songs begin with. It was one of the first songs where I began producing it while finishing the writing simultaneously. This allowed me to really find different angles for the song’s sonic world as I was finishing it, and make choices that wouldn’t have been possible otherwise. As for the story, it all stemmed from the first two lines surrounding a feeling of restlessness and dove deeper from there.
AMP: What has been the most challenging part of your journey as a musician?
LEAH: The most challenging part is probably the balance between being a professional performer and artist and just staying on top of the daily responsibilities of life! Being busy is a good problem to have. I am lucky enough to have a great blend of playing music and teaching music in my life along with my own artistry.
AMP: Do you approach studio recording differently than live performance?
LEAH: There are differences, but with the same end goal. In both the studio and in live performance, ultimately it’s about you and a group of people joining creative forces to create something whole and synchronized. I find in the studio you can spend a whole day just focusing on different tones for a singular instrument, you can get really nerdy about melodies and phrases. You can do take after take and play around on the same verse then pick your favorite.
Live music is exciting because it is all about what happens in the moment and the energy of everybody playing together. It’s a living thing that is a little different every single time you play the song – there is nothing like it!
AMP: What’s the most memorable reaction you’ve received from a listener?
LEAH: I recently had my first experience of a young girl recognizing me when I landed in Miami in December. It was absolutely surreal to just hear someone I’ve never met know my name! She and her dad came to speak to me, and it was so special.
AMP: What’s next for Leah Nawy?
LEAH: Next for me is going full force on finishing all the songs I have been working on and getting to put them out for people to hear! I want to keep playing bigger and better shows. And once the music is out there, I am most excited to get to work on new songs and start the process all over again. It’s really all about keeping the excitement to create and perform alive no matter what. Thank you so much for the questions!!
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