MARIELLA

Reflecting on past insecurities about her voice and song writing capabilities to now going full circle, connecting with people through her authentic lyrics. Mariella talks about her first memory recognising how music emotionally translates to an audience, to also looking at the use of social media in the industry. Go Slow by Mariella comes out on the 3rd of April!

What was the moment or experience that made you realise you wanted to share your music with others?

Music was always around me since I was really young, I always felt super connected to it. It sounds silly but it felt like quite a therapeutic experience. When I got older and started to sing a lot more, I think I just started exploring artists that I resonated with. I would say a pivotal moment for me was probably when I first heardLianne La Havas and her song ‘Lost & Found’. I remember feeling this sort of overwhelming emotion attached to it, that really affected me, and that’s something that I’ve always wanted to recreate with my songs. I’ve always been a sensitive & emotional person so connecting with other people through songs is almost like a shared language, this ability to have a human connection to someone you don’t even know.

I have had similar moments since then, connecting with a song or artist. But I think that that was where I really realised music can impact so profoundly. The music she was making was similar to what I wanted to do too, and seeing a soulful woman play guitar like that was so inspiring, so I started picking up guitar myself and learning to write, and yeah, the rest is history.

Alongside this were their specific challenges or self-doubts you had to overcome during this progress.

A lot, even still to this day and most artists will be the same. I would say in those pivotal years I had a lot of self-doubt with my voice to be honest. Because I was a bedroom singer, no one really knew I sang, I was just shy and always kind of have been. It’s funny because when I started to explore it I kind of just took a leap of faith. When I went to uni, I remember thinking my voice wasn’t special enough which made me try and sing like other people. Which is so funny to say now, I would kind of put on a bit of a twang which wasn’t natural. But I remember thinking my voice sounds no different to anyone else’s. Which is completely wrong because everybody has their own unique sound.

I would say coming to terms with my voice kind of came hand in hand with song writing because that was something I picked up a little later when I started learning guitar. When you write, you’re creating with this natural melody that just flows out of you, which correlates with how your voice sounds, where it wants to go and what range you have.

Your voice becomes unique because of the music you’re creating.

That’s exactly it, when I think of some of my favourite artists, all their songs sound like them because they are writing in their own style and embracing their authenticity. I definitely still go through ups and downs with song writing because I believe it is such a skill you need to refine. It’s like that with anything it takes a long time, creativity comes as and when it decides to.

As more and more artists are found through social media, do you see this as a tool for promotion, or do you also view it as a platform for meaningful interaction with an audience?

I would honestly say that Instagram is like a weird musician networking platform because I have met so many people on it. All the music I have out now is produced by the same person, who I met over Instagram. It’s so important to just immerse yourself in the work of other creatives, see who writes with who, produces with who, you realise how small the music world is.

Then TikTok is where I am connecting with new people who are really enjoying the music. People that are interacting with me aren’t going to necessarily already know or follow me, but it gives you that opportunity to reach new people. If you aren’t using these platforms to think about who you are as an artist and how you’re going to promote yourself, then how are you going to connect with new audiences? I think as a new artist you have to be quite vigilant. You have to be your own biggest fan; it’s going back to that self-doubt thing, I used to find that really hard to share anything about my music or who I was, I found it quite exposing, but at some point, you have to move past that.

How do you make your own space in this what may seem like a very overwhelming industry, especially now we see so much online, filled with up-and-coming and well-known artists?

My favourite artists are just super authentic to themselves, so I think that I just try and tap into that as much as possible. Especially now that I am starting to venture into this new community, they’re really helping me refine what it is that makes my music connect so much. The part of me I used to keep tucked away, is the thing that’s resonating with them. So I’m trying to lean into my own lane as much as possible and not think too much about what this or that person is doing in their career. Admittedly it can be overwhelming, so for me personally I just have to try and trust my gut, my instinct, and believe that what I am doing is connecting with people. Ultimately isn’t that just the end goal.

I think as well when you get to a place where you realise what you are doing now is giving you that fulfilment, you’re happy with whatever comes from there. People always say no matter what industry you’re in there is always going to be someone bigger and better, so you can’t keep chasing everything.

Exactly, people’s careers go up and down constantly so you can’t keep comparing yourself to someone else’s journey because it is never linear. That extra stress or anxiety ruins the process. 

Looking ahead, what are your long-term goals as an artist, how do you envision your relationship with your audience evolving over time?

I would say for me right now my long-term goals are to play more live shows, I’m just really getting into performing again. Singing live is really daunting for me, because you’re so exposed and I’m a bit of a perfectionist, so I’m always thinking about how my voice sounds. But hopefully seeing people come to shows from my small community I’ve begun to create will be such a special experience. Going to shows all the time was a big part of my formative years when I lived in Brighton, so I really want to capture that immersive feeling as the artist. 

I think that can be super important building that live audience because people expect their following to automatically sell out tickets when that just isn’t the case.

I think nurturing your audience is so important for that exact reason. So many artists with large fanbases don’t translate into a live audience. It’s about what space you want to create as well. For me that’s what I’m experiencing with my song ‘Go Slow’ that people have been connecting with on TikTok, now I’m starting to think about how this will sound live to emulate that feeling they’re having. It would be such a dream seeing people singing those words back to me and knowing that means something to them. The reaction has been such a crazy full circle moment for me, given those self-doubts I’ve experienced around whether my song writing is even good enough, so I’m really excited for this next chapter!

Follow Mariella on -

Instagram: @mariellaartist

TikTok: @mariellaartist 

Photography by -

Tanzy @gooddaysalbum