Heart of the Week: Vol. 2
Our Heart of The Week Ness Heads this week comes to us from LA, by way of Chicago, and is a refreshing voice we all deserve to listen to. Her sound invokes a level of cool akin to artists like The Weeknd & 6lack, with a hint of that classic Kanye swagger. Ness has been paving the way for other queer artists and plans to steer that road into web3 music. We need more people like Ness Heads in this space, and that means web3 and the music industry at-large. With that said, we are happy to have had our community manager Dan / muzzybearr sit down with Ness for a chat with our Heart of the Week #2.
Hi Vanessa! First things first: How is everything going?
Everything’s going great, the beginning of this year has brought a lot of inspiration/motivation. It’s been an exciting time so far.
I know you moved from Chicago to LA, how long ago was that move? Do you enjoy living in LA?
The move was very long and got a little dangerous at one point. I drove so the move was somewhat long. Took me about a day and a half to drive my car from Chicago to LA. Had it stuffed to the ceiling with my stuff -__- And I go back and forth on if I love LA yet haha I feel lonely here that’s for sure and I hardly leave my house so it’s been hard to meet people. Finally getting in sessions with other artists though so that’s been helping me get out of my bubble and has shown me the amount of creativity LA has to offer. So for that, I love it. Plus 70 degree “winter” weather beats -10 degrees.
Have you found that a change of scenery has affected your creativity?
Change of scenery has 100% changed my creativity. If you listen to my first project Numb (made in Chicago) vs. Ghosts On Lubao (made in California) you can hear clearly how the move changed my art a little. California has allowed me to stay inspired, that’s for sure. I couldn’t be more grateful for that.
When did you first start getting into making music?
I started making little joke raps and messing around on beats when I was in middle school. Then dabbled in high school, but didn’t start taking it super seriously until 2018/2019? I’ve always had love for it though and for that reason I’ve been involved with music since I was a kid.
Who were some of your early influences?
Lil Wayne was a huge inspiration growing up, his play on words has always blown my mind. Being from Chicago, I LOVE me some Kanye (and still do). The Weeknd as well, I remember my first time hearing House of Balloons blowing my mind.
Has your sound changed much since the early days? What got you to where you’re at now, musically?
My sound has changed sooooo much since the early days. Don’t get me wrong I can still tap into that sound, but the more confident I’ve gotten with music through studying and practice, the more I’ve let myself experiment with my voice and what I’m doing. I would say consistent studying and practice has gotten me to where I’m at. Feel like that feeds my creativity and motivation.
I know you mentioned coming out as part of your artistic journey, care to speak to that?
I guess growing up I felt like I always had to suppress my feelings towards love interests bc “it was wrong” to be gay, so I spent so many years not feeling my emotions. Music has given me an outlet to be real with myself and vomit my real emotions out. So to answer your question, having had to suppress my feelings for so many years has turned into the need to bring all that emotion into my music which is why it’s so moody.
That’s fire! I know for me it always feels out of place singing along with songs that don’t feel like they’re “for us”…
I was gonna say that too! I hated not having music I could relate to and having to sing the male part of songs, never felt right. But singing a woman’s part to a male never felt right either so I’m happy I get to create music for that young queer “me” that’s looking for a place to feel understood.
Do you have any big plans for the future? When is your next release?
I dooo! I’ll be performing at SXSW and I’m getting ready to drop a new project called Junkyard Hearts Vol. 1 that consists of 7 tracks. Plus I will have visuals accompany each drop with little NFT’s
How has your process changed since joining Web3? Has The Heart Project added new inspiration?
The NFT space is already changing my process. As I mentioned, I became crazy introverted since we’ve been dealing with Covid, and it’s been difficult for me to get out and book sessions. After joining The Heart Project and ya’ll sharing me as Heart of the Week, I connected with a ton of artists/producers that want to collab. I’m already seeing how it really is a community made for artists to collaborate. Had my first collar with another fellow heart holder and I’m beyond grateful for the heart project for connecting us. Think I found another amazing producer to add to my circle.
Any plans to release music NFTs?
Yes!!! I’m in the middle of creating a nft project right now, currently figuring out the roadmap. It’s so crazy because I started working on my new project at the beginning of this year and I titled it, Junkyard Hearts. When I was telling my producer about it and also telling him how I wanted to get into the NFT space more, he suggested looking into the Heart Project. After reading into it, and the coincidence of working on a project about hearts, it was a no brainer. I’ll be dropping the first NFT in the next few weeks!
How do you see Ness Heads existing in web3 and growing in the space? There is so much opportunity for someone with your talents!
I see myself creating a tight knit community with my fans/supporters and using it as a way to connect with people more. Web3 almost breaks down any ego people have and allows for more of an open environment so I’m looking to grow my fanbase in this environment bc those are the type of people I’m looking for! Plus I’d love to reward them with splits to my future songs, sneak drops, studio sessions, etc.
Anything else you’d like to shout out or hype up?
My NFT project is going to allow people to have a part/stake in my career at an early stage. Follow me on instagram or twitter to stay updated so you don’t miss out on new music and new NFTs drop!
