Let's Take A Walk

Written By: Alisyn Re

Journalist

Columbus, Ohio- Ever since she was a little girl, she knew what her purpose was. Singing has always been an outlet for her but it wasn’t until later on that she found out that she loved songwriting. As she grew up, she found love in writing poetry. The different stories that you tell through poetry which can be told through music are just beautiful. She knew she wanted to do this as a career choice. After she graduated school, she went on to attend the number 1 HBCU in the country, Spelman College. She’s an English major with a minor in writing.

Who is Nena Hayes?

“I would like to describe myself as a writer of all sorts. I usually write in every realm. I write my own music, so I would consider myself a lyricist. I’m a poet. I also love to read, more specifically narrative books. Journaling is something that I do on a daily basis too. I’m a musician too! I’m a filmmaker and a visualist. I like to make films for music and things of that nature.”

How did you get started in music?

“There isn’t any specific moment where I got into music, it’s always been a part of me. I remember when I was younger, my parents bought me a baby grand piano. I remember my dad telling my mom that he hoped one of us got into playing the piano. My parents always tell me how I walked up to the piano one day and just started playing. Usually, children that age bash the keys and just play around with them but I wanted to actually make music. I remember my parents put my brother into piano classes but I couldn’t because I was too young. So, when he came back home from his lessons; I would take his books and learn to play by myself. After my parents saw that, they put me into piano classes. All throughout my life I’ve been surrounded by nothing but music. I was in an orchestra, a choir, a Japanese drum group, band, etc. Music has just always been a huge part of my life.”

What influenced you to start writing and singing?

“This is really interesting because I didn’t really take it seriously until I got to college. As I’ve stated previously, music has always been a part of my life. I used to write here and there but when I got to college I just started taking it seriously. During Covid, I spent a lot of time on Tiktok because I was bored. In doing so, I saw everybody post their music from their rooms. That inspired me to start making and posting my music. Once I started posting my music, I got a lot of feedback. In the summer of 2021, I got into the studio and started taking it more seriously. While in the studio I made my first EP. This has been a journey and it still is a journey especially because I’m still coming into who I am as a person.”

Who inspired you to make music?

“A lot of my family on my dad’s side are really into music. There are a lot of musicians in the family as well! Growing up and being surrounded by music and family that’s into music pushed me to go that route even more. My uncle, who’s a pianist, would always be playing his piano and he was always so passionate about it. He’s one of my biggest inspirations.”

Tell me about your writing process

“My process is pretty chaotic and impulsive. I could never pick a day and dedicate it to writing. My best pieces usually come to me when I just allow myself to feel whatever I’m feeling at that moment. It has to be authentic, real, and raw. A lot of the time I sit down with my guitar or at the piano and I’ll just start playing around with chords. As I’m playing, the music moves through me and I just start to sing until I get a song. Sometimes I think of a line and work with that line until it becomes a song. And sometimes I work with a theme in order to come up with a song. But, overall I really don’t have a set writing process.”

Who are your biggest inspirations?

“I have so many inspirations! I love Omar Apollo, Sarah Kinsley, and a lot of black indie artists. What I feel when I hear their music, I want people to feel when they hear my music. I have so many but those are some of the main ones.”

Which artists would you like to collaborate with in the future?

“Hozier is someone I would love to work with. He creates music that has a woodland, forest-like feel to it. As well as Janelle Monae, I would love to work with her in the future. She has an amazing range!”

What has been your greatest accomplishment so far?

“My greatest accomplishment would have to be releasing my EP. It was very scary for me to release something as big as this to the world because that was the very first thing to ever have been released by me on my own. It’s terrifying to be vulnerable in front of the whole world and have them know about it. It’s one thing to write a song about how you feel and keep it to yourself but it’s another to be sad and have the whole world know about it. I didn’t know how much positive feedback I would’ve received. Instead of people shaming me for being sad, they related to the song. It’s just an incredible feeling to be able to help someone that’s going through something.”

What’s a message you want the listeners to gain from your music?

“I want them to know that it’s ok to feel emotions. A lot of the time people tend to bottle things up because we feel that we would be a burden to society if we decided to express our emotions. At the end of the day, feel what you feel. You are human, you have emotions, and it’s ok to acknowledge those emotions.”

How would you describe your music?

“I’m an indie artist! I also write in all genres of music. I would also say my music is very inspired by folk music.”

Where can we reach you and/or just follow you on your journey?

“You can follow me on Instagram, YouTube, and all streaming platforms at Nena Hayes.”

“Push yourself to see how vulnerable you can get. The more vulnerable you are, the more of an authentic product you’re going to get. You’ll also get a lot more experience which in return makes the writing process easier for you. Go outside, travel, cloud watch, people watch, etc. There’s so much to soak in, and when you do everything else becomes easier to navigate with.”- Nena Hayes