Presented by Goldenvoice: New Gold Standard
An Interview with Niina Soleil
You describe your music as cinematic. If your most recent release was a film, what's the opening scene?
If “Say It in My Skirt” was a movie, it’d be a Marilyn Monroe-style, campy screwball comedy like Some Like It Hot or How to Marry a Millionaire. Picture this: a dance hall filled with people chatting, dressed to the nines. The French doors swing open; a woman in a red dress bursts into the hall, click-clacking across the checkered floor towards the stage in the back where a dapper band awaits. She’d say something like “I’m here, boys!” and start to sing.
Your music often feels like it lives in the space between memories and dreams. Do your songs usually come from real moments, imagined ones, or somewhere in between?
I like to think that I spend most of my time in that space between memories and dreams. It makes sense to me that my music would reflect that. My music has always been the fusion of life experiences (mine and others) and my imaginings; I’m interested in singing stories that feel true.
If someone had never heard your music before, what's the one song you'd play first and why?
“Whiskey Valentine” gives people a sense of the romantic world my music comes from — it’s got storytelling, escape, fantasy. Doesn’t everyone fantasize about finding love in a dusty saloon?
If your artistic journey had chapter titles, what would the current chapter be called?
“Life & Times of a Wannabe Rockstar” of course.
Is there a song you've released that means something completely different to you now than it did when you wrote it?
“Lonely in Love” was a song I wrote inspired by keeping a new relationship a secret. But the more I sang it and the more life I lived, it morphed into a song about long distance love.
What's a musical "red flag" that secretly makes you more interested in collaborating with someone?
Oversharers. I love a fellow gabber.
What's one sound that instantly inspires you?
There’s something about that gorgeous cacophony of an orchestra tuning right before a concert that is singularly thrilling to me. It feels ancient, cosmic, primordial.
If your songs had scents, what would your latest project smell like?
Star jasmine, sea spray, diesel, sweat and smoke.
If your younger self could watch one moment from your career so far, which moment would make them lose their mind?
Probably the crowd in Mexico City chanting my name and shouting “¡Niina, hermana! Ya eres Mexicana!”
What's the most niche or oddly specific thing you're an expert in that has nothing to do with music?
I’ve been really into early human history and prehistory for the longest time!
What's one lyric you've written that still gives you goosebumps when you perform it?
When I perform “Life & Times of a Wannabe Rockstar” I always get chills when I sing the beginning of the last verse: “The blind are leading the blind / But the wind in your hair is a fairly good sign / We dig in the dark but we know what to find.”
What's your most-used emoji?
The heart is a classic. I also like sparkles. They feel like a poof of fairy dust and I think that’s my favorite way to end a sentence.
What’s your go-to karaoke song?
Did you ask me this because I’m Filipina???
