An Exclusive Interview With A Rising Star - Bella Renee

With over 30 million Spotify streams, how do you balance creative experimentation with maintaining a sound that resonates with a wide audience?

I really don’t think too much. I think that is where a lot of artist can mess up or confuse their authenticity. When I write music I DO NOT think of a formula, or how its going to be digested, I know, because I have really done a lot of inner work and reflection on myself as an artist and human that I am meant to just share my personal human experiences to the most honest vulnerable extent in my lyricism, and that is my special spark. People are going to resonate because we are all connected, on a deep spiritual level, we are all the universe experiencing itself and each other. Its beautiful to think that the only true perception of the universe we have is our own. Its so interesting that as humans, with music, we piece together our own stories/perceptions and how it relates to what we have lived through. Art is sooo subjective and who am I tp try to balance innovation & digestibility? I cannot control how my audience resonates, I can only be as honest and the most me I can be, and I believe that is what “maintaining my sound” means to me. I have been really trying to work with other artists who do let that authenticity shine through, the second you try to formulate a song, it ends up stripped of its sparkle.

Can you share the story behind one of your favorite tracks and the emotional journey that led to its creation?

My recent new track with Emorfik, Face Myself, has got to be the most heartfelt, meaningful project I have been apart of. This year has been the most transformative and eye opening years of my life. I was really forced to sit with myself and accept who I am. I can say my whole life up until now, it felt like I was chasing this other version of me that didn’t exist. I was running away from parts of myself that I was supposed to learn to love. Constantly finding myself in these feelings of confusion in my identity, and I realized that I FAR TOO MUCH, let other people or outside validation determine my self worth. Subconsciously I was letting outside perceptions affect me more than I like to admit, even down to physically manifesting anxiety in my nervous system I mean I was seriously just so stuck in a liminal space between acceptance and evolution. Face Myself is this message of taking my damn power back, realizing my true purpose as an alchemist of pain and human experience, I am a poet, a human being, a soul finding its way, and a light worker meant to heal this world. “Through the skies, the light pours in, despite the fall I’m reborn again.” These lyrics felt like they came to me through a higher place, a higher self that has healed, the truly just came to me as I was writing it. I lost a lot of my old life this year. This song is a beautiful way of saying I accept it.

You’ve had an incredible journey from being a cook at Pizza Hut to becoming a rising star in the music industry. How has your past shaped your work ethic and creative drive in your music career today?

I grew up an athlete, I played travel softball and tried just about every sport. I really believe that my work ethic stems from those experiences of being an athlete. That hustle mentality seriously shaped me into who I am today. My parents have always raised me to be a very driven person and strive to just be the best I know I can be. It was instilled in me at a very young age that your best can always keep getting better. Playing softball was such a character building experience. I was bullied pretty badly on just about every team I was on, no matter what my dad just pushed me to stay level headed and prove myself on the field. I still carry that with me every single day and it’s allowed me to have this very entrepreneur leader mindset through my worst days. In adult hood, I really just have always told myself I will do whatever it takes to be who I wanna be. It didn’t matter what job I worked or what obstacles are thrown my way, my eyes have always been on my purpose, and I think it’s beautiful to recognize that characteristic as a strong work ethic. My creative drive is driven through keeping my inner child alive. I really look back to who I was as a kid and I still feel that sparkle, I lost it for a while, but it is back and I think that is the magic that keeps me creative.

You’ve performed at major festivals like EDC and Beyond Wonderland. How do these live experiences influence your studio work?

I’m not sure if it influences my studio work as much as it just influences me as a person. I am always thinking about the impact just feeling thousands and thousands of peoples energy to the art that you have created has had on me. I’m grateful for the memories I have of people singing my words with me. There is something really beautiful about being able to see and experience something like that. it’s rare and I am constantly thinking about how my music that I’ve created is going to feel in a moment like that I think it’s important to have these times where we sit and celebrate those feelings because that’s how we can manifest more of it. I really believe in the power of manifestation and being grateful and celebrating your life.

Mental health is a key theme in your music and advocacy. How has your personal journey with mental health shaped your artistry?

I’ve had quite a few interviews of mine really go in depth of the actual experiences that shaped my calling to advocate for mental health. But I really just want to say that I strongly believe music and mental health go hand-in-hand. I firsthand have had experiences with music therapy and using creative outlets to cope. I think it’s important to have a lifeline you can turn to release energy. The human experience is driven by emotion, & music has a way of bringing that out in a really beautiful and healing way. I think I push so much for mental health advocacy & being vulnerable with my experiences because we as human have a lot more power over our perception of life than we think we do. I think that many times in the past, I just accepted where my emotions led me to feel instead of digging deeper and doing everything I can to heal myself and grow from within. I really know that I have been through what I have to be an example of somebody who can persevere through those feelings of giving up. Now I’m grateful to be alive every day I wake up, there was a time I used to go to sleep and wish to not. Through music, creative outlets and inner healing I am here today.

Your latest releases explore the depths of emotion and human experience. Can you discuss how your life experiences have influenced your latest tracks?

I would say that my life experiences are constantly influencing my music. What I live through, I write and share through my music. I would say I’m able to get so deep and honest in a very artistic way and I’m grateful for that lyrical ability, I used to write a lot of lyrics growing up of my favorite songs in my journals because I didn’t really have the Internet to google lyrics, I think it really gave me an ear and idea of how songs are structured young age. Now I am writing my own words in my notepad on my phone. I think it’s cool to look at and get a perspective from an artist of poems or lyrics I’ve written. I have a big bank of just song starters or short phrases or poems or even words that could spark a song. I’m pulling from my own creative bank from my life experiences and I think that is my special way of how I write music.

What’s your process for developing a new track from an initial idea to a fully produced song?

Like I mentioned before I have a big creative bank in my phone I pull from but also, my process is always changing. I feel this like almost lightning bolt go off in my heart and my brain and I call that the songwriting itch. I usually start with some sort of synth or piano, & I just start to really be present with how I’m feeling and the words that come to my brain. I just kind of let it come to me and the more I practice this the more that I am able to be creative almost instantly get ideas for that purpose because I don’t have to really chase that creative spark it just is always there. Somehow the words always rhyme, they always piece together into message that even I needed to hear. It’s so spiritual every time.

How do you manage the creative burnout that can come with constant production and performance schedules?

I really don’t get creative burnout, I don’t really get writers block either. I think I have shaped my brain to understand and pick up on signs that I need rest. And rest doesn’t mean that I am blocked or burnt out. Rest means that I am healing, rest means I need grounding, I am regenerating my energy and that is a really crucial part of being an artist. I definitely have dealt with feeling uninspired by the constant “chase” towards something else but the older I get the more I just appreciate where I am at and I think that’s help me live in a very neutral and celebratory state of how far I’ve come. If you look at it as a negative thing, then it will be but it’s just part of being human and rest is important. I am not just here to work I am here to be human.

Your music often transports listeners to another world. What influences, outside of music, help you craft these immersive soundscapes?

The influences outside of music that help me create such immersive experiences with my music come from genuinely paying attention to existing. I feel like there was a time I was living on auto pilot, almost like living in a simulation that I wasn’t in control of. Being able to be present in my body, experience my senses, meet and learn to understand other people, see the world the way it is, I can really just be more human and that just somehow gets magically woven into the music I make. The more present, we are, the more meaningful our art becomes. I like to read a lot of books that touch on being a spiritual being and just the conscious awareness of existence. I’m just grateful to be alive.

What advice would you give to emerging artists who are trying to carve out their own unique sound in the crowded EDM landscape?

There is going to be a lot of people that will tell you how it needs to be done, how it needs to be written, how it needs to be structured, how it needs to be presented, how it needs to sound and look and feel. But these people aren’t you and that is your magic. Be willing to learn but be very careful in changing your first intuitive creative decisions, music is meant to be innovative and I really just see a lot of copy and pasted formulas in this industry. To be legendary, you must dare to be different. You were already born different. So you’re already there you just have to be yourself no matter WHAT. There are people seeking salvation in the unique ideas you have, don’t water them down.

Looking ahead, what are your goals for the future, both musically and in terms of your advocacy work?

Looking ahead towards my short term and long-term goals I have so many little milestones that I always keep in mind. I have a vision board hung up in my room of very in-depth manifestations and goals to reach. Some of my more obvious goals are of course, traveling the world and sharing my music, healing people city by city, and seeing how being yourself can really touch the world. I want to make my younger self proud. I really really want to show my family and my friends and the people around me what perseverance actually means. I want to continue to be my authentic self, no matter what caliber that has to be in. I want to never give up. And you know maybe one day I can start a foundation that pushes and supports people to turn to creative outlets in times of distress. I think the world needs more artists and more people to push others to join the healing collective of artists in this world.