Interview with Netta

Hello! It's Adam welcome back to bringing it backwards... A Podcast where both legendary and rising artists tell their own personal stories of how they achieve stardom. On this episode, we had a chance to hang out with Netta over zoom. Video Netta was born in Israel, but she moved from Israel to Nigeria. When she was like three months old, she lived in Nigeria till about seven, and that's where she got into music. Her parents moved there for work. She was in a very, very, very small class where they learned different languages using music. She moved back to Israel where she joined a choir and afterschool choir. 2 (1m 8s): She talked about attending college for music, ended up dropping out after the first year, but she met her producer at this time and started writing songs of her own. She was on a television show, which she won, and that also led her since she won the television show. If you won that, you're automatically the national selection for the Euro vision for Israel. So she goes into Euro vision. She talks about that and wins it. One of four people ever from Israel to win Euro vision. She won it with a song called toy. She tells us about that experience. And we talk a lot about nails, her new songs called. I love my nails. 2 (1m 49s): She is really deep on how much research she did for this song about nails, where they started, where they came from. She ends up finding these women from New Jersey that have these really long nails. And she talks to them and even uses their nails in the song like scraping their nails. I guess Dolly Parton did the same thing, which is I had all this stuff. I never knew. I would never even think to look up about nails. And so learned a whole lot from Netta and the amazing career she's had. And she also talks to us about signing with S-curve and a new full album she has coming up. You can watch the interview with Netta on our Facebook page and YouTube channel at bringing it backwards. It would be awesome if you subscribe to our channel like us on Facebook and follow us on Instagram, Twitter, and Tik TOK at bringing back pod. 2 (2m 37s): And if you're listening to this on Spotify, apple music, Google podcasts, it would be amazing if you follow us there as well, and hook us up with a five-star review. 3 (2m 46s): We'd appreciate your support. If you follow and subscribe to our podcasts, wherever you listen to podcasts, 2 (2m 52s): We're bringing it backwards with Metta. 0 (2m 55s): Hey, 2 (2m 56s): Hey Netta. How are you? 0 (2m 58s): I'm fine. How are you? 2 (2m 59s): I am fantastic. I appreciate you doing this. 0 (3m 2s): I appreciate you having me for you. Wow. 2 (3m 8s): What time is it for you? 0 (3m 10s): Dark 2 (3m 11s): A dark time. 0 (3m 13s): A dark time in the 2 (3m 15s): PM. 0 (3m 16s): It's a 10 30, 10 30. 2 (3m 19s): Well, I appreciate you staying up for this. 0 (3m 22s): I'm a musician. It's kind of natural now. 2 (3m 25s): Okay. But don't disappoint. I love your shirt by the way. 0 (3m 32s): Thank you so much. I just got it in an anime festival. 2 (3m 36s): Oh really? 0 (3m 38s): Yeah. It was purple. So cute. I have like friends that are obsessed with that with anime and manga and, and I'm very supportive. So I go with them, buy everything. Cool. 2 (3m 51s): That is cool. I love the art. I have a shirt similar, but the eyes are looking right instead of straight forward. Yeah. And I feel it too. I was going to wear it, which is, would have been really weird if we were both wearing the same exact T or ish t-shirt 0 (4m 7s): It would have been epic. I'm not the kind of girl that is intimidated by that. 2 (4m 13s): Yours is better than mine. I would give it to you. Should I go change? I just kidding. Well, again, I appreciate you doing this. My name is Adam. If I didn't say it earlier, and this is about you and your journey in music. And of course, we'll talk about the new record as well, 0 (4m 34s): By the way. Can you hear me? Good? 2 (4m 37s): Sounds great. 0 (4m 38s): Good. 2 (4m 39s): Cool. 0 (4m 40s): Considering the, the, the iPad sound. 2 (4m 44s): Oh, it sounds great. 0 (4m 47s): Good. 2 (4m 47s): Yeah. Sounds great. And you're clear across the world for me. I believe 0 (4m 53s): Isn't technology. Great. 2 (4m 55s): It's insane. It's really insane. Are you in Israel now? 0 (4m 58s): I am right now in Jaffa, which is an ancient, the ancient side of Tel-Aviv. Like I live in like a very old house, which has like this beautiful arches. It's like a hundred year old and I am living the dream. 2 (5m 20s): That is amazing. That is so cool. I've never been to Israel, but I've always wanted to go. A friend of mine goes pretty often and he was like, dude, you need to go. It's so incredible. And like, yeah, 0 (5m 34s): It's real is magic. It is magic. I I'm always sworn, you know, living, living here and, and pursuing my music worldwide, like working with, with so many people everywhere. It's like, it seems like I'm creating music in English. And over here, the language they speak is Hebrew. We speak. So, so it's, it's, it has a lot of difficulties to, to pursue, for example, us doing this interview in 10 30, which is way fast, healthy, bad time for me. 0 (6m 23s): But eh, but I couldn't give up living here. And maybe in years, there's something here in the vibe and the magic and that is that we can take any everyday for granted. It's like, it's, it's so difficult living here, but it's also magic. It's magic. The food is unbelievable. Everywhere else is just mediocre. And, and I am in love with the people here. They, they don't understand my music much, but I am in love with the people here. 2 (7m 4s): Oh, oh sure. Cause it's all in English. So how long have you been writing in English? Is that something you've done since the beginning 0 (7m 15s): Is interesting. So to talk about it, actually, I I'm actually not a, until a very, a very, very late stage in my career. I wasn't a songwriter. I was, I wasn't, I was improvising in English. I was a house singer in a bar blues and I was, was paid with beer and I was eating out of people's plates, what I was singing and I was doing cover right, without understanding what I was doing. 0 (7m 55s): And I was improvising in English. It was, it was more comfortable for me to, to be in that character. It was so much different than a, it gave me confidence. That's people can not understand what I'm saying. It gave me like this barrier was interesting 2 (8m 19s): To 0 (8m 19s): Do it. And then while you do something for a very long time, you get good. And, and I got very comfortable and fluent and it, it kind of like, it happened naturally for me to, to start writing in English. The music I grew up with is, is, is very, very Motown, is very frankly Charles and, and Bessie Smith and, and then followed by Erykah Badu and, and, and so many more, including a lot of artists from the pop arena, like Christina and we on se and Britney, my love and, and it all came, came to be that the language that I created as English it's, it's very, it was very clear to me and natural. 2 (9m 32s): Sure. So I'll start it with just improv. Just you improvising what you just say, a couple of sing, a few like doors in English. Like how did the ER, you must have known some, I would think 0 (9m 45s): I, I actually grew up until I was six in Nigeria. My parents, Yeah. My parents work work there. 2 (9m 57s): Are you born? They're born in Israel. 0 (10m 0s): I was three months old. My, my parents were in like a tough position in their life and they needed, they needed to make difficult decisions. My father was pursuing his career and, and they flew in the, like the early nineties to Africa and to me, the colors and the tastes. And the sounds is something that I, that is a part of me till today. Eh, and, and it's very, very inspiring. 0 (10m 41s): You can hear African beat also in, in my new single you, you can hear the inspirations. It's like, it's very, very, very important to me to give, to give place to this, to this experiences in, in my past. 2 (11m 10s): Yeah. I mean, that's, that's so interesting that you're that young and then move there and your real early adolescents were, were there in Africa and you came back to Israel six, is that what you said? 0 (11m 24s): But it's like, it's not the way that you can picture it. You know, it's, it's different. I, I, I was studying in an international school and in my classroom, there was, we were, we were small classrooms. It was like, if you had a kid and you wanted, and you wanted him to grow up a certain way, this was the ideal way that you can, the, the ideal education that I would like for my children. I wasn't more classroom with a girl from Japan and the boy from Australia and two kids from a local, for a Nigerian and, and, and, and a girl from America and, and all of the culture. 0 (12m 18s): And I was from Israel. So all, all the accents and the cultures were all that th th the teachers were amazing and they were all very, very celebrated. So actually, when you think about it, there are no differences because everybody's different. So I never felt different because I was me and I was a social leader, and I was very popular and we celebrated music from all of the world. We were studying languages. It was, it was wow. 0 (13m 3s): And, and when I was, I was almost seven, my parents decided to move back and I moved back into a shock of a, like the first grade of like 40 white kids in a classroom. And then I figured out I was the fat kid with the accent was also very, very sensitive. And when kids kind of label you, it sticks. So I, it was very traumatizing. Moving back here, 2 (13m 33s): I can imagine. 0 (13m 36s): So, so it's actually very, very inspiring. I wrote, I wrote a whole album that it's about to come out. That is about like specific scenes from, from this moment, 2 (13m 50s): Really 0 (13m 51s): When I was very, very, very happy to a point where I was very, very, very unhappy. And I can't wait for everyone to hear. 2 (14m 5s): Yeah. Was it hard to kind of go back and dig up some of that, like all those old feelings, 0 (14m 12s): It was, it was kind of like, it was very therapeutic, You know, and, and a studio is like a gym for me. I never want to go, but when I'm on, I'm after it, I'm energized. It's like a drug. 2 (14m 31s): It's interesting that you don't like going to the studio. You said that the studio is like a gym for you. Why you just like, you'd rather do like write songs and perform and perform. Okay. 0 (14m 43s): I like creating and doing stuff with people. Like, I hate to go alone to the studio. Like when I have a session with an NPR producer or an artist that I am excited to work with, then the Mia I'm thrilled. But if I have to do it at all and ever run to do it, I never want to 2 (15m 8s): Work, 0 (15m 9s): But I know it's, it makes me feel so, so good after I do it. Like, I think myself that I, that I did it because in the, in the core, core core of what I am, I am lazy. I'm sorry, but I like the couch. And I like the Netflix and I Really, I rather not face my problems. I just rather not to, but I have to. And, and I, and I make myself go and, and at one, and then what happens there is it liberates me and it makes me feel so much better about myself. 0 (16m 1s): Music saves me from, from so many dark places. It's, it's, it's like when, when a snake gets out of his skin, it's liberating to me, it's liberate it liberates me from my doing something new is there's nothing more beautiful to me than that. Eh, like to pay an effort to release something out of you. I deal with in a studio with jealousy, with comparison to other artists, work people, me missing other people with my broken heart, which is the theme of, of my new single. 0 (16m 57s): And I deal with how mad I am about my mom and how bad I feel for being mad at her. It's like, it's every time it's a new problem. Of course, I don't want to go to the studio, wants to deal with this. 2 (17m 14s): Right. But you're, it's therapeutic sounds like, I mean, to get it out and then to leave with a piece of music or a song. 0 (17m 22s): So I never take the easy way because I can't fool myself. If something that I make is not great than then there's no truth in it. You know, I can go to the studio and I can do something like, like, you know, a lot of I've been through a lot of writing sessions and some people are like, yeah. Let's to like Ariana or let's listen to like, and let's do something like that. I think the challenge that I challenge myself is to do something always that that would excite me. 0 (18m 8s): And I'm a very tough crowd for me, the toughest and, and I'm very, very hard on myself. And, and it's something I have to face when I am, when I am writing nothing sounds book to me until it sounds good to me. And at that moment, it makes me feel good all week when it comes. 2 (18m 39s): Have you always been hard on yourself like that? I mean, aside from in music, 0 (18m 46s): Yeah, I have. It's it's, you know, it's this cliche thing that, that people tell you to say in interviews, tell the people that you're a perfectionist, that's your bad quality, But it's my bad quality. It fucks me over it so many times I do the most expensive videos. Why? Because I want things to be perfect. I spent the Mo I spent a year, listen, when we wrote nails, it was, it was 2000, 19, 2019 was the first idea. 0 (19m 31s): And we was, we, we wrote something in a womb full of people who was, it was very, you know, oh my God, the, I did nails. I like to feel like you like the color. It was like, it was like a, a feel good thing. And it was so it had no depth. And, and we spent over 50 sessions on it and, and the Taz, like maybe 15 versions and nothing felt like it, nothing. 0 (20m 16s): And, and I was blaming everybody else and I was blaming it's, it's a cycle. I was bending everybody. And then I was blaming myself that I'm not good enough for the song. And then this year, something, something happened to me. I dealt with rejection. I fell in love and I dealt with rejection. That was so hard. Usually I really like myself. I think I'm very vibrant and beautiful and sexy and I'm, and I feel good about me and in my skin. 0 (20m 58s): And, and when this happened, I, I felt so small and it was like, it wasn't a correlation with the world, the whole world kind of like, I felt it was rejecting me because of COVID and everything, you know? And I, I think a lot of people felt this way. And when, and when I search for something that would uplift. 0 (21m 40s): And, and when I started doing my nails, I had this like little thing. I had like nothing. And I had this little thing where I, when I kept doing, and I kept, I w I was getting really creative about my designs. And it was, you know, it was really small. And then I started to dig into the history of nails and the culture. And when does it, where does it come from? And I went into this deep Google dive, and I found a group of women in Jersey who calls themselves the long nail goddesses. 0 (22m 26s): And they have like couple of YouTube shorts where people came and documented them, where they are, where they tell for their, they have the longest nails in the country. And I dunno, they have like 15 or six. I don't know your measurements, your American, 2 (22m 47s): It looks about a foot and a half long. Oh my goodness. 0 (22m 51s): They have all these crystals on it. And the most amazing thing is they tell how they are getting through their hardship, through their nails, which was a very, I was very weirded out. But I was also very, very connected in a way that I, I kept on digging and nothing to myself. Why it's the first thing that you see about yourself when you, when you're not looking in the mirror, it's when you shake someone else's hand it's, it's invites. It invites energy from the outside world to you. 0 (23m 34s): It's like, oh, nice nails. People are drawn to it. You attract good energy when you show up for yourself. So it's basically, it's a metaphor, four, four, loving you and not needing anybody else to confirm that you are good enough. And you deserve for you to show up for you. I don't know. 2 (23m 60s): No, I like that. I think it's funny that the, their nails, it's not funny. But what I'm thinking is when you said about these women in Jersey, they represent their hardships. And I was thinking like, how hard it would be to even do anything within that nails that long, 0 (24m 17s): They say they can do everything. 2 (24m 20s): I don't like 0 (24m 24s): Stuff like, like picking up your credit, you're taking it up the credit card. That's apparently impossible 2 (24m 32s): And picking up. 0 (24m 35s): Other than that, they do everything. 2 (24m 37s): How do you, right. You got your pen right here. And it's like, you have that. That's incredible. I'd like to see them do a drawing. 0 (24m 50s): Oh, I can draw. 2 (24m 53s): You can draw With, with 15. I mean, with said two and a half foot nails, that'd be a hard thing to do. 0 (25m 1s): They do everything. You go on YouTube and you search for them. They are wonder woman with long nails. 2 (25m 7s): I'm checking that out. When we're done with this interview. That's so interesting. 0 (25m 10s): Really great. I actually went and met them. Yes. I said, I needed to, I really needed to do it. And I, and I had like two shows in New York and I said, okay, that's the opportunity. And, and, and I called the salon and they said, okay. Yeah, you have like a leader. Her name is Maria. And she is the only one that is willing to take care of their crazy obsession. And, and they all meet annually. Like not annually, like every month, they are like a support group for each other. 0 (25m 53s): And it's very, very, very, it's very heartwarming in, in a very charming way. A nail nails is, is a big trend these couple of years. It's Like, it's a big, big trend, the critic nails. And 2 (26m 17s): I just found these women, this is, this is insane. Sorry. I had to look it up. Like I was, I had no pay. I like, yeah, I couldn't, I couldn't wait. 0 (26m 27s): I, I wasn't, I wasn't lying. Wasn't weren't line. 2 (26m 31s): No. Wow. These are massive. And like, there's yeah. Like full on like drawings on the nail. That's really there's like, this girl has like, all, like, it looks like a whole flower bed going down, her, her hands. 0 (26m 50s): Yeah. And when I was there, they were so amazing to me that like, these kind of an initiation ceremony Was there and they be dazzled like the shit out of my nails. And I, and I was, I was so happy. I almost cried. They were so loving and warm. And I did like a thing with them where I was said, listen, I need to, I want to play you my new song. And they said, no, thank you for us. And then I said, listen, we have to do this little bit where, you know, Dolly Parton, when she does nine to five, she uses her nails. 0 (27m 35s): That's like the thing that you hear in the beginning of nine to five, like She plays her nails and it's written like nails by Dolly. So, 2 (27m 51s): Gosh, I didn't know that. 0 (27m 53s): So I, of course I, in the sound I wanted, I wanted to play my nails. And I said, listen, can you play your nails? And they're standing all around me playing their nails, their gigantic nails, and it's on tape. They'd go follow me. I'll take that. And then you can watch this amazing piece of content. 2 (28m 16s): That is crazy. 0 (28m 19s): Really cool. 2 (28m 20s): That is so cool. Wow. I love the story behind this, this song. Cause like you said earlier, like I needed something that had more like, it needs depth and like, wow. Did you bring depth to something that I would've never in a million years? Like, oh yeah, it's a cool song about how she loves her nails. But no, he just took it like so many steps further down than that. 0 (28m 43s): It's it's for me. It's this is when I, when I say I'm hard, like, or when I say I need, I need this to mean something then. And because it feels different. It's it's, you know, I, I have, I have been every show that I do. I take my makeup artist and I take my stylist and I take every it's like, I don't do this just to look pretty. It's a, it's an art form of, of, it's a, it's a way for me to, to do, to, to, to make the art. 0 (29m 31s): So I might as well when, when I sing about it, it's it's, it needs to have the devotion and the, that I have for it. And what it means to me, it couldn't be just a voguing song 2 (29m 55s): Bookings, 0 (29m 58s): But basically this is, but there's nothing bad about a voguing song. We all need a voting song, 2 (30m 9s): But 0 (30m 11s): No, I don't mind. But some that is about nails in, it has to have something in it because of what it means to me. I spoke, you know, I spoke with my, my nail tech, his name is Ben. And he said that his mother, he comes from a very difficult background. And he said that his mother, when they, even when they had so little to, to eat, she would always save like 50 bucks for a manicure for, because it, it, and I get that because it gives you a sense of control. 0 (30m 55s): It gives you a sense that everything is okay. It gives other people the idea that you are doing okay for, for, for someone it's, it's a shave for someone it's not it's, it's not. And, and, and this seriously, I can't believe we're talking about 40 minutes about, 2 (31m 26s): Well, that's what your song is about is that cold. 0 (31m 28s): I know, but it's, it's, it's unbelievable, but yet very believable. I did my research and I'm very, very proud. 2 (31m 39s): Well, I that's incredible. I'm glad we got to discuss that much about the song and the whole real backstory to it. That's really amazing. I'm actually curious to go back further in your life. What really drew you? I mean, you said there was music around you when you're living in Africa, but like, what did that look like? Were you always singing from a young age or when did you start really trying to pursue music? 0 (32m 9s): When, when music was a part of was a part of the life in Africa, like in an, almost like it was almost second nature for all of us, we were learning through songs. We were learning languages through songs. We were, we were always singing. And when I came back to Israel, I was, I was a very, very unhappy little girl. And my mother was miserable because of that. There's nothing more heartbreaking for a parent than to see his child coming back from school crying every day. 2 (32m 53s): Oh yeah. I have two kids of my own. I couldn't even imagine that, like my oldest son coming, like he, yeah. He dealt with bullying and everything a few years ago. And like, it was like, so you just get so angry and you're like, I know there's something I could do about it. What am I going to slap some 12 year old? Like you just can't do anything. 0 (33m 12s): There's even a, there's even a limit to what you can say. 2 (33m 16s): Right. You just got to kind of tell him to do what he can do to right. To deal with it. 0 (33m 22s): Exactly. So the thing, if there's like an opportunity to give a tip to parents who may be listening, my, the, the, the thing that my mother did, who was the most amazing thing is to put me in an other, I don't, I don't know how to say other places where like, like afterschool programs 2 (33m 48s): Where 0 (33m 50s): Smaller amounts of kids and, and you can feel someone different than like, like it, like, if they're, if they're smaller amount of kids than you, then, then you can be, then you have like a new opportunity to, to be somebody else in the, in the, not somebody else, 2 (34m 18s): You can 0 (34m 19s): Rebalance the, 2 (34m 22s): Yeah. Like the negativity you're feeling at school. Like you can go there and kind of like have a safe place. That's a great way to put it. 0 (34m 30s): It will feel to feel valued again, To gain confidence. And, and, and to remember, it's a reminder of your strengths and the thing that my mother did, she sent me to a choir when I was very young. And, and because it was there, it was very clear, very early that I have a musical talent. I remember my, my, the teacher giving me the conductor. 0 (35m 12s): This is how you say that the conductor giving me a solo. And, and I remember I remember singing and I remember the heads turning. This was the first like, like hard proof that, that, whoa, I can do something other people are struggling to do. This is something that's special. And, and it helped me a lot through my, through my youth and my high school years, because it helped, it helped me grab a niche like you all pretty, and you can all, you are a part of something, but I can see she's senior. 0 (35m 58s): And, and, and, and it was, and it was very helpful. But when I finished high school, I figured out that that singing and music was a part of my defense mechanism. It was, it was my weapon against bullying. And I needed to choose music again, as something that I love to do, not as something that I need to do. And I took a year off actually 2 (36m 34s): Altogether. 0 (36m 35s): Yes. 2 (36m 36s): Wow. 0 (36m 38s): To, to remember that, that I love to, I was doing, I was singing to gain friends. I was, I was it's it's when somebody has started, it's very attractive And you want to be near that. And I needed, I needed to fall back in love with it. And, and, and it's really, really helped me, 2 (37m 13s): Well, taking that year off don't you I'm correct me if I'm wrong in Israel, don't you have to serve at least two years in the military. 0 (37m 22s): After I finished high school, I did a year that my year up was a year it's it's. It was kind of a community service thing. Not because you did something bad because you choose to, do you choose to do that? And I did a year. 2 (37m 42s): You can do that. You can do that instead. 0 (37m 44s): No, no, no. I didn't do that. I did it. And in addition to I did That. So I lived in a commune with, in Siberia, which is right near the sea of Galilee. And, and I was teaching guitar and in a school and all the kids that didn't want to go into class that were, were out. It was tough kids from tough backgrounds. So I, I tried to teach them how to play guitar and they broke all my guitars. 0 (38m 26s): And instead I've played a whole year of soccer, which was really, really cool for me. And 2 (38m 34s): Kids broke your guitars. 0 (38m 36s): They're there, they're tough kids. And after them, after, after it, they, they, they, it was a beautiful journey for, for them. And for me, they helped me fix it. And after it, we, we did, they did learn how to play it. And, but I, but they also taught me a lot. It was very, very therapeutic for, for all of us. I am, I love that year in my life. And after that, I went in and I did the military. I was in the Navy. And there's like, because the army in Israel is so wide and everybody needs to serve. 0 (39m 20s): There's like a job for everybody. You don't actually there's, there's like a very small percentage of combat soldiers. I was, I was singing actually as, as the job. 2 (39m 36s): Oh, that's cool. 0 (39m 38s): And it was a braid performance school because not all of the time people are interested in seeing you It's, it's a military thing. I used to tell soldiers today. Now you have a performance. Now you have to sit through a performance and you tell us that you have to perform there right then. And then it's a, it's a great lesson in how to, to grab an audience, 2 (40m 8s): Right. Especially, yeah. One that doesn't want to be there. Right. They're like, oh, they're going to sit through this whole performance. And then if you can pull them in, like that's a total win. 0 (40m 20s): Exactly. So, so this was like a great, great bootcamp for, for real life As a, as a performer. And when I got into, when, when I got into like jamming in bars and it was very, very helpful. It's, it's not always the, the, the, it's not an easy crowd. People drunk. They want specific things. 2 (40m 52s): Right. Right. 0 (40m 53s): When, when the music's not good, then, then they're very vocal about it. And, and I, I learned to, to adore it and to love it and to perfect this craft, for example, at the bar was very moldy. And, and there were a lot of power bricks, like, imagine, like in the middle of a performance, like you have 150 drunk people in the club and you're singing, and then the power goes out, Then no electricity, no guitars, no lights, no, no microphones. 0 (41m 40s): And I would go up on the bar with like, with a snare drama, we'd taken the snare drum and I would, and I would do a thing. And it was, it was like, and then we started to do it, like on purpose Outbreaks, on purpose. It became a, it became a 2 (41m 58s): Part of the proceeds. I like that. 0 (42m 3s): I I've learned so much as such an insecure kid performing for four years straight, like every Sunday and every Wednesday, this is what I was doing. And, and this was performance score. This was music school. This is how you get good. This was my, my, my, my greenhouse, my playground, my, my safe place where I can grow. You know, I, I went to music school and I, and I realized that over there, I am learning so much more. 0 (42m 47s): And when I met my producer, my, his name is F Shalom. I have like a second part to, to, to my create my, all of my songs. And my creations are made with what this guy and I, and I, and I realized that together with him, I am learning so much more than I am learning in classroom. And I, and I owe that to him already to do 2 (43m 16s): So what you ended up what's I would imagine you stopped going to school there and just, yeah. Okay. And when do you, you went on to a television show. Didn't you 0 (43m 30s): Get, 2 (43m 31s): Okay, well, you're on your audition. I want to talk about that. But before that, you were, you would applied for a different show. What was that difficult? Like a difficult decision, 0 (43m 43s): Very at I, after, after doing the, the bar thing, wasn't, wasn't a thing that was easy for me to do because it wasn't paying my bills Just wasn't. And, and I was trying to perform in weddings and they were saying I was too much for them. Sometimes I was, I was trying to get gigs to sync back up and, and I was always too colorful, too unique. 0 (44m 26s): I took too much space and too much presence, 2 (44m 32s): And you're a star. You're like, they're like, okay, she's going to outshine us all. It's not hire her. 0 (44m 40s): Could be, but it was, it was there. It was like, if I'm, if it's not going to, I was trying, you know, I was trying to be a singer for hire because I am so hard on myself. I never released anything before that show. I never released any and think on my own, there's something about the bar that was so on, on obligating. I just needed to come in a certain hour and didn't write anything wasn't supposed to on anything. It was just there and I could be entertaining. And when somebody says, Hey, you were shit. Then I would say, Hey, it was it's the situation. 0 (45m 20s): Shit. And, and it was something, it was something fun to do, like under the radar. And, and when you also sing for somebody and you sing back up and you, and you're in other people's projects, then, then your name isn't on it, then it's fine. Then it's cool. And I was like, forced to kind of like, you need to own your stuff. You need to show up. This is play time's over. 0 (46m 2s): And if, if you are not going to do it, then, then the music is not going to be a thing. You have to go back, you have to study a profession and try to do something else, because obviously you're not the vanilla thing that is required for you to make a living as a side kick. And I, I had my, my looping device that I would play around in my room with, I, I knew how to beat box because of my brother. 0 (46m 44s): My brother is one of the biggest drummers over here in Israel is one of, one of the biggest talents here. Yeah. I'm also such a better person than I am a very annoying way. And so when he, he was drumming, he was also knew how to beat box on top of me, how to do it. And because it was in a choir, I was very aware of harmonies. And, and always when I was hearing something in the radio, it was always harmonized, the second vocal and the third vocal. 0 (47m 26s): And I was, I was very into that. And I saw a video of the Kimba one day doing settle down. And I said, if I buy what she is playing with, then I could have so much fun. And then I bought it and I was very scared of, of what would happen if I read, I, I touched it that I realized I, I need to work really, really hard for it to sound really, really good. So I didn't touch it for four years. 0 (48m 6s): And then when the, when the thing about, about money came, I got a call from the reality show. They were asking me to come. And I was really afraid that people in Tel Aviv would say that I sold out because, you know, it's, it's considered very, very one, one minute, 15 minutes of fame. 2 (48m 40s): Yeah. 0 (48m 42s): And if you like, and they are, so they have so much power, they can like eliminate you really quickly. And then you, you have this failure band on you. And I was, and I was really afraid to do it. And then, then I got a call from my mom that says, you never need to go back home. I'm closed. I'm not paying your rent anymore. And I was upset. And, and I realized that if this is over, I, I need to pay. 0 (49m 22s): I need to, to give it one more shot. If this is my last shot, then, then so be it, I'm going to go up with a bank. And so I realized that if I'm going to a reality show, I need some protection. I need them big. I needed something that would protect me from other people's ideas of what could, what, what should I become? What should I be? Because TV people they're. So sometimes they're very worn out and they think in, think they can, yeah. 0 (50m 11s): They usually, they want to do their job. They don't think about like doing, creating art or like they want to, okay. So you're, you're fat and you're nice. You're gonna, you gotta be these ready are there for us. Okay. Someone you go up on stage, and this is what you see. Basically, this is what's comfortable. It was before Lizzo era. It was eh, before everything. And I knew that if I take Looper, then I can control my musical choices and I can control because everything is happening live on stage, and I can control my arrangements and I can control everything actually. 0 (51m 0s): So I put that as like a condition for myself. And then I went to do an audition. Of course it was like, they scheduled like three or four auditions for me, because I always liked that my house was flooded because I didn't want to, to, to deal with it and go, I was so afraid and scared. And when I did it and I, I, because there was always a problem of amplifying my Looper. So I came with like a sack of six headphones. So, so they can all really, really hear what I'm doing. 2 (51m 44s): That's smart. 0 (51m 45s): And I came into that room and I sat on like a plastic chair. And I gave all of them out of like the like worn out TV, people that already seen everything I gave them the headphones. And, and the prize for winning this show is actually, was actually going to your vision, which is for people who doesn't, who don't know what it is. It is, it is a weird song, competition, weird and magical, which every country from Europe for about six years sends an original song. 0 (52m 32s): And there's a TV broadcast of all of the songs from all of the world competing. And one of them wins and it is wildly popular. It's people watch it more than people watch the super bowl. It's a live broadcast with 200 million views live. This is insane. It's the biggest stage ever very tacky, very kitschy, very, you know, Celine Dion, big dresses, but also an establishment and very, very popular. 0 (53m 16s): It, it brought you moleskin now that you know, are, are charting billboard. 2 (53m 24s): Oh, they won your vision. Yes. I didn't. I didn't know that. Wow. I'm out of touch. I didn't realize that I was crazy. Okay. 0 (53m 34s): They're actually the most successful act to sense. That was awesome. And, and then I did my, my audition with the six headphones in just small, small, small room. And, and I finished it. I was so eyes on the, on my machine. And when I, I looked up, I saw the big TV director with his headphones off and he said, and he said, okay, you can win the year of vision. You can win the Eurovision. And he got up and he started to have like steam out of his years. And he started to listen. 0 (54m 14s): You, we need to figure this out. We need to figure how we show what you do. You it's very tabling. You should like, it should be visual. And then we created like a S a stem where all of the looping artists that I know are performing flat. And I perform like this blind. I don't see what I'm doing. It's like, it's, it's this. So people can see in TV, what is 2 (54m 42s): What you're up to, what you're doing? 0 (54m 45s): What is it that I am creating? And, and it was very scary and I never performed with it live. And it was so exciting. And I, because I was so niche. And so avant-garde, and so like in, in circles and Televiv and underground places, I, I, and also because of like a rejected, an internal underdog, I never thought I could be some thing that is close to being mainstream, But I won this competition. 0 (55m 32s): And then I won the Eurovision. 2 (55m 34s): That's so nuts. What was that moment? Like, tell me about winning. Just like, can you even like express the emotions? It was hilarious. 0 (55m 44s): It was hilarious. I wasn't Excel. It wasn't, you know, it was like a trip, you know, I wasn't even expecting to go and, and be winning the show. I was, I w I wasn't, I knew that I was talented, but I didn't think people get it. Like, I always, I always knew that I can that people, because people never got me not at school and not sometimes not even my family. 0 (56m 25s): I was always, you know, I was always very, very weird and, and very sensitive. And I, and I didn't think that a good thing could happen. I knew where I belonged, but this whole experience, I realized it's very, very, it's bigger than me. It's, it's a lesson about accepting something different. It's a lesson about power. 0 (57m 6s): It's a lesson about kindness. It's a lesson about the sound was very, very empowering to a lot of people. And the story was more important than, than, than anything. So many little boys and girls who felt or felt that way was, was. So it was like, there was somebody for them when I was, when I was a little girl that there was one color and one kind, and one size of beauty when I was looking at video clips of, of, of pop stars, I liked. 0 (58m 1s): And, and when I was looking at pictures of albums and when I was looking, obviously in magazines and in fashion shows only one type. And when I was imagining myself succeeding in music, like you would like the little girl's dream. I was imagining myself thin. I like, I imagining, I imagined that I was someone else up until I was 22 or something like you in your dreams, you are a thin woman. 0 (58m 47s): You're a thin, pretty woman. And, and I had success at the certain point, probably more than a lot of my colleagues and, and friends. And I did it still looking like, I, I am thinking like, I am speaking. Like I am. And, and that's was, was it lesson four, four? 0 (59m 28s): That was bigger than me. It was for so many other people. So this was, this was this experience. I, I, I try not to dwell on it a lot because It was a night. 2 (59m 53s): Yeah. But still what at night, I mean, to win that contest and be the fourth, what person ever to win from Israel? 0 (1h 0m 3s): Yes. 2 (1h 0m 6s): Huge accomplish. I mean, for the, you probably came home and all the people that you thought were going to call you a sellout are now like praising you like, oh my gosh, like you put us on the map. We w like our country won the whole thing. I mean, how, you've probably pretty celebrated when you get home. Right. 0 (1h 0m 24s): I was very celebrated in a way. It was where it was, it was, it was scary and, and crazy and very, very, I was very, very happy. You know, I had like this one song and, and this is why it was very, very scary for me, as you know, I want it to be a songwriter. And like this first song was not even mine lo blew up in this, in this kind of way. I needed to, to follow up and also to, to, to tell myself, Hey, this, okay, you go into studio and work now, like, this is all good. 0 (1h 1m 15s): And four years later, I had three weeks ago, two shows in, in LA and two shows in New York. And the people that were there are not aware of your vision. They're not aware of if you're a winner or not a winner. There, there are people that enjoy your art. They enjoy what you did after, and they enjoy who you are on Tik TOK. They heard about you or wherever. And, and this is what I think about. It's my way, as an, as an artist, as what I give out is this is what exciting for me is the w your vision and the TV show was the first point where I said, okay, I'm owning my shit. 0 (1h 2m 15s): And, and four years after that, four years of very, very, very work is, is me starting to have something that is stable, starting to have a crowd that is not in it, because you want something they're in it, because they like your music. 2 (1h 2m 42s): And you're doing a great, I mean, the songs that you put out are awesome. A goodie bag is a rad record. I will say, like, yeah, I really think it's, it's amazing. Ricky lake is a great song. I love that. And I even, the new one w we, we spoke about earlier, I love nails, but like we, you said that you have a record coming out. That's all In an album. I should say, an album coming out. That's all about kind of that darker period of time in your life. And 0 (1h 3m 14s): It's not dark. 2 (1h 3m 15s): It's not 0 (1h 3m 17s): The dark was the coming back part, But the time in Nigeria was amazing. 2 (1h 3m 24s): Okay. So is the record a little more upbeat vibe or does it kind of take that journey? Is it speed goes into the, the, yeah. The harder times and then back out. Yeah. 0 (1h 3m 35s): The journey, you know, I, it's an, it's an album, it's a world as it has ballads and it has sounds, and it has, it has also the APY sounds, but it's a new era for my music. I've worked very, very, very hard on it, me enough shown. And that's, that's something that I can't wait for it to happen. And it has. So it has like a very surprising collaborations that is very, very exciting. 0 (1h 4m 16s): And, and also the partnership with right now, I'm signed to two very exciting label with S-curve and, And they're all so, so supportive. And they all believe in me so much. And it's, it's, it means the world. To me, it's all refreshing to work with so many people that believe in you. And, and it's like, okay, we're gone. We're going high. 0 (1h 4m 56s): It's like, it's, it's so exciting. It's like a start. It's like a sight. The cycle is starting. And, and this is how I feel right now. I feel like before, I feel like this is a before. 2 (1h 5m 11s): I love it. I love it. Well, I can't wait to hear the record. I love obviously everything you've done prior. And, and, and I love my nails and I love the story behind that one. I would have never 0 (1h 5m 20s): Guessed. 2 (1h 5m 21s): I do Mike, several minor, all short. I think I'm going to grow my now and inspiration from the 0 (1h 5m 28s): Doesn't mean that they are not pretty, 2 (1h 5m 32s): They're not, I promise I need to take some tips from the Jersey goddesses, they Jersey goddess. Yeah. 0 (1h 5m 41s): Next time. I'm there. I'll hook you up. 2 (1h 5m 43s): Please do. Please do. Maybe I'll get some gels. 0 (1h 5m 46s): I would say a huge trend nails for men. Yes. 2 (1h 5m 54s): The only time I remember seeing nails for men was like growing up in like the emo days. You'd paint your nails, black Or Carson, Carson, daily 0 (1h 6m 6s): Slipping out of my mouth. 2 (1h 6m 7s): So when you get uncomfortable or 0 (1h 6m 9s): Comfortable, 2 (1h 6m 10s): Okay. I'm glad. I'm glad you're slipping Hebrew. I liked that. Did you remember Carson daily? Do you ever watch TRL back in the day? I'm sure you did. 0 (1h 6m 21s): T R L 2 (1h 6m 22s): Total request live on MTV. Did you ever see that they have the music videos and that's where like Britney Spears came out of? I mean, she didn't come out of there, but it was the guy that he's hosted at Carson daily. He used to have, I think He, I think he used to just do these two fingers. You need to paint them black, started it, started something. And then obviously all the email kids and everything that came after that. But it's good to know that there's made a resurgence in for men as well. 0 (1h 6m 53s): You really, really are obligated after this interview to 2 (1h 6m 58s): I am. I am. I know, I know so much about nails now. It's I dig it 0 (1h 7m 5s): And take the information and do very good things with it. 2 (1h 7m 9s): I will, I will. I'm going to be sharing this cause it's amazing, but I do appreciate your time. I know it's super late there. I have one more quick question before I let you go and you can go to bed or whatever. I want to know if you have any advice for aspiring artists, 0 (1h 7m 25s): Don't waste time. Just do really. I wasted so many years being afraid that I'm not ready. You're never going to be ready. So you better do something and release something because I hope I'm never ready. Like really? I just, I want to be excited to this feeling that I'm not, were not worthy, not ready, not, this is the thing that keeps you hungry. 0 (1h 8m 10s): That keeps you curious.