Serena Isioma
As part of our Artists To Watch list, we’ve conducted interviews with the eight artists featured in our 2021 Spring/Summer edition. Check out our Q&A with Serena Isioma below and click here to check out the full list.
Serena Isioma doesn’t care much for genders, and even less so for genres. The 20-year-old singer is a leading light of a new generation of artists who are breaking through by being unapologetically themselves. Serena particularly shines with an undeniable charisma that’s infused in their music and personality. To put it plainly, they are the archetype of the new decade’s rockstar. At once, they are the coolest person in any room they walk into while also making you feel like the coolest person just by listening to their catalog. Oscillating between rap, indie-pop, psychedelic tunes, and everything in between, Serena has had no trouble connecting with a growing and loyal fan base. In 2020 they released two EPs that showed their versatility and promise. In a year full of gloom and loss, few songs made us feel as alive and vibrant as the first EP’s title track, Sensitive. And the follow-up, Leo Sun Sets, captured emotions and experiences many of us felt during the tumultuous past spring and summer with records that are lowkey confessions one second and develop into wayward situations the next. Serena is now working on a proper debut album with a release date yet to be determined.
When did you start recording music?
I first started recording music, probably sophomore year of high school. I got really into Garage Band. I was seeing all these SoundCloud rappers blowing up and I was like, “That's really easy.” [laughs] I just tried to do that, discovered the auto-tune setting on Garage Band, and I was on my rapper shit.
Was there a moment where you were thought, “This is actually the first song I’ve made that I really like”?
Nah, it definitely took a minute. I started making music in high school and I was poppin' or whatever, I had like 20k streams, I thought I was famous [laughs]. And then I stopped because I was like, “OK, I have to graduate and then go to college.” So I started up again probably in the middle of my freshman year of college, but my music style had completely changed. I was singing and I changed my name. I made a lot of big changes.
If you were able to go back in time and talk to your sophomore high school student self who was just starting to create, what would you tell them?
Honestly, I would tell myself to keep doing what I'm doing. Keep creating, keep having fun, keep playing music.
You mentioned you changed styles from high school to college, what sparked that change?
I was super into bedroom pop music at the time. I discovered Clairo, Victor Internet and people like that. I was like, “Wow, people can make all these cool sounds in their rooms with zero resources,” and I really wanted to try that. I didn't even really know I could sing, so I was fake singing until now. I kind of know what I'm doing now but at the time I was playing around and experimenting.
You strike me as a very confident person were you always this way?
Honestly, yeah. I was the baby in the family, so I was always coddled and given everything that I wanted. It's really funny because I was super weird as a kid, but I've never been bullied, people just accepted my weirdness and let it run. No one has ever tested me, so I've had no reason to not be confident. Ever since pre-school I was like “I’m not like these kids.” The way I dressed, the way I walked, the way I talked. Everything was so different than everyone I was around, but I'm grateful that the people that I was around were open-minded.
Once we can go back to shows what would be your ideal headlining gig?
Definitely Chicago. My first headlining show would be in Chicago. [...] I would hope that it's relatively big, with hella people. I want people who are accepting and open-minded at my shows. I want a lot of love and acceptance and that's what I think my fans know and how they are.
Music-wise, do you have any plans for the rest of the year?
Yeah, I've been grinding on my album. Everything I've made has been just like short EPs, but I'm really trying to make something that's timeless and can be listened to forever. I'm working really hard on that.
When did you decide you're going to start writing an album?
It wasn't intentional. When I was making The Leo Sun Sets, I was making a lot of music because it was right when quarantine started. So I was just like, "Fuck it, I'm in the crib, I'm just going to start making music." A lot of the songs that didn't make The Leo Sun Sets for whatever reason, I put on the side and I thought of creating sounds that were similar or matched that energy.
“Sensitive” had an incremental blow-up over the past months. Are you surprised it’s still going this crazy?
Honestly, I was surprised that it took this long because I intended it to pop way before. But I can't blame the public and I feel like this is just going to keep happening where music from my past will start bubbling months, maybe years, after it's been released and I'm just going to have to accept that. Either way, I'm super grateful that it's happening because it's never guaranteed.
Is there any new hobby or instrument that you want to master in the next couple of years?
I would love to be able to learn music theory again. That’s something that I'm working on now because something that I've never really been able to do is produce. I’ve been cursed with the lack of rhythm in my life [laughs] and so that makes it hard to create instrumentals. But hopefully, soon I can finally become better and better.