True to BSTN’s proprietary ‘Feed Fam, Fuck Fame!‘ philosophy, we’re introducing you to some members of the immediate as well as the extended BSTN family. In their own words, they talk about themselves, their career, and selected topics close to their heart. This is Feed Fam – Episode VI featuring recording artist Anacy.
On how she fell in love with music:
So, I think I first fell in love with music when I was little. My dad always used to play his vinyls at home. And he would always play Michael Jackson, Sade and Stevie Wonder. I just completely fell in love with that kind of music. And from then on, I just always kind of wanted to do that.
In general, I love the old school very much, from the 80’s to the 90’s and the 2000s. I think those eras are the ones that I love the most. Yeah, Erykah Badu is amazing. And from new school artists, I’m really obsessed with Frank Ocean and I love Summer Walker. I think those are my biggest inspirations.
On living a dream:
My dad, he loves music more than anything. And I think that that love for music kind of resonated with me. He can play the guitar and he is very musical, but he never really chose music as a path for his own life. He chose work and business instead. Now, I have the feeling that my dad and my mom are so supportive because they want me to live my dream – a path that they kind of gave up themselves.
On fusing words and melodies:
I’ve been playing the piano since I was four years old, so it’s been a long time. And when I started writing music, that was really helpful because I could play the chords already. And so, it was a little bit easier to just make songs by myself without needing any help. That’s why many of my songs are ballets and very melancholic. I almost only write sad songs, and then people always tell me I should write something that’s more upbeat, but I just love ballets and sad songs so much.
I write everything by myself. But I actually started writing poems before I ever wrote a song. I would say I’m much more a songwriter than I am a singer. That’s really important, I think, to know about me that I really take care of my lyrics and I really care for the messages in my songs. I just started writing books when I was really young, but I never finished them. That didn’t stop me from starting them though. And then I started writing poems or short stories. I just really loved everything about poetry and literature in general.
So when I got a little bit older, I think I was like 10 or 12, I was always singing, but at that time, my voice kind of changed and I was like, okay, this doesn’t sound too bad, I guess. So, I kind of put those two elements together. I had all these lyrics kind of laying around, all these poems and stories, and I do have something to say. And all of a sudden, the voice matched it too. And since play the piano, I felt like my words were even more powerful with melodies under it.
On finding a topic.
Usually I have the lyrics already done and then I pick chords, and then I try to just mix the melodies with the words I already have. I love just finding my way throughout the process. It can be about fear, it can be about self-doubts or just experience with anything I actually live through. My lyrics are really honest and they are even like a diary. It is kind of like therapy, so everything I write comes from a really honest place and yeah, it’s really kind of just everything I experience in my daily life. If you really want to get to know me, you have to listen to my songs.
On making emotions her strong suit:
I’m a really emotional person, like really, really, really emotional. And people would always tell me that this was my biggest weakness. In their mind, emotions are a weakness, but I think that emotion is my biggest superpower. It makes me write all the songs that I write. And I think we’re so caught up and always saying that emotions are always considered as something negative.
It always has those negative sound to it when we talk about emotions and that letting your emotions show is like a weakness. But I think that it’s brave to be able to be vulnerable. And even if you get hurt and even if you experience pain, you’ll grow from it. And may be easier said than done, but in the end, I wouldn’t choose to think with my mind if I can think with my heart. Yeah, I would always think with my heart first.
On family:
I’m half Italian. My dad is Italian and family is really important for all of us. He always makes sure that we eat together and that we spend a lot of time together. So, I think in general that’s something that’s a huge reason why the concept of family has become so important for me. This Italian household that I grew up in certainly shaped my character and made me the person who I am today.
On who she’d like to collaborate with:
I would have to say Julz Nartey. He is an amazing and very talented singer and songwriter. My producer 8stro is also his producer and they really make magic together. We are all like a little family. You can actually hear him on one of my songs called “Essential”, where he does some additional adlibs. So yes, there is definetly gonna be some collaborations of us in the future.
