Q&A: Naomi. Talks Identity, Atlanta Music Scene & New Single “Closr”

Q&AMusic

Sep 30

☆ BY KATE CHASE ☆

“THERE’S ALL THESE BEAUTIFUL LIGHTS AND NEON COLORS, AND YOU JUST FEEL LIKE YOU’RE SINKING INTO THE ENERGY” — self-proclaimed multidimensional artist Naomi. describes of the ethereal visuals evoked by her new single, “Closr.” Naomi. wants her music to feel fully immersive, and the song’s gauzy cyclical instrumentals and driving pop beat is definitely evocative of spinning weightlessly on a dance floor or getting lost in thought and nostalgia late at night in your bedroom.

The Atlanta-based artist is quickly making a name for herself in the local music scene with her dreamy futuristic electro-pop tracks. Well-known for her experimentation with K-pop–inspired bold outfits and makeup looks, she stands out from the crowd. As a queer person of color, she strives to be the representation in the creative world that she never had as a child and wants to inspire others to be unapologetically themselves (preferably in bold-colored eyeliner and platform heels).

As we chatted, Naomi. opened up about her evolving identity as an artist, her journey with spirituality, and an intimate view of iconic Atlanta house parties. Read on to hear more about her musical journey and what’s next for her.

LUNA: First of all, I just want to know a little bit about your musical background and how you started making music and got into the industry.

NAOMI: Basically, I've kind of been doing music my whole life. I started at a young age, and in high school I was in theater and I was in a lot of plays. That was also when I started singing at my church, and [I] was the worship leader when I was in high school so that was the start of me really taking it seriously. Then once I graduated, I realized that I really love music, from doing all those activities. I'm from Florida, and where I grew up was just a small town vibe. So I decided, when I graduated, I wanted to move to Atlanta and pursue music because I just didn't really want to do anything else. So I moved here in 2017 and then I went to college at the Atlanta Institute of Music, and ever since then I've been working on my own solo projects and doing my own music.

LUNA: I noticed on your website, you described yourself as a multidimensional artist, and I really want to know more about that and how it ties to your identity, as a person as an artist.

NAOMI: Yeah, I would consider myself multidimensional because I feel like artistically I really like to play with a lot of different elements. One of my biggest inspirations as an artist is K-pop — I love Korean pop music and the styling and the choreography and all of the different creative elements. So I guess I call myself that because whenever I release music, I really look at it not just as a song — I look at look at it as a full project, a full concept: the song, the visuals, the lyrics, what the music conveys, all the way down to hair and makeup, all of it. So I think that's the whole multidimensional side of it.

LUNA: That's awesome. So is performance an important part of it for you, having a whole production?

NAOMI: Yeah. And for me, I think another thing that happened naturally was getting into makeup. I know for my personal career something that has been a standout for me as an artist is how I do my makeup and when I do the eyebrows and all the different hairstyles. I think a lot of people are really drawn to that. And for me, growing up I always wanted to see Black queer women who were just happy to do whatever and just be fine. I feel like it was just something that I wanted to do and something that I love to do.

LUNA: You mentioned K-pop, but do you have any other big musical or artistic influences?

NAOMI: Yes, so I would say style-wise, especially recently, I really like Rina Sawayama. I think her style is really cool. She's a really great emerging artist right now — she's doing awesome. Her self-titled album was a really dope project; the music was very interesting and kind of all over the place, and I just love hearing that from a pop artist. Another group that I’ve really listened to a lot lately is Magdalena Bay. They're a really cool group too and they make some really funky pop sounds, and I just am really inspired by them and their production. For style, I would definitely have to say K-pop is a huge inspo. There's an artist, her name is Chung Ha, she was actually a really big inspiration for the look for “Closr” because she had a song called “Stay Tonight.” She had this really glam, glittery, glistening look. It was just so pretty and so captivating, and so I definitely think I took some inspiration from that.

LUNA: Do you define yourself within a particular genre? Or do you like to take inspiration from a lot of different genres?

NAOMI: I would say my primary genre is definitely pop. But I do like to play with a lot of different sounds. In my past tracks I've definitely dabbled with electronic sounds and definitely feel like “Closr” has more of a soft pop feel. And I also really love R&B, so I would love to explore that and get more into that. And maybe even some hyper pop — I think could be fun too.

LUNA: For your new song, “Closr,” what was like the inspiration for that, and what was the process of making it?

NAOMI: So the biggest inspiration for “Closr” is the music that I like to listen to when it's late at night and I'm just in the studio chilling out — I just want to sit on Tumblr and have some time to myself, you know, and have that kind of nostalgic vibe. And so I put together a lot of different playlists of late night, chill vibe music. And I was like, you know, I listened to this so much I should just make a song like that. So I definitely wanted to create a song that would feel nostalgic and feel warm and like a song that anyone can listen to alone in the room and just feel serene and relaxed and loved and all of that. And the process for creating it — I made it with my friend Matt, he's a really dope producer here in Atlanta. I actually worked out my own draft of the song on Logic, and I kind of reached a point with it where I was like, “I really would like someone else to take this idea and make it better.” So I sent it to him and he completely crafted this song based on that reference that I made. So when I heard I was like, “Yes, this is exactly it, it's perfect.” So yeah, that's kind of how it came together. Then we worked on it for a couple months until we were both happy with it. I'm really excited to finally have it out.

LUNA: What kind of visuals or feelings do you hope it evokes in people?

NAOMI: I think it's definitely a vibe that anyone can put on to drive through the city and feel like they're in a movie — I really wanted to incorporate that. Almost like the Euphoria vibe of, like, you're in a room and there's all these beautiful lights and neon colors and you just feel like you're sinking into the energy. I don't know how to describe it.

LUNA: You mentioned earlier that you started out singing in your church. Is spirituality something that's pretty important to you?

NAOMI: Oh, yes, actually, I would say spirituality is definitely something that's important to me. I think for me, it's changed a lot. Growing up, I was very religious. But once I got on my own and away from my family, I kind of realized spirituality meant something different than what I originally connected with. And so I think now I'm just a lot more into energies and vibes and things like that. I think I'm definitely a lot more spiritual in that way and just like connecting with elements and the earth and crystals and candles and all those things.

LUNA: Do you have a favorite show that you've played or a favorite project that you've done so far?

NAOMI: So, I've played a lot of shows around Atlanta and have had some really cool experiences. I will say, this might sound a little odd, but I honestly really enjoy the small shows, just performing at people's parties. Earlier this year I performed at my friend's birthday party and that energy of being around your friends and singing your own music and everyone knowing the words and everyone's just like having a good time… I think those are always my favorite moments, I think because it just feels so intimate. But another really fun show that I did was last year — I did this show for iHeartRadio. It was for this event called Axis Replay. It was kind of like a live stream event, and that was really fun too because I got to meet a lot of really cool artists and work with iHeartRadio. So I like all of it. But I will say, there's nothing that beats the hometown vibe, just being around people you love and playing a show in someone's basement.

LUNA: How have you been liking the Atlanta music scene?

NAOMI: Honestly, my experience with the music scene in Atlanta has been incredible. I feel like house parties in Atlanta are such a staple here. If someone's like, “Hey, I'm having a house party,” everyone will show up and it's always so much fun. But I was actually very pleasantly surprised by the music scene here. Because I feel like when I first moved here I was in school and I was just kind of focusing on learning the music industry, and I didn't really have that connection with people on the ground, doing music. And so once I really got out playing shows and going to events and parties and all these really cool things, I really saw how diverse it is here. Because I think when a lot of people hear Atlanta, they think trap music, they think hip-hop, they think all of these incredible genres but not necessarily all that's here. Like, there's so many cool DIY, avant-garde artists who make visual art while they're on stage. They'll do all types of cool art installments at Underground Atlanta. You'll go in and it's an immersive experience — you're surrounded by art and people are singing and selling stuff and people are, like, walking down a runway, it's just so cool. So I definitely think it's super inspiring here because I feel like there's so much space for people to just be themselves and to be weird and to be different and young and stupid even, and just knock shit around or whatever. I don't know, people here just really have fun with it. So I love it.

LUNA: Going forward, what are your goals for where you want to take your music?

NAOMI: Short-term, I definitely do want to play a lot more shows. I think for the past couple years I've been really focusing on just brand development in general and figuring out my sound and who I am as an artist. Now I feel like I really am in a place where I'm super connected with who I am. So I think for the future, I want to be playing more shows and releasing a lot more music a lot more frequently. I want to do a lot more projects and more collaborations. Collaboration is always something that's made me a little nervous, but I've just been meeting so many cool people and so many great artists. I would love to collaborate with everyone that I can, so I'm really looking forward to that.

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