Q&A: Meet Tamara Mneney, A New Voice Charting Her Own Path in Music and Self-Discovery

MusicQ&A

Dec 13

INTERVIEW

FOLLOWING ONE’S INTUITION — Sometimes it’s easier said than done to follow your gut, especially if you’ve experienced feeling like you need to split yourself in half in order to fit in. But the moment you find joy in expressing yourself through something you love, something that brings you peace, the path to intuition becomes clear and leads you to becoming a fearless, confident version of yourself.

This sentiment is something that Tamara Mneney, 24 year-old emerging R&B artist from The Faroe Islands, is familiar with. It’s frequently mentioned as we discuss her two acclaimed singles “Heartbreak (Winner of the Year)” and “Drip,” as well as the release of her debut album dropping next year.

“I don’t like to set myself in a box when we’re making beats,” Mneney explains. “I really want to follow my intuition and not think too much about it.”

Beyond her music, the topic of intuition is relevant in our conversation as we excitedly discuss musical and cultural roots, the complexities of self-discovery, and picturing creativity as a playground. Read the full interview below to learn more.

LUNA: For someone who is coming across your music for the first time, what’s your elevator pitch?

MNENEY: I would say it’s very emotional and honest. It variates in so many different stories and experiences. Generally, I’m just really, really bad at staying in one place for too long, and I try to use that in my music so I can sit still in other places. So, I feel like I would say it switches up in different ways, that kind of niche.

LUNA: Would you say it’s genre-bending? I definitely heard that from the beginning with the music that you put out in 2022 compared to today. You dabble in a bit of different sounds and genres.

MNENEY: Yeah, for sure. I’ve always been inspired by R&B and that ‘90s hip-hop production. That’s been the home genre, and because I’m from the Faroe Islands, it’s a different sound than America. But I can agree with you on thinking back to 2022. It’s like a [different] version of myself if I go back and listen to the songs. I also feel like I can hear where I was at that time, just trying to figure out where my heart was.

LUNA: I love that. That’s like the whole point of music, too.

MNENEY: Yeah. I feel like I’m just constantly trying to figure out where I feel most myself, and I like to be pushed out of my comfort zone. Sounds and genres that challenge me…I love that. I really, really, really love that. So I feel like these past few years have been a journey for me to figure out: where do I feel most comfortable without being comfortable? Does that make sense?

LUNA: That definitely makes sense, because you never want to be so comfortable that you just stay in one space for too long and you don’t really get to explore those other options that are out there.

MNENEY: Yeah, but I like to picture my creativity as a playground where I can say what I want and do whatever. Like, one day, I want to do the swing; tomorrow, maybe I do another thing. You don’t tell kids how to play. The first thing that comes into mind, they do it. I like to picture my creativity in that way, like a playground.

LUNA: I love the effect music can have on a person and the memories it can create. That being said— Can you tell me about your earliest memory of music? Specifically, I’d like to know more about the pink karaoke microphone your grandfather bought for you.

MNENEY: Yeah, oh my god! I feel like that is such a huge moment for me still because my grandpa is the first one in my family to really enjoy music. He plays the accordion, and every holiday season he always takes that out and plays, and we dance around. It’s always been him having that musical thing, and I’ve always been so inspired by him because he only followed his intuition when he was playing…now he’s blind, and he’s still playing. So, I feel like I was six or five, and we were living in Copenhagen. I felt like everything around me was so chaotic, but I loved to lock myself in my room and play loud music. I would dance around like I was on stage, and I would not give a f*ck (laughs). That is still the core memory I go back to when the chaos gets louder than my dreams. I had a microphone, and I had him supporting me to do it. It was the first time somebody saw me in my dream and…

LUNA: Supported you.

MNENEY: Yeah, and gave me my first-ever microphone. So, still, to this day, when chaos hits, I still escape to my bedroom and make all my music [there] before I go to my producers. I feel like, to this day, sometimes you can forget, like, Why? Why did I start? Because there’s so much going on in the world…and there’s so much going on in my mind. I am such a sensitive person, but when the chaos is loud, I always think back to my grandfather giving me that pink microphone.

LUNA: I love that.

MNENEY: I love that you found that fact.

LUNA: You have a great love for ‘90s and 2000s music. Artists like Lauryn Hill, Toni Braxton, Beyonce, and Whitney Houston are just some of those who have followed you throughout your life. What is it about these artists and their music that resonates with you?

MNENEY: Whitney Houston, for example, is an artist who struggled in her personal life, and she still managed to create art that is still [among] the best things today. I’m really, really sad that she had to struggle, but I feel like when I was little –growing up in the Faroe Islands – it’s only folk music. Being mixed, I had a hard time looking up to somebody. My mom is white, and she’s from the Faroe Islands. I didn’t have any contact with my dad, so listening to artists who looked like me, like Whitney Houston and Lauryn Hill, while also [knowing] their personal struggles, really resonated with me in a way.

LUNA: You come from a Danish-Faroese background with Tanzanian roots. Can you talk to me about how this has emotionally influenced you as an artist and the impact it has made on your music?

MNENEY: I feel like that’s a really hard question because I’m not really sure how. I feel like I’ve always tried to fit into a certain type of way to be because of the Faroese upbringing, and not having others to look up to. I feel like there are some problematic things with both cultures, but mostly growing up in a white community. I like to look at it from a different, higher perspective. I want to look at the problems and then, in that way, channel that into my music and speak on it that way.

I get inspired from growing up with my mom and her white culture and the Faroese culture, and having a dad who looks like me but isn’t with me and wanting to learn more about that side. Also, seeing how women get treated in small communities and in black communities. Like having a dad who treated me and my mom differently than my brother because we were women. So, like that, and also the racism and wanting to stand up for myself but not having that black role model to teach me how. Women struggle in every area. In the black community and also in the white community but it looks different because it just is.

LUNA: The experience is different.

MNENEY: Yeah, so I try to focus on the problematic things and how I can channel that into my music, as well as the feeling of having two parts [to my identity] and learning how to connect them. Like, with my name. Choosing to include my last name in my artistic name. So, yeah, I don’t know…

LUNA: It’s complex.

MNENEY: Yeah! It’s much more in my lyrics than in the sounds. One song on the album has an interlude at the start, where I speak Faroese, and then I go back to English. I really want to do a song where I do something in Swahili as well. And I really like to channel the anger that I have for not being treated right as a woman.

For example, I really tried to channel that in “Drip.” Not being ashamed to feel sensual about yourself and not being ashamed about being a woman and expressing her love for another man in a more sensual way, because that’s okay. So I feel like it comes out more in lyrics than in my sound.

LUNA: That’s perfect because that leads me to your songwriting process. Do you have a routine or environment that you prefer to work in? Every person is different. Some have got their notes or recording apps. Others need to be outside or, say… in the kitchen. Who knows!

MNENEY: I love how we’re not the same in that process, but still, we’re so the same. I really like being alone in that process. I like starting out in my bed. Sometimes, I’m out doing my thing, and something comes to me, and then I just write that note down, but I feel like most of the time, it’s me in my bed with a beat or something, and I just vibe over it. I like to play around with it by myself and then take it with me to the studio because I really love getting other people’s heads into the making of music. I might think that I have thought it all through, and then some of my producers come up with another idea I would have never thought of, and I really like that. But because my songwriting is so intimate, I like keeping it the way that I’ve always loved it.

Like I told you before, when I was younger, it was always me escaping to my bedroom so I could say whatever I wanted to say. That’s how I work best. “Drip” started in my bedroom with me fantasizing over a boy and how I really wanted him to come by so that we could have fun. I love that stage when it’s only you, and you’re not disturbed by anything that comes from the outside world.

LUNA: So far this year, you have released two singles: “Heartbreak (Winner of the Year)” and “Drip.” Obviously, you just talked about the inspiration for “Drip,” but can you tell me about the inspiration behind “Heartbreak (Winner of the Year)?”

MNENEY: So last year, I went through a huge breakup, my first breakup ever, and when I got over it, I just sat by myself and had this “aha” moment. It really f*cked me up. That was the best breakup ever because it really hurt that bad, but [it also made me realize] whoa, I’m just another person, and now I’m so much stronger, and I know what I want out of a relationship.

When you go through a breakup, you feel ugly as f*ck, and you feel like no one wants you, and the only thing you want to do is curl up in your bed. When I got out of that phase, I wanted to feel like myself again, but in a funny way. I really love to be a bit goofy in my songs because when I’m down, I always joke about it because it makes me feel better. I wanted to thank him in a way, like, here’s your crown; you really did me good, but it’s okay because I’m the hottest I could ever be. I’m in a new relationship, and I’m back again and hotter than ever.

LUNA: “Heartbreak (Winner of the Year)” has become a live fan favorite. What have you loved most about performing this song on stage?

MNENEY: I love the goofiness. I love how the only thing I have to say before we start singing it is, “I hope you’re ready to shake some ass,” and from that moment, it creates goofiness and no shame. It’s the song where I let loose. I have this choreo in the second half of the song where I just go crazy and shake my ass (laughs). I love how I’m not controlling myself and controlling my moves, and overthinking what other people are thinking. I love how I’m trying to send out a message to them. Let’s be goofy together, and let’s just shake some ass together. Let’s just f*ck around and not think about what other people are thinking, and I really love feeling that energy coming back. We’re all struggling with something, but in that moment, we’re all together in one song, and I love that feeling. It’s very wholesome.

LUNA: How would you define the relationship you have with live performances compared to the relationship you have recording in the studio? Obviously, there’s the live aspect and the energy you receive.

MNENEY: When I’m in the studio, it’s me and my friends having fun, and it’s very intimate. When I’m on stage, I get to experience the side of me that for so many years has felt like was “too much.” I feel like I have this inner Tamara that is five, six, or seven years old, doing a performance in her room and not overthinking it, letting loose, and following her intuition. When performing live, I let her live again. That’s why I love both — doing my thing in the studio and live. It’s wholesome in two different ways.

When I’m in the studio, I tell that little girl’s story, but when I’m on stage, I let her live out her dream and tell it in real life to other people. In the studio, I don’t get that energy back. It’s just me and my friends hanging out and being in that creative zone. But when I bring it on stage, and this little girl is able to do her thing and get feedback, in the moment, she lives.

LUNA: She’s probably exploding with so much joy and is like, ‘Oh my gosh, this is my life!’

MNENEY: Yeah! Sometimes, when I get off stage, I’m like, “what just happened?” I can’t remember doing a certain move until I see it on camera after. Personally, I’m really shy and introverted, but when I look at myself after I’ve been on that stage, I’m like, “whoa!”

LUNA: Your debut album comes out next year. First, have you already decided on a name? Second, where are we on the nerves/excitement scale?

MNENEY: Oh, shit (laughs). The name… I’ve got some ideas. On that scale, right now, I’m nine point five because we’re at that point where we need to kill some darlings. But I’m really excited to share the album because we’ve been working on it for half a year now, and I just want to show it all, but I can’t. I can’t release forty songs, so right now, we need to narrow it down. I promise it will be a variety of so many emotions and thoughts and different, random goofiness. I like to think of it as Rhianna’s feistiness. I love how feisty she is, but in that dark, bossy kind of way. And like how Solange can be so soft and deliver so many on-point lyrics without screaming them out. I feel like that’s somehow the vibe with the album.

LUNA: So far, we’ve gotten a taste of the album with “Heartbreak (Winner of the Year)” and “Drip,” but as we wait for the release, can you share some details about the album in terms of themes or messages?

MNENEY: I feel like with this album, it’s the first time I’ve let myself play around. It’s hard to say what message I want to bring. Everything can go together and that has taken me a long time to understand. I can still be Faroese and from Tanzania. I can still be sad and happy. I can still goof around and also feel sensual as f*ck, and I feel like with the album, I try to fit everything in where they complement each other.

LUNA: If you could finish the sentence— In 2025, I hope…

MNENEY: In 2025, I hope that my music has found the right people and the right crowd. I’m waiting on you guys!