Marena
Hailing from Ohio, US, the Panamanian-American artist is a lover of all things music. This passion prompted her to undertake a songwriting degree at Belmont University in Nashville, Tennessee, which she completed in 2017. In 2018, Marena relocated to Cologne, Germany, where she has lived and worked ever since.
Marena, you are a Panamanian- American singer-songwriter, how did you get into music, what were your first steps?
Hey wolf, first of all thank you for taking the time to talk to me today. I’m so excited to share a little about myself with you and the fans! Like you said, I grew up in a mixed home. We had two distinct cultures living and blending together and through that I experienced a lot of different kinds of music.
My first memories of childhood are of salsa music playing in the kitchen on Sunday mornings while my dad cooked. He taught me the steps for salsa dancing using the tiles on our kitchen floor. So, music, rhythm and dance has always been a constant in my life. I started making up and singing my own little songs as soon as I could talk and I guess I just never stopped.
"Out Cold" is your first single, how excited are you and what's the story behind?
I’m super excited that the song is ready for people to listen to! I co-wrote this several years ago with a producer in Nashville while I was still at Belmont. It was just a demo but I never forgot about it. When I showed my SoundCloud to Diggi, my collaborator here in Cologne he fell in love too. That’s why we chose this one as the first single, there’s so much history with this song, and it’s like it’s just been begging to be released!
You mentioned the quality of the recording, how was it to work with the team around you?
It’s incredible to work with professionals who take their craft as seriously as I do. We’re all perfectionists, we’re all obsessed with that pop-palace, radio-ready sound and we’re constantly pushing eachother to reach our full potential as artists. It’s been a privilege making this song with Milli and Diggi and I can’t wait for fans to hear the other songs we’re working on. This is just the beginning.
Please let us know more about your songwriting process, where do you get your inspiration from?
My songwriting process is pretty fluid. I was lucky enough to get to study songwriting and commercial music in college, so I do have a lot of internalized technique and theory, but I don’t think about it much while writing. The key to writing great songs, in my opinion, is collaboration. The more hands that touch a song, the more beautiful it becomes.
It’s not about over editing… it’s about playing and sharing and having a good time together. Now-a-days my songwriting process is basically sharing all my best ideas with my producer and just having a good time until we’re jamming to something awesome.
What's in your opinion the most difficult part of "being Indie"?
I think the most difficult part is doing everything on your own. All of the planning and organizing, pitching and posting is so time consuming and expensive and that’s on top of actually making the music. But you do it because you love it.
Do you think that "Social Media" could be a game changer for DIY-Artists or would you rather describe it as "necessary evil"?
I think it’s both. On one hand people have never had an easier time finding and connecting with their audience, which is awesome. The power is yours as a creator. BUT, the pressure to do it all perfectly is crippling for a lot of creative people, including myself, because this music is everything to me.
So it’s a double edged sword. Let’s just say if you know any social media managers…I’m hiring [laughing]. I’m ready to let someone else take over for a while, I’m better at other things.
...and last but not least, what are your plans for the near future?
There’s lots of exciting stuff coming up! I’ve got several more single releases planned for this year, the Out Cold music video is coming out at the end of the month and I’m putting a back up band together so I can start doing more live gigs. I’m really excited to see what the future holds it feels like something big is around the bend!
