Not of this world

Meet Aestrea. An independent artist, writer, and producer, heavily influenced by sci-fi and greek mythology. Her influences bleed into her music and have allowed her to create a genre of her own. Most describe aestrea’s music as alternative/indie/bedroom pop with a mix of ambient, acoustic, electronic, and synth pop influences.

Aestrea began writing and recording at the young age of 14, her passion growing out of a guitar and a notebook. Now, with 11k monthly listeners on Spotify and her fanbase growing, her most popular song “Losing Game” has just shy of a million listens on SoundCloud.

How do you learn this process to make music at such a young age?

I started just messing around with GarageBand at the same time I started playing guitar.

So I started recording music and mixing all at the same time and then I got into synths like keyboard stuff. In quarantine I got really into producing and it all just spiraled into this.

I noticed your song “Losing Game” has gained like 900,000 streams on SoundCloud so why do you think that one song took off?

I'm not really sure but if I had to guess I would say it's because a lot of people relate to it. It feels like longing for someone or something. I feel like a lot of people related to that and resonated with that.

Especially when it was posted. I posted it in quarantine so I feel like it was released at the perfect time when everyone was feeling lonely.

Her songs “Not A Body,” “Moon Flower,” and “Prey” are her most notably influencing songs. They are powerful and meaningful songs not just to the audience, but to her. “Not A Body” was written at just 16 and discusses what it felt like to be sexualized and objectified at such a young age. 

“Prey” is another one that discusses similar feelings. She describes how small she feels both in size and age and calls out those who “like that I’m young.” As more women, young and old, begin to find their voice against aestrea has allowed for her audiences to also have an outlet through her music. Her fans can resonate with the strain of living up to expectations that social media and people push on women. 

Speaking of relatability, your songs “Not A Body,” “Moon Flower,” and “Prey,” a lot of people really resonated with that music. How were you able to become so vulnerable when creating this type of music?

Honestly, music became an outlet for me especially when I was sixteen, which is when I wrote “Not A Body.” I was throwing my feelings into the song [and] was feeling objectified as many girls have experienced. I really poured my heart out into the songs, especially “Not A Body” and “Prey.”

It was just an emotional outlet for me that I used to cope, and people resonated with that which is amazing.

I really want to learn more about your process of creating music. Is it like an accidental thing or do you actually have to sit down to get into it?

It kind of was an accidental thing because I was not into music before quarantine. With quarantine there was just so much time to sit there and do things. It really just became a coping mechanism and an outlet for me during quarantine. I just became obsessed with it.

So I know [Aestrea] is from Greek mythology. it's a term that actually means goddess of the stars. You go for this cosmic/sci-fi aesthetic, so how do you contribute to that theme when creating music?

When I make electronic music it's different, because there's a lot of sounds that sound very sci-fi. I honestly just mess around with different synth sounds until I find one that matches my feeling for the song.

I always try to incorporate my interests like Greek mythology or anything like that into my songs. Especially with “Siren Song,” it all kind of comes into play so I always try to incorporate that into my music.

Do you have any specific inspirations when making music? 

The biggest inspirations, I’d have to say grimes. I know it’s controversial but I really respect how she is an independent producer. I really like her electronic music because I feel like she is also very vulnerable with her music and I really respect that.

Also Lana Del Ray. I just like her sound, her aesthetic, and her world-building. I really respect that

Then David Bowie for aesthetics. I’m not there yet but one day I would like to have that David Bowie otherworldly vibe but we’re getting there.

I know you performed at a Waffle House parking lot which is really dope and a lot of people have been raving about it. What do you think made that specific performance very memorable? 

The fact that I was wearing a Waffle House uniform, I think that was the best part. We didn't actually get to perform at the Waffle House because the police showed up. It ended up being a house show and I was still in the Waffle House uniform.

You’re upcoming and starting to actually rise in your music so do you have any set goals for yourself in the next five years?

Definitely. I want to release an album. I have not released an album yet and that's because I want to have a very conceptualized idea before I release an album but it's on the way. Keep an eye out!

Thank you to Aestrea for the interview! Keep an eye out for her newest album hopefully coming soon :)

All images courtesy of @aestrea on Instagram.