Planetary Group took some time to get to know Neoma, the Denver-based bended-pop project with Ecuadorian roots.
Planetary Group: Tell us about your latest release. How did you come to create it?
Neoma: My latest release is called “Tears at Bae”. I probably made it like a year and a half ago, on this small Casio piano, and it’s about not wanting to cry, wanting to hold back your emotions and trying to get over this person without crying, without feeling sad. So it’s definitely a feel-good song. It’s a ‘get over that person’ song.
It’s called Tears at Bae because that was like an inside joke with the band. Instead of being ‘bay’ B-A-Y we changed it to ‘bae’, B-A-E, which means ‘Before Anyone Else’.
PG: Share a bit about your musical journey, from when you first started making music until now.
Neoma: I’ve always been around music. When I was little, my dad used to play the guitar and I’ve always loved to sing and dance. And when I was 16 years old, I started to play guitar and piano and taught myself how to play bass and also how to produce my own music. So, pretty much since 2016, I have been writing my own music, producing my own music and playing more and more instruments.
It’s been great moving from Ecuador to Denver, Colorado. I made the decision of relocating because I felt like I needed to take my music somewhere else. And I had the opportunity to come and live here in Denver.
PG: Let’s talk about the music that you love. Pick one album for each category below & tell us a bit about it!
- An album you grew up listening to:
Neoma: An album that reminds me of my mom and that I grew up with was definitely ABBA – Gold (Greatest Hits). I don’t even think we had the actual CD, I think it was just a CD that we made with all the ABBA songs and some other disco songs that my mom had in the car.
- An album that inspires you as an artist (I’m sure there are many, but pick one of your choosing):
Neoma: An album that definitely inspired [my] album is Magdalene by FKA twigs.
- The album you currently have on repeat:
Neoma: Plastic Hearts by Miley Cyrus!
PG: What do you want people to take away from your music?
Neoma: Music for me is a way to heal and to understand my emotions and to understand myself. So I want people to feel like they can relate to my music. I feel like I write about real things, real feelings, real situations. So some people have come to me and have been like, your music saved me or your song got me through a breakup.
And I think those are the things that connect me and the people who are listening to my music. We are not that different. We become one in that specific moment when you’re listening to something I created about my experiences and the feelings that I was feeling at that moment.
So I think that that’s a very magical experience of being a listener and also being an artist.
What’s next up for you?
Neoma: Definitely my album, and two more singles coming. This album is very special for me; it’s called Hyperreal and I cannot wait for y’all to hear it. I think I challenged myself as an artist for the first time to explore different genres that I wasn’t really into. And then I ended up loving them. And I also think that it was a great group experience, cause I made it with my band and my band is pretty much my family and they’re all my best friends.
Thanks to Neoma for speaking with us! Check out the lyric video for ‘Tears at Bae’ below.
