On The Rise: laye

We recently had the opportunity to chat with one of our favorite up and coming artists Iaye!! Get to know her and her music by checking out our conversation below!

For readers who aren’t familiar with you, can you tell us how you got into music?

Of course! I loved singing and I loved writing and so I picked up a guitar and started putting my poetry to chords and I went from there.

How long did it take you to cultivate the artist you wanted to become?

s humans we continue to grow, always. It’s the same thing as an artist. I have always been who I am but it’s taken different experiences to allow me to be comfortable with different aspects of myself and to embrace and express those parts. As an artist, the more I am in tune with who I am, the more I am comfortable in expressing that through my art and becoming the artist I am. It’s a continuous process for myself.

Did you ever expect the music you put out to get as much positive feedback as it has?

It wasn’t something that I even thought about- I’d been so busy focused on creating that I didn’t take the time to think about how people would receive it. I feel very lucky with the feedback I’ve had thus far.

Your style is very unique, was it hard being able to be your own person in an industry that’s so demanding on image?

 It’s taken me a long time to be comfortable in who I am. At the end of the day, you have to not care about anyone’s opinion other than your own because everyone has something to say. Most of it’s not important. And that’s a hard thing to do, but as long as I know I’m striving for that, I’m okay with myself.

To you is the creative process, such as songwriting, cover art, and visuals etc., just as important as the music?

Very much so! It’s an extension of the music- you can use it to further the story of the lyrics or to create another one.

Can you tell us more about your new album lonesome? What was it like getting to create your first published body of work?!

Rewarding once it was done- but at the end of the day it has me excited to start the second one. The first was a learning process that has helped me narrow down what and where I want to go with the second.

The music video for your single “Sicker” is killer!! Do you have involvement with the direction of your videos?!

Thank you!! <3. In general I like to- and in the past I have, but for this one I did not. The director, Summer O’Grady, is a friend of mine as well as my makeup artist and she’s worked with me a lot in the past. For this video- she knew I was really wanting a visual that I felt represented part of myself and she created this beautiful piece. She has a lot of influences from the fashion world as well that she incorporated into it. It was a really lovely experience.

[youtube=://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ViWFiIifdVg&w=854&h=480]

Lastly what’s next for you?! Do you have anything exciting coming up?!

Keep your eyes open for some tour dates as well as I’ll be back in the studio soon soon for some new new.

CONNECT WITH lAYE HERE Spotify, iTunes, Instagram, Twitter, Facebook, & Youtube