On November 11, 2023, returning to the Citadel Outlets Christmas Tree Lighting stage – this time solo with the help of 2 friends/ backup dancers, Nayah Damasen had the crowd in awe while performing covers from Dua Lipa (Dance The Night), Sabrina Carpenter (Nonsense), Ariana Grande (Santa Tell Me), and more.
After the spectacular set, Total Access Pass had the opportunity to sit down with Nayah to talk about returning to the Citadel Outlets stage, her latest single “Creep,” and more.
TAP: How does it feel being back on the Citadel Outlets stage for the 2nd year in a row – but this time also making your solo “debut”?
ND: It’s a little different! This is my first debut solo performance, and fun fact, I haven’t done a solo performance in probably five years, so it definitely was a all the pressure. It was a new, yet old feeling, but I loved it!
TAP: Speaking on recent events, last weekend you attended Mattel’s Party on the Pier. How was that event for you?
ND: Party on the Pier is always a fun event! It was my second time going and I got to meet a lot of little kids and give out Mattel presents. I worked the ring toss booth and it was really funny to dodge all the rings getting tossed at the bottles.
TAP: In October, you released your solo single “Creep,” for the Halloween season. Can you tell us a little bit about that?
ND: For “Creep,” we wanted to release a spooky season song – but be something that could pertained to all year round. So it’s basically, I’m telling the guy to stay in his place. It’s very much a sassy kind of girl power, “leave me alone I don’t want to mess with that” type of song.
TAP: With a single like “Creep,” where you are a lot more involved in the process, how was that experience?
ND: I’ve actually never made music like that before! I’ve always written my stuff but never shared it with anybody. So to actually have it be a collaborative experience with Matt Wong and Jason Pencock, it was really cool to realize the”oh, I can actually do this” mindset and that it was a very chill process!
TAP: What can we expect from Nayah Damasen in the new year? Any upcoming projects you can share?
ND: Well, you can follow me at @nayahdamasen and all my streaming platforms to definitely see all the new music coming in the new year! I hope to release a lot more singles, hopefully an EP, but now that the SAG strike is over, hopefully we can hear news about some acting stuff soon as well!
