Interview by Alena Underwood | Photographer: Nat Goldie
Artist Laura Pieri has dedicated her craft to championing female empowerment, using her music as a personal growth and liberation vehicle. In conversation with NYOTA, Pieri opened up about her 2024 EP, Frankie, and what it means to uplift herself and others through her art.
How does your Brazilian heritage influence your music?
My Brazilian roots are in everything I do. Even if the songs aren’t in Portuguese or don’t have a traditional Brazilian rhythm, we all come from somewhere and it’s in you, in your blood. I also think Brazilians have this instinct to connect through feeling first, and that’s how I try to create.
Do you feel that either New York or Los Angeles has had an impact on your music as well?
Absolutely. New York gave me so much, I even have a tattoo for it. It’s the place I came into my own, as a woman and as an artist. It challenged me and shaped me. I wouldn’t say it has impacted my music directly but definitely indirectly by impacting and shaping me.
You describe “Flown Away” as a defining moment in your music career. What does that mean for you? What does the song say about you as an artist and as a person?
“Flown Away” is a goodbye letter and a little bit of a rebirth. It says: I’ve been through something. I’m still soft. But I know who I am now. As an artist, it represents to me embracing, forgiving and moving on from everything that’s come before. So there’s this aspect of letting go of what’s been to make space for what’s to come.
How do you hope listeners feel after hearing “Flown Away?”
I hope they feel seen. And if not seen, then safe to feel. Sometimes we think we’re alone in our heartbreak or confusion or hope, but we’re not. If “Flown Away” can be a mirror or a moment of release for someone, then it’s done its job.
Is there a takeaway that you want your audience to have after listening to your music?
That you can be layered. That you don’t have to be one thing. You can be glamorous and gritty. Brave and afraid. Lost and still moving forward. I want people to walk away from my music feeling like they’re allowed to be fully themselves.
How does your EP Frankie expand on themes in “Flown Away?”
Frankie’s ending is “Flown Away.” Frankie is the whole story, the anger, the clarity, the power that comes back when you’ve survived something. It’s theatrical and a little chaotic on purpose. I built Frankie as a character, but she’s really a part of me, the part that performs survival as if it were a dance, a ritual, even a game. It’s still deeply emotional, but it has claws.
You worked with an all-women team on this project. Can you say more about what led to this decision and why it is so important to you and your work?
It was something I set out to do on purpose mostly because of the themes explored in the story and because I wanted to make this in a room of people who understood my experience. The energy in the room was different. There was this unspoken trust, safety and shared language. Working with women, especially in an industry where we’re often underestimated and unrepresented in positions of power, felt incredible. It was also important because Frankie is a character born from anger, betrayal, and ultimately liberation. Having a team of women help bring that to life made the story more layered, more intimate, and more honest.
You’re balancing an MBA with a music career—how do those two worlds collide or complement each other?
They collide all the time. I’ve had to take meetings in full glam or go to class in costume. But they complement each other too. Music is my soul’s work, but the MBA has taught me how to protect that work, how to build the infrastructure so I can be both free and in control. I’m learning how to be the artist and the architect of my career. It’s not easy, but it’s the most empowered I’ve ever felt.
This story first ran in NYOTA’s Art is Life Issue. Read more from the issue here and purchase a print copy here
