Interview by Carol Wright | Photos Courtesy of Young People’s Chorus of New York City

We got to chat with Nia Soyemi a singer and actress whose song “We Are The Colors” can be heard on the Just Songs (Unplugged) album by the world-renowned Young People’s Chorus of New York City (YPC).

You act, sing, and dance. Growing up did performing seem like second nature to you or did it take time for you to embrace your artistic abilities?

It definitely was second nature. My mom, who is a former actress, and my sister, Monica Soyemi, who also has a song on the Just Songs (Unplugged) album, were already in the arts, so all I knew were the arts.

After having the chance to work in television and on Broadway do you have a preference between the two?

I definitely prefer to do live theater so; I would choose Broadway. There’s something so magical about working off of other energies. And working off the audience and their reactions. I love how nothing is the same twice, there’s always a different show every day. Yes, it is “Hairspray” eight shows a week, but there were never two shows that were the same. That’s the beauty of it, there’s so much magic when you’re live on stage and in the moment. 

Tell us about your song “We Are The Colors” that you created for the Young People’s Chorus of NYC album. What inspired the song?

First off, when Francisco Núñez, the Artistic Director/Founder of the Young People’s Chorus of New York (YPC), commissioned me to write a song for the Just Songs program, my first thought was, stress, just pure stress of “oh my gosh, I’ve never written a piece before!” When writing, “We Are The Colors” I really thought of the world today and of YPC and its choristers. When reflecting, I realized we’re the same way as colors. Colors are individuals and they come together to create such a beautiful rainbow and I think people in the world and the choristers at YPC, we are the colors [of the rainbow]. When I think about the first lyric of my song, “It’s in our hearts where we can see each other’s colors,” and it’s in the color of our aura–that’s really who we are as people and it’s not necessarily about what we look like. It’s like tapping into Cindy Lauper’s “I see your true colors,” but truly, that’s what shines through. It’s who you are and what you have on the inside. Different colors have different emotions to them. 

Your song touches on unity and inclusivity which is incredibly timely. When working on the song were you hoping to create some type of call to action or did that happen organically?

I didn’t initially set out for it to be a call to action, I was just writing. I would have random moments where I’d be at home or walking on the street and a melody would come to me and I would grab my voice recorder and quickly try to sing into my phone and then, I would leave it alone. I would tell myself, “Nia, don’t stress yourself out, don’t try to quickly get things done. Just let it come to you, and as you see and experience things, let it flow.” That’s how the words came to me as well. Of course, it went through a few rounds of editing, but for the most part, I think the words just came to me. It was actually really weird, the chorus came to me all at once, the whole line came to me. Honestly, I didn’t even see it as a call to action until I read your question, and I was like “Wow, I guess it is, huh?”  I just wrote. And I was like, we’ve got to come together, I think that the only real way we can get better is if we are together. It sounds so cliche, and I’m never a fan of cliches, but it’s true. The only way we can be better is to do things together and come together for a certain cause. There’s strength in numbers. 

The idea that we all need to come together really resonated with me when I was teaching the young choristers at YPC my song for Just Songs (Amplified), an album of new choral arrangements sung by the current chorus members featuring mine and the other songs from the Just Songs (Unplugged) album. It was amazing to be able to relay the important message of my song and teach the younger choristers and see how they would respond to it. I was so surprised by how receptive they were to the song. It really brought me back to my initial process when I created it. I had my own voice in mind, but I felt like there could be more. And then, once they [YPC choristers] all sang it together, I was like “This is it. This is what it was missing. It was missing their voices.” 

What was it like working with the young YPC choristers on your song?

It was amazing to work with the choristers and teach them my song, “We Are The Colors.” It was such a full-circle moment, especially because I always remembered having guest artists and other musicians and composers coming to work with us and teach us their songs. Some songs were really cool, while others I could’ve lived without. But to be able to relay the important message of my song and teach the younger choristers and see how they would respond to it. I was so surprised by how receptive they were to the song. Maybe it’s because I used to be a staff member at YPC so they were already used to me, but there was an extra level of joy and readiness that they had when learning my song.

During rehearsals, it was funny, the conductor would say “Guess what time it is?” and the choristers would respond with its “Nia’s song!!” and be so excited about it. It really warmed my heart. Also, it brought me back to my initial process of when I created this song, I had my own voice in mind. I was like, “I like it, but I feel like there could be more.” And then, once they all sang it together, I was like “This is it. This is what it was missing. It was missing their voices.” And that’s another part of the process, where like, whatever you first came up with might not be what is best at the end. What the end result was, was for them to sing it. And I think their delivery will be 10 times better than whatever I imagined it to have been from the beginning. I’m just really grateful that they all loved the song. There were a few choristers who were like, “Nia, can I just sing the song to you, it’s memorized right now.” And I was like, “Please! Let’s go!” And they’re in love with it. And I’m in love with the fact that they love it as much as I did, and as much as I do. So it’s a really great pass the baton moment, and I’m grateful. 

Does New York City itself serve as inspiration for your music?

I am so grateful and blessed to be from NYC because I’m inspired daily. I literally just walk around and see people and things. As a professional nosy person, I love people watching. It really brings me so much joy. Where I live, there’s a pier and I’ll just walk or bike down to the pier and I see a whole gamut of different looking people having their own conversations and experiences. An entertaining game that I created myself while I was biking or walking on the pier would be piecing together a story based on little bits [of conversations] that I would catch. That in and of itself is a beautiful inspiration. I created a story based on people and their conversation and then, I created voices for the people, based on their looks or their energies. New York City is a really beautiful place to take from and be inspired by. 

What advice do you have aspiring musicians?

Be true to yourself. That’s a thing that I had to keep reminding myself of when I came up with this song. Again, when Francisco invited me to write this piece, I was filled with stress and I was comparing myself to the music that I would listen to. I would tell myself, “How can I create something that sounds like that? This is my first piece ever. I’ve got ideas, I’ve got concepts, but to really fine-tune it all and to sound beautiful like a really great piece? How can I get from my concept to that end result?” I was stressing myself out by comparing myself to others and not taking it one step at a time and not being true to myself and to my process.

I kept saying, “Nia, it’s okay, just breathe. This is your very first song ever. No one’s going to expect you to write a masterpiece, or maybe they are, but that’s too bad because that’s not where you are right now. However things come to you, whatever that process may be, be okay with it. Because when you look back, if you do decide to write more–which I actually ended up writing a few more songs–that’ll be a lesson for you, you’ll review that process, and you’ll take some things that worked really well and take some things that didn’t go so well and you’ll be better next time.” Basically, take your time, be true to yourself and be okay with your process and the level of ingenuity that’ll come through your piece. It’s also a form of therapy when you write stuff down and you let things go in such a raw way, and then when you come back to it, you’ll fine-tune it. Just remember to be honest and be true to yourself.