Q+A: Selina

Meet Dreamy R&B singer/songwriter Selina. Hailing from Portland, Oregon, at 20-year-old wants you and her to avoid feeling uncomfortable in being open. Selina is all about expressing vulnerability through her music. From her debut album “Atari,” which dropped in 2019, the album itself is meditative as she experiments with bounce sounds while speaking from her heart. In 2020 she dropped her sophomore album “111” of fantasy-type sound with Selina expressing the feeling of wanting that “special” someone who doesn’t’ deserve your love, but you’ll soon realize it’s best to let go of that person even if it hurts. Her 2021 album “Solace” has a dreamy sound that initially, Selina wanted the album to feel comforting to not only her but for fans to feel relief and support. With her latest single, “16,” Selina looks to reassure her 16- year-old self to learn to place boundaries around those who try to ruin her peace.

We chatted with Selina discussing her latest track, “16,” her previous album, Solace, and our favorite albums that felt solace.

You being from Portland Oregon I gotta ask how is the music scene out there?

A lot of punk shows right now. We were more rap and Hip-Hop focused a few years ago before COVID happened. Now, it's warehouse shows, and underground locations house shows. They're like very punk focused. That's what it consists of; it is usually focused on one kind of thing. People over there are going crazy over it. You're seeing a lot of like cottage core or just a lot of people expressing their artistic endeavors physically, like in a very punk way; it's super interesting.

If you could how do you describe your music or your sound with certain colors or seasons? 

Ooh, what a fabulous question thank you for writing this question! I would say black and grey like a bunch of darker shades of like red and black just like super muted things I guess. For seasons like fall and winter for sure. 

In your current single “16” where you explain at 16 your kindness was taken advantage of; I have to ask do you think the focus of the song was about you figuring to draw out boundaries?

Yes, 100%!

Can you tell me what it was like recording your album Solace and the process it was making the album itself? 

It was a process of about - I would say, like six months, and I think we made maybe around 40 or 50 songs. We just had demos on demos on demos 'cause I would record so much music. This was like me coming out of that sophomore year slump. Around that time, I met my manager; he was like, "you need to take a break from making music and create and find out what you like." So then we just came to a place where this very emotional, ethereal R&B sound stemmed from what I was writing about, like I think I was shedding a past version of myself. So everything felt like a release, and that's just the theme for the whole album, which is finding solace in the actual creation of the music, but it's allowing me to become this new version of myself.

Because you see yourself as an artist that wants to be completely open and comfortable with listeners How do you personally go about doing that in your music like is their system for you or a structure?

I’d say it’s very much in the moment for me when I'm going through something it's I feel like “16” is one of the songs where I actually refer to the past but for like a long time ago and who that past version of myself was. But usually, my music it's very conversational so I think it just depends on the mood I'm in or what I'm going through, but I always just strive to be like 100% just put it out there as scary as that is’ cause you're telling random people your trauma, your pain, and your sadness and you know just giving it to the world it's very nerve-wracking.

Can you explain when you write your music is it that you’re not only writing for yourself as just therapy but are you also thinking about those who are in a different difficult kind of place?

When I'm writing, I think about being as specific as I can be because I want people to be able to relate to my music. I'm more just going through the motions of what I'm thinking about and then afterward as I'm creating visuals for the song. I think about what I wanna convey to this person so that they can find comfort, safety "solace" in the music.

What’s an album you think inspires your writing but has also brought you solace?

Probably SZA's CTRL I have a "CTRL" tattoo on my arm. Bro, like that album, was another level of like I can't even explain it, but I think you know exactly what I'm saying, hahaha!