Nikita Lev is in a sweet spot in life… you know, that sweet little spot where you’re transitioning into a full-blown adult, but at the same time you’re not quite sure how to feel about it. The LA-based pop singer/songwriter just released her first official single “Elegance,” which tackles the feeling of being in that sweet spot and feeling both your childhood and adult life calling your name. We sat down to talk about the project, as well as our own personal growing pains!
Hi Nikita, how’s it going?
I’m doing well. I’ve been listening to a podcast this morning with my roommate. How are you doing?
Pretty good. I’m trying to get caught up with my laundry today!
A healthy endeavor, I think.
Yes, indeed… and do other adulting stuff like clean.
It’s hard! I never anticipated how hard it is.
It is. You have to clean, cook, then you have to clean up afterwards…
Go grocery shopping…
I barely have time in the day to do all that, school, and fit fun things in too.
Exactly, it’s hard. We weren’t trained for this.
We weren’t! I hear people say, “When I was in high school, we had home economics!” Things like that, and I can’t believe it. They taught people how to cook in high school? They taught people driver’s ed?
I didn’t get that.
Me either!
Also, moving to a new house… you have to hang up your art, do… a lot… it’s crazy.
It’s wild. Well, you’ve got your debut single “Elegance” here, and this is soooo exciting.
Yeah, I’m stoked about it! I’m really excited. It’s sorta been a long time coming. This actually isn’t my first experience releasing something – I released a whole album a few years ago, but took it all off Spotify. It was a learning experience, and I did learn a lot. It was my “first attempt,” but I didn’t have any promo or anything like that. It was just a project I did, but this is the real deal now. I’m so excited that things are happening!
That’s so awesome! So yeah, you’re kinda like… this is go time! This is my first official release!
It’s really exciting! You see these other artists who are more established, and you’re like, “Man, I wish I could have some kind of platform like them.” Or, it seems like they got there really quickly. It doesn’t really happen overnight, ever. I have to put myself in the mindset that it’ll take a while, and I have to do things intentionally. I can’t get impatient with myself!
Totally! Walk me through some of the steps of how this song came together.
I wrote the song probably a year and a half ago. I was going through a writers block. The main riff in the song was written by one of my mom’s old bandmates, and it was one of the first things I learned on guitar. I was playing with it, and the melody is the same as the riff, so I was kinda letting it happen naturally. I wrote the song, and I was getting in touch with my producer Eric. I lived in New York at the time, and flew out here to work on a few songs that I had written and sent to him. I finished school, moved to LA, and now it’s happening! It’s being released.
I want to rewind for a second, because I feel like this is the perfect time to start diving into your background. Your mom was in a band?
Yeah! Actually, the bandmate who wrote the riff, he wrote it in high school. It was a different band she was in, and then she was in a different band in the 90s. She would play a bunch of gigs around New York, and at one point she played at CBGB.
That’s bragging rights!
Yeah! I was really young when it closed, so when she told me that I was shocked!
But isn’t it a museum now?
It’s a boutique shop… which is really awful. The walls are still there, and it’s kinda paying homage to the whole scene, but they sell all these clothes.
BADDD.
It’s kinda discouraging.
It reminds me of Amoeba before they moved, and thinking about why they had to move. I haven’t even been to the new location, but the old one on Sunset held so many memories.
Music culture and history is so cool. So many bands got their start or inspiration in one place… it’s all mushed together!
At what point did you want to get started with music?
Oh my. I got serious about when I was like 10, but when I was four, I would say that I wanted to be a songwriter. Obviously, that was like me saying I wanted to be a fairy princess. When I was 10, I got my first guitar and wrote my first songs. They were really shit. I think me wanting it kinda just became a habit, and all my friends knew it. I wasn’t really pushed into it, you know there’s this cliche that parents don’t want their kids to be “artists.” They want them to go to college and be a lawyer and stuff like that.
BE A DOCTOR. BE A COMPUTER SCIENTIST.
The thing about my parents is they were always so supportive. My parents were older, so they weren’t that concerned about anything. It always felt like a real thing to me, but I don’t know how the people around me perceived it. I always knew this is what I wanted to do, but I think definitely at first, it was the wanting to be a fairy princess equivalent. I must have meant it at four years old, because it stuck.
I’ve definitely had a lot of musical inspiration, and people to look up to. I always felt super supported, and like it wasn’t impossible in any way. I always wanted to just work hard and do this.
You did it!! Did you have any music lessons growing up? Thinking about what we were talking about a few minutes ago, what they made us learn and wha they didn’t…
In school, they made us pick instruments for jazz band. I played the flute for four years, and it was fun, but I wasn’t super excited about it. I also took piano and guitar lessons outside of school. For quite a while, I did teach myself the guitar though YouTube and just picking it up, and I had a teacher for a while who taught me songs. Also, I think there’s a benefit to not knowing too much clinically about an instrument. I think it gives you a license to do things that aren’t conventionally “right” in theory.
I don’t know about you, but I just learn by doing.
Exactly. I was always a “quitter” of lessons and classes. I went to ballet and I quit. I went to other dance classes and quit. I went back and forth between different piano teachers and lessons. It felt like I was just changing my mind all the time, but when I didn’t enjoy something, I didn’t want to do it. But I don’t know… I think I made it work!
So tell me more about this song, because I know it’s supposed to help you look back upon your life story.
This song is about the “in between” the adults table and kids table. You’re having dinner with your family, and instead of sitting with the younger siblings and cousins, you’re moving your way over to the adult conversations. You’re also not that interested in the adult conversations, talking about cars, insurance…
Taxes…
Money stuff. You’re like… so bored. The kids are talking about board games and stuff, and it’s fun but you’re past that. You also can’t swear in front of them, and you don’t have much in common with them anymore. You’re sitting in this limbo, you’re kinda rebelling against the responsibility of adulthood, but also feeling thrust into it. You also want to maintain the playfulness and scrappiness of being a kid.
Here’s the thing. When I was young, I always asked my cousin to come play with me, and they’d always tell me “maybe later.” I remember telling myself as a kid that when I got older, I’d always play with people when they asked me. I was just so upset they wouldn’t. But when I got older and was approached by my younger cousins, I wouldn’t really feel like doing it… and I felt so bad because it was like I betrayed my younger self!
I’m almost 25, and I still don’t want to talk about insurance and cars and stuff. NO!
The hook in the song says “save me from my elegance.” I always pictured a cocktail party with adults having small talk of mundane stuff. I think it’s about the fear of not being excited about things anymore.
What are some of the things that are exciting YOU right now, besides this release?
It’s kinda hard, because I’m still adjusting to life in LA. I’ve been here for a couple of months, but it’s still hard.
It’s a big adjustment. I’m still adjusting too, and it’s wild.
Yeah. I mean coming from New York especially, LA is so spread out.
It’s a tale of two cities. But you HAVE to drive, that’s the thing.
I know, and that’s not exciting me.
The traffic is not exciting.
It’s really not. I’ve been really productive, writing a lot and I feel really excited about that. I’ve been feeling very inspired, and “on fire” with how proactive I’ve been. That’s exciting to me. I think discovering new art is exciting as well. My roommate and I are very well matched. We met kinda by accident, and we’ve been sharing passions. It’s been amazing, and I think that’s the core of a really good friendship… having those conversations about art and culture, and being able to introduce the other person to it and that becoming their new favorite thing. It’s kind of amazing, and all of that is REALLY exciting to me.
What are some more things you’re looking forward to in 2023?
I’m really looking forward to playing shows. I’m so excited! Getting in touch with musicians and artists I’m a fan of, and who may discover me through whatever avenue. I’m excited to be a part of the art scene, not just in LA. I just want to meet a bunch of cool people.
Nikita’s manifestation from our chat: “I want to be able to tour Europe. Go overseas and meet people there. Oh, you know what I really want too? I want a band, a crew, and tour with them.”
