Exploring self-love, growth, and artistic evolution, Nadia Maria opens up about the emotional journey behind “This Is A Solo And Not A Duet,” revealing resilience, creativity, and embracing imperfections.
1. Your EP “This Is A Solo And Not A Duet” centers around self-love and personal growth. Can you tell us about the emotional journey behind the project and what inspired its title?
The title is a line from my song Beautiful Coward. I wrote it about a toxic attachment I had to a man, who’s opinion I valued more than anyone else’s, even my own. But he kept ghosting me and then sneaking back into my reality. Until one day, I understood that he was a coward and that I am amazing and worthy of the things I want in life. It was one of the greatest realisations that I’ve ever had! We all learn from these kinds of situations, because we find out how we react and we grow and get to know ourselves this way. That’s what builds real confidence and trust in yourself. At some point I came to the conclusion that my self-worth is determined by the relationship I have with myself and not by the opinions of others. The songs on “This Is A Solo And Not A Duet” are a collection of these moments, the journey to the love I now feel for myself. I just felt like the title truly encompassed all of it.
2. You mentioned that one of the songs was written ten years ago. How has your perspective evolved over time, and how did that influence the final version of the EP?
Those ten years were basically my entire twenties, so a lot has happened 🙂
I had just started writing songs and I was working with some people who didn’t unterstand what I wanted to express with my music. At the same time I was studying classical music, which is where I met my best friend OLO. We both didn’t really identify with the role of the “classical musician”, so we decided to ditch it for each other. It was crazy, because we had never worked with a DAW or anything like that and it took us a long time to get the hang of it. But we just knew that we could make the music we actually wanted to listen to. There was a lot of perfectionism in our minds that was holding us back from finishing and releasing tracks, because we could always hear things that should be “fixed”. So, the songs on the EP went though a lot of different versions.
In 2024 I entered my song Upside Down into the Soundclinic contest of the Musikbüro Basel and won. Thanks to that, I had the opportunity to work with some amazing coaches, who taught me so much about the music industry. They were the ones, who helped me decide that it was time to put out an EP. Of course, we were still changing little things until the very last moment. But we’re incredibly happy with it and super ready for the next one 🙂
3. Your sound blends 2000s R&B, Soul, Disco, and electronic elements. How did you approach shaping this warm, nostalgic yet modern sonic identity with producer OLO?
The foundation was built by the music that we were listening to growing up. Luckily, there was a lot of overlap. My first favourite song was Miss You Much by Janet Jackson and OLO’s favourite artist was always Michael Jackson. We both loved R&B and Pop and Hip Hop and Soul, so, naturally, that’s where we started when we first learned how to produce. OLO also really got into synths, with all the ways you can shape the sound and transform the trajectory of the song.
We never sat down and tried to define where we would go sonically, we just had fun with it and picked and chose our favourite elements and combined them into our own thing.
I think this also allows us to explore a lot of different styles, while always keeping our distinct sound, which is quite liberating and gets me really excited for all the music we have yet to create!
4. Having a background in opera and jazz, how have those early influences shaped your vocal style and songwriting in this more contemporary pop and neo-soul direction?
First and foremost, I am really grateful for how much my education influenced my vocal technique. It gave me an incredible amount of flexibility to sing lots of different styles and really play with my voice. I always admired singers like Aretha Franklin, because she had this perfect balance of power and lightness in her voice. Thanks to my studies, I learned what to listen for and how to adapt. This analytical aspect also influenced my songwriting, because it made me pay attention to structure and harmony and how the sound of the lyrics actually influences the melody. Studying jazz also really helped with that, as I learned to improvise and see all the directions that a song can go. I’m really lucky that I could incorporate all these lessons into the sound that you can hear on the EP.
5. You’ve already achieved major milestones, from Switzerland’s Got Talent to the Eurovision national final. How have these experiences impacted your confidence and artistic vision today?
It was absolutely amazing for me to experience what it’s like to be on such a big stage. There’s really no feeling in the world that could even come close! I just felt that I was meant to be there. During that time, I started writing a lot of songs – it was basically the first step towards the EP I released now. But after participating in those shows, I had signed some unfortunate contracts. I had no experience with this side of the music industry yet and it took me years to learn how to navigate it. It was a great lesson that I might not have learned without it. Now, I am way more informed while also knowing to be open to learning new things and taking a moment to think before acting. But the best lesson was still, that I just need to be on stage. I crave the interaction with the audience and the exchange of energy. It’s my one true love!
6. This EP is described as an homage to self-love and embracing imperfections. What message do you hope listeners take away after hearing “This Is A Solo And Not A Duet”?
The world is so obsessed with perfection, even though it doesn’t really exist. We’re all a little rough around the edges in our own ways and it’s incredibly important to see yourself the way you are. But it’s even more important to LOVE yourself the way you are.
It took me a long time to reach a point where I can say that I genuinely love myself and it changed my life! I hope to convey that feeling through these songs and to inspire the listeners to meet themselves with more compassion – and, yes, more love.
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