Creative Conversations 048: Find Liberation With Audrey Nuna

Audrey Nuna is undoubtably one of the rising stars in alternative hip hop and electronica, with her vivacious and off kilter stance on the genres. With the release of her debut EP Liquid Breakfast, we caught up with the ascending act over Zoom (early one morning) to uncover the story behind the EP and more. Although our opportunity to chat was limited, Audrey Nuna’s passion and artistic energy was infectious leaving us longing for more deep dives into her world.

Futuremag Music: Hey Audrey, how’re you going? Thanks for jumping on the call, really appreciate it!

Audrey Nuna: Hey Futuremag Music, I’m doing good just in New York! It’s five’o’four pm and it’s going great! Where are you calling from?

Futuremag Music: Incredible! I’m currently in Sydney, and it’s seven in the morning… I just rolled out of bed. Anywho, let’s jump into it! A huge congratulations on the release of your debut body of work, a Liquid Breakfast! How does it feel to have it out in the world?

Audrey Nuna: Thank you! It feels so great, I’ve never been this busy in all of my life, but I’ve been really enjoying it. It’s kinda been an active attempt to try to enjoy it through how busy everything is. To be able to sit down and listen to the EP out in the world has been great.

The support from Spotify has been immense, it’s surreal to have billboards of myself up around places like Times Square and yeah, it’s just awesome to have it out in the world.

Overall I’ve been really enjoying it.

Audrey Nuna (Provided)

Futuremag Music: It’s awesome to see the support flowing in. I’ve read a few interviews where the EP is described as a chronicle of your life over the past year and a half and the immense personal growth that goes along with it. Could you give us some more insight to the story you’ve imbued into Liquid Breakfast and it’s position in the current cultural music landscape.

Audrey Nuna: The chronicle kinda just happened, it wasn’t a preplanned thing. Liquid Breakfast is a collection of works of the past years that show my growth. It’s a theme that sprouted by itself… By being a loner, being yourself, and being an individual. It’s about being liberated by your own exile in a way. It happened from observing my life; I went from living in the city to the suburbs at my Mum’s house… All these changes were happening at once, and I just wrote about it so it naturally became this story arch of that kind of movement.

In terms of cultural music landscape, I haven’t gotten that question before so I haven’t really thought about it… I just make what I want to make and put it out to see what happens.

Futuremag Music: On the note of cultural impact, your music is so genuine and it connects deeply with the Gen-Z demographic. We’re the first generation brought up surrounded by technology and the associated manufactured and fake aesthetics that come along with it. To have an earnest artist like yourself does resonate with people.

Audrey Nuna: Thank you, I’d like to think that my music has some sort of impact on people. If you hear Liquid Breakfast and it liberates you in some way that’s the most important thing to me, because that's a cultural impact to me. It’s the little micro effects you have on people.

Futuremag Music: The breadth of the EP is superb, featuring your mega hits along with a selection of new singles. How do you find the sweet spot between selecting already dropped records and fresh releases for Liquid Breakfast?

Audrey Nuna: I made so many songs in my life, so I picked ones that had the same sonic flavour. There’s this brightness to this EP that I really wanted to preserve. It feels like Summer in a way, it doesn’t feel like a winter project. I see a lot of greens, yellows, oranges and pinks; all those bright colours. It was more of a sonic choice, anything that had that sonic tone and flavour, so some of those songs happened to be out already and others weren’t out.

Making music for me is a lifestyle thing, almost like a hobby. I always want it to feel like I’m hanging out and making music with my friends, because that’s when the best shit happens for me.

The track ordering was a whole journey within itself. I didn’t realise that the way you order a project can make or break how people feel about an EP. I was literally rearranging the track list for months because I wanted it to be perfect. I wanted to be able to have both the hard hitting stuff with more of the quieter tones without scaring people away. The order was critical in that… You put tracks where people are ready for it, so it’s a smooth journey, not a turbulent experience. I wanted Liquid Breakfast to grow as you listen and get more comfortable with it. It’s kinda like meeting someone for the first time before they know how bat shit crazy you are… It takes a little bit of time and strategy to see if you’re suited to one another.

Futuremag Music: I also want to say it’s awesome that you work with your manager, Anwar Sawyer in the studio as well as in the business sense. What’s it like working with him in both those worlds?

Audrey Nuna: He’s a huge part of the sound, he brings out the best in me. I’ve always been a weirdo and meeting him at age 17 or 18 was liberating, I remember thinking there are other weirdos in this world and we can embrace the same shit no one else likes. It’s awesome that I can comfortably be myself and try everything I wanted to try without feeling judged. We bring out the weird in each other sonically.

In terms of the manager's side, what it comes down to is that we’re just really good friends. That’s the whole basis of our personal and business relationships. We’re just two humans who care about each other and like the same shit.

Everything stems from there; from making the music we want to make while also doing it how we want to do it. We pride ourselves on being outsiders in a way, we’re in with the mainstream industry and honestly I never really want to be. I think how we’re doing it is really cool. Him as a manager and producer has made this possible because we see it the same way.

Futuremag Music: What is a piece of advice or something you wish you knew when starting out following a career in music?

Audrey Nuna: Letting myself know that I’m always going to want more. Just enjoy everything, because this is a lifelong pursuit. I’m never going to be fully satisfied… Content is one thing, I’m happy for sure, but to be satisfied is another thing; it takes me a lot to reach that point. Knowing that and knowing myself is a good thing I wish I knew more early on.

Futuremag Music: If Audrey Nuna was a cocktail what would be in it to best describe yourself and your music?

Audrey Nuna: I love whiskey neat, I don’t like it when people try to mask the taste of alcohol. That’s just me, but it sums up who I am to a point. I want simplicity and I appreciate it, but of course there’s an art to it with subtle nuances in the flavour.

I’ve been starting to get into Japanese whiskey, and I love it. One day I want to escape to the Japanese countryside and be a hermit making music with my whiskey, hahaha.

Futuremag Music: Hahaha, what a way to live life, and I’m keen for you to make it there! Thanks again for the wonderful chat!

Audrey Nuna: Thank you, have a great day!