Yona Marie is an up and coming artist from the Washington, DC area. As a session singer, writer, and producer that has worked with over 200 clients to provide high-quality jingles, singles, features, nursery rhymes, and DJ drops, she currently spends her time engulfed in creating and marketing new music, as well as creating helpful content for artists and musicians who share a similar plight of making their way through an ever-changing digital music world.
1 In Music: What is unique about you and your music?
Yona Marie [YM]: I write, sing, and produce most of my own music. I’m a one-girl band!
1 In Music: What or who shaped your music and who supports you?
YM: My family was a big influence on how much I center my life around music as an adult. I’m also heavily influenced by celebrity artists like Beyonce and India Arie.
1 In Music: When did you realise you were going to make music professionally?
YM: I realized I would make a career out of music after I graduated college and realized that non-music-related jobs just weren’t for me. I need to work with something in the creative world at the very least.
1 In Music: What type of music do you listen to?
YM: I listen to all types of music literally, but I favor R&B, Pop, EDM, Hip Hop, Gospel, Jazz, and Classical music.
1 In Music: Who, to you, is the most undervalued music artist?
YM: That’s a hard question to answer. Since there are so many options to name here, I’ll just say myself. Or many unsigned artists out there that are just like me in the sense that they have a special talent that most people don’t have the privilege to hear yet.
1 In Music: How do you prepare for your performances?
YM: I like to rehearse over and over so that I’m not too far in my head for a performance. I also go on voice rest for a day or so before a big performance so that I don’t suffer from any vocal fatigue.
1 In Music: What do you do when you don’t do music (creative or otherwise) and that you are passionate about?
YM: I’m also very passionate about entertainment in the form of games, books, and visual media. I love sci-fi shows, movies, and books so much that
I wish something huge in the world of science would happen in my lifetime and I can experience something like an alien or machine takeover.
I know that sounds crazy but it would be insane in the worst and best way.
1 In Music: Success to you is…?
YM: Success to me is doing what you love with as little limitation as possible while being able to help people at the same time. The more people you can help, the better.
1 In Music: What do you wish you were told when you started out and that you think would help anyone who starts out?
YM: I wish I was told that it’s not a bad thing to fail.
In my early years I was so afraid to fail and be embarrassed,
but failure is key to opening doors to success.
1 In Music: Any upcoming projects?
YM: I have a new single by the name of Insecure coming out in a few months. It will have a cool bossa nova vibe to it.
1 In Music: Where do we find you music?
YM: You can find my new releases on https://yonamariemusic.com/new-releases