There is so much emotion wrapped up in this song for me. Some people may recognize it from its earlier life as 'Aphrodite’s Blessing', which I released in 2024. At its heart, it has always been a love song about my partner about that totally immersive, almost surreal moment when someone seems to hand you the entire world, and you realize the love story you once only dreamed of might actually be yours.

The lyrics themselves aren’t overly complex, but they hold some of my favorite words I’ve ever written. I absolutely adore the line “I wanted something beautiful to find me, then you arrived.” It carries an innocent, romantic curiosity,  like a fairytale princess waiting for someone to slay a dragon and rescue her from her sadness. For most of my life, that’s exactly where I lived: in my imagination, dreaming about love and wondering if it would ever find me.

I opened my song ‘The Strangest Thing’ with the spoken phrase, “I think that everyone has a fear at some point in their life that they’re never going to find a person to love them. I know I felt that way until I woke up next to you.” That same emotional truth runs through this song. If you’ve known me for a long time, you probably know that I was a very ugly duckling through my childhood and adolescence. I was insecure in so many ways, but fueled by an unwavering passion for music and dreaming. That hopeful, slightly insecure little version of myself still walks closely beside me today. I don’t try to stuff her, in fact, we spend time together and  talk often. I think you can hear her voice in this song.

Because if there’s one thing that defines me, it’s that I don’t give up. I get in my head, I doubt myself, but I remain stubbornly optimistic. The things I want are often unreasonable–yet even if I don’t reach them exactly as imagined, I usually land somewhere among the stars.

This song feels like the dreamy inner world I’ve always carried with me. In fact, it’s one of only a handful of songs in my catalog that fully captures the essence of who I am–the sound I want to create and the story I want to tell. 'Eyes Wide Open' feels like the inside of my brain and spirit more than almost anything else I’ve made.

When I first released it, it was only my second single, and I knew I was still learning. I also knew I hadn’t yet brought it to life the way I heard it in my heart. But I’m grateful I shared it anyway, because the feedback and growth that followed allowed me to shape it into what you hear now.

Interestingly, this was the first song that made me feel less like a songwriter or producer and more like a composer. While finishing it, I found myself instinctively returning to the conducting gestures I learned while studying classical music in college. This newer version embraces that instinct, weaving in orchestral textures that I’ve long wanted to explore. In many ways, the feeling of creating this song reminds me of Fantasia–an impossible dreamland where imagination and music intertwine freely.

The song itself began instrumentally. I produced the entire piece before writing a single lyric, which is ironic because I’m such a natural writer in other forms. Song lyrics, strangely, are often the hardest part of my process. When I feel stuck, I turn to mythology. I find a ton of inspiration in Greek and Roman stories that mirror human emotion in timeless ways. Aphrodite, the goddess of love and beauty, felt like the perfect lens for this song’s energy. The original version even referenced mythological places like Oceanus and the Elysian Fields, elements that didn’t all survive this version but left behind a dreamy, goddess-like aura that still lingers.

Sonically, the song wanted to feel evolving, floating, expansive, feminine, and heavenly, yet still driving forward. A sense of weightlessness paired with momentum.

At its core, ‘Eyes Wide Open’ is a declaration of love–the kind that feels innocent and all-consuming, like a first love you throw your entire being into. It’s the experience of following someone without hesitation, turning your world upside down, and wondering with equal parts awe and disbelief: Is this real? That feeling is reciprocal in the song–both people searching, both surprised to find each other.

Within my larger body of work, I hope this becomes one of my legacy songs. It feels like an anchor, or a meeting point of my lifelong influences: Disney-like storytelling, classical instrumentation, progressive electronic energy, and the voice that has been with me since the beginning. It’s soft yet powerful, dreamy yet grounded. More than anything, it feels honest. Not an attempt to be something else, but a glimpse into the world I live in internally.

If this song carries a message, it’s a gentle reminder for anyone who has ever feared they might never find love or magic in their life: sometimes the thing you’ve been dreaming about quietly finds its way to you. And when it does, it can feel like waking up with your eyes wide open inside a dream 💭

When ‘Yield to Reality’ first began to exist, I was entering a new writing cycle. It was late spring/early summer of 2025, and I did some very intentional (and overdue) thinking about what I want my signature sound, and my signature story, to be.

After years of daily wrestling with self-doubt–that quiet, but relentless devil on my shoulder–I woke up one day with a realization that felt almost anticlimactic: that isn’t my story anymore.

Is self-doubt still part of me? Duh.

But, it no longer gets to drive the project.

I made a decision that the things that once crippled might still exist, but they weren’t the focal point, or the voice I am speaking from any longer.

Around that same time, I started noticing feathers everywhere. They felt symbolic: light, airy, and elegant as they drift. But feathers are also easily swept up by forces outside of themselves. Soft things move quickly when the world surges around them.

That’s how I’ve felt lately.

My inner world feels light as a feather, even as the outside world fluctuates wildly…lifting me up, pulling me down.

‘Yield to Reality’ is the anthem for coping with those surges.

Let me share an example: I am extremely anxious on turbulent flights. I am absolutely not the person anyone wants to sit next to when the skies get rough. Recently, I was sent a video encouraging people to relax the body during turbulence, explaining that physical tension actually increases the likelihood of injury. A few weeks later, I was able to put that theory to the test on a very bumpy flight back from California. 

The plane shook hard enough to knock my cup of sparkling water off the tray table and onto my 10+ year old knit uggs (love those shoes). Everything in my body wanted to brace, and resist, and death squeeze my neighbors thigh. But instead, I yielded. I reminded myself that what was happening in the sky was out of my control. That statistically, the odds of making it safely to the ground were quite strongly in my favor. That resistance wasn’t protecting me…it was exhausting me.

So, I softened.

I let the world outside my body cease to matter.

I surrendered.

At that moment, I experienced acceptance. Not as a concept, but as a physical state. And that is the essence of Yield to Reality (yes, I was playing the song in my AirPods during this moment. It may have even been subconsciously born for my flying anxiety).

For the first six months this song existed, the only lyric was the phrase “yield to reality”, repeated over and over like a mantra. I first encountered the phrase in May of 2025, and it completely stumped me. I had many theories, but couldn’t decide what it meant. I oscillated between interpretations, unable to commit to any one of them deeply enough to write around it. Also worth noting here–I struggle with intense decision-making paralysis :) 

The last few years have been financially challenging for many people, myself included. I’ve struggled with tying my self-worth to money (...or the lack of it) as a yoga teacher and musician. I am someone who pours 150% of myself into my visions. Passion is both my gift, and my downfall.

Last fall, after a massive summer/album release/festival season, I experienced a burnout so magnificent it could probably be studied. I had accomplished so much, yet I looked at my bank account and felt like I had so little to show for it. Eighty-hour weeks, whole-hearted devotion, and still…turbulence.

The irony is that I know many people living the opposite reality. Financially comfortable, working just as hard, but feeling hollow and disconnected from meaning. We tend to romanticize the life we aren’t living. 

The realization came: presence is the freedom. Acceptance of right now is the release. The act of creativity itself is freedom.

As artists (and as yoga practitioners) we don’t do this work to line our pockets. We do it because we’re passionate. But when life gets turbulent, it’s easy to forget that we get to do the thing we love.

I study and teach Ayurveda, the an allied science of yoga, which views the world through the lens of the five elements and encourages living in harmony with natural cycles. When you see yourself as a reflection of nature, you stop fighting the seasons, both external and internal.

This song is about flowing with those cycles. Feeling infinite in the blink of an eye.

As we approach the Lunar New Year on February 17th, 2026 (also, Mardi Gras day! Party!) shifting from the Year of the Snake into the Year of the Horse, I feel the symbolism deeply. The Year of the Snake was about shedding skin. And I am not wearing the same skin I wore when it began. But shedding skin doesn’t automatically mean release.

Letting go is often physical and involves removing something from your daily life.

Release is cognitive, emotional, and even somatic. And deals with acceptance of “letting go”.

Release, my friends…that’s the harder part.

Freedom doesn’t come from trying to change people or circumstances to fit your narrative. It doesn’t even come from “letting go”. It comes from full-body acceptance. From releasing resentment, even when it’s hidden behind termination contracts or blocked numbers.

You can wish someone well and still feel resentment deep down. Which begs the question that Release asks:

“Do I actually feel free?”

‘Yield to Reality’ has become my mantra for that ongoing work, and a reminder that healing is not as simple as a removal, or declaring that you have “let go”. I’m finding it to be, rather, awareness of tension, and choosing softness. A conscious decision to stop bracing against the turbulence, and instead…yield to it.

(*I will still be popping a xanax before every flight I take.)

Happy New Year, my friends! 🤍

It likely comes as no surprise: I love a fresh start. There’s something deeply energizing about the collective inhale that comes with a new year: a moment to reflect, reset, and realign with what actually matters.

2025 was a year of experience, learning, and growth. It asked a lot of me, in the best…and hardest ways. I tried new things, stretched myself courageously, followed curiosities, made mistakes, stepped WAY outside of my comfort zone, and gathered data about what truly lights me up…and what totally drains me.

Every year, I set a word of intention for the year as my inner compass:

2023: Inner peace

2024: Creative discipline

2025: Empowered

Each one felt like exactly what I needed at the time, and I’m proud to say, I had 100% follow through :) 

So, for 2026 (drum roll, please)...

OPTIMIZE.

This year feels less about adding more, and more about refining what’s already here. I’m here to analyze, shed, integrate, and streamline. The goal is to move with more clarity, intention, and sustainability. To honor my creative energy, workload, and wallet. To build in ways that feel aligned rather than overstretched.

Without further ado, here are the 8 things I’m exploring creatively as an independent artist in 2026:

1. Sharing the process > outcome: the beautiful, the messy, and everything in between. the process is the reason I love being an artist, and the process is a…rollercoaster. But, it’s also the reason I love being an artist. Life, art, healing…none of it is linear. I want to be a subtle, human reminder. 

2. Softness as power: this is my artist mantra for the year. An aspect of this is also reminding myself that self-care is an important aspect of creativity, and that I don’t need always need to operate on high-octane

3. PERFORMANCE! This is my highest priority this year. I’ve been preparing a spectrum of performance options, from hours-long feathery-ambient sets, to a live Chiesa signature set, to clubby organic & tech house DJ sets that make you hug your lover on the dance floor.

4. Duality content: my artist project follows a very clear range/style, from ambient to house. I used to worry that the range was too broad, but now I find that my greatest asset is the ability to do both. I’m officially owning the space-in-between.

5. Honing my visual experience to connect with my audience: my favorite artists' worlds & channels that I am able to tune into when I listen to their music. I’m as invested in them and their journey as I am their music. 

6. Playful, cheeky, house bangers: because God & the angels have a sense of humor, too. The majority of what I *actually* listen to is, ridiculous tech house with silly soundbites. 

7. Re-purpose a few of my favorite previous releases: produce a few mashups & club edits of my own songs, and perhaps, even a few more ambient edits of my more danceable tracks! You can spin a song many ways :)

8. World-building through specific themes: historically, I would sit down and write a song about whatever was on my mind in a specific moment, and I found that many of my songs tended to revolve around self-doubt and rejection. I’ve realized lately—that’s not aligned with the world I am living in artistically, nor the way I actually feel the other 90% of the time. 

What are you exploring in 2026?! Let’s fly :)

In the middle of November 2025, I felt a very strong urge to release one last single before the end of the year. I’m in the mixing phase of my next album, and I’m planning a slow rollout beginning in January 2026, but I felt like I needed a small moment to separate the last cycle from the new one :)

I get some slack sometimes for power-writing songs. I don’t think it’s deserved. I think we all have our methods, and for me, setting deadlines and timers goes a long way. The landscape of my brain is vast, and I get lost chasing vague concepts easily when I don’t set guardrails. It’s not for everyone, but personally, it helps me focus. That is, of course, not to say I would ever release a piece I didn’t think was up to par. So in November, I decided I wanted to release a dreamy, wintry piece by early or mid-December…and 'Solstice' was born.

As we wrap up the end of the year and celebrate the solstice annually on December 21, it feels like a time for reflection, but also hope for what is ahead. I knew with this theme that I wanted the song to feel hopeful and bright, almost like hopping onto a chair lift as we close out a year filled with triumphs & errors, and prepare for the new one with optimism & integration.

The actual song project for ‘Solstice’ is cool. If you’re into nerding out on production at all, I have a new favorite plug-in called Portal by Output (shout out to Landoni for turning me on to this one), which I used on a few of the atmospheric pads that are glitching and swirling around the stereo field. If you’ve been following me at all, you know how much I love a plucky harp, so obviously the production has one of those postured as the chariot leading the journey. I also used a panning tool to make the vocal texture and one of the atmospheres sound as if they are rotating around you every four bars, to represent the theme of the solstice itself—it’s about rotation, and we, the listener, are standing at the axis. I thought it was a fun concept!

And the chords…ahh. I love these chords. I had picked them out months ago for something special that I hadn’t found the right message for yet. It’s always really important for me to find the right key and chord progression before doing any other writing. If the landscape isn’t conducive to the story or idea, nothing else matters (*in my opinion 😏). But the day I decided on birthing ‘Solstice’, I knew these were the chords. The project had nothing other than the harp (which is still in the song), but I had named the project “You Wished For This.” It captured that sparkly, hopeful moment of presence + gratitude, which ‘Solstice’ expresses in a similar way.

I’ve been really bored with standard song structures lately (I’ve been writing soooooo much over the last three years), so I’ve been attempting to shake things up a bit. If you follow me on Instagram or TikTok and saw my lament about getting critical feedback…it was on this point. The song is (roughly) intro–chorus–bridge–chorus. Safe to say, a few outspoken people did not like that. Lol. But I stand by it! #noregrets, truly. We're here to do us, baby!!

There are also 13 vocal tracks in this song! A few of my upcoming songs have up to 18. Chiesa loves a choral moment, and it shows (sounds? eh?).

So, if you haven’t already, pour a glass of sauvignon blanc + three ice cubes, and enjoy this Enya-meets-Guy-Gerber-meets-Nora-En-Pure, icy-blue, glittery snow falling from the sky.

These are my developed opinions over many, many, many years of practicing music. I know that not everyone will share these same sentiments (mostly 6 😜). I have these discussions frequently in-person, so why not spread my unsolicited opinions all over the internet as well?! 

Here we go!

1. Discipline > Talent

I get so frustrated when people pay me a compliment and say, “you are so talented!”. I think being talented is a farce. Sure, some people are born with a natural inclination toward certain interests that they might pour their time into, but I really believe practice and refining any craft is what ultimately sets people apart more than natural ability.

2. You don’t need many words to create a sonic scene.

Obviously composers have been doing this for centuries, it’s not a new concept. But the right chord progressions and motifs can say as much, if not more, than many lyrics.

3. Don’t wait for inspiration to strike…create it.

I am a devout list-maker. I wake up every morning, make a list, and get to it. For times that I’m not feeling inspired but I have a window of time to create something, I turn to my “inspiration list”: a list of things I know always inspire me and are guaranteed to get my creative juices flowing. It’s simple things like going for a walk, journaling, opening up my desk-side book full of Sufi poetry, or scrolling Pinterest. I also find that having pleasant smells in the room (I love my oil diffuser and voluspa candles) can help create a container that’s conducive for creation.

4. Evolve with technology

When it comes to art, nothing will ever replace human experience and the art we create as a result. But in 2025, we have an unbelievable amount of resources to speed up the creative process and allow us to think outside of the box. I’m really fortunate to have a lot of fellow musician friends who are always keen on geeking out on music theory and production, but knowing that when one of them isn’t available, a brainstorm with a chatbot can be a useful alternative.

5. Throw spaghetti at the wall. A LOT of spaghetti.

Write a lot. Make the time. If you think you don’t have the time to write, it’s not important enough to you. I’m extremely committed to producing and recording at least one demo per week. Not perfecting one demo per week, but hashing out an idea, playing with different rhythms, sounds, & instruments…after the week is over, I don't opening it for a while.

I truly believe my writing has improved so so so so much in the last few years because I’ve been writing in large quantities rather than spending excessive time making every little detail of a few songs perfect. The reality is: other than my fellow musician friends, 99% of people can’t tell that you finally found the perfect hi-hat…and you could’ve spent those eight hours making a whole new track that might’ve been your best one yet.

6. Finished is better than perfect

Possibly the most important belief I’ve come to accept. It’s liberating to let go of something you’ve already accepted isn’t perfect. With every song I release, I have a list of about 10 or so things I would maybe change, and that’s okay.

In conjunction with this, I also believe that time is working against us as we make a song. The longer a song takes me to finish, the more I can start to hate it and become overly critical (borderline even cynical) of it. Not to say rushing the project is ever a good idea, but our ears and minds can become desensitized if we give things too much time.

Set deadlines for yourself and stick to them. It’s never going to be perfect or flawless. The sooner you can get that through your mind, the sooner you’ll start to truly enjoy the process. Seriously.

===

Above all else, practice. Practice, practice, practice. Doing a little bit each day accumulates over time, and one day you wake up and realize that you’re 50% better than you were a few months ago. There’s a famous poster displayed in most music teachers’ offices that I’ve attached to this post: the answer is always to go practice. And the more you practice, the less grueling it becomes.

All of us musicians do what we do because we love it--I can promise you it’s not for the paycheck.

So even if you’re not a musician and find yourself reading this, my wish is for you to go practice something… anything :)

I came across this cute list of “get to know me as an artist” questions. Naturally, I poured a glass of wine, typed from my heart, and didn't proofread a single thing! So…get to know me! Authentically & unfiltered. 

MUSIC & ARTISTRY

1. What first inspired you to start making music? What an interesting first question. Making music feels loaded–I have been producing sound forever, but the intentional study of creating music for me began when I was just 7 or 8. My childhood best friend had performed in a show at a local theatre (shout out Amelia & Denair Gaslight) and had to join in on the fun. It was very obvious that I had an inclination for music and was quickly enrolled in 1:1 lessons. I remember so vividly being 8 years old, my voice teacher making photo copies of songs from the classic yellow “24 Italian Songs & Arias” book. I’m pretty certain I could sing that entire book cover to cover. I started producing my original music as an adult, and dabbled around on Logic for ~10 years before I ever got around to releasing anything. More on that journey, later.
2. How would you describe your sound in three words? Angelic, clean, consistent. 
3. Which artists or genres shaped the way you create today? What a spectrum! Genres: What do I dance to when I’m home alone? Tech house, all night. Formative? Classical. The middle of the ven diagram? Ambient electronic. Honorable mention? Organic house, which probably occupies my ears most often. The artists that inspire me mostly live along that spectrum. ABBA is my all-time favorite, from early childhood. I adore Sofi Tukker. I love their sound, their use of hybrid organic & electronic components, and their ability to write songs that make you want to dance and drink too much and question whether what you’re hearing is total nonsense. I was also a die-hard Dirtybird fan for a full decade, until Claude Vonstroke bailed on the label. I still love him, but the label isn’t the same.
4. What’s your favorite song you’ve ever written — and why? This is a difficult one, because as any writer/producer knows, they’re all your favorite in different ways and at different times. I’d have to say overall goes to my song “Reflection”. It’s kind of safe and probably a bit blasé to most, but for me it was the first song where my inner world was authentically recreated into my outer world. It’s floaty, innocent, soft, yet still super upbeat and bright. It wasn’t received as well as I thought, but I didn’t/don’t care because I love it so much. Plus, I put it on every yoga playlist I make for the classes I teach ;)
5. Where were you when you realized “I’m meant to do this”? I’m meant to do a lot of things. But I’ve known from a very young age that I was never a person, that my purpose here was never to work a traditional 9-5, and that my path would be unconventional. We all have purpose here, and with every fiber of my being, I know that I was put here to create some sort of masterpiece. At the age of 33, I’m still not positive what that masterpiece will be, but I do feel like I’m getting warmer than ever.
6. Which song of yours was the hardest to write emotionally? There are a few that come to mind. On my first album, there is a song that opens up with my grandfather’s voice being sampled, and I don’t listen to it now because it makes me cry every, single, time. He’s my favorite person ever to exist (yes, even more than the members of ABBA), and I pretend he’s here with me in my studio sometimes. He obviously needed a feature. 
7. Do you have any rituals before you record vocals? Meditate. Lip trills. Glass of sauvignon blanc with 6 ice cubes. Boom.
8. What’s your go-to plugin chain for vocals right now? Nectar 4 for sibilance control, Waves Vocal Rider, Channel EQ, Baby Audio Smooth Operator for dynamic EQ, Valhalla Shimmer + Vintage Verb. I feel like there are one or two I’m forgetting, but that’s pretty much the standard. 
9. What’s a dream collaboration you’d love to manifest? Omg, obviously laying down vocals on any track with Ben Bohmer. He’s brilliant. I would quit music after that, nothing could ever top it. 
10. What is the strangest sound you’ve ever sampled for a track? I was stuck at Burning Man during the 12 hour mass Exodus in 2022, and I took a video on my phone of myself and the 3 friends I was with losing our minds, laying down tracks on a Kaossilator (IYKYK), and that is featured as a background texture as one of the songs from my first album. Cute!

CREATIVE PROCESS

1. What does creativity feel like in your body when it hits? Honestly…frustrating 😆 I have quite a few creative projects, and about 37 more creative ideas, and I feel frustrated every single day because I so desperately want to give them life. I envy people that are able to sit down and just…watch movies. I can’t. I become frenetic when I have ideas I can’t produce in some way. But the dopamine hit that comes when you do have the time…yummy.
2. What’s your weirdest or most unexpected source of inspiration? I wouldn’t say that it’s weird or unexpected, but the majority of my inspiration and creative planning takes place while walking. I’m on a walk right now, as I write these answers! I’m an avid walker, and noticing things like architecture, color palettes, the way the other people also walking either do or don’t make eye contact with me, and then coming up with a narrative in my own head of what their story or experience may be today…yep. That’s my fuel. 
3. If someone stepped inside your “creative brain,” what would they see? Fluffy blue, pink, & white clouds. Bubbles. Marble fountains with wine instead of water. Cellos & drum kits spouting wings. Everyone is barefoot, shoes are forbidden.
4. What helps you get unstuck when you’re overthinking a song? I think you already know this answer…it starts with a W and rhymes with whine.
5. What’s one lyric you’ve written that still resonates deeply with you? “I wished for a flower, you grew me a garden” from Aphrodite’s Blessing. My boyfriend, Nick, has made all of this possible. I could have done all of this on my own, but I never would have, because I didn’t believe in myself…at all at all at all. From the day I met him, he saw straight through me, felt my heart's deepest desires, and encouraged me with love (many times the tough version), provided me with all of the resources and equipment I needed to do this damn thing on my own. And I did. Booyah. 

LIFE, ENERGY & SPIRITUALITY

1. How do you stay grounded when life gets chaotic? A reminder that doing a little bit each day is so much more effective than doing a lot all at once. Consistency is key. As a forever musician, I learned early on to simply practice something. Anything. 
2. What role does spirituality or ritual play in your creative process? It’s paramount. I have rituals for everything in all of my processes, creative and otherwise. I visualize the situations I’m attempting to create sonically. I spend the first few moments of working on a new song with my eyes closed in a concentrated meditation on the moment or emotion I know I am trying to convey in a piece. According to the Yoga Sutras, Patanjali is clear that it is concentration that leads us to meditation. It’s the idea of becoming so focused on an idea that you become one with that thing. There becomes no separation. And that’s what we do to invite you into our worlds :) 
3. What’s the best piece of advice you’ve ever received? “Finished is better than perfect.”
4. What’s something people would be surprised to learn about you? I used to be a neurotic perfectionist as a classical vocalist, which pushed me into a years-long hiatus from singing and music all together (except karaoke nights lol). When I decided to pursue music again, I made a promise to myself that I would only do this if I relinquished that mindset, and did it for the love & authenticity that initially sparked my love of sound. So now, I’m very laissez faire about the whole thing. I try to keep myself consistent with writing and releasing, but I don’t overthink the minutia and simply produce songs and sounds that I like.
5. If you could spend a day anywhere in the world, where would you go? I am DYING to visit Morocco again (specifically the blue city, Chefchaouen) and stay in a beautiful riad for 2 weeks to write an EP or short album. I’m also craving a similar writing trip in Northern Italy where my grandparents are from in Liguria, to honor my lineage!

PERSONALITY & QUIRKS

1. What’s your sun/moon/rising (if you want to share)? I strictly follow Vedic Astrology! My big 3 are: libra sun, capricorn moon, sagittarius rising!
2. What’s one smell, sound, or texture that instantly brings you comfort? So many, but probably ylang ylang essential oils, the Aladdin soundtrack, Nick’s face resting on my chest when we fall asleep at night. Mostly the last one.
3. What song would soundtrack your life right now? Lol, “What Dreams Are Made Of” from the Lizzie McGuire Movie
4. What’s your favorite time of day to create? 8am-12pm! I love a fresh brain and clean ears!
5. What’s a hobby you have that people might not expect? All of my friends know, but I LOVE (and teach) aerial yoga. It gives me a ton of creative fuel. I also love any task that is tedious and/or redundant. I love using my hands and becoming hyper-fixated on something, like untying knots, or tangled jewelry. 
6. What’s your current comfort show / movie / book? Show for life is…Sister Wives HAHA. Movie: Aladdin (both animated and live action). Book: cliche, The Essential Rumi. I always have it in my backpack, plus a copy in my top drawer in the studio. 
7. If you weren’t doing music, what would your dream job be? I wish I had become a therapist. It’s never too late, and I think about it at least once a week…we’ll see ;)
8. What’s your guilty pleasure… but in a cute, harmless way? Just general delusion. I LOVE believing that I can successfully do everything myself all of the time. I’m not sure if that counts as an answer, but I’m sticking to it.  
9. What are three things currently inspiring you? 1) I’m taking an in-person DJing course, and it is challenging me in many good ways. I've been DJing (poorly) for the past 6ish months, and admitting that and taking steps to improve has been…humbling. 2) A few situations in my personal life that have made me deeply question my own discernment. Quite a few songs on the next album swirl this concept. 3) That independent artists have more opportunity than ever to create their own sounds and monetize in unconventional ways. Some artists think this is a drag, to me, this feels liberating.
10. What’s one message or feeling you hope people take away from your art? Life is full of choices. We have more choices than we think. We can choose the places and areas in which we give our attention, the ways we spend our time, the people we choose to surround ourselves with, even our emotional response to uneasy situations. You get to choose. I hope you listen to this music and realize: you have control over your destiny, the narrative and the life that you’d like to create. The uneasy choices are often the ones that lead us to that beautiful, sparkly disco ball on top of Mount Everest (it’s real, look it up). Decide what you want, focus on it, and your reality will align. 

If my debut album Liminal Space was a chronological journey through a specific chapter of my life, with a clear beginning, middle, and resolution. Almost Forever is something else entirely. It’s less of a linear narrative and more of a concept expressed through various lenses. The concept? Nothing lasts forever.

The common thread throughout Almost Forever is impermanence. Sometimes, it’s the insecurity we feel when we realize nothing is guaranteed. Other times, it’s the relief that comes from knowing we’re free from the limiting beliefs and stories that have been holding us back. And sometimes, it’s both at once.

We know deep down that nothing is truly guaranteed forever. Not relationships. Not dreams. Not even the identities we cling to. The only constants in life are change and impermanence. And yet, we still make promises, declarations, and commitments as if we can outrun that truth.

Why?

Because loving something, even temporarily, feels better than not loving at all.

And that’s really what this album is about.

Almost Forever brings together several subgenres of house music: progressive, melodic, ambient, and pop. Every song is layered with top lines, a ton of harmonies, callbacks, whispers, chants, counter melodies. It’s all there. Spacious, and ethereal.

When people listen, I want them to feel held. Like they’re wrapped in something soft and floating through the clouds. Like I’m sitting on their shoulder, whispering in their ear. Like a little angel, watching over them.

*And, fun fact: people have been calling me an angel my whole life. My Nonno always told people I had “the voice of an angel,” my sound bath clients often say they feel angelic presence when I sing, and at multiple jobs I’ve been lovingly dubbed “sweet angel.” It’s kind of my thing 😋

It’s no wonder I’ve gravitated toward the ethereal house genre. It feels like authentically me, through and through. Honestly, don’t be surprised if my next project has Angel in the title. I’ve already started dreaming up ways to play with that idea 😉

And finally, a letter of love to my listeners:
One of the most healing moments in my own emotional life is when I realize I’m not alone in what I’m feeling. That someone out there has held the same fears, the same triumphs.

That’s what I hope Almost Forever offers you.

If you’ve ever loved someone you knew you might lose, or if you’ve ever had to say goodbye to a version of yourself, this album is for you.

Let’s rewind for a moment…shall we?

Almost Forever is my second full-length, independently released album. The funny thing is, I actually recorded two full albums in a studio with a producer when I was 13 and again at 17. They were collections of cover songs, but, let it suffice to say, I’m no stranger to a studio ;)

So, what happened in between?

Liminal Space happened in between. Literally.

Liminal Space was a deeply significant chapter in my life. One marked by challenge, uncertainty, and moments that felt completely aimless. I was miserably disconnected from my reality and the direction it was heading. I had made a commitment to someone that, deep down, I knew I shouldn’t have made (yes, that big commitment…just short of a lawfully-wedded-marriage). I felt like I had locked myself into a life that wasn’t mine, a life that looked nothing like the one I had once envisioned.

So, I made the big, scary, terrifying decision to implode it all.

I called the whole thing off. I quit my job. I gave up my lease. I let go of everything I had known for the past 13 years, in the hopes that something better was waiting for me. There was no guarantee, just a dwindling hope that things might eventually fall into place. That maybe…just maybe…my life could feel brighter than the dark depths I had convinced myself I was doomed to.

This album became my anchor through that liminal space. It was the phase of accepting that one door had shut, but still searching for a window.

I’ve been a musician my entire life, but I took a long break in the six-ish years leading up to this album. During that time, I found myself desperately searching for a way back to music. As life would have it, a few people wandered into my orbit who truly understood that reconnecting to myself and to empowered self-expression was essential to my healing process.

And they were right.

I am an extremely goal-oriented person. I’ve learned that when I make a decision and commit to it, my reality tends to fall in line. And when I decided to bring music back into my life, my reality followed even faster than I imagined.

I knew then (and still know now) that what I was creating wouldn’t be perfect. As a former opera singer, my disillusionment with the idea of perfection used to plague my entire being. Until I eventually let it go.

Because it’s not about being perfect. No. Being perfect is easy 😉

The real challenge is being courageous.

And she was. She was so courageous. She was terrified to be flawed, but brave enough to be honest. To be vulnerable. To be seen.

Now, in this new era of Almost Forever, she is still the same person, but in entirely new skin. She’s not better than Liminal Space--she’s evolved. She’s confident now. She knows what she’s capable of. She’s powerful.

Even if only in the eyes of the beholder.

But really…isn’t that the perspective that matters most?

Maybe the evolution is that realization.

She’s no longer stepping into herself.

She is here. Standing on both feet.

Ready to show up.

xoxo

-chiesa

Hi, I’m Chiesa 👋🏼🙃💕

Let’s get to know each other.

I’ve been singing for…well…basically ever. I grew up in a small farm town in California with about 7,000 people, and spent most of my childhood in orchards and singing on our front porch with no neighbors for miles. I started formal voice lessons when I was 8 years old and was quickly introduced to classical music. My first aria was the classic…you’ve guessed it: “Caro Mio Ben”.

When I was 12, I competed in a major regional competition hosted by the Modesto Symphony Orchestra. Somehow, I won (against 16- to 18-year-olds, thank you very much 😎), which launched me into a whirlwind year as a featured soloist with the orchestra and one-on-one mentorship with the symphony conductor. He was intense (truly a hard ass) but that year taught me the kind of discipline and stamina it takes to be a professional musician. I was in.

Through high school, I trained rigorously, performed constantly, and even got into elite programs like Interlochen (which I turned down for love…don’t ask lol). When it came time to choose a college path, there was no question: I was going to study vocal performance.

I went to San Diego State and spent the next five years in the practice rooms, pouring my heart and soul into studying Puccini, Verdi, and all of the Italian greats. I was extremely competitve. Consistently placing first in competitions, was hand-picked for roles and solos without auditioning, and was generally considered “one to watch”. Despite my success, I was burnt out. After over a decade of nonstop classical performance, the hyper-competitive conservatory world left me exhausted and creatively drained. So... I quit. Cold turkey. But, while my life was completely consumed by classical music: I also fell madly in love with…tech house.

It started with Dirtybird. Claude VonStroke’s ridiculous vocal loops and 808s. “We can make a cake, uh uh uh uh uh uh uh” is still the default sound on repeat in my brain. Oh, and then the glory days of tropical house and music festivals from 2012-2017, ugh. Never has a time in life been so glorious (although that moment in music history was very, very short lived, RIP). I became a sponge for all subgenres of house music. I spent years virtually crate digging (I liked to think of myself as a tastemaker 🤌🏼)

For the next 6–7 years, I didn’t perform. At all. Except for the occasional tipsy karaoke night or messing around on Logic with my Korg Minilogue (bought during a minor identity crisis with my stimulus check in 2020). I poured myself into yoga, became a yoga therapist and Ayurvedic practitioner, and slowly rebuilt my relationship with creativity on my terms. Yoga gave me back my sanity. Music, however, was still a lingering dream, unfullfiled.

In 2022, I had a major life shakeup. I ended an engagement, fell in love with someone new (hi, Burning Man), and moved across the country. One foot in chaos, the other in total liberation. And somewhere in the midst of that transformation, I cracked open like an egg, and music started pouring out of me.

Some new, amazing musician friends came into my life and nudged me to start writing and producing. So I did. And it just…kept…coming. Every emotion I felt: grief, bliss, insecurity, optimism--turned into a mini sonic masterpiece (at least, to my ears). I processed my life through music, and slowly built an entirely new evolution of myself.

That same year, my partner Nick--a fellow classically trained musician turned music venue owner--saw my spark and fully believed in it. The day after I told him I wanted to take music seriously again, he took me to Guitar Center and dropped a generous penny on a full studio setup that now completely overtakes our dining room. Supportive chaos, as it should be.

In March of 2024, I released my debut solo album Liminal Space, a 13-song self-produced journey through uncertainty, self-discovery, and rebirth. I haven’t slowed down since.

I’ve just released my second album Almost Forever (June 2025), a dreamy, deeply personal blend of ethereal house, ambient textures, and vocals. I sing, write, produce, and mix everything myself—and every beat of it comes straight from the heart.

Now, here we are.

I’ve started performing again too (a mini-tour, if you will--New Orleans, San Diego, and Elements Festival 🤪). I’m rediscovering the joy of performing, which has been the biggest growth arc of my life at this point. I’m finding joy and peace in being seen.

At the end of the day, I’m just the same little insecure girl from a small town in California who spent her childhood yelling into the void, and somehow found a way to turn all of that into my own, unique sound. I hope it is relatable. I hope it feels good when it reaches your ears :)

I have a feeling it’s just the new beginning.

xoxo 

-Chiesa