In a world saturated with sound and scrolling, Nastiya Kai emerges like a lightning strike—arresting, unpredictable, and unattainable to look away from. Born in Moscow and now floating between LA, NYC, and Paris, Nastiya is constructing a cinematic universe from scratch. Her sound is a visceral mix of experimental pop, glitchy textures, and velvet-laced vocals, pulsing with uncooked emotion and unapologetic vulnerability. With a background in vogue and a historical past of utilizing private ache as creative gas, she’s carved a lane that doesn’t simply bend style—it obliterates it.
Her new single, “Goodbye,” is an emotional whirlwind that captures the dizzying duality of affection as each an escape and a lure. Written throughout a turbulent stretch in Paris, “Goodbye” blends ambient calm with lyrical chaos. The observe dives headfirst into that breathless area between wanting to remain and needing to run, capturing the second the place grief meets freedom. As Nastiya herself says, it’s about every part and nothing abruptly.
Totally self-taught and fiercely unbiased, Nastiya Kai has grow to be her personal muse, producer, and prophet. She lets the mess present. She lets the sentiments flood. And in doing so, she offers listeners permission to really feel deeply, too. From battling self-doubt in isolation to studying to belief the noise in her head, Nastiya’s journey has by no means been about perfection—it’s been about transformation. So, whether or not you’re a longtime fan or simply tuning in, one factor is definite: you’re not simply listening to her music; you’re getting into her psyche. Curious to listen to extra about how she turns emotional chaos into cinematic soundscapes? Nicely, excellent news—you don’t should say goodbye simply but. Get pleasure from our dialog with Nastiya Kai:
What impressed you to jot down “Goodbye,” and the way does it mirror your private experiences with letting go?
“Goodbye” got here collectively throughout Paris Vogue Week, once I was imagined to be centered, working, and have it collectively. However the second I landed, one thing very private occurred. Paris is already a really emotionally charged place for me. I lived there for 2 years, and whereas I’ve a number of stunning reminiscences and folks there, there’s additionally some darkness to it. So, being again at all times comes with this unusual mixture of consolation and disappointment.
I used to be within the technique of ending “newnew.wav” on the time and was overwhelmed with work, and that document was not channeling the power I used to be feeling within the second, so I began engaged on “Goodbye”. It got here collectively in a number of days, which is how my favourite songs are born—very quick, very instinctive, earlier than I’ve time to second-guess. It additionally grew to become the beat I’d take heed to on my approach again dwelling daily, it made me really feel at peace. The unique title was “Nevesoma,” which is Russian for “weightless,” and that’s what I used to be attempting to discover.
That feeling of floating but additionally falling. Of respiratory freely, but additionally gasping for air. The best way love can really feel like that, too.
The airport imagery got here naturally after that. The motion and the concept of leaving. For me, airports are emotionally loaded areas. I transfer round rather a lot, and each time I do, I at all times say goodbye to somebody on the airport, which is nothing however disappointment to me.
“Goodbye” is rather a lot about how I really feel about most issues. It’s about nothing and every part on the identical time.
Are you able to describe the emotional journey you went via whereas creating the only? How did it allow you to navigate your personal emotions and deal with them?
On the time I began engaged on “Goodbye,” a number of issues have been occurring round me. Life was sort of testing me. Outdated reminiscences have been coming again, obstacles popping up all over the place, it was a complicated time.
I wrote the beat earlier than the lyrics, and I bear in mind it instantly felt like a lullaby. I’d take heed to it on the way in which dwelling, and it might calm me down. It form of grew to become my secure place. That’s how writing typically works for me. I typically don’t know what I’m attempting to say till it’s completed. I don’t overthink it until I’m on a deadline.
With “Goodbye,” as soon as the lyrics have been completed, I appeared on the music and thought, “Oh.” I found one thing new about myself. Nearly a brand new a part of me. I knew I used to be carrying a number of ache and trauma round, however now heaviness, and I’m undecided tips on how to put this into phrases, however this turned out to be a completely totally different emotion. Numerous issues instantly made sense.
The emotional duality of suffocation and intoxication in a relationship is one thing many listeners may relate to. What message or emotion do you hope lingers most after somebody hears the observe?
For years, I didn’t enable myself to really feel. I shut all of it down, and truthfully, that ruined me. I acquired so used to surviving that I forgot what it meant to truly connect with myself. So now, with every part I do, I need to assist folks really feel.
I need them to permit the emotion to radiate via their physique, no matter that appears like. Crying within the lavatory together with your mascara all over the place, screaming, throwing your telephone at a wall, laughing like a maniac, being indignant, being impolite—no matter it’s. We’re human. It’s okay. You don’t have to remain composed on a regular basis.
We’re advised to maintain every part inside, to be well mannered and polished, however that’s not actual. That’s not therapeutic. For me, music is the one place the place I let all of it out. I enable myself to bleed on command, so different folks can lastly really feel one thing they’ve been holding in.
That’s what I need “Goodbye,” and all my music, to carry area and remind folks it’s okay to really feel every part. Even when it’s messy. Even when it hurts. Particularly when it hurts. You don’t should run from it.
With the discharge of your EP “newnew.wav,” how do you’re feeling your sound has developed out of your earlier work within the “Demon Period”?
Demon Period was me simply beginning out. I knew nothing about music or the business; I used to be simply experimenting. Earlier than that, I had a number of songs I made for enjoyable, however Demon Period was the primary physique of labor I took critically. I at all times stated my first venture could be a memoir, and that’s what it was. Each music was about one thing from my previous—issues I had skilled, folks I wanted to let go of, feelings I hadn’t processed. I wrote all of it, launched it, and by no means appeared again. It helped me shut that chapter of my life.
To be sincere, I’m very exhausting on myself; I wouldn’t name Demon Period an ideal venture. However I’m pleased with it as a result of it was actual. Simply me and my pal, locked in a basement, attempting issues, studying on the go. That venture ended with one of many worst depressive episodes of my life. However what adopted was one of the best summer season of my life. That distinction, going from full darkness to mild, was what gave beginning to newnew.wav.
newnew.wav is totally totally different. It’s not concerning the previous anymore. It’s about me residing within the current, determining who I’m musically. It grew to become a bridge to my subsequent chapter. By that, I taught myself tips on how to produce, tips on how to storytell via music, and tips on how to belief my concepts. It wasn’t meant to be successful or to please anybody. It was made for me, with love. It carries tales, and it carries pleasure.
And now, with “Goodbye,” I really feel like I’m getting into one thing new once more. I’m now not hiding behind my pc. I’m prepared to point out my face, to step into the world as a full artist, not simply as a producer or somebody working within the background. newnew.wav helped me construct that confidence. It taught me who I’m.
As a self-taught artist, what have been among the greatest challenges you confronted in creating your distinctive sound and elegance?
Nobody tells you ways loud self-doubt will be when there’s nobody validating your instincts. I needed to unlearn the concept that perfection is the objective. The most important hurdle was studying to belief my style, my incorrect notes, my bizarre textures, and my unpolished takes. That’s the place the great things lives anyway.
I’ve two very totally different folks residing inside me. One among them believes perfection doesn’t exist and genuinely loves issues which can be messy, uncooked, and actual. I like myself extra once I’m imperfect and peculiar. However then there’s the perfectionist in me residing by a hyper-structured schedule, planning every part to the second, and wanting full management over every part.
These two variations of me are at all times pulling at one another, and duality reveals up in my course of. I’ll write one thing experimental and imperfect and adore it. However then I’ll come again to it a number of days later and begin second-guessing every part. I’ll discover each flaw. I’ll fear that individuals gained’t perceive it, or worse, that they’ll query whether or not I even know what I’m doing.
The toughest half isn’t creating your sound however staying on observe. Protecting tunnel imaginative and prescient in a actuality that’s consistently attempting to distract you or make you second-guess your self. Particularly with social media, the place folks need to give recommendation you didn’t ask for.
So for me, the actual problem isn’t discovering a novel sound, it’s trusting it.
You’ve been open about your expertise with borderline persona dysfunction. How does that emotional panorama inform your music with out defining it?
Dwelling with BPD means I really feel every part in all caps. It’s exhausting, and likewise the explanation my songs really feel like temper swings with beats. However I’m not a analysis in eyeliner; I’m an individual who makes use of music to metabolize depth. I don’t need to be romanticized or pitied; I simply need to make honesty sound stunning.
Dwelling with BPD gave me a number of tales. Particularly from my youthful years, earlier than I began remedy or understood my analysis. So I’ve rather a lot to jot down about. Nevertheless it additionally made me very interested by myself. I studied Psychology in college, and though I don’t need to pursue this professionally, I generally actually really feel like my very own experiment. Like, I need to see how deep I can go into my mind.
That reveals up in my songwriting. Typically I keep on the floor, and the music is extra concerning the feeling within the second. However different instances, I’m going deep. And once I do, it’s like, wow… okay, that was intense. It’s not at all times deliberate. It simply occurs. Nevertheless it teaches me one thing each time.
Additionally, BPD is an emotional rollercoaster. It’s like driving a wave, generally a number of waves directly, and that’s additionally what music is to me. It strikes quick, it’s unpredictable. So in that sense, the expertise of BPD and the method of creating music are very related.
You appear to blur the road between persona and private. How do you shield your inside world whereas nonetheless sharing a lot of it?
I used to overshare on a regular basis, particularly on social media. It felt pure. I didn’t assume twice about it, and truthfully, for years, I used to be okay with that. However at one level, that modified. I grew to become happier, extra grounded, and I began experiencing life extra quietly. That’s once I realized I didn’t need to share every part anymore.
There are issues in my life now that really feel too sacred to provide away. And for some time, I assumed I owed folks entry to every part, that I needed to present the attractive elements, to not showcase, however simply because I wished to share the great. However currently, I’ve felt this want to simply be comfortable in personal.
Additionally, this may sound foolish, however sharing takes time. Being in your telephone takes time. And I began noticing I didn’t need to spend that point anymore. I need to really feel the solar on my pores and skin. I need to hear when folks converse, not simply hear them. I need to make actual reminiscences, not simply seize them.
I nonetheless share via my music. That’s the place every part goes now. All of the tales, the sentiments, the emotional waves I don’t submit anymore—they’re within the songs. That feels extra stunning to me. As an alternative of giving folks updates daily, I give them one piece of artwork that holds every part. One music carries the entire story. And that feels extra sincere.
Are there any artists or genres which have significantly influenced your work on “newnew.wav” or your upcoming single?
With newnew.wav, there weren’t a number of exterior influences, truthfully. That venture was very experimental for me. I constructed it from voice notes, subject recordings, and random objects, like jars, pens, water bottles, even timber and frogs. I used to be sampling birds in forests, recording sounds in nature, and simply seeing what I may make out of textures as an alternative of genres. It wasn’t about recreating one thing I’d heard, it was about taking part in, exploring, and telling a narrative from scratch.
For “Goodbye” and the newer work, it’s sort of the identical. I don’t sit right down to make music with references in thoughts. I by no means assume, Oh, let me attempt to do one thing like this artist or that sound. That’s simply not how my course of works. I normally create in my little bubble, and no matter comes out is simply… what comes out.
That stated, I’m positive my mind shops issues with out telling me. Currently, I’ve been listening to a number of Grimes and Yung Lean, particularly since he simply dropped a brand new album. I grew up listening to him, so it’s been nostalgic. However none of it straight formed the music. If something, these influences present up later, as soon as the work is already completed.
Pictures / Diana Amefolle
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