Meet Trella | Singer & Songwriter

We had the good fortune of connecting with Trella and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Trella, we’d love to hear about how you approach risk and risk-taking.
When I started my career as an artist, I had no idea that I was “taking risks.” I was 23 years old and I was dead set on making music that pushed the envelope and made people feel seen and understood. I was willing to do anything it took to make the music in my head come to life and to do it well. I strived for excellence, and naturally every dollar that I earned and wasn’t spending on my basic needs, I invested back into the music. I had zero savings, no family money, and worked as a songwriter and a preschool teacher. I did not consciously make this decision at the time, but looking back I basically gambled all of my money away on a dream that felt like the truest thing to me. Now that I’m years into my career, I consciously make measured risks alongside my team. Every day, I’m having conversations about risk. Risking time, money, resources, etc. is a huge part of doing this thing and doing it well! I’ve made big risks and lost a lot over the years, but I’ve also made big risks and gained more than I could’ve ever imagined. Something scary and beautiful about owning your own business is that you can do all of the planning and calculating in the world, but nothing turns out exactly as you plan. It’s all a gamble, but when I’m making the music that I really want to be making, even the biggest risks don’t actually feel like risks to me, because even if I lose, I can see what a privilege it is to share stories and make music.

Alright, so let’s move onto what keeps you busy professionally?
I make music, but more importantly, I tell stories. I care a lot about narrative and telling universal tales that everyone can find themselves in. Naturally, I tell stories based off of things that I have been through and these have not been the prettiest of experiences. For the better part of my twenties, I was in an on and off again relationship that led to a ton of anxiety, depression, PTSD, and overall self hatred. I write a lot about toxic relationships, self-forgetting, and finding a way back to your voice and back to health, because this is my story and the only one I know how to tell. I have found that women are overwhelmingly my main demographic of listeners (which makes me happy). I tend to write music for the female gaze. I have heard endless stories of how my music has been the soundtrack as people make their way out of abusive relationships, seasons of depression and anxiety, and learning to stand up for themselves again after long periods of self-forgetting and dissociation. For the longest time, I was embarrassed about how heavy my music was, until I realized that I was singing people out of the heaviness by shining light onto people’s reality and helping give voice to their experiences. Healing only can come when you bring the heavy things out of the dark and say something about it. This is how I’ve come to the place I’m in currently. I have found so much healing personally through writing/releasing these songs and telling these stories. I’m overwhelmed that it’s doing the same for others.

Let’s say your best friend was visiting the area and you wanted to show them the best time ever. Where would you take them? Give us a little itinerary – say it was a week long trip, where would you eat, drink, visit, hang out, etc.
Okay, hosting friends in LA is my favorite thing to do! My classic itinerary is this:

1. Hike up to Wisdom Tree during golden hour, and packed a glass of canned wine from Nico’s to sip at the top as we take in the view.
2. Angel’s Tijuana Tacos and split the nachos
3. Martinis at Capri Club
4. Breakfast at Valerie in echo park!
5. A walk in Elysian Park
6. Ice cream at Wanderlust Creamery
7. Sandwiches at Bay Cities and take them to the beach to watch the sunset while eating dinner
8. Homestate frozen margaritas OBVI
9. Hojicha latte at Kumquat
10. Breakfast burrito at Tacos Villa Corona

Those are some of the highlights but the list goes on!!!

The Shoutout series is all about recognizing that our success and where we are in life is at least somewhat thanks to the efforts, support, mentorship, love and encouragement of others. So is there someone that you want to dedicate your shoutout to?
I want to give my shoutout to Denise Sweat, my mother. I watched my mom raise three kids alongside my dad while at the same time hustling as a music teacher in the public school system, teaching private voice/piano lessons at home, as well as directing most of the music programs at church throughout the week and weekends. From the age of 3 years old, I was singing, performing, and learning what it took to create something special and to do it with excellence because of my mom. She never had an excuse to not do something well even though at many times her life was extremely hard and chaotic. She also taught me that the most important thing in every aspect of life is to love others and treat all humans with radical kindness. She modeled this so well. She was always cooking meals for others, visiting people in our community at the hospital, and taking in friends for months and sometimes years at a time who had a rough home life. In my career, I have always tried to implement this as my number one value when it comes to being an artist and working with others. I believe if you lead with kindness and love, you may not always have the shiny quick rise to success in your career, BUT you will have a long and sustainable career as well as a thriving community and true fulfillment. In a culture that highlights viral careers and stepping on others to “win” the twenty seconds of fame, this can feel very counterculture, but I’ve learned it to be true. Thank you, Mom 🙂

Website: https://trellamusic.com

Instagram: @trellatunes

Twitter: @trellatunes

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/TrellaTunes/

Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@trellatunes

Other: Spotify:
https://open.spotify.com/artist/4YpLN8ZByubASuWnxWokRT?si=rt-y8wz1QBiTcfuyOWsrmQ

Image Credits
Images by

Jacq Justice
Mitchell Wiisanen
Jeavonna Coble