Meet Meral | Artist and performer

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

Hi Meral, why did you pursue a creative career?
This might sound a bit cliché but music is therapy for me. One way to really process things is to write and sing about it. Not only is music therapeutic but also extremely fun. I love being able to write lyrics and to create harmonies from those lyrics. In music there is infinite freedom, a feeling which I feel like I don’t really experience in other parts of my life. In music I can fully be myself and I think it’s such an amazing thing that there are people who relate to that. I feel seen and appreciated by releasing music, even though the vulnerability can be scary I love being able to express myself this way.

Alright, so let’s move onto what keeps you busy professionally?
One of the first things I ever learned about music: it’s all about networking. To get your music heard you have to be willing to mingle with others, to take chances and reach out to people. Good to note is that I struggle with this immensely. I am quite an introverted person and reaching out to others is difficult for me. Luckily, networking sometimes also means that other people reach out to me! I have gotten quite a few requests for collaborations, which I am so grateful for and excited about. I still struggle with a sense of shame of putting myself out there, but I feel like this is slowly improving and I am becoming more sure of myself as time goes on. I have also started performing shows with people and on stage is where I truly come alive. Networking is the way to go and I feel like I can achieve so much if I learn to deal with the self doubt I experience a bit better. I can be quite fierce and fiery in my personal life and am looking forward to expressing this more in my music.

Any places to eat or things to do that you can share with our readers? If they have a friend visiting town, what are some spots they could take them to?
As a girl from an extremely small town I love to go out to the “big” city! I can often be found hanging out in Amersfoort, which compared to Amsterdam is tiny but feels surprisingly big to me. I would probably take my friend to go barhopping or clubbing, festivals are also a big favourite of mine. As long as I can talk to friends or dance, I am happy.

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 can only think of one person when answering this question. I would like to thank my former partner. We dated for quite a while and even though the relationship had its flaws, he introduced me to music and cheered me on to get started. He provided me with the tools, the network and the support I needed to become an artist. Without him I wouldn’t be where I am today, and even though the relationship has ended I am forever grateful to him. He showed such discipline which I admired and he really believed in me when I didn’t believe in myself. I believe his part in my story was to remind me of my love for music and I can’t thank him enough. Thank you!

Website: https://linktr.ee/meralmusic

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/_meralmusic/