Meet Vesta, the mystic mind behind a 5 track masterpiece that we all needed.

Her ability to be valuable in her music and yet maintain a mystic is what makes her the artist she is. "Although I'm a private person, I don't feel "exposed" or like I'm oversharing in my music. Nobody knows the reality behind the music so maybe that's where the comfort stems from." She began writing and recording songs at 13 with her long time friend, Elijah Moon. "He actually gave me my first mic, taught me the ropes and mixed/mastered everything I did. We were a dynamic duo and to this day I feel like our chemistry is unmatched." Eventually, she met a group known as the 5ive Collective that further fueled her career. "I had gone to school with Leon Knight and worked in the same place as Con. I went from being a fan to becoming the “baby” of the group, teaming up with their producers and the rest was history." Spotify lists your song 'Purpose' as the earliest on your account. What was it like writing that and being so vulnerable at the beginning of your journey? “Purpose” was my first single after my How Singers Cry EP. I try to keep all of my music as vulnerable as I can. Purpose might’ve been the first song I wrote without any actual motive. I had just learned how to really record myself and layer my vocals how I wanted to, it was still an extremely raw song but it was definitely a pivotal moment for me when it came to figuring out what works for me.

That same year, 'Face' was also released (one of my favorites). At that point in your career, where were you? How do you feel about that song now that you look back on it? “Faces” came really out of the blue for me. I remember sitting on my grandma’s porch. It was early in the morning and raining outside but I was having coffee and checking my emails like I always do. My go-to producer at the time (who also produced Purpose) had sent me a pack of beats. There were maybe 6 beats in the pack and Faces was the only one I gravitated to naturally. Everything just spilled out. I drew inspiration from a quote I had read and started the song with “you fell in love with the sound of my voice before anything else…” and just let the rest follow. THAT was my first legit vulnerable moment since my EP. In the year following the release of 'Face and Faces', Vesta was silent not by choice but by necessity. She faced what many artists do, bad contracts. "I was in a terrible management contract. After “Faces” dropped, it wasn’t long until I flew out to LA to be closer to my manager who practically ghosted me. He did just enough to where the contract wasn’t necessarily breached but all-in-all he did nothing for me but keep me bound. I realized that anything I released, he would own in full including my EP which he later removed from streaming platforms, Faces and Purpose. I was discouraged and wasn’t even sure if the music industry was one I could survive in so I stopped creating in hopes that he would just give up on holding me hostage." She finally found the freedom she was looking for when she met her current manager, Ron. When he discovered her twitter account and heard her rant about LA, he was determined to help her and free her from her contract. "We met at a Starbucks and talked about my goals and where I was. He told me about his background in management and ways he could help. Obviously I was cynical about the whole idea, you know? I wasn’t sure I could trust him. I didn’t trust anyone considering I was 20 years old and 2000 miles away from home. But he called in a favor from his lawyer and I was free in no time! Before jumping into another contract, we worked together for like 3 months. By the time it was time to put something in writing, I was confident in our relationship and still am. Is there a story behind 'Famous'? As I listened to your voice, I felt as if the story was true. “Famous” was most definitely a real life situation that I think most artists go through— when you just don’t have the time to be who someone needs you to be because you’re

locked in on your own goals and aspirations. I tried to portray my own perspective while still keeping it relatable, but ultimately my message was “Look, I’m not that great anyway. You’re not missing out. Let me do my thing” Sometimes I see you take these hiatuses where you delete everything including music, photos, videos, etc. When you do that, where are you mentally? Do you think about it or is it just an abrupt thought? Honestly, the pressure of trying to be relevant and appealing to all of these algorithms makes social media a drag for me. I feel like I have to focus so much more on how I’m perceived more than who I actually am. It’s a habit I’m still trying to outgrow and I hate that I’m still in the stage of figuring myself out because I’m doing it at the forefront of my supporters. Her motivation to make music and perform was diminished during the pandemic, something many artists are still trying to recover from. "The pandemic ruined my momentum, I won’t lie. It was hard adjusting to not consistently being around other artists. It had gotten so bad that even now, I turn down opportunities to perform because I feel like I don’t have that same spark." Vesta finally released a full project in 2022 called 'The L Word'. The music industry needed this 5 song masterpiece. The title is not just the word love, but each song is supposed to evoke either lust, longing, loss, or love, according to Vesta. "I left it to the listeners to interpret!". This project's opener, 'My Type,' has an airy vibe that I love. It feels almost like a dream mixed with the feeling you get when you put your hand out the window on a long road trip. Why did you choose this as your opener? Honestly it was the first song I had finished in months. My Type was just something that came about on accident and I was so proud of the song (and had so much more to say about the person who inspired it) that my producer and co-writer decided to dive headfirst into an EP. The third track, 'You're Wrong,' is one of my favorites, especially with the artist singing on the hook. How did you approach writing this?

I don't entirely know how to answer this without providing too much backstory. Ironically, my ex boyfriend and I co-wrote the first verse together and the artist you hear singing on the hook, Elxjh, wrote that part. It's probably the least personal song on the project but a "fan favorite" and my favorite as well. In the same song, you talk about the importance of healthy communication in a relationship. In a relationship, how significant is that to you? Communication is vital. But of course, comprehension is key! I've definitely learned through trial and error that you can talk all day long and get nowhere with a person who is committed to misunderstanding you. 'While We're Young' & 'My Type' carry that airy vibe I mentioned above. Do you look for those types of beats intentionally? Everything on this EP was produced on the spot. So I went into these sessions completely blind and let Elijah Moon work his magic! We just have the type of dynamic where all he's got to do is ask me how I feel, I tell him and he's got it from there. I loved the outro of this project. To begin with, is the voicemail real? Haha, fortunately not! I actually had so many people call me to leave voicemails and the one you heard was the most realistic. When you make it to the end,, do we see Vesta finally feeling free from the struggles she experienced in this project? This song, even with it literally being all of 3 sentences, was really just me saying "do you still see me as the person I was when we weren't on good terms?" At the end of almost every "era," I feel an immense amount of guilt about the way I am potentially perceived. To a fault, even. I would rather almost rather be unhappy with someone than to leave them first because of this very reason. So yes, the outro is Vesta freeing herself from self-abandonment and per