Interview: Moniq

A giant guitar hangs from the ceiling. A grand double staircase leads to a landing with memorabilia and awards associated with Freddie Records. It’s like stepping into a museum. Working behind the front desk is a young, aspiring pop artist, Moniq.

She guides me and the photography team through the halls, giving us glimpses behind the scenes. We navigate through the iconic location and reach a detached building behind the studio. I open the Voice Memo app on my phone and record.

So, how did your journey as an artist begin? I come from a musical family. My grandpa was an artist, and my dad is a guitar player; my mom even plays a little guitar and sings. It’s in my blood. I always wanted to be a singer or some type of artist. I always felt at home on stage; my mom says that’s where my personality came out. I just kind of knew. When I was 4, we made a band called Las Mariposas. It was my sister, my three cousins, and I. Every Christmas, we would record songs in the studio. I’d get so excited. I wanted to keep it going throughout the year and hated whenever it was over. I started writing songs when I was about 12 — 13, but that’s where it really started, when we created that little band.

And everything started with your Grandpa? Yes. That’s so special. It’s cool that you have those roots.

So, how would you describe your sound? Primarily pop with hints of lo-fi and R&B, but it’s definitely pop. I want to honor my Spanish roots and dip my toes in there to share my culture, but primarily pop. The goal for my next project is to feel nostalgic. I grew up listening to pop girlies, like Hillary Duff, but I also grew up with Tejano. I want it to feel like something you’ve heard before, but also something new and refreshing.

Who would you say are some of your musical influences? I love Corinne Bailey Rae. There’s a current artist named Raveena, and I love Khali Uchis. There’s also like, sparkly pop, like PinkPantheress, she’s somebody that I love, love, love.

Choreography by Marianna

So "Sunshine Baby" sounds really bright and heartfelt, but when you listen to the lyrics, it’s definitely a little spicy. Is there a story behind that? My producer, Kinderr, and I finally connected in the studio last year. We sat down and were like, “What’s the mood for this project? What’re the vibes? How are we feeling?” I wanted it to have a nostalgic pop feel. I was in a stage of self-discovery and growing up. I wanted to tell a story of, “I seem like I can put on this happy face all the time, but I can be a little spicy if you want.”

Yeah, “there’s a little more depth here.” Yeah, there’s depth. I was really inspired by a Beabadoobee song where she incorporates a lot of bossa nova, and I really love that sound. There’s also a Corinne Bailey Rae song that I was listening to at the time, and I wanted to make a bossa nova-inspired pop song that sounded really bubbly and happy, but had very sassy lyrics. We were having a songwriting session in the studio, and were like, “What would be a really cool concept for a song?” We looked at items around the room, and there was a mug on the counter in the studio. It said, “I’m a ray of sunshine”, but it was really sarcastic. We just kind of rolled with it. It took about 30 minutes, and before we knew it, we had a song.

Are you usually working with a producer when you write? It depends. I’ll write songs on my own. I have a book where sometimes, if I’m feeling inspired at work or I’m going through something, I’ll start writing. Other times, the beat comes first, and we write on top of that. Every time it's different. Recently, it's been us coming up with a concept and bouncing ideas off each other.

Do your relationships influence your creativity at all? Absolutely. I think our relationships shape who we are. I’ve written songs about breakups, friendships, love, and even self-love. A lot of the songs on the project were inspired by a “self-love” and “self-discovery” period of my life. Even if the songs feel very targeted, they were more for self-therapy and me realizing, like, “I am like a ray of sunshine, but I don’t need to always be overly kind to everyone.” “Don’t mistake my kindness for weakness.” Moniq laughs.

How do you feel that Sunshine Baby reflects where you are as an artist now? Whenever we wrote that song and whenever I listen to it now, it definitely shows a lot of growth compared to where I started. I’m very proud of my past music and projects. I’m able to prove to myself how far I’ve come as an artist, and that song is definitely part of a project that I’m very proud of musically, sonically, and lyrically. We were able to execute exactly what I wanted. There’s so much more growth to happen, but yeah, I’m really proud of it, and I hope people resonate with it.

Do visuals or imagery ever play a part in your music or performances? I think that’s the fun part! I mean, obviously, the music is the fun part, but bringing a song to life and making it visually pleasing is so fun. Recently, in my live performances, we’ve incorporated a lot more visuals. Color is something that I’ve always wanted to incorporate into my world. That’s always been important to me. Whenever I hear a song, I always associate it with colors. Like Sabrina Carpenter, we associate her with baby blue, and Charlie XCX with green. I feel like that’s a big part of somebody’s musical identity. You think of colors. I associate myself with pinks and pastels, and even though my music can sound very soft and girly, it sometimes has a little bit of edge to it.

Do you prefer being in the studio or performing live? That’s hard. They’re two completely different experiences. The studio is where the creative process happens. It’s only you and your producer who know about it. It’s very personal. When you’re performing, there are so many more moving parts involved; it brings it to life, and you get to see people’s reactions, which can be scary. It makes it “not yours” anymore. It’s open to everybody’s interpretation. That’s why I do what I do. I love sharing this personal part of myself.

Choreography by Marianna

Have you faced any challenges pursuing a music career in the Coastal Bend? Corpus Christi isn’t LA, but there are resources and people here that will help you. You start to have self-doubt, and people say, “You need to move to LA to pursue this,” or “You need to move to Nashville, or New York, to do these things,” but we’re so fortunate to have social media to connect with people and to network. That’s how I met my current producer. There can be limited resources in Corpus, but if you really want it, you can make it happen. I always tell people, “My grandfather has lived here his whole life, and he’s the first Hispanic man to ever sell out Madison Square Garden.” He made it happen, but a specific challenge I face is being a pop artist in the Coastal Bend. It’s either rock or country, and double whammy, I’m a woman. A lot of the time, it feels like venues will book a country man over a country woman, and that’s unfortunate because the talent is equal, but that’s just how it is. You really have to fight for your spot sometimes. Luckily, I’ve met people within the community who are supportive of my career, but it would be nice to have more venues that cater to pop, R&B, and indie music.

So, what’s next after Sunshine Baby? We have a few songs contending for the next single. I think that it’s going to be a song called “Chalice.” It’s more of a love song about hoping that this is the right person because you have so much faith in them. That song created that nostalgic vibe and made me realize how much I wanted to incorporate nostalgia in the project. I started making music around 2019, so from then to now, I’ve really found my sound.

Is there anything else that you would like to share with our readers? Do what makes you happy. If you are passionate about your craft, go for it. Share it with people. Post it on social media. People will resonate with you. Don’t be scared. Life is too short to hold that within you; just do it. That was me for the longest time, worried about what people would say and think. Honestly, the outpouring of love is so much more than the haters. The community has been supportive, and I’m very lucky. Don’t let people tell you “you can’t do this,” “your community isn’t built for that,” or “people won’t support you,” because they will! They will show up for you.