From Her Workspace: The Nari Perspective

Originally published in TITLE Magazine.

After her first major heartbreak in August of 2018, Nari—born Narisa Khamvanthong—picked up a guitar and started using GarageBand, an app that allows users to create music and podcasts. Her indie pop sound and sweet, dreamlike vocals have increased her popularity on music sharing platforms like Spotify and Soundcloud. After moving from her hometown of the Bay Area in California, Nari now resides in Lexington, Kentucky as a senior design student. She has been singing and songwriting ever since.

Although 2020 did stop opportunities and put songwriting on hold for Nari, she still dropped two singles while in quarantine. “Dan” in April and “Pony” in October. In an Instagram post for her spring single, she revealed that “Dan” has been in the works for a while saying, “It feels good to put out something I’ve been sitting on for a year.” Similarly, on October 28^th, Nari posted about her single, “Pony”, saying, “This is the first song I wrote two years ago when I began writing music…” The two songs are pretty much black and white compared to each other. “Dan” is about having a friend that she thinks is cool, but she cannot decide if she likes the person or not. “Pony” was written about Nari’s ex-boyfriend who broke up with her. She released a music video for “Pony” in October as well. The comical, low production video follows three TV channels as we channel surf from each one. The video starts out on channel 361 with an episode of the dating show titled “Pony”. Then we go up to channel 360 airing “Booty Bounce News” where the weather is being reported on by Nari herself. Finally, we land on channel 362 with another riveting episode of “Keeping Up With The Khamvanthong’s”.

Whether she was breathing life into old projects or directing her own silly music video, Nari enjoys taking risks and avoiding the cookie cutter approach to working. Her creative space is characterized by comfort and colors. Quite literally, Nari finds her comfort at home in her bed. She surrounds herself with colors like peachy tones, pinks, corals, and greens.

While perusing through Nari’s Instagram feed, her life seems to be mapped out in phases based on the color of her bangs. It’s hard to not take notice of her very notable and recognizable middle part with her ever changing colored bangs. She started off the year with lilac and then went from red to hot pink to a very light grey. Each color seems to correlate with a time or event. Her single “Pony” is told through what she calls “shittily dyed purple” hair, but what is really reddish pink. The single cover art features Nari in front of lots of green foliage, she’s midair above a classic, wooden child’s rocking horse. She wears a long, white, off the shoulder dress with frills at the neckline and layers. Nari experiments with fashion and finds new ways to represent herself through her hair color and clothing.

While songwriting, where do you draw inspiration from?

I usually draw it from my own life and my own struggles with love, loss, and addiction. Therapy was stigmatized in my household and I was told my whole life I didn’t need it and never learned any coping skills. Music was one of the first ways I’ve learned to cope and is still one of the only ways I know how to talk about hard realities and feelings that come with growing.

Who are some of your favorite artists?

Phoebe Bridgers, Julia Jacklin, Faye Webster, Cut Worms are all great songwriters!

Where do you like to do most of your writing/working? At home? In a studio?

I do most of my work at home in bed usually after a big crying fit or mental break.

What does your creative space look like? How do you utilize your space?

My space is cluttered and messy. None of my wires are untangled and are usually all interlocked but that’s just how I’ve always worked.

Has COVID had an impact on your songwriting and creating?

It’s been tough to really experience things and add that into my songwriting. I feel like all my days blend together and it’s become monotonous.

Are you currently in school? How do you balance being in school and singing and songwriting?

I go to school for design right now and I usually only do music in my spare time or time I allot for “breaks” which are not breaks anymore.

Do you create or express yourself in other ways? Through are, fashion, etc.

I love to express myself in the ways that I dress. I love to play around with the way I dress and have always loved playing dress up.

How have you spent your time in quarantine?

Hiking and songwriting and perfecting my latte art!

How are you taking care of your mental health during this time? Self-care? New hobbies?

I’m very much in foraging, I used to study biology and have a very big interest in mycology (the study of fungi) so often times you can find me in the woods rummaging around in the first looking for mushrooms!

What is your biggest takeaway from the year so far?

I do not need anyone to make me happy. There is nothing that someone else can give me or add to my life that I haven’t already done or can provide for myself.