Rising Stars: Meet Moorea Masa

Today we’d like to introduce you to Moorea Masa.

Hi Moorea, so excited to have you on the platform. So before we get into questions about your work-life, maybe you can bring our readers up to speed on your story and how you got to where you are today?
I was born in Portland, Oregon to an Italian immigrant father and a queer black mother (born in Germany). I started singing as soon as I could talk and started taking vocal lessons from a gospel pastor at 11 years old. My childhood with my mom was rough after my parents split with lots of drug use/abuse/mental illness, but thank goodness for my voice teacher as he taught me how to use music as a tool for healing. He showed me the power of music beyond singing the perfect notes. How to transmute pain and hardship into healing for myself and others. I had always loved to sing, but then it became my mission. Over the years, I’ve put out a few albums and am just about to release my most vulnerable one yet! Written in-between my home in Portland (where I moved from just last year) and also partly in LA, this album is titled “Heart In The Wild”.

Side A came out earlier this year and is the process of me diving into a lot of my trauma and my relationship with my mom and her mental illness. Side B of the album (Which comes out this November!) is more of a response to Side A. Exploring the joy and the other side after coming out from the depths, which also feels like an imperative side of things. (Plus, a few love songs thrown in there as well!) I’ve been performing my own music with my band The Mood for about seven years now, made up of some of my dearest friends on the planet, and all incredible artists in their own right. I’ve also been singing backup and touring with other artists pre-pandemic now, including Allen Stone, Kd Lang, and many others, which I deeply enjoy. Singing backup has never been my main focus, but getting to support another artist and blend many voices is one of my biggest joys in this lifetime! My own band has lotsss of harmonies which has been a focus from the beginning!

Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
Honestly, as much as I’ve been through so much hardship with my mom, I’ve lived an unbelievably blessed life. We’ve all gone through so much in the last few years, but what these times have shown me even more is that my community is abundant with love and support, and my chosen family runs so deep. It’s really become such a focus of mine to nurture community. My father comes from a small poor village in the Italian Alps (Where I’m actually writing this from, visiting them!) and being here reminds me that though they don’t have much, community is cherished. They rely on each other so deeply, in the same way they are in connection to the land and the animals, they are to each other. They are so rich in their lifetimes. I try to carry that with me no matter what I’m going through. I really feel as though hardship can highlight even more what’s important and who is really there for you. The people that don’t run when things get challenging are the people that you end up pulling in closer. I’m so grateful for all the people in my life that have continuously shown up for me when times have gotten hard.

As you know, we’re big fans of you and your work. For our readers who might not be as familiar what can you tell them about what you do?
My workkkk! I already talked a lot about my recent and upcoming album, but one thing I’ve really loved doing this past year around the release is creating the music videos for this project. Every video I’ve done has been almost entirely queer BIPOC women, which has been the dreamiesttttt and unfortunately pretty rare in the film world. I have a video for my latest song “Wild” that just came out! (Checkkk it out!) It’s felt so special to make art with my dear friends about things that we care so deeply about. I’m deeply passionate about social justice and lifting up those most marginalized among us, and It’s been such a beautiful process to have the art we create together reflect our values. It feels more important than ever (Especially this last year) to talk about mental health honestly and access to supportive recourses especially within the Queer and BIPOC community. In these last releases, especially in connection to my mom, I’ve really wanted to highlight organizations doing incredible mutual aid work as I think about how my mom has gotten to where she is now. Two of the organizations I’ve seen doing incredible things are Backline (who recently partnered with Black Mental Health Alliance) and also Radical Rest in Portland. Check them out if you can!!

Can you tell us more about what you were like growing up?
I already have mentioned a lot about growing up as well, but I guess it might be important to mention that I was definitely a crazy kid who marched to the beat of my own drum… haha! When folks asked my dad how many kids he had he would say with a thick Italian accent “Just one….?!?!? But she’s like having 5!!!” I was always in music and theater and never into sports. 🙂 Soooo…. not much has changed! hahah. My dad worked as a waiter for most of my life and always sacrificed so much to keep me safe and in a stable home. Forever grateful for that sweet man. My dad would save up all his money all year so we could travel to Italy in the summers to be with our family. I’m grateful to feel so connected to my culture, it’s shaped a lot of who I am today. My friends call me Nonna Moorea cus I’m always trying to feed and love everyone, whether you like it or not. Ha! I really feel like Portland shaped me as well. I love me some nature, good food, and weird people.

Contact Info:

• Email: [email protected]
• Website: Mooreamasa.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/mooreamasa/?hl=en
• Facebook: facebook.com/mooreamasamusic
• Twitter: https://twitter.com/moorea_masa?lang=en
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/mooreamasa
• SoundCloud: https://soundcloud.com/moorea-masa

Image Credits:
Jessica Best Yvanna Ramos Ashley Walters