Today we’d like to introduce you to Nola Star.
Hi Nola, thanks for sharing your story with us. To start, maybe you can tell our readers some of your backstory.
I moved to Brooklyn, NY from South Philly at 23/24 with my trunk as my closet. I had been dealing with houselessness and death of a friend that had committed suicide & was in a pretty hopeless place. I slept on my friend’s couch in Williamsburg, Brooklyn for a month & a half until I was able to save a little bit of money to rent a room across from the Marcy projects. I worked at a salon, cleaned air b & bs, sold waters on the Coney Island boardwalk as a baton twirling clown, worked at a coffee shop, put flyers on Cars, practically anything I could do to get by…I decided to enroll in a beauty school in Queens. I couldn’t afford the big fancy ones I wanted to go to in Manhattan, but it was a blessing in disguise because my school was more understanding of my financial state. There was a lot of going back and forth taking withdraws from school to catch up on bills and going back to try and graduate. In the midst of all of this I started twirling fire through a few amazing people that I feel were cosmically sent to me. And I say this because this changed the entire direction of my life. I had always wanted to twirl fire since I was little. I had been a baton twirler in parades since the age of 5. It was one of the cheapest sports and my grandfather had found my troop in an ad in the newspaper. When my mom said no to twirling fire, I refused to go back to my troop the next year when it was time to sign up. I was stubborn as hell. Still am. Through this group of fire spinners, I met my friend Tre. They taught me how to eat fire in exchange to dye their rainbow Mohawk.
I became obsessed with fire and I wanted to be the best fire eater I could. I was too insecure to perform but would sit in the backyard practicing for hours until Tre would yell at me to take a break because you really shouldn’t practice eating fire for long periods of time because of all of the risks involved. I was encouraged to perform and break out of my shell. I was surrounded by an awesome group of friends at that point. As rough as things were, they were all I felt I had & that was a lot. I felt if they saw something in me that I didn’t see, maybe they were right… I should start performing even if I was scared….so I started performing in local shows in Brooklyn. Eventually, this lead me to The Coney Island Circus Sideshow. A childhood friend of mine at the time had got me an audition for the place I would walk past and stare at on my way to selling water on the boardwalk. He had been performing there and worked his way up from mopping the floors. I had many times sat and watched the show but never once thought I’d be on that stage…but here I was on that stage auditioning in front of the man that created the place. I was terrified and he could sense it. He asked if I wanted to sit and talk over a soda first. It was only a matter of minutes on the stage showing him my skill set before he asked me to go back to dressing room and read the house rules on the wall. I looked at him in shock and said, “does this mean you’re hiring me to be a fire eater in the show?” He laughed and said, “would I be asking you to read the rules if you didn’t work here?” I stayed in that show for five intense years learning about the world of Circus Sideshow. I learned to lay on nails, walk on swords, swallow swords & a bunch of other life skills that would carry me through the world. NYC grew me, broke me, & everything thing in between. I danced on bars, made friends, lost more friends. Lost & found myself a million times & met a boy.
This started my journey to L.A. I had put my things in a storage locker in Brooklyn & started buying tickets to travel the world. I had fell in love in other countries but always came back to NYC. I was in between places and staying with a friend back where I grew up in Reading, PA at the time when I had got a call to breath and spin fire for a music video. I went to see Justins band The God Bombs after shooting this music video for his solo project. We hooked up, fell in love & made our way to L.A. together by touring. I swallowed swords next to what would soon be my bandmates. Once we got settled, we started writing music together. We traveled to Colombia to write an album together even. The God Bombs is currently releasing new music and videos. I am not currently with the band or my partner, but we made a lot of amazing music you should check out and will be released this February. During our break up, I started writing solo music and just released my first Nola Star Music Video “Born Villain (I Am She)” it’s about how being a woman we are often Villainized but how I’ve found strength in it all. I don’t know where life will lead me next but I’ve still been Swallowing Swords & Breathing/ Eating Fire all over L.A. For a bit, I was scared one day I would have to grow up…but I’ve realized that real dreamers have a default loyalty to themselves and for that, I am grateful. Thanks for letting me share my story. Cheers to the next journey to unfold itself.
I’m sure you wouldn’t say it’s been obstacle free, but so far would you say the journey have been a fairly smooth road?
Not smooth even a little bit. There’s always romance & worries about money. A pretty common struggle. Lol.
Thanks for sharing that. So, maybe next you can tell us a bit more about your work?
I am a singer, an artist, a soap maker (@StarNoirBoutique on IG), a writer, a sword swallower, Fire Eater (Circus Sideshow Performer). A hairstylist. A makeup artist… I’m proud that regardless of all of life’s tests, I’ve always persevered regardless of how impossible it all seemed. I think we’re all more similar than we think.
Is there something surprising that you feel even people who know you might not know about?
That I still get scared and nervous about performing.
Contact Info:
- Email: [email protected]
- Instagram: @nola_star
- Youtube: https://youtube.com/channel/UCg88v3vT6VL1NzYQwSyBE2w
- Other: https://youtube.com/c/JustinSymbol
Image Credits
Justin Symbol
