Meet Flynn Namala

Today we’d like to introduce you to Flynn Namala.

Every artist has a unique story. Can you briefly walk us through yours?
I first started off doing music at my old church, which was a very confusing time as I was struggling a lot with my queer identity and my love of music, all while leading the praise team at my youth group. I eventually realized that the church wasn’t a healthy environment for me at the time, and I moved on to make music with some of my closest friends from high-school. Initially, music was just a fun past time for me, as I loved walking into tiny backyard shows and pretending, I was a Rockstar for a fleeting 20 minutes. After some time though I realized that music was actually an awesome platform in which I could express a lot of the activism that had been boiling up inside me. Growing up a POC trans man in LA, my eyes and ears were wide open to a lot of the oppression and injustice occurring not only in my own neighborhoods but nationally and even globally as well.

I had always felt compelled to stand up for what I believed in and I finally felt that I had found a space and a platform to do so. Of course, none of this happened overnight. It took a lot of trial and error to find a group that I was comfortable sharing my ideas and passion with openly, and who also were comfortable sharing their ideas and passions with me as well. It was also very difficult for me to accept the responsibility of dedicating myself 100% to a career as a musician as it is a very daunting and overwhelming decision, that is most frequently not supported by others who find it a fleeting dream. While I was struggling with finding my passion and my career, I was also struggling with my queer identity and gender identity, and ended up leaving UC Berkeley, the first college I attended following high school, to move back home and focus on music. Since then we have really focused on growing as a band and making the best music we possibly can while representing the causes we believe in.

Please tell us about your art.
We try to make indie rock pop jazz funk music. Really whatever music that we would want to listen to and that we think is the best music we can make. We also really enjoy making videos, putting together events, editing photos and a lot of different forms of creative expression encompassed within music. We’ve started recording all our music on our own and we have shot our most recent music videos on our own with some of our really awesome, talented friends. We make it mostly because it’s what we love to do and secondly because I really want to have a platform to advocate for trans rights and a lot of the issues that our world is facing right now. One of the core messages we try to advocate is to young trans kids, and really all trans people everywhere, that they are loved, worth it and there’s absolutely nothing wrong with them. Growing up I didn’t really have many trans role models, especially not in the music scene, and it’s my goal to be able to be that for other people, just to show them that we can be whoever we want to be as well. Our main message is just one of love and acceptance to all, and to inspire people to live the lives that they wish to lead and chase their dreams. Music is really powerful and if our music can be a positive influence on people’s lives that’s really all I could ever ask for.

How or where can people see your work? How can people support your work?
I think one of the biggest challenges facing artists today is finding a way to receive a liveable wage for their art. Streaming has almost completely replaced full album sales, but is a severe cut in regards to payment. People with over a 100,000’s streams are receiving monthly paychecks of merely $70, which is not a liveable wage.

Finding a way to fund your passion is extremely difficult without established management and unfortunately very discouraging. In the same vein, the rise of streaming services and social media has made it easier than ever for artists to get their work out in the world, but it’s also ensured that whatever you make will be incredibly buried beneath a humongous pile of everything everyone else has made. It can feel super overwhelming for an independent artist to get their work to stand out or seem unique at a time when there’s just so much media out there, and people can spend their days listening to a million other things.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.theblankminds.com/
• Email: contact.theblankminds@gmail.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/theblankminds/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/theblankminds
• Twitter: https://twitter.com/theblankminds

Image Credit:
Drew recording drums by @finnmulford
TBM playing live by @munchietimecollective
Nathan by Flynn
Transient Cover Art by @dodesorgohome

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