We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Ilana Held a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.
Hi Ilana, great to have you with us today and excited to have you share your wisdom with our readers. Over the years, after speaking with countless do-ers, makers, builders, entrepreneurs, artists and more we’ve noticed that the ability to take risks is central to almost all stories of triumph and so we’re really interested in hearing about your journey with risk and how you developed your risk-taking ability.
Risk taking has always been a big part of my life. I remember the first thing I learned in high school, in period one art class: art is all about taking risks. That lesson has stuck with me through all my decisions. It’s part of what led me to move to Wales and build my career as a musician, as well as what got me through being deported and stuck in lockdown. When I was living back in Boston in 2020 with no hope for the future, I started roller skating at the skate park and I had a friend who taught me how to drop in. The words she told herself when she wanted to try something new were “do it scared” because if you don’t do it while you’re scared you never will. Those words have really impacted my life and led me to rebuild a world for myself that I actually enjoy. I now have them tattooed on my arm.
Thanks for sharing that. So, before we get any further into our conversation, can you tell our readers a bit about yourself and what you’re working on?
I am the main songwriter and frontwoman of the band, Mystee, based in Fort Collins, CO. It’s been a very long path to get here; I was born in Boston, studied music in Chicago, and moved to the UK to start building my career in 2016. For about four years I played in a UK band, which was signed to a label and a publisher, causing my deportation from the UK soon after. I spent nearly a year in Boston, waiting for a new visa and when I finally got it, lockdown ruined everything. My story is all about being knocked down right at the precipice of success and rebuilding myself from the ashes. After moving back to the US in 2020 with nothing left to really hope for, I found skating and it saved me. Talking those risks really helped me grow into the person I needed to be in order to build this band and empire that I have begun to build in Colorado.
The music is indie pop and available on all streaming platforms. We actually just released our forth single, “hard candy”, which I wrote about a guy I really liked but thought I could never have. I believe it’s a relatable feeling that listeners will easily connect to. One of my favorite things about making music is being able to help people work through those complex emotions.
Looking back, what do you think were the three qualities, skills, or areas of knowledge that were most impactful in your journey? What advice do you have for folks who are early in their journey in terms of how they can best develop or improve on these?
As far as the most useful skills as a professional musician, I would say definitely resilience is a big one. I have taken more blows over the past three years than I thought I would in a lifetime. You have to be able to pick yourself up even when literally everything is lost.
Next up, I would say it’s important to develop something of a filter when it comes to songwriting. When you work in the industry and hone your craft long enough, you start to develop the ability to just know what’s going to work in a song and what isn’t.
Lastly, I would say it’s important to be able to go with the flow and not be too precious about your ideas. A big part of what I do is collaboration. It’s important not only to build an amazing team who will have your back and fill in the gaps of your knowledge but also to be able to work with them and leave your ego at the door.
As we end our chat, is there a book you can leave people with that’s been meaningful to you and your development?
My favorite book I’ve ever read was Beartown by Fredrik Backman. It’s about a hockey team in a small town and on the surface that sounds like it would have no relevance to the life of a musician, but when you think about it, music is all about teamwork and getting through tough times by relying on your bandmates. It’s about building magic together. Beartown really ripped me apart because of one specific character who sacrifices his own identity for the good of the team. It made me realize that I, too, had been doing that for years and that it’s a real double edged sword, something completely unsustainable. I am now in a new band where I no longer have to hide parts of myself and make those sacrifices. This book has helped me more than I thought was possible.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.mysteemusic.com
- Instagram: @mysteemusic
- Facebook: @mysteemusic
