Talia Lakritz discovered NSAA in her senior year of high school, and even though she now attends Barnard College in New York, she keeps coming back for more! A marketing intern and drama instructor at NSAA this summer, Talia writes her own music and recently signed with The Jewish Women’s Talent Agency (JeWTA).
NSAA: When did you start writing music?
Talia: I only started writing music a few years ago. I’d always enjoyed musical theatre and singing and messing around on the piano, and my friends always told me I should try writing songs, but it took some time until I felt like I had something to say.
How many songs have you written?
About 25. Angela Mack Reilly was the first person to hear the first song I ever wrote, and her excitement was so encouraging to me.
How did you learn to write music?
It’s funny – I didn’t! It just comes naturally to me. I tried to learn music theory this past year in college and I found it so difficult. I’m much happier figuring things out on my own.
What are some of the themes in your songs?
One of my friends said she noticed that a lot of my songs are about empowerment, which was a great compliment and not something I would have pinpointed. My songs are a little quirky – I try to write about universal themes in ways that they haven’t been conveyed before.
What is your favorite song that you’ve written?
It changes as I write more, but for now my favorite lyrically would be “Superhero (Mild Mannered Misfit).” I had a lot of fun playing with images of superheroes and alter-egos and the dynamics of those characters in romantic relationships. But it’s not my favorite to perform because it’s technically a challenging song for my voice. My favorite to play for now is probably “In Time” – it’s about not rushing through life and not getting caught up in what everyone else is accomplishing, so it’s very mellow and just rolls off my tongue. But I also just wrote one called “Fairies in the Dark” that I’m kind of in love with.
Tell us about the talent agency you just signed with, JeWTA.
As an observant Jew, it can be difficult to find performance opportunities that work with my religious observance. I want to sing and perform, but I don’t want to compromise my values of modesty and Sabbath observance, among others. JeWTA’s motto is “empowering women through performance,” and that really resonated with me. JeWTA also sets you up with a mentor to help you hone your skills, much like NSAA does.
Do you have any plans to record?
I’ve recently begun recording my original music with a friend who knows her way around a mixing board, which is exciting. I’ve recorded before – a friend of mine asked me to make a CD of me singing her favorite songs, so I did that at NSAA’s studio in 2011 for her birthday, and a friend and I won studio time during my year abroad in Israel. This summer is the first time it’s been just me and my music.
What are some of your other hobbies?
I’ve always loved reading, and I want to write a novel this summer but it’s proving to be much harder than I thought. Also, this is going to sound like a shameless plug, but I genuinely enjoy making videos for my YouTube channel, nerdwithavoice, and writing about the world of Jewish performing arts at theorthodoxjukebox.tumblr.com.