Diandra Interviews Freda James: A Woman Alone And Stronger For It
Being alone is the most vulnerable state to be in as a human being, but it feels especially true and endangering for women. Whether it is that you are not in “THE RELATIONSHIP” yet that will lead to a husband, babies, and “financial stability or you are, literally, a woman walking alone at night, holding her keys in her hand, in case she has to fight a creep, being alone, as a woman, can feel especially rough. Discussing her newest EP, A Woman Alone, Freda James analyzes how her New York’s diversity and her own, personal meditation on past relationships helped re-see love.
Diandra: You have said New York and its “diversity of everything” inspired your music. What are the new things/ people/ places that New York introduced you to that led to a song?
Freda James: New York introduced me to love in so many different forms. The diversity of cultures dwelling together in NY – the vast differences in food, music, people – paint this beautiful picture that so many people don’t really get to see in a single place, and it’s all tied together by our love for that uniqueness: that spectrum of life. People in NY are more accepting than most places, because it’s an ocean of diversity here. I always felt that you can be yourself and really dig deep into your inner creative realms there. You don’t have to hold back.
Diandra: You have said that, since, childhood, you felt a spiritual connection to the stage. Do you feel you were destined to be a singer, and do you believe intuition or your spirit has guided you on this path?
Freda James: I do. I feel I was gifted with understanding and interpreting music the way that I do. We are all gifted with something that stands out more than other things. When we quiet the noise of society telling us what it has to look like, we find it. Our paths are like magnets sometimes, we go a little far from them and then a force always pulls us back.
Diandra: “Just Like Wind” is about taking your time to heal a relationship. Describe a moment when time helped you heal a relationship with either yourself or another.
Freda James: When I moved from NY to LA two years ago, time healed wounds I carried around for years. Time and space away from patterns helps rework our perspective, we heal. I was constantly falling in love with the emotionally unavailable dudes because I was actually emotionally unavailable. I had that realization a few months after my move to LA. Everything changed after that. I decided to untangle my self-worth and figure out what self-love was.
Diandra: Your songs can be funky and danceable while your lyrics are thoughtful and stilling. How do you think moving your body moves you to deeper thoughts?
Freda James: Our bodies feel good when in motion. Oxygen flows, the brain expands, you gain the ability to detox yourself from negative thinking. Dancing especially can put us in a state of euphoria. I want you to dance to my music…as you think about self-love, empowerment, betterment. It works for me, and I want to pass that on to people.
Diandra: What inspired you to call your upcoming EP, A Woman Alone, and how would you describe what “womanhood” means to you?
Freda James: I was reading Fear Of Flying by Erica Jong, and the phrase “a woman alone” came up; warning that it’s not common nor safe for women to walk alone at night etc. This book was written in the 70s, but that statement is still effectively true. At the time of reading the book, I was handling my entire music project by myself, and it felt lonely, scary, but ultimately empowering. I’m still the commander but have had wonderful friends, come along the way, to help make my vision heard. Womanhood to me has been letting go of the old thinking and embracing a new found wild love for myself and my magic.
Diandra: This EP is about being confident to be vulnerable. Who are the people in your life that taught you such confidence?
Freda James: The EP has a recurring theme of self-discovery – stemming from unrequited love, emotionally manipulative partners, body image; This painful self-discovery was a recurring situation for me because I didn’t want to face the fact that I had no self love. I have only love for my past decisions, as they were as far as I’d allow myself to grow. I see things differently now. I have another understanding of how we accumulate our perspective. My confidence has become over time a product of seeing other powerful women command their space and their bodies.
Diandra: With self-love being your message, what are the things you most love about yourself?
Freda James: I love my ability to sing. It has become my own inner therapy. Tying emotions to sounds and letting them drift out into a pattern of what wants to channel through me. I love my body, because I spent so much time not loving it. I am taking the power back into my own hands now.
Diandra: What is a moment in your life you still savor till this day?
Freda James: I solo traveled for a few weeks in Northern Thailand last year. I had to really trust myself and listen to my intuition. When you are far away from home, you are your most vulnerable and I leaned into that. At one point, I got bad food poisoning and I was alone late at night. I felt like I was dying…but I came away from the experience feeling toughened and expanded; realizing I could handle more than I thought. That is a beautiful thing to feel.
Diandra: You meditate. What is one thing meditation has taught you about who you are as a person?
Freda James: When we slow down and allow ourselves the space to be still, that is a form of self love. Meditation has allowed me to find comfort in my own skin, and to get in touch with my soul.
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