April 14, 2020
Tune-In Tuesdays #65: Lada Beseda on Bringing Her Sound From Ukraine to the US
By: burgundy bug
Lada Beseda rocking a neon green crop top, standing casually by a black car
Source: Lada Beseda
Lada Beseda is a multi-faceted musician, painting emotionally-driven melodies that sweep color across various genres. Her energy radiates passion, ambition, and a genuine kindness that further amplifies her deep, musical intrigue.
Following the release of her latest single, “Betrayal,” we spoke to Beseda via telephone to learn more about her journey as an artist: from moving across an ocean to pursue her career to her upcoming project this year.
Tell us a little about yourself and your music
Ever since I was a child, as I remember myself from four-years-old, I already knew I’d be an artist and sing in English. I started to freestyle from five or six-years-old and play the piano.
My music has always been inspired by sadness. I write in hip-hop, pop, indie, rock sometimes. It’s very different.
About myself… I moved from Ukraine when I was 19-years-old. I had tried many time to move to the United States and I’m finally here!
My mother and father wanted me to be a doctor, but I didn’t want to be a doctor at all.
I always knew I wanted to do music. It’s like a pure dope, y’know, you don’t need no drugs when you have your music to create.
Lada Beseda
I was not able to understand which way I had to go [with music]. I moved from my family and started singing on the street. A restaurant [owner] found me on the street – they saw how I was singing – and he asked me to sing in his restaurant when I was 17.
I started singing at the restaurant, playing piano, singing in the dance clubs. I was freestylin’, I was a DJ.
On the internet, I found a producer from the United States who told me, “You gotta do everything to move. You’ve gotta come here because you have a nice voice and nice ideas. You’re very good at songwriting.”
I felt like somebody believed in me and I started to improve myself as a songwriter, creating more and more songs.
When I was 18, I started to live in a music studio in Kyiv, Ukraine. I was a cleaner girl in the studio, so I was cleaning the floor, helping sound engineers and stuff. Because of this, I was able to live there while I was saving money for the United States.
At night when there were no sound engineers in the studio, I was trying to do some things by myself. I was able to use their gear, their microphone, computer, mixer, sound card, all that stuff.
Then I finally moved to the United States. I’ve been to California and I moved to Miami because it felt better for me.
What else can I say… I am super [laughs] in love with sashimi, I can spend hours and hours playing hide-n-seek and tag.
I feel very great and very happy when I’m by myself, alone in the clouds with my head and just trying to write some songs. That’s always made me happy, all my life. If I’m not doing this, I feel like I’m wasting time.
Lada Beseda
I don’t have problems with songwriting – I’ve heard a lot of people have problems with writing songs. For me, it was hard to figure out how I was going to do all those things right and record songs in the way I want.
When I started with my manager everything became easier for me. Right now, I’ll release all my music that have been saving.
I can freestyle very good, I guess I can say. I did a lot of ghostwriting and I keep on doing this.
I can play a little bit of guitar, ukulele, piano… I adore Joji, Miley Cyrus – mentally, how she talks, how she acts, her thoughts about the music industry, her dad’s thoughts.
What was that transition like, moving from Ukraine to the United States? Were you culture shocked at all? Was it everything you had seen in the movies?
For me it was not shocking at all. I prepared myself for very horrible things: that I would be suffering, working 19-hours a day. I thought that it would be very, very super hard for me. I thought that I would be exhausted.
I didn’t really care about it and it was not shocking for me. Before coming to the United States, I saw so much content, I read so many books. I saw so many videos on YouTube about the United States, the culture, I even learned by heart some nicknames of each state. I learned things you guys do, sayings, all before coming to the United States. I learned English by myself, basically, before coming to the United States to be able to talk.
When you have a goal, you don’t really care about problems you could have if you’re really dedicated and want it.
If you’re hungry, super, super hungry, you’ve gotta eat. 100 percent, you’ve gotta eat. It could night and one store could be open – a CVS, for example. You won’t be caring about, “Oh, I’ve gotta drive my car, gotta put my clothes on, I want to sleep.” You will not care about that stuff. You will find a way to get your food and not be hungry anymore. You will not care about other problems you have.
Honestly, when I came to the United States I felt like, “Oh my God. I’m finally home.”
Lada Beseda
I keep on feeling that every single day. I’m not over exaggerating. Every single morning I’m saying, “Oh my God, thank God I’m finally here. I feel good!”
United States is a great place. Here you can grow, you have so many ways to improve yourself, make something, create something and show the whole world. It’s super great with real professionals.
The United States is brilliant at this point. Everywhere you can find some problems, but I am very happy I am here. No culture shock.
You started your career by ghostwriting for other artists. What did you learn from working with other musicians?
I learned how to be flexible and treat music not just like a hobby but like work. It helped me become more professional, not just with making music for other people, but I became more professional with making music for myself.
If I made a song, I’ve gotta show it to somebody, I’ve gotta make it grow. It’s like my little project.
By ghostwriting, I learned how to write songs in different genres, how to produce songs, how to communicate with other artists, how to feel other artists to help me further with collaborations.
It helped me understand I could make music doing what I like.
Do you produce all of your own music or do you work with other producers, too?
Some of them are produced by myself, some of them I do with other producers. I wish to produce more by myself, but I’m going in this direction.
Tell us a little about your single, “Betrayal.” What’s the story behind the track?
I was streaming on Twitch and my subscribers were able to do requests. One of my subscribers came to me and said, “I’m fucked up. My girlfriend left me. It all feels like betrayal, can you please create a song? You have to use this word, ‘betrayal.'”
In forty minutes, I created the beat in Logic Pro. I created words, everything. To make the whole track, it took me maybe one night.
The next day, I presented the song to the chat, to my community, and they all liked it.
What went into writing and producing “Betrayal” that night?
I took a few sounds from the internet, a few loops from Logic Pro. I just mixed all of those things together, recorded the vocals.
At first, I was mumbling like, “da da da, do-do-do-do-do da da, bu-bum-bu-bum bu- bu bu bu.” Then I created words – they took me about two hours to create. It was pretty.
What do you hope listeners take away from, “Betrayal?”
Y’know, they have to imagine themselves in the same story that I try to describe.
“Sometimes I believe that you’re still here,
Lyrics from “Betrayal” by Lada Beseda
I hold you in my arms and these tears,
It’s like the price for being naive,
You told me I’m the one.”
I want them to relate to this. Maybe for some of them it reminds them of a situation they had. They will have some remedies…
I’ve never thought about what I want, I just write what I feel. Maybe I should [think about it more].
When you’re on the stage and performing, people aren’t really enjoying how high you can sing, how great you can move – they can enjoy it for a few seconds, but they enjoy how you enjoy what you do much more.
It’s an energy and they catch it. That’s what people like. So if I really like what I’m doing, they will feel it and relate right away. It’s all about energy.
Later this year, you’ll be releasing a project with your latest singles accompanied by visuals that “showcase your directing chops.” Is there anything you could tell us about the project now or is everything still on the down-low?
I have a plan with my manager for 10 songs and five videos. They will have a few hip-hop, R&B songs. Some of them will be more pop, lo-fi style. All the videos will more creepy – sweet and creepy.
What are you most excited about for your upcoming project?
I’m excited about all the videos, especially for my song, “Killed By Me.” There’s a line, “If love would be death, then you would be killed by me.” That’s all I can say about it so far.
Out of the entire songwriting, recording, and producing process, what is your favorite part of making music?
I have a music orgasm. It’s music ORGASMS. No other word for this [laughs].
I can definitely say, 100 percent, it’s when I’m freestyling. I can create a melody, catch the melody in a few seconds. Just give me the beat – just give me two notes and I will understand the melody right away!
What I really like is when I already create a beat, I’ve added some melody on the piano, or I’ve found a beat on YouTube. My favorite part is when I create melody, when I freestyle melody on top of the beat!
I can do this very good and I don’t know how, but melodies from nowhere just come into my head, sometimes with words. How? I don’t know how my brain can generate all those things or how it works, but somehow it’s working. It’s happening. I listen to the beat, some notes, a few chords, and I create a melody with some words on top of it.
What I don’t really like is when I finish hearing lyrics. 70 percent of the lyrics are always easy. I’m a perfectionist – if it’s about music, I’m a perfectionist. 30 percent of music is always super hard, I’m always like, “Oh my God, I can’t. I can’t finish this song!”
Overall, what are your career goals as a musician?
I definitely want to collaborate with A$AP Rocky, I think he’s so dope. The “Fuck Sleep” song is like… [gasps] Ohhh.
He’s a visual artist and he means more than anything to me. He’s so dope, I really like him.
For my music goals, I want 300 million views on my music video on YouTube. I just have this number in my head – maybe it’s too much, but I don’t think so.
I want to collaborate with some great artists that I like: Joji, Billie Eilish.
Honestly, I don’t have money goals, I just want to find my group of people. Of course it would be great if I had as much as I can have, but I just want to find a lot of people who will love my music and be able to share what I have.
Do you have any additional comments or final thoughts to share?
I want to say thank you to my manager, Meikhel, for supporting me and always being there for me, being a friend, mentor. [Meikhel’s] a really nice mentor and cares about my career. He believes in me so much.
Give Lada Beseda’s single “Betrayal” a listen on Spotify now!
Be sure to follow Lada on Twitter and Instagram to keep up with her latest song releases.
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burgundy bug
https://burgundyzine.com/about/#burgundybugA cynical optimist and mad scientist undercover, burgundy bug is the editor, graphic designer, webmaster, social media manager, and primary photographer for The Burgundy Zine. Entangled in a web of curiosity, burgundy bug’s work embodies a wide variety of topics including: neuroscience, psychology, ecology, biology, cannabis, reviews, fashion, entertainment, and politics. You can learn more about working with burgundy bug by visiting her portfolio website: burgundybug.com
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