Artist Spotlight: Menna
Water is a recurring theme in our interview with Menna.
And if you listen to her self-entitled debut album, it makes sense. Her songs "Ode to Green" and "Rachel" are like sea shanties for anyone navigating the waves of love and loss. On the other hand, "Love!" and "The Show" belong in a murky swamp. Cicadas are whirring in the mossy branches, alligators are napping in the mud, and Slue-foot Sue is riding her catfish.
Your Instagram is @MennaNation. If your music truly was a nation, what it would be like to live there?
In the sovereign nation of Menna, goats and pigs would be as common as cats and dogs, and there would be lots of napping and lawn flamingos and coffee and dancing to big street speakers and plenty of green things.
We also see on your Instagram that you have a beautiful garden. What is your motivation for gardening?
I have this secret feeling that I'm a lazy person, so my garden reminds me that I'm not – I'm tough and hard working and I can always learn new things and do anything I set my mind to. I also think that gardening is a great post-apocalyptic skill that would give me leverage in whatever ragtag group of miscreants I end up with after the fall of society. Just kidding... sort of.
We love your song "Love!" What is a "catfish heart"?
I'm from Texas, so I have a soft spot for Texas Tall Tales, like that of Pecos Bill and Slue-Foot Sue. Slue-Foot Sue was a catfish-riding redhead, which I think is a badass portrait of womanhood. Pecos Bill did a bunch of crazy things to win her heart, including lassoing a twister with a rattlesnake. In my lyric, I guess I'm Slue-Foot Sue and I end up falling in love against my better judgement. I also can't help but connecting "catfish" with getting romantically baited and switched (as in the movie Catfish about a guy who gets conned into a weird online relationship). So a catfish heart is a heart that knows better, but closes its eyes and does it anyway.
If you could be any fish, which would it be and why?
I'd be a stingray. They just glide through the water, so chill, they look like they really enjoy who they are. They're friendly and gentle but not defenseless.
Excited yet?
Us too! We can’t wait to see Menna – and you - at the festival!