Alt-Pop Artist ENZI on Community and Creative Acceptance in Nashville

As the pop scene in Nashville continues to thrive with artists like Gayle and Charlotte Sands experiencing growing success, the next wave of artists is already rising. We caught up with emerging alt-pop icon ENZI to get her take on what’s happening in town and how our city is supporting her career.

What does the city of Nashville (or Nashville as a concept) mean to you?

Nashville has always represented an adventure to me. I hadn’t even visited before moving here, so I was jumping in to the scene totally blind. I have since loved exploring the city, as well as the music scene. I’ve learned so much about collaboration, networking, and have improved my skills exponentially just in the short amount of time I’ve lived here.

What’s a Nashville-related story you’ve always wanted to share?

As soon as I made it to Nashville, I knew it felt like home. In my first week, someone told me to go up to Love Circle at night and just look out over the city. I know its cheesy but for 18-year-old ENZI, this was much needed. I could stand on top of that hill and look at all the city lights in the distance and just let my mind wander about all the lives behind each of those lights. It’s still inspiring and to this day whenever I need a pick me up, I go there.

Who is your creative community in Nashville? Share what you love about individuals or organizations’ work.

I love the young creative scene in Nashville. YEP (Young Entertainment Professionals) is my favorite group to interact with. So many of them were my classmates and so many more of them are just passionate and driven individuals. In my experience, everyone is so much more open to collaborating and gatekeeping is super discouraged which is not the case for some other music scenes out there lol.

How did Nashville’s creatives, spaces and culture play into your latest project?

Nashville’s pop and alternative scene, because its a little more low-key than other cities, are so encouraging of just trying things and being weird. So when I told my creative team that I wanted my single cover to be a cake with live worms crawling around, they were so excited. I know they had to be a *little* weirded out, because it was pretty out of left field, but they were all willing to run with it and to this day its my favorite shoot we’ve ever done.

Be sure to listen to ENZI’s mix of current favorite local artists, writers and creatives on her tastefully curated Spotify playlist. It has No Country favs like Love You Later, corook, Bren Joy, Annie DiRusso and more!