Ever since Anna Fleshler left Anna Fleshler behind, she’s felt more like herself than ever before.
The Astoria singer/songwriter/artist created the musical pseudonym Nea Phyte as a way to separate herself from the person she grew up as; a person, she feels, has little influence over her current life.
“Nea is a musical creation that goes beyond what I am as Anna,” she said. “All of those things you are when you’re being raised; you go out into the world and get the results that you get, and suddenly, you’re not that person anymore.”
Born in the Ukraine and raised near Tel Aviv, Nea came to the U.S. with her family early in her adolescence. Changing settings during her formative years impacted Nea in a positive way, expanding her mind into the artistic force of nature it is today.
Her music is a jazzy mix of smooth vocals and relaxed rhythms, tinged with forlorn lyrics and overtones romantic and existential lessons learned.
“The music is everything I have collected over the years,” said Nea, who records audio snippets in a type of binaural journal that she later uses to inspire her songwriting. “My music spans multiple cultures and genres, and is crafted around storytelling.”
However, Nea wasn’t always as open as her music allows her to be; she didn’t really begin to open up until she came to a new realization in her life. And since changing her mindset, she has experienced a freedom that she feels very few people allow themselves.
“I realized that I’m on my own journey and society has nothing on me,” she said. “Society really has nothing to do with me and I’ve been a different person since then.”
This new realization on life is what necessitated the birth of Nea. It was the attitudes of family, friends and even strangers that had her grasping for a new angle from which to attack life and perplexing Nea most is what she considers the perversion of what it means to be truly happy.
“It is this idea that in order to be happy, you have to have it all, all the time,” she said. “But that is so convoluted because why should you have everything?”
Especially in terms of love, Nea believes that expecting everything all of the time will only lead to emotional bankruptcy. There are times when solitude is necessary if you want to reap the benefits of mutual connectivity.
“Understanding what I understand now, it is about managing love and expectations,” she said. “It’s a matter of being ready for love and never being afraid to say the things that you think might push the other person away. Holding back is what pushes people away, not stating some horrible truth.”
At Nea’s live shows, there is no holding back. She recently performed Nightlife Salon at the Renaissance Event Hall in Astoria and will be performing there again on Friday, September 17.
The performances at Nightlife are a mix of music, comedy and performance art, with each set taking up about 15 minutes.
“You never know how the audience react and that’s good. We want to keep them engaged,” she said. “It’s a balance of whimsy and the topical; that’s what we’re striving for.”
For more info on Nea, visit www.neaphyte.com or purchase her music on iTunes. For ticket Nightlife Salon info and to purchase tickets, visit www.renaissanceofastoria.com or nitelifesalon.evenbrite.com.
