Sabrea Soundworks’ Independent Artist Spotlight #4: Reina and the Art of Living Fully

Sometimes the setting of an interview becomes part of the interview itself.

I met Reina at Will Rogers State Historic Park on Mother’s Day, a place still visibly healing from the Pacific Palisades fire. There was something deeply fitting about that. We were sitting in nature, on a day meant to honor mothers, in a park marked by destruction but already moving through its own quiet process of regeneration.

That became the spiritual center of my conversation with Reina.

Before we talked about songwriting, the music industry, collaboration, or what it means to be an independent artist, we talked about nature. For Reina, nature is not just scenery. It is medicine. When she is stuck on a song, overwhelmed by life, or disconnected from herself, she goes outside. She walks. She hikes. She lets nature bring her back into the present moment.

There is a motherly quality in that. Nature, as well as life, does not always explain itself. It does not always protect us from pain. Sometimes it burns. Sometimes it takes away. But even through destruction, nature keeps creating. It regenerates. It continues.

Reina’s upcoming project, Messy, But Here We Are, featuring her hit single Bad Decision says the truth plainly. Life is messy. Love is messy. Growth is messy. The industry is messy. Being a woman in music is messy. But here we are.

Still creating. Still living. Still becoming.

According to her mother, Reina sang before she talked. Reina’s artistry did not appear out of nowhere. It was carried through family, memory, womanhood, ancestry, and encouragement. She spoke with gratitude for her mother, saying her mother walked so she could run, perfectly capturing the impact of women on the generational impact of our species.

Even in a traditional role, a mother gives life, but she also gives momentum. She passes something forward. She endures so someone after her can move more freely.

In Reina’s case, that freedom is not abstract. It is hard-won. She spoke openly about unlearning codependency, leaving toxic relationships, decentering certain types of men, choosing carefully her friendships, and choosing to surround herself with women who make her feel safe creatively. There is a real spiritual maturity in understanding that the gift of caring ‘too much’ is not the problem. The discernment is deciding who deserves access to it.

That is also where the nature theme deepens. Reina is learning how to protect what is sacred without closing herself off from life. She still believes in love. She still believes in magic. She still believes in community. She still believes you have to live fully in order to create truthfully.

That same openness carries into the way Reina talks about creation. She describes songwriting as therapy, but also as magic, not because those ideas are opposed, but because they seem to come from the same sacred place in her. A song can begin as something painful, private, or unspoken, and still become something that heals, connects, and lives beyond her.

Something from nothing.

Light from darkness.

A flower after fire.

A song from a wound.

In the full interview, we get into what Reina needs as an independent artist, what women need in the music industry, and how community keeps artists going. But my main takeaway from Reina’s experience of being an artist is simpler and more spiritual.

Reina is learning to live fully enough to create fully.

That may be the real lesson of Mother Nature. Life does not become meaningful because it is untouched by fire. It becomes meaningful because something in us keeps reaching for the light after we have been burned.

Reina keeps going.

She writes through the mess. She sings through the uncertainty. She creates through the darkness. She receives love from her fans and gives it back through songs that help people feel seen and less alone.

Next for Reina is her single Love Bubble, which will be released on June 20th, her Mother’s Birthday. She is also currently up for the People’s Artist grant, and you can vote for Reina here daily.

Toward the end of the interview, Reina shared something her mother used to tell her: “Closed mouth does not get fed.” Ask life for more. Ask art for more. Ask yourself to become more. And when the world feels too big, too messy, or too dark, go back outside. Let Mother Nature hold you for a moment. Then take one step at a time, little by little, until you find yourself moving again.

You can see the full interview here on Sabrea Soundworks’ Official YouTube Channel.