Aly Navarro
Los Angeles-based singer-songwriter Aly Navarro is finally ready to share her debut EP, Do Not Resuscitate, now available on all streaming platforms. Deeply personal and emotionally honest, the project explores heartbreak, healing, self-discovery, and the process of rebuilding yourself after life-changing transitions. In this interview, Aly opens up about the stories behind the songs, the lessons she learned while creating the EP, and why vulnerability remains at the heart of her music.
Hi Aly, how are you? What’s your story?
I’m good! I am so, so excited to finally have this EP out in the world! I am a singer-songwriter from Miami, FL, graduated from Berklee College of Music in Boston with a degree in songwriting, and now live in Los Angeles, CA, where I work as an assistant studio manager at Evergreen Studios while pursuing my own music. I have loved music for as long as I’ve been alive, and I grew up in a very musical family. I have been surrounded by constant creativity in my family life, with parents who both play guitar, a mom who sings, and a little brother who is a drummer and is now pursuing a degree in music business at Belmont University in Nashville. While my family has always had a deep love for music, I don’t feel that the rest of Miami shares the passion my family has to create and connect through music. I was one of the very few people from Miami who decided to leave my hometown and pursue music, and I do not regret it for a second.
Do Not Resuscitate is such a striking title for a debut EP. What inspired you to choose that name?
The reason I chose this title for my EP is, honestly, because my favorite track on the EP is DNR. It talks about putting a relationship to rest, even though it is tempting to revive it. Writing and recording this song gave me a lot of closure for a situation that I would not have gotten otherwise.
You describe the EP as a journey through the end of a long-term relationship. At what point did you realize these songs belonged together as one body of work?
These songs all kind of found their way onto this EP, little by little. Originally, I was planning on having a very different group of songs make up my debut EP, but as soon as I started to write about the things I’ve felt this past year, I think all of the songs started to feel connected. They felt so authentic to me, and I wanted to put them out while that was still the case. I think this EP really explains everything I have felt throughout the last year, and I think being able to put them all out together represents a chapter in my life that has come to a close. I am so grateful for this time in my life, even though it was difficult, because it taught me what I prioritize both in my own life and in a partner.
The project feels deeply personal, almost like reading pages from a diary. Was it difficult to be this emotionally open in your songwriting?
I have found that since the moment I began writing songs, there is very little that I hold back from writing about. I think it is so important to have music out there that feels raw and real. If there is no music to relate to in a time of sadness and frustration in one’s life, it can make a person feel completely alone. I think more people are going through the same things as us every day, and finding common ground makes for a community of people who just get you. I understand that songs that talk about really vulnerable things, like my song “You’re Just a Man,” can make some people uncomfortable. I find that so sad, especially when there is an even larger group of people who relate to it, but are too afraid to admit that they relate to it. I think I’ve always found comfort in writing about the hard things, because it makes those things and feelings so much more digestible and relatable. I think writing about these things makes me an authentic artist, and people who find discomfort in it have been lucky enough to avoid the situations I write about.
Ballads play a major role throughout the EP. What draws you to softer, more emotionally driven storytelling in your music?
I have been drawn to “sad” or emotionally driven music my entire life. It’s the kind of music that made me fall in love with music in the first place. I am so lucky that music makes me feel so deeply, and I hope that my music can connect with people on that level too. Music can be so moving and bring out emotions we didn’t know we were feeling, and that is what I want my music to do for people. I think the topics I address in my music are best approached in a raw, lyric-heavy manner. I think being able to have music be driven by lyrics and vocals instead of heavy production makes it more digestible and sometimes, more impactful.
This record explores heartbreak, change, and self-compassion. What did creating this EP teach you about yourself?
I learned so many things about myself when working on and writing this EP. I honestly learned more in the past year than I’ve learned in my whole life. This year was really formative for me as I was surrounded by so much change: transitioning from being a student to being a young adult living in the “real world,” letting go of a long-term relationship that defined me for so long, and learning what it is like to fall for a different person for the first time after a long-term relationship. I learned that the only thing you can absolutely count on without a doubt is yourself, and I think I learned to trust myself while writing this EP. Each song on this EP is quite literally about the different stages of grief and closure I was experiencing after so much change and sadness. While each of these was a really difficult stage for me, I learned to trust myself in order to know that I would make it through some really terrible moments. I think experiencing this chapter of my life has made me more confident, peaceful, and content. I feel like I am the most “myself” I have ever been.
Were there any songs on the EP that were especially difficult or emotional to write and record?
This EP definitely has lots of difficult topics that I felt I absolutely needed to include. I think the most obvious example of this is “You’re Just a Man.” I wrote this song the day after I had a really discouraging experience in one of my first weeks in LA. I had a man in a superior position to me make me incredibly uncomfortable, and it took me back to a really dark time that I hadn’t thought about in a long time. I think the song itself is pretty self-explanatory, which makes releasing it a little nerve-racking. I know it will be like sharing a really vulnerable experience I’ve had with the world, and as scary as that can be, I know that there are so many people who resonate with the message and sentiment of the song, and it is so worth it if I can make even one person feel less alone.
How do you personally navigate the balance between vulnerability in your art and protecting your own emotional wellbeing?
I find that when it comes to writing music for my own artist project, there is very little I hold back. I think being vulnerable and raw is the best way to connect with listeners, even if it means filling them in on some really personal stuff. I work on music with people who understand me, my vision, and my vulnerability. While releasing deeply personal songs can be scary, it is so cool to have a team of people who truly believe in you and who have your back through the entire process of making a song come to life.
Mental health and healing seem closely connected to this project. Did music become a form of therapy or emotional release for you during this chapter of your life?
Music, absolutely, has always been a form of therapy for me. I think without music, I would have honestly lost my mind at this point. I LOVE being able to use music as an outlet to turn really upsetting, hurtful, and disheartening situations into beautiful pieces of music that can be heard by everyone who is going through similar experiences. I started writing when I was 12 years old, and I have found so much comfort in it ever since.
The EP captures the feeling of rebuilding yourself while everything around you is changing. What helped ground you during that transition?
Music has always been my safe space, but more than anything, having a support system is the best way to ease a difficult transition. I am so lucky to have really supportive friends and family members who are always there to listen and rationalize really big emotions. Finding people who understand me through and through has been my saving grace at every point in my life. I love the people who completely accept me for who I am and who grow with me through every chapter in my life. They will always be what grounds me through difficult times in my life, and I hope that I have been that for others as well.
Could you list a few records that influenced the music you are making today?
Pushing it Down and Praying by Lizzy McAlpine, You Stole the Show by Sienna Spiro, and 26 by Carol Ades
As this is your debut EP, what emotions are you feeling ahead of finally sharing Do Not Resuscitate with the world?
I am so unbelievably excited to finally put this EP out! It feels like this is such a long time coming, and I think it’s just because I really wanted to be so proud of the first extended work I put out. I am so, so proud of the work the people I worked with and I put into this. Releases can always be hard, just hoping your music is received the way you want it to be received, but I am still so ecstatic to let people hear this music. I think I am feeling some nerves, because this feels like a big deal to me! I am finally able to pursue what I have wanted to pursue for so long, and I think it starts with this EP :)
What biggest life lessons have you learned so far?
The absolute biggest lesson I’ve learned so far - as cheesy as it sounds - is to be yourself. Yes, we’re always told this, but I don’t think I started practicing this until recently. The only way to find your people and community is by being yourself, and not altering who you are based on who you’re around. It is so exhausting trying so hard to be liked or loved, and I think I really cared what people thought about me for so long. I think more recently, I no longer see the point in acting like someone I am not, even if it means losing some people in my life. The people you lose by being yourself were never your people in the first place. I have found so much happiness and love by being myself and embracing those parts of me that I used to suppress. I am so much happier and more confident now than I was even just a year ago, all because I think I really started to pay attention to the things and people who uplift me, rather than surrounding myself with people who I have to put on a mask in front of. As tacky as it sounds, being unapologetically myself has been the most fulfilling thing I’ve ever done.
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