Some people view confidence as something that organically forms within us; as something that some people have and some people don't. But critically-lauded musical artist Aluna Francis agrees to disagree.

After nearly a decade of collaborating with producer George Reid as part of the British electronic duo AlunaGeorge, Francis wanted to work on something that felt a bit more authentic to her. Not one to be held back by the fear of failure, she released her solo project Renaissance in which she amplifies her voice as a Black woman creator within an industry that is predominantly run by men and aims to help others do the same.

Here, she talks us through her music career and the lessons she’s learned along the way, sharing her insight into tapping into your perspective, defining success on your own terms, and just taking it easy.

After nearly a decade of collaborating with producer George Reid as part of the British electronic duo AlunaGeorge, you released your solo album, Renaissance, this past August, congratulations! What inspired this move? What did you learn through the experience? Will you be pursuing more solo projects?

I was inspired by an area of my musical career that I hadn’t had access to yet: having full autonomy on everything from production to melodies to lyrics, in order to fully express all of my musical inspirations from my childhood, my upbringing, to my cultural heritage, and basically, and experiment in a very personal way. Because when you're collaborating with someone, it's necessary to come to a place of balance between yours and the other person's musical desires which is really great and fun! But what I hadn't done was really discover myself in music, and I wanted to see what would happen if I did. I have learned a lot since I started making music. I was a little concerned about being the overriding opinion in the room and whether I, as a person, was enough. I realized that I have a really broad skill-set, but it was more of the case that I had A LOT waiting to be expressed that hadn't been yet. 

You served as the executive producer on your album, taking control of every part of the record down to how it would be visually represented, which included a search for a Black director. In working on this project, how have you remained true and authentic to who you are and what advice can you share for women who are struggling with that? 

The way that I remained true and authentic to myself was to give myself permission to come from a really personal place—even if it was just a kick drum, a particular melody, or whatever it was. I allowed myself to make a decision just purely based on whether I liked it, and that was really empowering. And I think that as much as collaborating is an essential skill, it's also so much fun. It's also really important too in order to put a value on your musical opinions when necessary.

As far as giving advice to women who are struggling with being authentic goes, I think you have to be aware that there are two different things happening: if you feel like you can't or shouldn't, or don't want to do something, one side of it could be that you don't have the skillset. In that case, always, ALWAYS be developing your education; always be learning a new skill as big or small as it is. And the other side of it is that confidence is your own opinion, and it has to be cultivated. If you find yourself feeling like your opinion doesn't matter, then it's probably because you're not used to your opinion mattering, right? So, you have to value your own opinion first so you feel confident to share it with other people. 

As part of your album’s rollout, you shared an open letter on Instagram challenging the dance music community to be more inclusive. How are you continuing to make a difference and pushing the music industry forward?

The first thing I did was created support groups within my particular area of what I consider my expertise which is dance, music, and being a Black woman. But I wanted to hear from other Black women from all sides of the dance and music experience from being a raver to being a producer, to being a singer, or being a tour manager, and get a full idea of what was going on. 

The strength and power in listening and being in solidarity have been really interesting to see in a time when the ground and the foundation of many things have felt very unstable. Then, I made it my personal mission to serve those women whom I've been speaking with as an artist. So, with an understanding of what it's like to be a Black girl raver,  it's now my personal mission to make sure festivals are safer and more fun for Black girls to go to. This is done by changing festival lineups (to be more inclusive), spreading awareness on how monoculture music festivals are, and opening up the conversation on how dance music is categorized. That way, we can get more dance music from around the world and give it the respect that it deserves. 

Ultimately, my focus is on the party at the end of the day and improving that experience for everyone who’s attending. To me, the best parties are multicultural. They are about freedom and protest and about connecting with others who are trying to make a better future. That's what a good party is.

2020 presented everybody around the globe with new, unprecedented challenges. How did you #FindNewRoads + switch gears towards your new version of success?

I had accepted that my career was mostly going to be me providing the music industry with incredible music without a voice because the types of things that I'm interested in talking about weren’t the types of things people (the media) were interested in. They weren't asking me about my interests in interviews; no one was talking about racism, especially not in England. So I had accepted that. But since George Floyd, I've added the ability to be a person who speaks on the things she cares about from a personal perspective to my bag of success. I haven't decided that I'm a political activist, but I think that, throughout the history of musicians and music, having a personal perspective on what's going on around you is really, really important and should be something you're allowed to do. I just didn't feel that I could, especially being one of the alternative/indie artists who felt like a visitor in most of the other areas within the industry.

You come across so self-assured and confident in both your music and your online presence. Does confidence come naturally to you or did you have to learn it? What advice can you share for women on cultivating confidence and going after their dreams? 

I've always found the concept of confidence really, really challenging. So, one of the ways that I dealt with it was to reassess the definition of confidence through different schools of thought. Nowadays, I break confidence down into a few different things. For example, if I want to feel confident on stage, I'll think about how much do I love singing? How much do I love the song? How much do I love feeling energized and alive? How much do I love seeing the incredible people who come and watch me at my shows, and how they all come from every walk of life. Focusing on that gives me confidence. So, I think of confidence now as the sum of how much I believe in something. I know that in the studio, I really have a very particular relationship with certain beats. Then, I'm confident about that because I know that I like certain rhythms, and so, that builds confidence. 

I think it's really important for anyone who's struggling with confidence to define the difference between having an inflated ego or a sense of entitlement and knowing whether they’re particularly interested in something or if they particularly like something. Those two things are really different, but they're both components of confidence. 

What is the biggest challenge to achieving success in life?

The biggest challenge in achieving success in life is that a lot of the time, we refer to a default version of what success is, and it’s not a tailor-made version of success based on your life, who you are,  where you started, and where you're trying to go. It's almost assumed that there is an actual definition of success. And because there isn't, you find yourself chasing success and never getting there because it's actually an illusion. You have to switch from success being a mirage to it being a reality. You actually have to decide what you want. And it's easier said than done because we're not used to really deciding what we want in detail. But, when you start doing it,  it's really good fun because you could look at what you do have and decide that is success. Therefore, you can find happiness along this journey as opposed to never feeling satisfied because you never reach any of your success goals because it's like chasing smoke.

When you separate yourself from your job title and the bells and whistles of your business or career, who are you and what do you like to do?

I'm someone who is very, very curious about spaces where there isn't representation for someone like me and then finding out why and make changes there—even if it's just me doing it. I find that very fascinating. 

I also am someone who is very comforted by working with my hands in any capacity really from sewing, and crafts, to fixing a table, to putting together a sculpture. So when I have free time, I try to integrate any kind of handwork into my life, and it just gives me a good feeling.

It’s easy to celebrate the wins, but how do you handle failure or when something hasn’t worked out for you?

I would say that, in the past, I was definitely taught to be afraid of failure. But now, my relationship with failure is that I chase failure because I believe that failure is a huge component to achieving goals and successes. It's something to be proud of because if you truly failed, it meant that you truly tried to do something. And if you don't fail at all, it either means you didn't try or you just got lucky which is not something you can build your life on. There are no lessons in that. 

With success comes opportunity, but that also means you have your hands full. What keeps you inspired and motivated to keep going even on your most challenging days?

I allow myself to completely give up, just for a second, to show that it's all not really that serious. So it might be like half a day where I'm just like, “I can't do it anymore. I can't do anything,”—even if it's just a thought. Then, I’ll allow that thought to settle and see that life is still going on; I'm still here. The world hasn't ended just because I wasn't being superwoman for the whole day or the whole week. I hold space for the fact that maybe tomorrow, I might feel like getting back up again. I do believe that forcing yourself to continuously push that boulder up the hill without ever taking a moment to just be like, “ah, it's not that big a deal..it's not that serious” is very detrimental to my mental health. 

If you could go back to the beginning of your career journey—with the knowledge you have now— what advice would you give yourself? 

My advice would be to ask better questions rather than searching for answers. 

Fill in the blanks:

When I feel fear…

I shout about it.

The three qualities that got me to where I am today are…

tenacity, curiosity, and defiance. 

The change I’d like to see in my industry is…

Investment in black dance music. 

My perfect day begins with…

A Full English breakfast.

The craziest thing I’ve done for work is...

I once worked in the little gnome sector that lies between sex work and bad massage.