Maya Capasso

Six years ago, a self-starting artist began her journey into music creation to level up her self-expression. As she wrote poetry, she found a way to give her writing a new meaning by pairing it with music. Fast forward to today, where this neo-soul, R&B artist now goes by the name Fanta Vibez and has a strong community of fans behind her music. There was no turning back once Fanta paired instrumentals and beats with her poetry. “After recording my voice over my first track, I thought, ‘This is very exciting.’ I enjoyed this whole process,” Fanta shares in our interview. “I was like, I think this is something I might want to do because it feels right.” 

Over time, Fanta developed her sound into what she describes as “unique, eccentric, and soulful.” She feels inspired by the people in her community and influential musicians and bands like Sade, Ella Fitzgerald, and Nina Simone. Fanta loves not only their musical innovations but also their outlook on life and music. “They also talk about connections with people and their love for life itself.” Fanta includes similar messages in her music: “I want to push towards self-love and gratitude for life. There are many things going on in the world right now, and I’m trying to bring good energy – a vibe – toward people,” Fanta says. “I hope my listeners not only feel relaxed but that they feel like this is good for the soul. I want people to be able to express themselves in a loving, kind way. We need more of that.”

Fanta’s free-flowing creative process begins at the writing stage and ends in the recording studio. “I start with writing because I’m always thinking about something. So, when I come up with a particular topic that I want to talk about, I’ll probably do a few verses here and there. Then maybe I’ll have the hook in mind, and then I’ll go look for the instrumental. Or I would ask my producer to make up a sound that works best with what I’m writing,” Fanta explains. After figuring out the gist of the sound and what she wants to say, she sits down to create the finished masterpiece before heading into the studio to record. “For a while, I’ll stay at home re-recording it on my phone or my computer by myself, going over it to make sure the cadence and the flow are how I want them. And then I’ll go into the recording studio and record with the producer.”

However, Fanta faces some challenges as a local musician building her career. Her key struggle is that there’s too much to accomplish and not enough time. Producers are busy people. “They’re already dealing with so many other artists. So I think getting people to be on your timeline of when you’re trying to execute something is probably the most challenging thing I’ve had to do,” Fanta says. “Even trying to get extras for music videos can be very tedious. Trying to get people to come to the same room to rehearse is very tedious. So it’s tough to work with other people’s time when you also have a deadline yourself.”

Despite these hurdles, Fanta has accomplished many things in her music career over the past six years, the most notable being her growing connection to her community. “My art speaks for itself in the community now. I’m very proud of that. And getting the nomination for the music award with Pulse Magazine was a great reminder that I’m supported by my community,” Fanta shares. “Those are huge things for me because, for a while, I was doing it by myself. Now I have my community and their backup and support.” 

Fanta’s community and fans are so important to her that she let them choose her stage name. “My first artist name was just Fanta, and Fanta is my real first name,” Fanta explains. “I felt like I knew this name and wouldn’t want to put a different name on flyers. But then, every time I performed, I just kept hearing, ‘Oh my gosh, wow, this is such a vibe.’ I kept hearing the word vibe, vibe, vibe, vibe. And I thought, at this point, I might as well become Fanta Vibez because that’s the people’s response to my music–that it’s a vibe.” 

As Fanta looks towards the future, she aims for more growth in her community as she constantly creates more music. “I think my biggest goal now is to grow my audience a bit more so I can start going on tour,” Fanta shares. “I’m already working on a lot of EPs, projects, and singles right now, but I think setting up that tour and getting to different cities would be my next goal.”