Performing Artist Profile: Marina Ogalla

By The Editors

There are many headlines about what the Big Apple is like for artists these days in this so-called "post-pandemic era." But how many times are artists themselves actually asked? We caught up with Spanish artist Marina Ogalla for insight into the life of a young immigrant performer living in New York City today. Here's what she had to say:

What do you most want readers to know about you as a human and an artist?

Being honest, I have never known how to describe myself. I have always considered myself a bit of a contradiction. I wanna work all the time and focus on my art, but I also wanna travel the world. I want to be in NYC, but I want to be home. So, contradiction would be the first thing. I also consider myself very hard working. Once I get an idea in my mind or a goal, I work for it, and I never give up, no matter what happens. 

Those very much describe myself as an artist, chaotic and messy, as most artists are, but a very important thing to know about me as a human is that I care. I care about my family, my friends, and I will love them, help them and fight for them. ​

How did growing up in Spain influence your love for performance?

I spent most of my life in Spain, having now lived in America for only three years. It was my years in Spain that saw my love for performance start. Even though neither of my parents are involved in the arts, they made sure I could follow my passions, surrounding me by theater, music, and literature. By the time I was a teenager, I was heavily involved in the art community in my town, and by the end of high school, I was looking for someplace bigger. 

My country and its rich artistic culture is what made me want to become an artist, but at the same time, it was this love for performance, my need for different stories to tell, different kinds of music, that led me to want to leave. I wouldn’t be who I am if it wasn’t for my home, and I probably wouldn’t have the bravery or strength to leaving it, without it. 

Tell me the story about how you began creating music.

I began creating music during the pandemic, in quarantine. I had nothing to do, stuck at the house all day in Barcelona, and eventually, I started writing. I had always loved writing short stories and poetry but I had never accompanied that with music before. During that time, I wrote over 20 songs, but I didn’t take myself seriously as a songwriter until a year later. After a big break up, music just came from me and I decided to get a producer and work on it. Those songs and experiences became my debut EP “All Alone."

Now, I can’t imagine myself not writing music, or performing music for that matter. It has become one of the most important aspects of my artistic journey, as I am currently working on my debut album, so I can drop it at the end of the year. 

How would you describe your music—its sound, its themes?

I would describe my music as indie pop rock. I am always very attracted to a song filled with guitars and drums, so I make sure my songs have that. I also am very picky at the need of having real instruments, filling the production of each song with real drums, bass, guitar and then adding some more modern sounding effects. For the themes, I am a romantic, so my songs show that. Every song I have written has been about love or, in the case of my EP, heartbreak. I tend to focus on these big feelings we have for the people we choose to be in relationships with, from jealousy to loneliness or even nostalgia for what you used to have. And even though the feelings are sadness or heartbreak, I also try to focus on the positive that comes out of these situations. 

What is your musical process? Who are your collaborators?

The beginning of my progress is done by myself. I normally am thinking about my life, a guy or my past, when a theme pops into my head. Sometimes it stays as an idea, but other times, this theme is accompanied by a melody or a couple of works. Once that happens I run with it, and I sit with that song until the main structure is done, otherwise I know I will abandon it. Because of this, I tend to write until late at night. As it is known, the best ideas come at 2AM. 

Then I work on the song by myself until I’m sure of the full melody and lyrics, and once I had that, I sent a very basic voice note to my producer, Joey Auch. He has been my producer in all my songs, and I believe, by now, we work really well together. I send him the voice recording and some references about how I imagine the instrumental being, and after a few weeks, he sends me his first draft, I give him some notes and he edits. We do this back and forth a couple of times until we are both happy with the result, and then I record the vocals. After that, we master it and the song is ready!

You’re now a recent graduate of Marymount Manhattan College. What has your acting education given you?

I have been doing theater in some way or another since I was 5 years old. During my whole life, I learned a lot by doing and developed a good intuition. But my education at Marymount Manhattan College has given me a technique, a way to put that intuition into words, and more than one way of approaching a scene. Personally, I became a big fan of table work. I was never taught how to do it before, but since I got into Marymount, I understood the importance of it, and now I do it every time. 

On top of the actual education I got at college, I also found wonderful people to learn from. The professors I had were wonderful and not only taught me about the art of acting, but also the business. The other students also became a big part of my life, working on projects together, learning from each other, and building a network. 

Who are some of your theatrical and musical influences?

Musically, I have always looked up to Taylor Swift. Her lyrics and her music have been a part of me for most of my life. Other than that, I love Avril Lavigne, and lately I have been loving what Olivia Rodrigo is doing. I also love Aitana. She is an artist from Spain. I especially liked her album “11 razones." 
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In acting, I, of course, love Meryl Streep and Viola Davis, but I tend to look up more to Spanish actresses, being a big fan of the work done by Angela Molina, Imma Cuesta, Clara Lago, and Michelle Jenner. I also love the work Macarena Garcia did in “La Llamada,” a musical written by Los Javis, which is now being performed in Repertorio Espanol. 

How do you define success and what do you hope for in your career?

For me, success would be to be able to dedicate all my time to art, being able to live off of it. I would like to eventually go on tour with my music, be on TV or in films, and, of course, Broadway. I have big dreams and many goals for my music, my acting, and even my writing. Success would be living off of it, and being able to share it with an audience. 

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