'A Conversation With...Monelise'

Indie artist Monelise has spent more than a decade carving out her own corner of the music landscape, blending ethereal soundscapes with a fiercely independent creative ethos. She is now sharing her knowledge and insights with The Sovereign Artist, a new programme built to give valuable tools for emerging creatives who seek the community, clarity and industry insight. In this conversation, we caught up about the inner workings of the programme to the evolution of her sound since Sanctify My Love—and the vision that’s driving this next chapter of her artistry.

Hi Monelise, thank you for sitting down with us. Before we dive in, how are you feeling as you step into this new chapter of your artistic journey?

Thank you so much for having me again. I’m feeling deeply energised. It’s a very meaningful moment for me because I’m not just launching one thing, but two bodies of work that have been years in the making. 2024 was a year of incubation - going inward, rebuilding my relationship with creativity, and writing hundreds of new songs. 2025 became a year of creation - I refined those ideas into an album, travelled to Los Angeles to record it, created a film, and opened up entirely new creative worlds. And now 2026 is about bringing it all into the light. There’s a real sense of readiness - like something that’s been forming for a long time is no longer becoming but arriving.

Since releasing your last album, Sanctify My Love, how have you been evolving creatively and personally? What has been occupying your artistic world lately?

Since Sanctify My Love, my process has expanded dramatically. I entered a phase where I stopped trying to control the outcome and instead focused on volume and depth. I wrote hundreds of songs, many of which became doorways into something much larger than individual tracks. That’s what led to my third album, which really lives between worlds: between memory and imagination, past and future, reality and myth. Personally, I’ve become much more devoted to my inner life as an artist. Less reactive to the external noise, and more anchored in what I’m here to create.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ql2QtY7qR-M

You’re preparing to launch your sixweek programme, The Sovereign Artist. What sparked its creation and what can artists expect from joining the programme?

The programme came from a very real question artists kept asking me: How do you actually finish things, build a world, and stay consistent without burning out or losing the magic? I realised I wasn’t following a traditional productivity system. I had developed a creative rhythm that allowed me to return to my work again and again, and actually bring ideas to completion. The Sovereign Artist is me teaching that process live to others. It’s a six-week container where each artist commits to a meaningful project - something that represents their next level - and I guide them through the inner and practical steps to actually finish it and release it to the world as a true artefact of who they’re becoming.

With over a decade of experience navigating the music industry independently, what pivotal lessons have shaped the way you create, lead and sustain your identity as an artist?

One of the biggest lessons has been that your inner world has to be stronger than the external one. The industry, algorithms, trends are constantly shifting. If your sense of identity as an artist is tied to those things, you’ll always feel unstable. What’s sustained me is building a very strong internal compass: knowing what I’m creating, why I’m creating it, and trusting that over external validation. Paradoxically, that’s also what makes the work resonate more. The programme welcomes artists from a wide range of backgrounds and genres.

How have you structured it to meaningfully support such diverse creative journeys with artists who may be at the beginning of their career?

The programme is designed for artists who already have a creative practice, even if it’s inconsistent or scattered, and are ready to take it to the next level. It’s not a complete beginner course. It’s more like a high-level creative circle where

each artist is working on something different, but we’re all moving toward completion and expansion. For some, that might mean finally releasing music consistently. For others, it’s creating a full project: an EP, a show, a visual world. And for others, it’s establishing a sacred, sustainable rhythm with their art.

We’ve previously talked about how community is often vital for artistic growth. In what ways does the programme encourage mentorship, collaboration or networking among emerging and established artists?

Accountability is what makes all the difference, so I encourage all of the above hugely. Artists don’t usually struggle with ideas; they struggle with staying with those ideas long enough to complete them. Having a committed group, a shared container, and regular check-ins changes everything. It turns something abstract into something real. And of course, the intention is for everyone to stay connected long after the 7 weeks end and perhaps even organise some live showcases and meet-ups.

You’ve been busy recording new music for your upcoming album, including a recent trip to LA. How did your time in LA influence the sonic direction or landscape of this new body of work?

The time in Los Angeles had a huge impact on the album. There’s a very particular atmosphere there… cinematic, nostalgic, slightly unreal… and I felt deeply connected to it. Around that time, both Angelo Badalamenti and David Lynch passed, and that moment affected me more than I expected. Their work has always carried this dreamlike quality that sits between beauty and unease, and I found myself moving into a similar space creatively. The album started to take on that kind of language - almost like a submerged world, something half-remembered. There’s also a personal layer. A sense of familiarity with that landscape that I can’t fully explain, but that definitely shaped the emotional tone of the project.

Thanks for taking the time to catch up with us. For artists who feel called to join The Sovereign Artist, where’s the best place for them to dive in and learn more?

You can explore the programme and apply at monelise.com/sovereign I also invite people to book a discovery call - it’s a chance to look at where you are in your artistry and whether this container is the right next step for you.