The Yana Mann Interview ☕
The Yana Mann Interview ☕
The Dubai-based mezzo-soprano recalls her wide-ranging teenage taste in music, from metal to Madonna — and talks travel, connection & artistic evolution
This Song Changed My Life is an independent music publication created by Grace Lilly & supported by readers.
• 7 min read •
Introduction
This story started when Chase Burnett wrote an essay for TSCML back in October 2023.
I love asking prior contributors to recommend someone they know to write next, because then almost every essay on the site ends up being related to another one (and sometimes another, and another).
As the project continues and multiple chains of recommendations continue to propagate, an underlying web of interconnectivity swells in all directions. It’s a layer of TSCML that isn’t necessarily obvious, but feels essential to the vibe.
So, in December, Chase’s brother Cole Burnett wrote an essay too. It was about Julián De La Chica & Yana Mann's "Poemas de Bar, Op. 12: No. 8 El Amor.”
From the very beginning of TSCML, I always hoped that some of these essays would find their way to the artists whose songs they were written about. I hoped that the artists would read them and feel appreciated, maybe even inspired.
I was delighted when Yana Mann saw and shared Cole’s essay on Instagram. She was the first artist-subject to do so, and now she’s the first to be interviewed here.
“I’m a singer, songwriter, producer. I was born in Saint Petersburg, Russia.”
It’s 11am in New York City and 8pm in Dubai. It’s the first week of 2024, and Yana Mann is fresh off a year-end performance atop the Eiffel Tower to commemorate the 100th anniversary of Gustave Eiffel’s passing.
In collaboration with French DJ and producer Michael Canitrot, she performed a track titled “Lost in The Dark” in sync with the monument’s mesmerizing illumination.
We hop on a Zoom call and she introduces herself.
“I studied classical music, singing and opera. I started working in the opera house when I was a teenager.” She says she’d probably still be singing there if she hadn’t left Russia.
Mann relocated to Dubai in 2014 and spent time studying music production in London. Traveling and living in different environments helped her accumulate the knowledge and experience she needed to establish who she is as an artist. “It completely shifted me and what I want to do.”
She is a mezzo-soprano, classically trained from an early age. However, at some point she decided she was interested in creating music, not just performing classical pieces.
“I love opera, I love classical music, but I am very excited about making music myself and collaborating with different artists — visual artists, producers, musical artists.”
Her collaboration with composer Julián De La Chica led to her Carnegie Hall debut in 2022.
What song changed her life?
Mann laughs, “My God, I don’t know.”
Admittedly, it’s a tough question. I often tell people it doesn’t have to be the song, just a song that changed their life. But, understandably, sometimes there’s just not a clear-cut answer.
“For me it’s just not one thing.”
She listens to a wide variety of music, jumping from one genre to another. Sometimes she wants to listen to something really intellectual, sometimes she just wants to listen to pop. It sounds like she’s always been this way.
Mann associates different parts of her life with different artists she loved listening to.
Growing up, she loved pop (specifically British pop), rock, and electronic music alongside classical and opera.
“I used to really love Madonna. She was always, for me, an icon. She’s amazing.” She recalls listening to Ray of Light a lot — “Frozen,” and the title track.
The album is often considered one of the greatest mainstream pop albums of all time, and Madonna’s magnum opus, with its experimental sound and mystical themes.
Mann also loved the Chemical Brothers, The Prodigy, Evanescence and Jamiroquai as a teenager. At the same time, she was studying opera, so she listened to classical singers like Renée Fleming and Maria Callas.
She’d listen to The Prodigy at camp with her friends, then go home and rehearse something classical.
Her exploration didn’t stop there.
“When I was 16, I joined a metal band. I really loved it.” They played gigs and even recorded an album. “I don’t know what happened to it, but it was an experience.”
Her son, nearly 10 years old, shares her eclectic taste. He listens to old classics, super contemporary pop and rock, and lots of stuff in between. Lately, per his request, they’ve been listening to Linkin Park’s 2003 album Meteora on the way to school every day.
“I’m like, ‘Yeah, this is great!’ because I remember I used to love Linkin Park when I was in college.”
While she was in school in Saint Petersburg, she participated in a program in which students learned how to be journalists. There was a government film studio for them to practice in, and one of her jobs was presenting music videos on-camera. “It was a really cool time.”
She’d present her top-ten rankings, most ceremoniously announcing her number-one picks. One memorable chart-topper? Jamiroquai, of course.
“You know the one with the Godzilla and the movie theater? ‘Deeper Underground.’”
Fun fact: this song was from the soundtrack of Godzilla (1998), starring Matthew Broderick and set in New York City, and allegedly the music video extras weren’t told in advance that they were about to be slammed by a deluge of water, so their initial reactions may be genuine.
Mann also associates certain music with people she’s met in her life.
Through other people, she’s discovered all kinds of genres, from country western to jazz to techno.
For example, the owner of a tiny Italian restaurant she frequented in London always played music at the end of the night — old songs, country western, songs with wild lyrics, and sometimes original versions of songs that Mann only knew as covered by other artists.
She asked him to send her a playlist.
Now, when she goes to Europe, she drives around listening to songs like the ones he shared, classic and crazy. It makes it fun. “I love to have a soundtrack for my life.”
Artistry
As a creative, Mann constantly seeks inspiration for what to do next. Going to different countries, taking in new environments, and meeting new people often leads her to new ideas and opportunities.
“The world is huge. I like to get out of my comfort zone, and I like to meet new people. It’s great to be able to travel and connect.”
Mann regularly connects with new people, in real life and on social media, because of the nature of her work. “It’s nice, because you get fresh energy from different people. It feeds you. At least for me, it’s very important.”
We start talking about drawing inspiration from outside of one’s own creative medium. For a musical artist, that can mean looking to art, film, or literature — anything that makes you feel reflective, or gives you mental visualizations.
“Music is very much about emotions, and color, and all sorts of things. It’s storytelling.”
Even when she’s working on something, she’s thinking about what’s next.
“As the world changes, you change. The things that you want to say change, and you discover things within who you are. It's all about experimenting and finding something new and evolving.”
If you’re an artist searching for a breakthrough, she says, “It’s important to always just constantly work and create,” to take risks, and to focus on who you are and how you’re different from everyone else, “To love yourself.”
“You need to be so much like you that you stand out.”
When you’re trying to “make it,” it’s normal to have thoughts like, “Should I just give up? Should I just leave it? Should I just not do it?”
Her advice to emerging artists? Don’t wait for people to recognize your talent or give you a big budget. Figure out what you can do with what you have.
“You are your own artistic director, you are your own communications person, you’re the lawyer, you’re the security, you’re the diva, you’re the party girl, you’re everything.” ◆
Instagram @yanamann__
Cole’s Essay
A new chapter, affairs with married women, and the song that led Cole Burnett to a place of beauty and wonder — No. 019 - Julián De La Chica & Yana Mann's "Poemas de Bar, Op. 12: No. 8 El Amor" changed my life
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Even though I was still a teenager, I was feeling very grown up. Becoming a legal adult was terrifying and exhilarating at once. I jumped into this new life head-first.
The concert came just two weeks after I’d gotten my first tattoo on my…
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