Today we’d like to introduce you to Noa Belillti.
Noa, we appreciate you taking the time to share your story with us today. Where does your story begin?
N.O.A & The Goodest Ones started out as an outlet for me to perform lesser or unknown cover tunes from the past for my own enjoyment and practice. For many years, I have been working in both original and cover bands and it always felt like something was missing. Those projects never allowed me to be all of me, or the creative space to curate tunes, or even perform authentically. Even when I was in school studying opera and classical music, all the mentors and professors were obsessed with perfection, measuring my sound and repertoire against ‘the greats.’ On paper, I did well in school, and even enjoyed being competitive, but not enough to sustain any interest in a career in opera beyond completing the program. I wanted out. So I found myself getting more into writing my own music, singing as back up in local projects around town, diving into the city of Austin to network in all of my spare time.
It took many years to arrive at this current project. I started focusing on solo material in May of 2020 shortly after my then collaborative project disbanded in the chaos of the pandemic. I had been in so many projects, comfortable with lending support, or running rehearsals, and all of a sudden I realized, wait, why am I not doing this for myself?
It took a couple of years thereafter to organize myself, my material and find the right crew who would be down to ride with me. And a name! Shit, I’m going to need to name this thing. I wanted to honor my choice of stepping out solo but I will be the first to admit that this project could never run without this very specific, incredibly talented and unbelievably supportive crew. And this, this is how N.O.A & The Goodest Ones came to be named. Each member truly is the ‘Goodest’ on their instrument, some of the best Austin has to offer, and at being authentically themselves. (If you’ve met any of them you know immediately and exactly what I’m talking about.) We have guests here and there but The Goodest Ones is made up of D-Madness on bass, Michael Longoria on drums, Ry-Dog on guitar, and Marcell Coleman on keys.
After sitting in with the local Austin groove crew Canned Beets for their long-running Wednesday residency, Half Step became a cozy home for me to cut my teeth and try out tons of ideas for tunes and freestyle performances. Forever grateful for Canned Beets and Half Step for the love they showed me and continue to show me as an artist.
By late 2022, we booked our first show as N.O.A & The Goodest Ones. In 2023, Half Step offered us our once-a-month residency still running to date. Catch us every 4th Wednesday of the month. And finally, after many obstacles and funny detours, we will be releasing our first EP this May 2025.
We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
Oh, there were bumps. The recording process itself was its own saga. We started out recording at King Electric Studios. Amazing spot. A big shoutout to Justin the engineer who helped get this EP project’s first little lift off the ground at that session. We recorded to tape, getting that old throwback vintage style we were looking for. We had a lot of trying things out and redirecting, but we did keep some of the tape recorded from that session in the end.
Another challenge was song selection. We had 8 or more tunes originally planned for the EP but, its funny how things fall off or become more/less important as you work through a process. Tunes we started out really digging, by the end just didn’t make the cut. Some turned out better than expected. A lot of letting go. What we started with was not how we finished it, but we finished it. I kept thinking I should just scrap the whole thing, but enough people heard what we were doing with positive reactions and encouraged its completion. I am very grateful to those few who helped me see it through.
Thanks – so what else should our readers know about your work and what you’re currently focused on?
I know that our performances are raw, sometimes even partially improvised, but always very real and in the moment. Even if we play a cover tune, sometimes people ask if it’s an original. I love when that happens. I love that we can make people feel something.
Is there a quality that you most attribute to your success?
Performing through all the imperfections. Doing it anyway. Funny isn’t it that perfection obsessed professors used to bother me, only to arrive to a time where I have my own project, constantly reminding myself to let go of elements of the same bothersome devil? Hilarious. I try to remind myself constantly to check in, make sure I am having fun, mistakes and all. Because of course, as a performer, people are always watching. People always have an opinion. And people measure success differently. But can I embrace my humanness? Isn’t that the point? Of art, of music, of life? It is so uncomfortable sometimes, but I think its the most important thing. Life is really short. We die after this. If I can do that, embrace my humanness, feel creative freedom, to me, that is success.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://noamakesmusic.com
- Instagram: https://instagram.com/goodestones
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/NOAmakesmusic/
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@songstress_NOA
Image Credits
Stephanie Saldivar
