A Sit Down With The Queen of Texas and Her Debut Album

The Queen of Texas, Solya, takes over the U.S. and parts of Europe this summer in her first solo-headlining tour with local Texan band, Tele Novella, from March to August 2026, bringing her unique pop sound to her fans all around. This follows the release of her debut album Queen of Texas on March 6th.

From self-releasing her first EP, Fever Dream, featuring songs “Will You Return,” “Butterfly,” and “Endlessly” in 2023, Solya formally announced her album in January of this year, with the release of her lead single “Tell Me It’s Over,” and another single in February with “Is This Love??”

HERE'S THE FULL INTERVIEW

Indie Mixtape said your music had a warm, retro quality, which I quite enjoyed. So I wanted to know how you determine when a song really fits your style or vibe?

Solya: The whole record was recorded on analog equipment, so it does kind of give it that warm and retro vibe, like specifically from the 70s, that kind of era of music, which is what I grew up listening to, so that is why I wanted to record it the way I did. 

Eli: I love the idea of going back to analog equipment, especially with all of the technology that we have nowadays, like autotune and all of that. 

You've mentioned that one of your biggest inspirations was David Bowie, along with the music you grew up listening to with your parents. As you grow into your style and find your sound, are there other artists you find inspiration from nowadays, or even older artists you're discovering?

Solya: Well, I find a lot of inspiration in the Flaming Lips. They are my favorite band. And then, of course, David Bowie has remained an inspiration to me throughout my entire life, and I don't think that'll ever change. T. Rex is also one of my favorite bands, too. Marc Bolan has definitely been a huge inspiration for me. I think, vocally, my biggest inspiration would probably be Patsy Cline.

You told Wasteland in your interview that you enjoy incorporating Southern imagery in your lyrical choices, whether it's horseback riding or the wasteland itself. What are some of your favorite characteristics of Texas as someone who's grown up there and lived there their whole life?

Solya: I used to hate the desolation of where I'm from because it was kind of depressing at points. But I've come to appreciate it, and I've come to appreciate what it's made me into, because I think that if... I don't know, if I grew up somewhere else where there was so much entertainment readily available to me, I don't think I would be as creative a person. 

Eli: Yeah, I definitely understand. I grew up in a small town, so you definitely have to find ways to express yourself and be creative because there's not much to offer.

Solya: I found the beauty in the desolation. I see the wasteland when I drive through, and I think it's beautiful. 

From creating your own music in 2023 to headlining your own tour in 2026, where do you see yourself in the future of the music industry, and what are your goals for the next few years?

Solya: I kind of just take things as they come. And that's because I just enjoy making the art that I make. I don't really think about, “Oh, I want this song to blow up. I want this to blow up. I want to play for this many people.” I mean, that's great. But that's not what I think about, really ever. I kind of just think about what I want the next record to portray, and how I want it to sound, and what I want to do. 

What advice would you give to other creatives who are feeling stuck in their hometown or want to move to a big city like traditional artists normally do?

Solya: I don't think there's any problem with staying in your hometown as long as you've made a world in it. That's what I've done, I don't really feel the need to move to a huge city like L.A. right now because I've just kind of created my own thing here, and things come to me now. I go places, but I don't know. I like being in Texas, I don't want to move to L.A. I think there's lots of external pressure from other people to say, ‘We have to get out of this place,’ like if you stay here, you're a bum or whatever, but that’s not true. 

If your music could be shared with any musician of your choosing, who would you choose, and why?

Solya: Oh, no one's ever asked me this before. I think I would have to say Wayne Coyne because the Flaming Lips are my favorite band. 

Eli: And if I'm correct, you had talked with their manager about creating your own music before really making it big like you are now.

Solya: That's really what kind of lit the fire beneath me, was having that conversation with him, and him telling me, “Just put it out. Just download any music software; you don't need to go to school for this, and you don't need a producer. Just figure it out yourself and put your shit out there.” And that's what I did. And I mean, I guess that changed my life. 

How would you describe your music to those who have never listened to it before? What reason would you give them to listen to it?

Solya: I like to give it a somewhat cinematic feel. I like the wall of sound. That's what I'm trying to achieve, the wall of sound, where it just surrounds you with synth layers. 

What does your creative process look like when producing a song or an album? Is there a specific set of steps that you take in order to get into your flow? Or do you go straight into writing and producing?

Solya: It just comes naturally. You can't force any kind of method, I don't think. Usually, I just write music as it comes to me. I wrote Queen of Texas in four months. And so I just kind of wrote these songs as they came to me. Every time I went through something, any kind of experience, I wrote about it. So then, when you listen back to the record, it's like you can hear exactly what I was thinking about, exactly what I was living through at that time. It's a little window into a very blip of my lifetime, and that's kind of how it goes.

What are some of those experiences that you've really found inspiration from or you've drawn from to help with your music?

Solya: Well, I'd say a lot of my earlier stuff is definitely about being in a toxic relationship. So you can hear that a lot in my early stuff, and you can hear it on the record, too. But I mean, you're not going to really hear it in the next record.

Eli: What about the next ones? What are we feeling for? You said they were going to be weirder, so I'm really wanting to elaborate on that.

Solya: They're going to be more interesting. I think they're going to be stranger. I think people liked this one a little too much, so we might need to do something that not everybody likes, kind of flip it around for them. I don't want to be universal, I want it to be strange. 

Let's touch base on your past touring experiences, how those went, and how they can shape your future touring experiences, especially with dates coming up this summer.

Solya: My first tour was with one of my closest friends, Bowie, Baby Bugs. We did a huge 22-day tour, and it was great. We got really, really close on that tour because we were always together. We always had each other's backs. There’s a lot of weird shit that can happen on tour, and if you don't have somebody as your rock with you, then you can't really get through it. I had a really good experience on that tour, and I’ve done four dates for the "Queen of Texas" tour, and they've been great because I have Danny, my producer, and I have Jason, who played bass and slide on my record. And we have Natalie, who sings for Tele Novella. So, I mean, it's a tight group, and it's great.

What would you say is your favorite thing about touring and being with all of your close-knit people?

Solya: It makes you closer because you share an experience that not many people experience. It just bonds you in a way that I think other experiences won’t, not in the same way. Every experience is different.

What is your favorite thing about performing for your fans, or performing in general, a highlight that you really can't wait to experience?

Solya: It's really nice to see people like singing my songs back to me. I see the passion on their face, and I see how much these words mean to them. So I mean, that means a lot to me because that tells me like, “Oh, I'm doing something for this world. I'm giving something back into this world,” and that's something that I don't think I ever really thought I could do as a human. Seeing that and how much it means to these people means a lot to me. They mean a lot to me. I think back to what meant so much to me in high school, and I look at the crowd, and I'm like, “Wow, what this means to them is what I felt in high school.”

Eli: Well, thank you so, so much for meeting with me again. I had a lovely time talking with you.

Solya: Yeah. Thank you for interviewing me.

CHECK OUT SOLYAS NEWEST ALBUM, QUEEN OF TEXAS, HERE:

Credits for all pictures: Alice Baxley