The Nashville-based alt-pop artist opens up about breaking expectations, finding confidence in her music, and creating a world where individuality comes first.
The Freedom to Be Yourself
Zia Victoria has spent much of her life making music, but at 21, she's finding something even more valuable than experience: the freedom to do things her own way.
The Nashville-based singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist has been writing songs since childhood, turning personal experiences into music that feels intimate, cinematic, and distinctly her own. Her latest single, “free spirit,” released October 30, takes that honesty somewhere particularly personal.
For Zia, being a free spirit isn't about having all the answers or living without consequences. It's about trusting yourself enough to stop worrying about everyone else's expectations.
“To me, being a free spirit means being 100% unapologetically yourself, no matter what other people think,” she tells Everyday Jams.
The song came from an experience at a beach bonfire in Florida, where an otherwise carefree evening turned into an uncomfortable conversation about modesty and how women are expected to behave. Wanting to jump into the ocean without a swimsuit, Zia found herself questioning why her choices were being measured against other people's opinions.
The moment stayed with her, particularly as she began thinking about the relationship between her faith, individuality, and the pressure placed on young women.
“I wanted ‘free spirit’ to help people feel understood and less afraid to be themselves, whatever they believe.”
It's a deeply personal starting point for a song that ultimately feels much bigger than one experience.
Growing Into Her Own Sound
Originally from New York City, Zia began releasing music at just eleven years old and signed with Warner Chappell Music at sixteen. She's since worked alongside artists and songwriters including Seal and Justin Tranter, building an impressive foundation while still discovering what feels most authentic to her.
Her music draws from alternative pop, Americana, and emotionally driven storytelling, but she's never been particularly interested in staying within one sound.
“I love lyrics that feel like you're reading someone's diary,” she explains.
More recently, she's been exploring cinematic pop production, bringing together live strings, synths, and '80s influences while keeping that personal storytelling at the center.
It's a direction that reflects where she is now, both creatively and personally.
After growing up in Manhattan and spending her teenage years pursuing music in Los Angeles, Zia has found a different pace of life in Nashville. She's embracing quieter moments, writing more love songs, and learning that success doesn't always have to mean constantly chasing the next milestone.
“Being successful and feeling aligned with what you're doing aren't always the same thing.”
It's a perspective that feels especially meaningful coming from someone who entered the professional music industry so young.
And she's carried some important lessons along the way. While opening for Seal at New York's Beacon Theatre, Zia once forgot the chords while performing his song “Crazy.” Devastated afterward, she remembers him pointing out that she hadn't walked offstage. She stayed, figured it out, and kept going.
“He saw strength in the very thing I was beating myself up over.”
The experience changed how she viewed vulnerability as a performer, reminding her that there's room to make mistakes and still create something meaningful.
A New World for Zia Victoria
There's another side to Zia's artistry that's beginning to take shape, one influenced as much by history and visual storytelling as it is by music.
Fascinated by the Gilded Age and Victorian era, she's exploring how the expectations placed on women throughout history still echo in modern life. The fashion, the social rules, and the women who challenged them have all become part of the creative world she's building.
“There's a lot to explore about being a woman, having ambition, falling in love, and accepting that you're never going to please everyone.”
For Zia, the music and visuals are becoming increasingly connected, offering a way to explore those ideas through an aesthetic that feels both historical and contemporary.
It's an exciting direction for an artist who's becoming more comfortable trusting her own instincts, even when they lead somewhere unexpected.
And beneath the elaborate creative vision is the same instinct that made her start writing songs as a child: wanting people to feel understood.
With “free spirit,” Zia Victoria isn't asking for permission to be herself. She's making music about what happens when you stop needing it.
Stream “free spirit” now and keep Zia Victoria on your radar as she continues building this next chapter of her artistry.
Photography: Antoine Gijbels and Jeremy Cascamisi, as applicable to the selected images.
