Melissa Bailey
Singer, Songwriter & Tech Activist 

Suraaj Parab (00:06.15)

Today's guest is Melissa B. Sorry, Melissa, should I pronounce your surname as Bailey or should I pronounce it as B? What do you prefer? Okay, B, okay, it's okay. Today's guest is Melissa B, billboard-charting singer, songwriter, author, and tech engineer whose work lives at the intersection of music, storytelling, and digital independence. Welcome, Melissa, to Artist Conversation.

Melissa Bailey (00:16.195)

B.

Melissa Bailey (00:38.174)

Alright, happy to be here!

Suraaj Parab (00:39.346)

I'm very happy that you came on our show. I was watching all your reels and your music from a few weeks ago and I was like, okay, I want to invite her. I want to know the story behind her music and her whole journey. So thank you so much for coming, Melissa. Okay, so Melissa...

Melissa Bailey (00:47.02)

Mm-hmm.

Melissa Bailey (00:59.694)

Yeah.

Suraaj Parab (01:07.472)

Let's get into it. You have spoken about rebuilding yourself as an independent artist after setbacks. When you look back, what was the hardest part of starting again without losing your sense of self?

Melissa Bailey (01:23.714)

Well, starting over for me was because I lost my father. So when my father passed away, I had to learn everything. My dad did everything for me—like managed my music, managed me, connected me with producers, and helped me with picking songs. Just the everyday things that a manager would do. When my father passed away, I had nobody to manage me. I knew nothing. So I had to start from scratch. And that was eye-opening for me because I was like, "My God, what am I going to do? How am I going to do this?"

And then I just... I honestly don't know how I pivoted into where I am now. But now that I look back at it, it was one of the greatest lessons I think I needed in life.

Suraaj Parab (02:34.097)

Yeah, losing someone... I can totally relate to this story because, for me, my music has come from my father. He wanted his son to become a musician, so he was always into that. Of course, I also lost him in 2019, so I can totally relate to that stuff. But yeah, sometimes the good part comes when we lose someone and it teaches us more things to help us stand on our own feet. So for you...

Melissa Bailey (02:51.374)

Thank you.

Suraaj Parab (03:03.675)

...life teaches us to stand on our own feet.

Melissa Bailey (03:09.036)

Yeah, because I think honestly, for me, my personality has always been a bit shy sometimes, but this forced me to get out of my shell when my father was gone. It made me step into my own light.

Suraaj Parab (03:34.381)

Mm-hmm. And yeah.

Melissa Bailey (03:35.662)

Right? It made me step into my own light, and everything that I've done, he's always in the back of my mind. I always think about this with him. Like, how would I do this, or how would he do this, or how can I do this better, you know? And yeah. Yeah.

Suraaj Parab (03:53.508)

Understood. So, your father, was he the inspiration behind your music? Like, how did the music and your father's relationship grow together? If you'd like to tell us about it.

Melissa Bailey (04:07.222)

Yes, yes. Growing up as a little girl, I grew up all over the world. My parents were in the military. So I grew up in Japan, I grew up in Germany, I grew up in Hawaii. I really didn't grow up in the United States; I grew up in Europe for the majority of my childhood. My mother is from Puerto Rico, so my mom and my dad met in the military. My parents wanted us to see life differently, right? So...

Suraaj Parab (04:14.469)

Hello?

Melissa Bailey (04:36.994)

...we grew up outside the United States and I think part of that helped me grow as a person. Because I saw different cultures, right? I got to see different things, people, and how they lived. And when I came back to the United States as a teenager, I had all of this knowledge of different cultures and music, and everything cultivated me into being who I am now, you know?

Suraaj Parab (05:02.129)

Wow. So did your dad and mother also have a musical background, like singing or playing instruments?

Melissa Bailey (05:14.772)

My dad sang in the choir and my mom was a dancer in Puerto Rico. She did salsa, but that's pretty much it on that side of my family.

Suraaj Parab (05:23.267)

Wow. Wow. No, that's really awesome. Really good. Melissa, a lot of artists can make music, but not all of them can rebuild. So what do you think that process taught you about resilience, not just professionally, but creatively also?

Melissa Bailey (05:31.246)

Mm-hmm.

Melissa Bailey (05:49.962)

In terms of what exactly? Give me an example of something.

Suraaj Parab (05:52.913)

Okay, so losing your dad and this whole process—you said he used to manage your whole music career and all that stuff. When you lost him, what did it actually teach you about resilience, both creatively and professionally?

Melissa Bailey (06:14.638)

What taught me about being resilient? I think it's more about just being able to stand on your own two feet and being able to persevere through all of the bad things, right? From the point of time when I started on my own...

Suraaj Parab (06:30.885)

Hmm.

Melissa Bailey (06:38.294)

...to me having my business partners, and then me working with the producers that I've worked with. Like, I've worked with my producer, B. Howard. I work with my engineer, Michael Ashby. All these different people along the way, these relationships that I had, right? It has helped me become a better singer. It has helped me become a better producer...

Suraaj Parab (06:55.739)

Mm-hmm.

Melissa Bailey (07:06.718)

...a better songwriter, right? And it's helped me just become a better, I'd say, executive producer because I've done projects on my own, just putting everything together. Going through all of that has just taught me to just shine. You know, just be who I am.

Suraaj Parab (07:35.345)

That's really wonderful. You know all these different aspects of a musical career—not just about singing or writing a song, you are managing, producing, and understanding the engineering part. That's a really wonderful thing.

Melissa Bailey (07:54.327)

Yeah, well, the one thing I'm going to tell you is that, you know when they say—like, you know Michael Jackson movies, right? And the one thing Michael Jackson always said was, "Study the greats," right? Michael Jackson was great. Quincy Jones was great, right? So for me, in my lifetime, I studied them.

Suraaj Parab (08:02.626)

Yeah.

Suraaj Parab (08:08.121)

Yeah. Yeah.

Melissa Bailey (08:17.35)

I studied how they created their albums. I studied how they produced. I studied how they made Off the Wall front to back. I listened to the stories. I paid attention to how they were engineering. I was really studying. My first album, Computer Love—I don't know if you've heard the Computer Love album—that was completely inspired by the Off the Wall album. If you listen to it, it tells a story, there's a rhythm to it. And that's how albums should be. People don't make albums like that anymore.

Suraaj Parab (08:17.434)

Yeah.

Suraaj Parab (08:26.779)

Yeah.

Suraaj Parab (08:38.331)

Oh yeah. Hmm? Yeah.

Suraaj Parab (08:53.657)

Yeah. One loop.

Suraaj Parab (08:59.929)

Yeah, you know, the part you just said about Michael Jackson reminds me of a conversation I had with a friend a few days ago. There was a specific scenario with Michael Jackson where he was doing a tech rehearsal before a show and he told the guy sitting at the keyboard, "Okay, you are playing the wrong note. On the left hand, you are playing a C instead of a D."

Melissa Bailey (09:10.464)

Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm.

Suraaj Parab (09:27.653)

And the keyboardist was like, "No, I am playing it right." Michael said, "No, check it again." And then the guy found out that he actually was playing it wrong. So that is the level of detail. Michael Jackson was a dancer, he knew how to sing, how the music works, how the stage lighting system works—everything. So that's a really great thing. And from what we've talked about, I can see that you are going into that same zone where you know every aspect of your career. That's a really wonderful thing.

Melissa Bailey (09:28.546)

Mm-hmm. You...

Melissa Bailey (10:00.492)

Thank you. I think also for me, being in this industry as long as I have—I've been singing since I was five years old, but professionally, I started when I was 14. I got my first record deal with Ray Parker Jr. You know, the guy who did Ghostbusters? I was signed to his label first. Yeah.

Suraaj Parab (10:23.727)

Yeah. Wow.

Melissa Bailey (10:28.826)

And this was many years ago, and I learned something at that point. I was supposed to go to college at that time, and I paused college to go for this record deal. In the midst of all that, within one year, I was like, "I'm not ready for this. I am not ready for this industry, and this industry will just chew me up and spit me out." So I went to college.

Suraaj Parab (10:54.577)

Okay.

Melissa Bailey (10:57.472)

I went to school because I love computers, and I was like, "I need to figure out how to stand on my own two feet within this industry." I felt as though going to college, getting a job, and learning the processes of things—see, that's where my methodology comes from. I learned processes, right? How to put projects together. In reality, my day job in IT helped me put my music projects together as if I'm building a network. See?

Suraaj Parab (11:39.121)

I understand, understand.

Melissa Bailey (11:39.885)

And this is why they call me the girl geek, okay? Because this is what I'm doing: I'm connecting music and technology. I'm managing the projects. Music is a business, technology is a business. So why can't I take the tools that I learned from school and my job and use them for projects? When you're building a server, what do you have to do? You have to look at the budget, what data center we are putting this in, what OS we are putting on this, what's the RAM, what's the CPU? You know what I'm saying?

Suraaj Parab (11:59.58)

Yeah, exactly.

Suraaj Parab (12:19.439)

Yeah, yeah. I totally get it. It's a really interesting way of looking at it. Really great.

Melissa Bailey (12:27.342)

Right? A lot of people don't think like that, but that's how I think. When I started realizing, "Oh my God, I've been doing projects this whole time," it clicked. When you do tutorials and stuff, I say to myself, "I've been doing this all along." It's just now I have to apply it to music and create the project.

Suraaj Parab (12:48.058)

Yeah!

Suraaj Parab (12:54.257)

That's a really interesting part of learning different things. The more you learn, the more your perspective widens. Your mind unlocks different things and you see the patterns. Like you just said, you see the networking pattern and apply that same pattern to music. You applied it, and maybe that's why you sound like yourself—because you are following your own heart.

Melissa Bailey (13:21.998)

Well, I didn't sound like myself a long time ago because I was trying to sound like other people. I didn't get it. And that's where we get to the point of what we talked about with my father. I didn't get it until after I lost my father, and then I started finding my own sound. I'm finding me.

Suraaj Parab (13:41.166)

Okay, yeah, that's great. Talking about this emotional truth, I heard many of your songs, like Body Wow and Chimes of Tranquility. Your music carries a lot of emotional depth, sensuality, and introspection. When you create from a vulnerable place, how do you know when you are being honest versus just being exposed?

Melissa Bailey (14:15.618)

I think as an artist, you have to allow yourself to be exposed, right? Because how else are you going to be vulnerable? You want other people to feel what you feel. Sometimes I write stuff from a third-person perspective. It's not just me; it's me hearing a girlfriend telling me one of her stories about something that happened to her, or someone close to me, or a family going through something, or something going on in the world. It doesn't necessarily have to be something that I'm personally going through. It could be me living it through someone else because I'm listening, I'm hearing what they're telling me, and I feel what they're feeling.

Suraaj Parab (14:20.24)

Yeah.

Suraaj Parab (14:26.127)

Hmm?

Suraaj Parab (14:33.649)

Mm-hmm.

Suraaj Parab (14:48.87)

That's it.

Suraaj Parab (15:02.257)

Understood.

Melissa Bailey (15:06.094)

Chimes of Tranquility is just an example of how versatile I am. That was meant for a meditative state where you want to hear chimes and water and everything like that. Sometimes people find my music and say, "You have different things going on here, what's going on?" There's another side to me, and as an artist...

Suraaj Parab (15:31.963)

Mm-hmm.

Melissa Bailey (15:34.048)

...that's my canvas. I should be able to create these things. I shouldn't be boxed into just saying, "She does this type of music." So that's my exposure regarding what you're asking me. I'm just being myself. I'm creating. I'm a creative person, that's what I do.

Suraaj Parab (15:43.065)

Understood. You are just... yeah. That's the best thing.

Suraaj Parab (15:54.936)

That's the best thing anyone or any kind of artist can do. One philosophy I believe in, from Kahlil Gibran's book The Prophet, is that every person born into this world has a unique quality in them—their own natural calling. Everyone is unique, so once you start embracing yourself, you are already unique. You don't need to be like everyone else. I can hear that in your music; it doesn't sound like anyone else, it sounds like Melissa B. So that's really great. Since you are versatile and every song is in a different zone, when you sit down to write a song, what does that process look like for you? What's going on in your mind?

Melissa Bailey (16:00.098)

Yes.

Melissa Bailey (16:34.154)

Yeah, yes, yes.

Melissa Bailey (17:03.224)

Sometimes, being honest with you, I could be in the shower and the water acts like a conductor, and songs will just come into my mind. I have to grab my phone quickly and record a voice memo. Or I could be sitting at work and I hear a melody and just start writing. I've also had situations where I've had to sit in a booth...

Suraaj Parab (17:07.492)

Okay.

Suraaj Parab (17:13.841)

Mm-hmm.

Suraaj Parab (17:17.243)

Hmm.

Suraaj Parab (17:22.385)

Mm-hmm.

Melissa Bailey (17:31.639)

...and I didn't really like being told, "You've got to write right now, you've got to zone in and figure it out." I'd be like, "Okay," and I'd do it. But it's a feeling; it just comes to me. It's a source, right? Michael Jackson said that too. He was like, "I don't take credit for that, it's given to me."

Suraaj Parab (17:36.987)

Yeah.

Suraaj Parab (17:51.44)

Right.

Melissa Bailey (17:57.519)

So when it happens and it flows, I say, "Okay, it's time for me to go write this, it's time for me to go into the studio and get this done." I've had situations like when Michael Ashby lived next door to me—he's one of my best friends. I wrote a song in 15 minutes once, ran next door, and told him, "I've got to record this now." And he was like, "What?" and I'm like, "It's in my head, I've got to get this song out, please." Actually, it's one of my songs... I've got to look up the title and I'll tell you which one.

Suraaj Parab (18:04.442)

No.

Suraaj Parab (18:21.846)

Yeah, sure.

Melissa Bailey (18:40.056)

I'll tell you the title. But yeah, I've had situations like that where I just go with what I feel. I go with what I feel.

Suraaj Parab (18:55.533)

That's wonderful. That's wonderful.

Melissa Bailey (19:03.758)

Go ahead, I'm sorry. I'm still looking for the song title for you.

Suraaj Parab (19:05.129)

Yeah, no problem. No problem. Okay, so going ahead, Melissa, you've had songs chart in very different places, from Billboard to iTunes Taiwan. When a song connects that broadly, what do you think people are responding to the most? The sound, the emotion, or the truth inside it?

Melissa Bailey (19:28.554)

All of the above.

Melissa Bailey (19:33.162)

All of the above. The song I was talking about is The Light. You would love that song. The Light, yes.

Suraaj Parab (19:37.453)

Okay, okay, I'll just bookmark it. Okay, The Light. Coming back to that part—you said the sound, the emotion, and the truth inside of it. When your music travels across the whole world, what is that response like as an artist? I remember the first time I got a response from outside of my country, it came from Iran. I was like, "My God, someone from Iran is listening to my song." So when your music went global, how did that feel?

Melissa Bailey (20:09.568)

Yeah!

Melissa Bailey (20:13.358)

It's crazy. I found out I have fans in Iran, I have fans in Kuwait, I have fans in India, I have fans in Brazil—I have fans all over. And I'm shocked. Sometimes I'm like, "People are listening to me there?" That's wild. It's crazy. I'm like, "Wow." And I just let it grow. People tell me, "My God, I've been listening to your music, you helped me." Or people will look at my Instagram and say, "My God, I love your inspirational videos that you do, you helped me through my day." And I'm like, "Okay, I'm doing something right."

Suraaj Parab (20:14.874)

Yeah!

Suraaj Parab (20:21.168)

Hmm.

Suraaj Parab (20:28.748)

All right.

Suraaj Parab (21:07.149)

I can totally relate to this feeling, and in India, you have me. I am one of your fans, so you can count me on the list.

Melissa Bailey (21:14.158)

Yes, I love it! I love it!

Suraaj Parab (21:18.289)

And from the...

Melissa Bailey (21:19.616)

I would honestly love to come to India. I would love to perform there. That's one of the places I really want to go to because I'm actually working on a project now that's going to take me about a year to create—a chant album—and I would love to do some stuff there.

Suraaj Parab (21:31.217)

Mm-hmm.

Suraaj Parab (21:35.844)

Okay, that's great. I live in Mumbai, so whenever you come to Mumbai, please drop me an email. I would love to meet you and maybe we can do something together, a song or something like that. Moving on, Melissa, your work feels modern but never cold; it has emotional depth. How do you balance polished production with the messier, more human parts of emotion?

Melissa Bailey (21:43.604)

Yes! Absolutely!

Melissa Bailey (22:18.612)

I'd say it's my team, the people I work around, because they are perfectionists too. I learned a lot from B. Howard in terms of production, and he taught me and Michael Ashby how a song should be structured properly. I paid attention to that when he was teaching us these things—how songs should be, how you should sound, when you should breathe. He really taught us to open our ears more and really listen. But like I said, I was always studying the greats like Aretha Franklin...

Suraaj Parab (22:33.649)

Hmm.

Melissa Bailey (23:05.568)

...and Lionel Richie. I'm naming older artists, but these are the people I learned from, the people that gave us these wonderful songs. Cyndi Lauper, too. I'm giving you some legendary names here.

Suraaj Parab (23:13.105)

Mm-hmm.

Suraaj Parab (23:29.232)

Yeah.

Suraaj Parab (23:38.065)

Don't worry about them being older artists, because my idols are also from that era.

Melissa Bailey (23:46.496)

No, no, I'm not saying it in a negative way. I'm an old soul, I really am.

Suraaj Parab (23:51.666)

Same here. Of course, I like what is happening in today's modern music era, but my heart lies in that older era. I grew up listening to Motown music, Yanni, Richard Clayderman, jazz artists like Quincy Jones and Stevie Wonder.

Melissa Bailey (24:11.918)

Yeah! Prince, Earth, Wind & Fire, Michael McDonald—a mixture of R&B, rock, soft rock, pop, a little bit of hip-hop, and salsa. I've been listening to all these types of music all my life. That's why I say you can't box me in, because I create whatever I feel.

Suraaj Parab (24:19.515)

Yeah!

Suraaj Parab (24:40.113)

Right.

Suraaj Parab (24:50.469)

I used to have this fantasy where I'd tell my friends, "I feel like I was born in the wrong era." I wanted to be born in the '70s or '80s in the US. That was the cream of the crop era where tech was evolving and disco was there. All those bands like Survivor with Eye of the Tiger—it was a wonderful period.

Melissa Bailey (25:07.094)

Yeah!

Melissa Bailey (25:22.168)

Yeah, exactly. Artists like Donna Summer—listening to disco music growing up, then hearing the R&B stuff. When I was growing up listening to this stuff, I wondered, "Where are the girls that I can sound like?" because of how the industry was at the time. I'm finding myself now because of my vocal range. I tell people: if Whitney Houston and Janet Jackson had a baby, I am her, vocal-range-wise.

Suraaj Parab (25:32.283)

Mm-hmm.

Suraaj Parab (25:46.432)

Mm-hmm.

Suraaj Parab (25:59.312)

Yeah, understood.

Suraaj Parab (26:09.329)

Wonderful. Wonderful. You know, Melissa, the part we were talking about before starting this podcast—your tech side. By day, you are a network engineer, and you've also written the book Digitally Independent. How has your relationship with technology changed the way you think about building music?

Melissa Bailey (26:25.838)

Mmm.

Melissa Bailey (26:41.07)

It’s changed the way I utilize everything I’ve ever done. That’s why I wrote that book. When I went through everything, I learned it all on my own. One day I said to myself, "My God, if something happens to me, nobody will know how to do this." Nobody wrote a manual for me or told me what to do, so I decided the best thing to do was give back so that others don't have to reinvent the wheel and actually know the steps.

But I also made it clear in the very first chapter of Digitally Independent—there’s a checklist, and the very first question is, "Who are you?" A lot of people can’t even get past that part.

Suraaj Parab (26:58.95)

Mm-hmm.

Suraaj Parab (27:01.699)

Okay.

Suraaj Parab (27:36.365)

Okay, so the first chapter is from which book? Is it The Cheat Code or the other one?

Suraaj Parab (27:48.279)

Okay, okay. Yeah, yeah. Okay.

Melissa Bailey (28:03.66)

Because when you walk into a room—and I’ve walked into plenty of rooms before—people used to ask me, "Who are you?" and I would just look at them like, "I don't really know who I am yet." But if they ask me now, I’m Melissa B. I’m a tech girl. I merge music and technology together as one.

How do I do that? AI is coming around, and I use it to create my own music videos and bring the visions in my mind to life. I do the promotion. I have a team of people, but it's majority me doing this work, and right now I’m learning how to build AI agents on my own.

Suraaj Parab (28:39.141)

Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm.

Suraaj Parab (29:03.737)

Yeah, exactly. That's really great. Being an author—how did that path open up in your life? I'm actually about to release my second book on May 12th, so I'd love to learn how that journey came about for you.

Melissa Bailey (29:05.974)

I’m going to have bots handling tasks for me.

Melissa Bailey (29:32.301)

It happened by accident. I was not supposed to do that. I was working with someone, and we were supposed to write a book together. We started on it, but they had other things come up, and I was left holding the bag. I’m such a Capricorn, so I was like, "I am going to finish this. I finish what I start."

At first, I didn't even know how to write a book. But then I realized, "Wait a minute, you’ve written technical documentation. You know how to do this. Just think of it like a technical document."

Suraaj Parab (29:45.392)

Mm-hmm.

Suraaj Parab (30:03.089)

Okay.

Suraaj Parab (30:12.902)

Mm-hmm.

Melissa Bailey (30:26.124)

So that's what I did. I created a checklist, built it step-by-step, and mapped out the process of everything I've done. I realized it’s just a formula, and it just needed to be written out. That’s it.

Suraaj Parab (30:26.265)

Wow.

Suraaj Parab (30:44.683)

Wow! Superb! You are a very inspiring person, I'm learning a lot from you.

Melissa Bailey (30:54.83)

I hope so.

Suraaj Parab (30:58.417)

I am really enjoying this conversation. Melissa, we got in touch through the Recording Academy community. While reading about you, I learned that you also founded Girl Geek Dinners NYC, which says a lot about how seriously you take community and innovation. What do you think artists today underestimate about the power of tech literacy and community building?

Melissa Bailey (31:14.658)

Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm.

Melissa Bailey (31:46.812)

You have to find people who share your mindset, and you will find them. The reason we started Girl Geek Dinners in New York City was that there was a chapter in London, but nothing here in America. I was constantly going to tech dinners and it was entirely men. Every single time, all men. I asked, "Where are the girls? Where are the women?" The tech field still has more men than women, so we wanted a space where we could have dinner and inspire women. But to ensure men didn't feel excluded, we made a rule: men could come, but they had to be invited by a woman.

Suraaj Parab (31:53.713)

Hmm.

Suraaj Parab (31:57.489)

Mm-hmm.

Suraaj Parab (32:52.945)

Oh, okay. That's interesting. Yeah.

Melissa Bailey (32:56.288)

Right. And this is advice for any men listening: if you host tech industry dinners, don't exclude women. Invite them, just like we invite you. We're all human beings, and we should share spaces where we feel comfortable together. Throughout my years in this technology field, I've only seen a handful of women in top leadership positions, and it shouldn't be like that. There are incredibly smart women out here who outshine men in tech, and the same goes for music. You have to create a space for everybody. That's what we did; even though it's called Girl Geek Dinners, men are still invited.

Suraaj Parab (33:39.323)

Mm-hmm.

Suraaj Parab (34:03.833)

I'm glad that I invited a wonderful and inspiring woman today. Please invite me to the next one if I'm in NYC; I would love to attend. Moving on, let's talk about industry authenticity and ownership. The industry often rewards visibility over depth and speed over intention. How do you stay authentic and self-owned in a system that constantly tries to shape artists into something marketable?

Melissa Bailey (34:09.907)

Yes!

Melissa Bailey (34:28.32)

We're definitely going to have to host one. Yes, absolutely.

Melissa Bailey (34:59.415)

Have you heard of Sade?

Suraaj Parab (35:01.777)

Who?

Melissa Bailey (35:05.23)

Have you heard of the singer Sade?

Suraaj Parab (35:09.114)

No. Please tell us.

Melissa Bailey (35:12.05)

Oh my gosh, okay. You need to look her up: S-A-D-E. Sade is the queen. Everyone knows Sade, and you're going to know her now too. When she comes out with an album—and the reason I'm telling you this is so you understand my point—she and her group will disappear for five or ten years. Then she'll come back and blow up again, disappear, and repeat the cycle. You are going to love Sade when you hear her music. I studied that approach. You can't just constantly give, give, give music. You have to let things simmer. You have to let artists experience life.

Suraaj Parab (35:43.825)

Hmm.

Suraaj Parab (35:53.307)

Oh, okay.

Suraaj Parab (35:59.217)

Okay, sure. I will go and listen to her.

Melissa Bailey (36:24.886)

Right? I have to experience things before I can give you heartfelt music. I can't just keep churning out content when I need to live through experiences first to truly feel it on stage and perform it for you. That's why I bring up Sade, because that's how she operates, and her songs are incredibly heartfelt. You're going to text me later saying, "Melissa, oh my God, I love Sade."

Suraaj Parab (36:45.102)

I understood.

Melissa Bailey (37:00.63)

She's the queen. I learned that it's okay to simmer and take your time. Three years ago, I had major back surgery and almost died. In the midst of that, I had to relearn how to walk and how to use my body to sing. People kept asking me, "Do you have new music coming out?" and I said, "No, I have to go through some things first before I can give you something." I haven't been on stage in three years, but I want to get back out there now. It's time; I finally have something to sing about and emotions to release. You don't have to rush for anybody in this industry. It's art.

Suraaj Parab (37:20.345)

Okay.

Suraaj Parab (37:29.935)

Mm-hmm.

Suraaj Parab (37:49.968)

That's true.

Suraaj Parab (38:01.381)

Understood.

Melissa Bailey (38:02.878)

You put it out when you're ready. You are the one who gives the audience what they need because your spirit tells you what to give people.

Suraaj Parab (38:15.921)

I totally get it. This reminds me of an artist named Nils Frahm. I don't know if you've heard of him, but he has a similar approach. He isn't on social media and has no online presence at all. He lives a solitary life at home with a grand piano, creates beautiful music, goes on tour to perform, releases the album, and that's it. There is no way to contact him outside of his recording label. I think that's beautiful. I wish I could cut off from social media like that. Do you feel like maintaining a social media presence is still important in today's world?

Melissa Bailey (39:14.888)

What's truly important is the people who discover you. What I love about this journey now is that I don't care what critics think anymore; it only matters what I think and the value of what I give to people. There are simply too many opinions. If you sit around waiting for everyone's approval, you wouldn't get anything done.

Suraaj Parab (39:27.825)

Mm-hmm.

Suraaj Parab (39:45.426)

Right, exactly.

Melissa Bailey (40:05.152)

Think about the legends we've learned from—the musicians who made timeless albums. Do you think they sat around worrying about critics or waiting to hear what people thought? You have to feel what you feel and deliver it. If there were too many critics, I don't think Shakespeare would even exist. Today we celebrate Shakespeare as one of the greatest playwrights in history, but if he had sat around waiting for people to tell him what they disliked, he wouldn't be who he was.

Suraaj Parab (40:18.723)

Yeah.

Suraaj Parab (40:39.697)

Yeah. You know, mentioning Shakespeare—when I wrote my first book last year, it was a completely new process involving Adobe InDesign and proofreading. During that time, I learned about Shakespeare's workflow. When we finalize a script, we often fix editorial or grammatical errors, but the original Shakespeare scripts actually contained numerous grammatical flaws. Yet, look at his legacy today. It proves that raw self-expression matters far more than conforming to what the industry labels as right or wrong.

Melissa Bailey (41:20.174)

Yeah.

Melissa Bailey (41:37.403)

If I had sat around waiting for people to tell me what to do, I wouldn't be where I am today. I broke the code. All the instructions and steps you need are right there in front of you; all you have to do is read. That's how I figured it out. I took my time and read the steps that people weren't willing to teach me. Then they wonder, "How did you get here?" and I tell them, "I read the instructions." They were right there in plain sight, and since nobody wanted to open the door for me, I found another way around it.

Suraaj Parab (42:04.783)

Mm-hmm. That's it.

Suraaj Parab (42:37.009)

That's an eye-opening perspective for many artists. Looking ahead, you are an author, a tech engineer, and a musician. As you focus on your upcoming projects, what is the deeper intention behind this next chapter of your artistry? What are you trying to express or build from the lessons you've learned? What is the next chapter of Melissa B?

Melissa Bailey (43:21.23)

The next chapter for me is connecting with the human heart, mind, and spirit. I want to take people back to that nostalgic feeling that I know audiences are missing right now. I'm working on that, though I can't share too many details just yet.

Suraaj Parab (43:42.075)

Mmm, that's great. Wonderful. I've had a fantastic time talking with you, Melissa. Thank you so much for spending this time with me. I appreciate the honesty, intelligence, and intention you bring to both your music and the broader conversation about building independently in the digital age. You are a truly inspiring woman.

Melissa Bailey (44:16.778)

Thank you. I just want to remind people that there are many talented artists out there who don't make a lot of money yet; a lot of us work day jobs. I have a day job that pays my bills. To all the artists out there doing the same: keep going. Find ways to support other artists and speak out, because people want to hear from authentic creators like us who understand the struggle of starting out. If anyone needs guidance, my book can help you get started.

Suraaj Parab (44:52.709)

Mm-hmm. Yeah.

Melissa Bailey (45:05.368)

Just grab a copy of my book. I'm actually planning to write a third one. I recently finished the second edition; I update it every couple of years to keep the knowledge current.

Suraaj Parab (45:20.645)

Wow, that's superb. This conversation is a great reminder that artistry today isn't just about expression; it's also about ownership, resilience, and moving with a clear purpose. That is exactly what I learned from you today. Thank you so much. To everyone listening, please go check out Melissa's work on Spotify and Apple Music, find her books on Amazon, and follow her on Instagram. Don't hesitate to send her a DM; she is a wonderful person.

Melissa Bailey (46:00.194)

You can also visit my website at melissab.com—that's M-E-L-I-S-S-A, followed by the letter B, dot com.

Suraaj Parab (46:08.874)

Please go check out her incredible work. If this episode resonated with you, please share it with a friend. We will see you next time on Artist Conversation.

Melissa Bailey (46:14.882)

Thank you.