Film sun, music moon, and fashion rising. That’s how Natasha Kalila best described the persona of her passions. The Maryland native moved to New York City 11 years ago and has since woven a myriad of mediums into an impressive career. Kalila’s most recent venture has been in the world of music. She released her debut EP, Everything Ain’t for Everybody, on June 26.

“I feel like I just had birth, so now I’ve gotta raise this child. Making music is nowhere near raising a child [but] the work is never done,” she said.

Kalila’s interest in the arts began in her youth. She recalled creating music as early as six years old in her childhood home. Fashion entered the orbit in middle school, and film followed suit in high school. Since her college did not have a film studies program, she returned to creating music in her free time. Her semesters were spent interning at production companies, which eventually laid the groundwork for a move to New York City.  “I always loved music, fashion and film,” she explained. “I think especially because I’ve been freelancing my entire career, I’ve been able to do all of those things at the same time.”

The past decade has given Natasha Kalila a wide variety of experiences to build a robust portfolio. When she first moved to the city, she worked in production for commercials. From coordinating production assistants and equipment to cultivating client and agency relations, she kept the crew in line. It was a stylist coworker who encouraged her to incorporate her love for fashion into her career path. Kalila worked to build her portfolio and eventually was offered a wardrobe job on a low-budget project. This paved the way for a pivot into costume design. Now, Kalila is filling her resume with film credits, working on projects that have premiered at the Tribeca and New York Film Festivals. 

She speaks highly of the coworkers and colleagues who connected her with new ideas and adventures. “There are so many levels and layers. I could go on for hours and hours about the industry,” she mused. In the midst of growing her career as a stylist and designer, there were many times when Kalila found herself in between jobs. “I had to say no to a lot of jobs so that I could say styling is what I’m really doing,” she said with sincerity. When the pandemic hit in 2020, music entered the picture in an official way. “Weirdly, my styling career kinda offset me getting back into music.” She added, “Music and wardrobe, for me, really truly go hand in hand.” After years of spending downtime passively producing with her roommate, Kalila took the leap to make something for public consumption.

This was the first time Kalila approached a project with such a high level of professionalism. “Maybe, I have two verses, and there’s a chorus,” she joked. In all sincerity, the EP was created with the highest intentions. “I was trying to write, lyrically, something that was storytelling and true to me. What I wanted to manifest and what I was going through at the time.” The biggest difference between her older work was that this project came to life in a studio. Kalila had the pleasure of crafting her EP in a studio where D’Angelo also recorded work. 

“I need to refine my sound and make sure this is very professional quality,” she reflected. “I’ve worked with so many incredible artists, and I knew that I couldn’t present something that wasn’t of a caliber that would be taken seriously.”

While Everything Ain’t for Everybody lives mainly in the world of R&B, Kalila talked about her love for rock, metal, and grunge. This influence shows itself in the titular track (which is also the closer) with a heavy bassline accompanying the vocals. “A key song that was influential [to this project] was Ashanti’s ‘Only You’,” she explained. “I learned guitar before I picked up bass, and I wanted to honor that in the most basic way.”

Kalila took the time to dissect how creating music was different from creating fashion. The studio and the set are vastly unique environments, and should be treated as such. “Everything has its process. Things should run methodically,” she said. In both spaces, you need to be direct and deliberate. It’s an exciting challenge to live your life working on borrowed time. “Energy can really affect the day,” she remarked. “If you invite the wrong people to your studio, then it doesn’t serve you.”

Kalila said with certainty that the studio is much more relaxed than set. On set, there’s pressure and urgency from everyone. Each person has a job to do and their own path to get things done. The studio provides a more individualized environment with creative freedom. Both spaces are on a time limit, so it’s important to stay on task and keep the energy intentional. Luckily, Natasha thrives on both waves. 

“In another world, I would just be good energy,” she said. “Any time I’m on set, I’m the one that’s smiling all the time for 20 hours. And everyone’s like, ‘How are you still smiling?’ What do you mean!” There is a strong air of gratitude that Kalila exudes, especially when describing her work. “What are we stressing about? We are not killing anyone or saving anyone’s lives,” she laughed.

While staying present is essential to Kalila, she’s also looking towards the future. In the next six months, she hopes to travel more and enjoy the rest of what she affectionately dubs “New York Summer.” “It’s so simple, but I love when I can go out and have a drink with my friends,” she said. “As long as I have space to keep doing that, and maybe go to the beach, I’m great.”

Professionally, she’s manifesting a performance. Whether it’s as an opening act or a solo show, she wants to take this project to an audience. Kalila’s current dream venue is Public Records in New York City. “They have a great sound system,” she said, “and I feel like this project is engineered so well for New York. And I love Brooklyn.”

For now, she’s celebrating each win as it comes. She laughed about how her friends and colleagues are celebrating big streaming numbers, and she is stoked to hit 100 listeners. She knows that each milestone, no matter how small, is a step in the right direction. 

“The biggest thing about dreaming is making it into reality, and the only thing that causes that shift is language,” she said. “Don’t be afraid of what you don’t know.”

Photos courtesy of Natasha Kalila | Interviewed on July 16, 2026