Q&A: HEALY EXPLORES GROWTH THROUGH CHANGE IN NEWEST ALBUM ‘FORCE OF NATURE’
INTERVIEW
INTERVIEW
☆ BY KYLEE WIENS ☆
Photo By Aaron Mendoza
New York-based multidisciplinary artist Healy knows a thing or two about range. His introspective storytelling and genre-fluid music production have been steadily carving out a space in the indie and alternative music scenes. Balancing a career in medicine and influences spanning from Southern Gospel to classic rock, Healy crafts introspective and deeply personal work that explores intimacy, vulnerability, and the complex challenges of growing up. His newest album, Force of Nature, is aptly titled - a profound personal and sonic exploration of what it means to grow from the experiences that shape us.
Vivid textures, lush arrangements and polished production invite listeners to feel the album as much as they hear it. Unfurling slowly like a winding river, the album’s eight tracks mark a clear evolution into Healy’s most sonically cohesive yet adventurous work to date. Perfectly balancing elements of bedroom pop, rap, folk and soul, Force of Nature delivers a metaphor of natural disaster as a means for agency and change.
The Luna Collective recently sat down with Healy to discuss the album, its influences, and what it means to fully and honestly accept oneself. Read below for the full interview, and be sure to find Force of Nature on all streaming platforms.
Photo By Aaron Mendoza
LUNA: First off, congrats on the new album! How are you feeling?
HEALY: Thank you. Honestly, it feels like I’ve had this weight on my chest for two years, so releasing it feels like closing a chapter, finally starting fresh.
LUNA: What’s the best part of putting out music, and what’s the hardest?
HEALY: The best part is hearing how people connect with it in unexpected ways. Sometimes someone tells me a song became part of their life soundtrack, or helped them through something. That means everything.
The hardest part is letting go, finding that balance between intention and release. I try not to overwork things so the energy and life of the song stay intact.
LUNA: Is there any non-musical media you draw inspiration from?
HEALY: Definitely. I was just reading Haruki Murakami last night. His work is wildly imaginative but grounded, and that duality really inspires me.
I’m also into film photography, and have been shooting for seven or eight years. Galleries and photo books really feed me creatively. Movies, too. I’ve been watching Wim Wenders lately. He did Paris, Texas. His style kind of predates Wes Anderson in a way, great composition and atmosphere.
LUNA: Do you have a go-to method for getting out of a creative slump?
HEALY: It depends, but lately the big thing for me has been not forcing it. I used to go to the studio daily thinking I have to make something today, and it killed the joy. Letting go of expectations allows space for creativity.
Also, sprinting, like literally running, helps. If I’m creatively blocked, I’m probably not taking care of my body. Moving clears my head.
LUNA: Totally, I feel that too. Do you tend to create more in certain emotional states? And if you're not in that headspace, how do you still create?
HEALY: Yeah, I definitely create more when I’m feeling extremes: joy, sadness, anger. But I’ve become more aware of those emotions, and instead of wallowing, I try to channel them.
When I’m not feeling anything in particular, I rely on prompts. Sometimes I’ll grab a newspaper, black out words to make a poem. Or I’ll look through a poetry magazine I subscribe to, find unusual words, and try to build something from that. One time I challenged myself to write a song using only two-syllable words. Stuff like that keeps it fun and keeps me working.
LUNA: I love that. Can you walk me through the creative process for this album: writing, concept, execution? What worked well?
HEALY: For me, albums tend to come together unconsciously. I work in blocks, and over time, themes start to emerge.
This time, I had climate change and natural disasters on my mind. My dad lives in Florida and is always on hurricane watch. My mom’s in tornado alley. So the imagery of natural forces kept showing up, becoming metaphors for emotions and relationships, especially the unpredictability and intensity of love.
Once I had enough songs, I looked at them and noticed recurring motifs. That became the core of the project.
The writing process varied. For the first single, I told my friend Austin, “No sad songs this time.” I wanted it to be upbeat and fun. It was around my birthday and I was feeling introspective but energized.
The next single, “Selfish,” actually came from watching Friends. There’s a storyline where Janice comes back married, but Chandler falls for her again. I imagined a version where they end up in a polyamorous relationship; it’s basically Friends fanfiction. A few of my friends are poly, so it felt timely and real.
If I feel like something’s missing in the project, I’ll plot it like a story arc and identify which emotional "scenes" are missing. That helps me round it out.
LUNA: Your music pulls from so many influences: Southern roots, Laurel Canyon, indie rock, pop. Do you identify with any particular genre?
HEALY: Unfortunately, no. I think my career might be easier if I just picked a lane! I usually say it sounds like Memphis, because that’s where I grew up and it shaped my taste, but I haven’t spent much time there recently.
If I had to pick, I’d say alternative or R&B. My default is to grab a guitar or put on Donny Hathaway; there’s always soul in there. So maybe a blend of all that.
LUNA: Last question: What message do you hope listeners take from this album?
This time around, the songs feel brutally honest—more so than before. I didn’t hold back from facing tough emotions or acknowledging my flaws.
So if there’s a message, it’s this: it’s okay to be honest with yourself. Accept who you are. That’s the only way to really live fully. That was my biggest shift. Accepting myself and not forcing the music to be something else. And I’m proud of how it turned out.
LUNA: Perfect. Thanks again!
