mango sticky rice, blue moons, and alchemy with wasp eater

What would you do if you’re faced with your biggest fear?

For Makena Brown – the human form behind wasp eater – the answer came unexpectedly, when a wasp flew into her iced coffee straw. “I have this deep-seated childhood fear of wasps,” she told me. “And I didn’t know it had gotten into my drink. I took a sip, and suddenly it was in my mouth.”

She spit it out immediately, but the moment stuck with her, not just as a minor horror story, but as a turning point. At the time, she happened to be reading The Alchemist, a novel by Paulo Coelho about a shepherd who through his journeys learns to listen to his heart. “That book is all about omens and following your dreams. At the time, I wondered: what does it mean that I had my biggest fear in my mouth? Now, it’s just become this symbol of alchemy in a way – like turning your fears into reality, in a good way. That’s why wasp eater exists. It’s my vulnerabilities and my deepest desires, manifested,” shared Brown.

While that was the catalyst for Brown’s creative journey as wasp eater, her relationship with music started a long time ago. “I think I wrote my first song when I was around twelve, in a Hello Kitty composition notebook,” she said, and she’s been writing and singing ever since then.

“[Songwriting and singing] was always a means of escape, or dreaming about a new reality, or trying to process emotions I didn’t understand. Which it still is, but it wasn’t until the last five years that I started taking it more seriously as something I want to pursue with my life.”

It was a gradual progression, something that took its course naturally as wasp eater became more and more affirmed in her path. When I asked about the challenges she’s faced, particularly the tension between creative fulfillment and financial survival, her answer was thoughtful: “I think it's easier than it has ever been before to be someone who pursues art, but it's also seemingly harder too. I think it's easier to live a creative life; however, the society we live in tells us that the rewards of a good life are reflected financially. So, it’s really hard as an artist when most artists are not making the financial rewards that society says are worth it. For me, overcoming those challenges on a more macro level looks like reframing what I view as success.”

We talked about social media as well, agreeing about the dangerous comparison game that we can fall into while scrolling on our phones. “It’s so cool that you can go viral with a single post, but now it’s this thing that everyone is chasing, and that feels exhausting,” shared wasp eater. “It really does feel like shouting into the void, and I don’t want to live on a screen.” She chooses instead to focus on what feels meaningful: the joy of connecting with people and sharing experiences – much like we were doing through our screens.

This desire for genuine connection extends beyond just the digital space, translating into the types of live shows she plays. While practical elements certainly come into play, like whether she’s performing solo or with a band, community building and the environment of her shows matter

At the time of our conversation, wasp eater had a show the following day with Olive Klug and DoomFolk StarterKit, raising money for Trans Aid Nashville in light of the recent bans on transgender care for young people in Tennessee. “Going forward, I want to use live shows not only to bring community together but also to uplift larger circles of people in need,” wasp eater told me.

“Especially right now, pursuing a personal artist project almost feels selfish. So, it’s asking ‘how can you use this to be more selfless, and connect more deeply? How can you be a voice for what your community needs?’”

Even as her music is a vessel for broader connection, wasp eater’s songs remain deeply personal and introspective.

A year out from her debut EP january bugs, there’s a mix of fondness and distance from wasp eater. “That project is really special to me, but also, when I finished it – and even before I put it out – I was already thinking about the next thing,” she said. So, she started working on an album, which she is content to sit with. “It’s interesting, I was so ready to move on from the EP, but those songs still resonate with me. I just don’t always enjoy playing them; they’re a little angrier. And I think there’s a place for that kind of music, but the role of the artist is very sacred, so I try to be very conscious of the kind of energy I’m putting out through music.”

She also shared that having a growth mindset is something that is very important to her, and in retrospect, something she sees reflected in “january bugs.” There’s a phrase that repeats throughout the song, “I’m better now,” which still resonates with wasp eater, a gentle reminder that we are all in constant evolution.

That evolution is captured most clearly in her two recent singles, “once in a blue moon” and “mango sticky rice,” which make up her latest project called if i could i’d melt (into the valley), released on July 10. She sees these songs as emotional bookends to a transformative period in her life.

Both tracks emerged from a trip to Los Angeles, a getaway from Nashville that was fueled by heartbreak and a desire for change. She ended up staying in LA with friends for over a month, grounding herself in a city buzzing with creative energy. It was there, on the last day before returning home, that she met her producer, Daniel Loumpouridis. “We had a session the day before I left, and we made ‘once in a blue moon.’ We were floored,” she said. “It felt like the universe touched it.” That same day, she sold her car, a symbolic letting go of the past that made room for something new.

The second song, “mango sticky rice,” was also first drafted on that same trip, but didn’t come to life until over a year later while finishing her album. It was written on election day, creating an emotionally charged moment that found its way into the music. “We were both so upset,” she recalled, “but we were like, let’s make something beautiful today.”

The result is a sprawling, surreal track that shifts tempo and tone through ups and downs, a sonic reflection of the highs and lows she was living through. “We wanted to make something weird,” she said.

“‘mango sticky rice’ goes through so many changes; it encapsulates the hills and valleys of how life works.”

The music video for “mango sticky rice” was released recently on July 17, and it offers a visual representation of the dips and climbs in the song. It’s the first full-length music video wasp eater has produced, and her friend Abby helped to conceptualize the video. In fact, the whole music video was a labor of love created in collaboration with her community. “We filmed it at my friend Violet’s house and used her truck. It was so fun just having my closest friends there. We played and ate a bunch of fruit; it was really sweet. It was also the first time I felt really confident being on camera, singing a song that’s mine. It’s still so surreal.” Watch the music video below!

Keep an eye out for wasp eater’s next projects, many of which she shared were already in the works, with release dates coming up soon. You can find links to stay connected here. Happy listening!