Eye on Pop: What do you enjoy doing when you’re not making music?
Shelby Floyd: I love to play a good, cozy game. I have to camp with my husband and dogs at least once every summer. Traveling in general is so restorative. In my hometown, Kansas City, I love antiquing, fancy food, and cocktails, and binge-watching competition reality shows.
Eye on Pop: How do you stay motivated and inspired in your daily life?
Shelby Floyd: It’s really hard! I am one of the millions of people out there with depression, so I have to practice being kind to myself and setting boundaries to protect my mental health to do anything. Luckily, I have such a supportive partner who is my best motivator and sees me through the days when it’s hard to put one foot in front of the other.
Eye on Pop: How do you balance your personal life with your music career?
Shelby Floyd: I have a close circle of friends who keep me laughing and making plans outside of music. My husband is really good about getting us out to go see comedy and live music as well. I try to make sure I have time to show up for other local artists and entertainers.
Eye on Pop: How do you stay grounded amidst the pressures of fame and success?
Shelby Floyd: I pull out my journal to stay grounded. It’s holographic and sprayed with my favorite perfume, so I get instant joy from that. When it seems like there’s too much going on, I draw out a calendar to visually process my time. When there’s not enough going on, I’ll try to write down something I could accomplish that week that would make me feel good. The act of writing and drawing really helps me feel like myself.
Eye on Pop: What’s your favorite way to unwind after a long day of recording or performing?
Shelby Floyd: I get really nervous before performing, so usually my first actual meal of the day is after performing, and that’s a lovely reward for working hard. No matter what city I’m in, my husband knows how to find where to get late-night food. I put on a dramatic reality show because I get invested so quickly and forget my own reality. Real Housewives + a boneless buffalo wing is a great combo.
Eye on Pop: How do you stay true to yourself while evolving as an artist?
Shelby Floyd: I try to sit with myself and think about what I connected to as a child. My young self had such a pure love for music and unwavering belief in herself, and I try to remember that I can feel like that again and give love to that version of myself. I’ve always wanted to put out music and lyrics that affect people and make people feel understood because that’s what music has done for me. If I stick to that, I know that I’m being true to myself.
Eye on Pop: What’s your philosophy on failure and success?
Shelby Floyd: It took me a long time to learn that failure can be the exact reason that you finally succeed. So many things in my life haven’t turned out the way I thought or the way I wanted them to, but those things not going “right” built up the story of me, and ultimately, that story is what brought me to success.
Eye on Pop: How do you define happiness and fulfillment in your life and career?
Shelby Floyd: Showing up and saying yes is success to me. I got so bogged down by life that I was hardly living, so every day that I confront something that makes me nervous or say yes to something that I might initially want to say no to, that is a success. Not giving up on my love for making and performing music for over 30 years has been hard, so I’m proud of myself for not letting it go.
Eye on Pop: What drives you to keep creating music even during challenging times?
Shelby Floyd: Challenging times are some of the best times to make music. I love writing, and the more days you write about a particular feeling or experience, you go back to the page and read the same words with new perspectives and work through that initial feeling. That is really healing and makes me see over and over again that if you keep breathing and making it to the next day, things can change.
Eye on Pop: How do you define success in your personal and professional life?
Shelby Floyd: I try not to be too tied to how “successful” something is. It’s so easy to put out a video or post and only care about the response. I have to stop and say, “Are you happy with this?” “Are you proud of this?” That’s enough. And the more you do things you’re proud of, the more success you actually experience.
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