Navah Li Visits Section 36 Music!

Section 36 Music had another visitor! Navah Li is fresh off the release of her amazing single, "Gymnist". It's a wonderful song you'll want to stream again and again. I was so excited that she was willing to visit with us to discuss the song, her future goals, and more! I'm sure you'll love what she had to say.

So, let's see what happens when Navah Li visits Section 36 Music! 

Your latest single, “Gymnast” is absolutely outstanding. What can you tell me about it?

Gymnast is honestly one of my favorite songs I’ve ever written, and I think that stems from the fact that it is so vulnerable. I wrote this song during my senior year of high school, feeling uncomfortable in my own skin. When you’re 17, and you perceive every girl around you to be infinitely more beautiful than you are, it can definitely take a toll on your self-perception and mental health. I wrote this song to express the thoughts I had been dealing with and make sense of my feelings. When it came to production, I knew I wanted to keep this song acoustic so that the lyrics could be the main focus. A fun little fact that I’ll share has to do with production and is actually a complete coincidence! During the second chorus, after the lyric “didn’t think I was a gymnast, but I’m walking on the beam”, there is a little bang in the background, and it is a literal beam in the wall that we accidentally caught on the mic when recording! I loved it so much that we kept it in the final recording. I am so incredibly happy with how the final song came out, and I hope it can connect with other girls so they know they are not alone. 

You also just released your single, “Unknown”. How do the two songs compare to each other?

Unknown is a song that I wrote around a similar time as “Gymnast”. I did a challenge in February of this year where I wrote a song every day, and these two songs were written as a part of that challenge. February of senior year is definitely an intense, contemplative time in a person's life, so these two songs helped me understand what I was feeling during this period. Unknown is more about the uncertainty that comes with growing up and understanding the world - honestly, the more we learn about the world, the more it seems we don’t know. Gymnast was more of a personal song, but both songs are pieces of me during this time in my life.

You will be attending Berklee College of Music. What made Berklee the right choice for you?

Last summer (2025) I had the opportunity to take part in the Berklee Aspire 5-week summer program, which I think solidified my choice of continuing my education there. During the program, I was able to meet incredible students and faculty, and take part in classes at Berklee. There was also an early application process for students in the summer program, which gave me the opportunity to audition in person and receive my acceptance in early October, which was wonderful. I knew that Berklee was the right choice for me because there is genuinely no better feeling than being surrounded by music at every moment. The people who attend Berklee are so committed to their craft, and it is truly a joy to be a part of that community. 

Who, or what, would you say are your biggest musical influences?

My music influences definitely change over time, but as of right now, I am very influenced by artists such as Jake Minch, Kate Stephenson, Lizzy McAlpine, and Tiny Habits. Their music is absolutely beautiful, and I believe that they are some of the best lyricists the music industry has. I try to emulate the feelings that these musician’s songs invoke in my music and am constantly learning from their work. I also think it is so important to be your own person, so though I love taking inspiration from other musicians, I always make sure my music is very true to who I am. 

If you could cover any Disney song, which one would you choose? Why?

I had the opportunity to play Mrs. Potts in a production of Beauty and the Beast in high school, and I loved singing her song (Beauty and the Beast). Other than that, I have always wanted to learn how to play "You've Got a Friend in Me” on the guitar, and I think that would be a very fun song to cover. 

What are your immediate musical goals?

My immediate musical goals are just generally getting my music out to a bigger audience (thanks to platforms like this one for helping me achieve this goal!). I would love to play some more live shows, which I will hopefully get the opportunity to do at Berklee. I would love to reach 1000 streams on all of my songs on Spotify, and I am on a good track to do so as of now. I hope my music can find the people who will relate to it, and I am so excited to see what the future holds! 

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Let's see if we can help her reach those goals!

As always, I want to thank Navah for visiting with us, and for sending along the pictures to accompany the interview. 

I'm sure you’ll all want to follow her and see what she has going on. Here are the best places to find her:

Instagram

Spotify

Apple Music

Thanks again Navah, and good luck reaching your goals!