10 Things You Didn’t Know About Booka Nile
Booka Nile is the keyboardist for Perth Australia deathcore band; make Them Suffer. She joined the group in 2017. Besides her main project, she works with two additional bands, Internet Friends and Bomb Pussy. She was drawn to death metal music at an early age. However, instead of pursuing the path early in life, she studied psychology. During her college years, she realized she wanted to be a musician. These are 10 things you didn’t know about Booka Nile.
1. Musical influences
One of her earliest musical influences was Blink 182. When she was 11, she discovered the band and finally found one different from pop fare like The Spice Girls that dominated the radio. According to Depth Magazine, she listened to it repeatedly when she heard the song All The Small Things. One of the things she liked was the group was funny. From that moment, she wanted to be part of the pop scene.
2. Ups and downs
Touring takes an emotional toll. Booka dislikes being around that many people so often and feels like she doesn’t have a moment to herself when she’s on the road. Additionally, she is hypersensitive. So, if she’s angry or sad, her emotions impact everyone on the bus. However, she tries to support everyone else and feels that everyone in the band keeps the other members well.
3. Do I deserve this?
During her first gig, she felt like she didn’t deserve to be there. When she started her career, she was new to the industry and playing with a well-established band. Later on, she realized she had overcome her fear and by jumping into her music career full-throttle. Even though she thought people would boo her off stage, knowing she wasn’t supposed to be there, it never happened. This helped Booka Nile guard herself against future negativity and people who make rude comments about her.
4. Touring blues
Even though touring takes a toll on Booka Nile, going home presents its own series of challenges. When she’s on the road, she gets used to the routine. Going home means she has to switch up what’s she’s doing, so she feels depressed. Since she tries to separate her home and tour life, there’s a period of downtime when she feels intensely depressed and sits in a room with her cats.
5. Battle of the sexes
Throughout her time on the road, Booka Nile has seen many gender inequality in the music business. Since she is the only female member of the band, she’s had the unfortunate opportunity to see how her male bandmates are spoken to, which is much different from how people talk to her. Additionally, she has been asked if she sells merchandise and what member of the band she is dating. One night, when she was in Germany, a bar flatly asked her if she was a groupie. Curious why he would make the assumption, Booka Nile asked the man why he made such a comment. He responded that she was good-looking and Australian. He furthered his rude comments with a statement about how she was drinking from a straw. Her bandmates stuck up for her and punched him in the face. They are well aware of the inequality she faces and feels that misogyny and sexism should not be part of the music industry.
6. Reality TV
She signed up for Married at First sight because she was bored. Her tour was canceled, and she had a lot of deep emotions and felt alone. According to Loud Wire, she watched a lot of reality TV during the pandemic and felt like going on the show would be a good experience. When she posted about going on the show, her fans were supportive and hoped she would find a good match. Even though she was hesitant about finishing the sign up the producers of the show kept calling her. Eventually, they wore her down, and she decided to give it a shot. Right away, things headed south. Her partner didn’t like metal music and said after a few songs, “he felt like his ears were being assaulted.”
7. Finding inspiration
Another of Booka Nile’s musical influences was Nirvana. She liked the seriousness of the music as well as the introspective lyrics. When she was thirteen, she idolized Kurt Cobain. One of the things that attracted her was that Cobain was a flawed person, which resonated in his music. She also looks back and realizes she was naïve because when she learned about his use of drugs and alcohol, she also wanted to try substances.
8. Keeping centered
Booka Nile s highly grounded and rooted in her beliefs that the most important thing to do is stay grounded and grateful. Even though she often feels depressed or anxious, she tries to sit with the emotions and feel them instead of suppressing them or thinking they will never pass. After all, she knows that any intense feeling, be it happy or sad, will not last forever.
9. Match zero
Recently, Booka Nile was Married at First Sight. Unfortunately, her experience wasn’t positive. They paired her with Brett Helling. According to Pedestrian, bridesmaid Madlin went on the podcast So Dramatic and spilled the details about the things that weren’t shown. During their relationship, Helling made sexist, racist, and homophobic comments to her during the show. Madlin went on to say that during her initial introduction to Helling, she thought he was a good match for Booka Nile. He began his racial slurs shortly after saying the I dos.
10. Don’t let them get to you
One of the things she is grateful for is the barrage of negative comments on YouTube. She is self-assured and doesn’t seek approval from anyone other than herself. Additionally, she resists making negative comments because she feels that if she talks negatively about other people, it reflects her own emotional state. Moreover, she thinks that people who create these comments have self-esteem issues and reflect on someone else to keep dealing with them. Booka Nile understands that if she takes these comments to heart, it could start her on an up and down of emotions that could negatively impact other things in her life.
