Shana Cleveland of La Luz

Photo by Kristin Cofer

Listen On

"All the time in the world is too much pressure."

Shana Cleveland of La Luz prefers a good deadline when she writes songs. And with a toddler in the house, her day is nothing but deadlines, which are also known as When Your Child Wakes From Their Nap. Cleveland’s process is brutally efficient in those brief windows of time because, by her own admission, “I need to wander before I get to anything good.”

If you're an artist like Cleveland, the best time to write is nap time. (We have four kids, so I know the feeling.) She discovered her knack for writing in those precious moments once she became a parent. "I can write just as many songs now in a much shorter period," Cleveland told me. And when she writes, she likes to sit outside in an office chair.

Cleveland's new solo album is called Manzanita, out March 10 on Hardly Art Records.