We already had the pleasure of speaking with the talented Naomi Panzica — and today is an especially beautiful Friday, because her new EP Nowhere to go to has just been released. Filled with four dreamy, warm tracks that invite you to drift away, the EP focuses on her lyrics, her intimate songwriting, and that raw, tender voice that lets you step right into her inner world.
As she already hinted back then, this EP has become another personal diary — a collection of moments shaped by the search. The search for a home, for a place that gives a sense of grounding, even when everything else is moving. And we all know those periods where life feels unsettled, and we start wondering where we truly belong. “The place matters, the environment matters, but being connected to yourself matters just as much. They work together.” She asks the right questions — and her songs are her answers.
Raised in Munich with Sicilian roots, Naomi has been creating her own warm, cinematic sound universe. Nostalgic acoustic tones, soft harmonies, and a storytelling style that feels honest and close. After early support on Amazon Editorial Playlists and airplay on Bayern 3 and PULS, this new EP becomes another beautiful step in her artistic journey.
In our conversation, we talk about the ocean as a place of calm, the restlessness of growing into adulthood, and how she experiences the music industry today. A soft, heartfelt interview — and just like her music, one that feels good for the soul.
photography by Loredana La Rocca
Welcome, Naomi, lovely to talk to you again. (smiles) Where are you right now, and how are you today?
Hii! Thank you so much for having me again. It’s lovely to be here. I’m actually at home in Munich right now, and I’m feeling really good today. I’m excited for our conversation and looking forward to diving in.
Your new EP sounds like pages from a personal diary written between city life and the sea. Where does your heart pull you these days — more towards the city, or towards the ocean?
Wow, that’s such a beautiful way to describe it, thank you. (smiles) I’ve lived in cities my whole life, and I really do love that energy, so in the long run, I don’t think I’d ever fully give that up. But I also notice those moments when the constant running around and the pressure to function get a bit too much, and that’s when I really start to miss the ocean and the lightness it carries. With my whole family in Sicily, I’ve been visiting several times a year since I was little, so the sea feels like a part of me too. I think, ideally, I’d love a city with a beach – the best of both worlds.
Nowhere to go to features four songs — how did you know they were the ones that belonged together?
The original plan was to write a bunch of songs and then pick the ones that fit best, but it didn’t happen that way at all. During my last year of college in Berlin, I was constantly in the studio with my producer, Nikolai, and we ended up writing and recording everything as we went, one song after the other. By the end of the year, it just felt clear that this was the order they were meant to come out in, and that they belonged together exactly as they were. I really loved the idea that the EP became kind of a real diary – a live-written and recorded soundtrack to my final year in Berlin.
“It’s incredibly beautiful how easily you can find the people your music truly speaks to these days.”
Finding a sense of home is something that has been on my mind for years. I wish I could find it, yet it always feels just out of reach. Do you think part of this comes from belonging to a generation that has endless possibilities — but also endless uncertainty, friendships, jobs, family, everything constantly changing?
Yes, I think that’s a huge part of it. In our generation, we’re so drawn to exploring everything – all these possibilities, all these paths – which is why we struggle to figure out where we actually want to go. It feels like this split force pulling from two sides: one part of us wants to experience as much as possible, and the other part is overstimulated, craving grounding, home, and some kind of stability.
The early twenties are such an uncertain time anyway. You move away, friends come and go, everything shifts, and suddenly your whole world feels scattered and constantly in motion. It can get overwhelming really quickly – at least that’s how it felt for me. And sometimes you only realize that once you’re already out there in those new, unsure environments.
For me, going out and exploring, especially stepping into the music world, was something I really wanted. But it also meant seeing my family and old friends less and slowly distancing myself from the older version of me to make space for who I was becoming. That process is important, but it can be scary too.
I realized pretty fast that I’m someone who needs a bit of stability next to all that movement. Something I can hold onto while I’m pushing myself, learning, and experiencing everything. I think finding that anchor, whatever it is for each of us, makes it all feel a little less overwhelming.
In our last interview you said, “Because if you don’t feel at home in your own heart, it doesn’t really matter where you are or who you’re with — you’ll still feel a kind of distance.” I’ve been thinking about that, and I’m not sure I fully agree anymore. I feel that you can only feel at home in your heart when you’re in the right place. What do you think? (smiles)
Oh wow, yes, that’s also such an interesting perspective. I really love that you brought that up. (smiles) I think that both things can be true at the same time. You’re right: being in the wrong place, the wrong city, or an environment that just doesn’t feel aligned with you will make it almost impossible to feel at home. That was actually one of the reasons I ended up moving away too.
But on the other hand, I also believe that it’s really hard to recognize what the “right place” even is – or to understand why something feels uncomfortable if you don’t already feel somewhat grounded in yourself. If you don’t feel at home in your own heart first, every place can feel a bit off. So I guess the way I see it now is: the place matters, the environment matters, but being connected to yourself matters just as much. They kind of work together!
“The sea became a symbol of calm for me – a space where the noise softened and I could find my way back to myself.”
A part of your family lives in Sicily. Can you imagine moving there yourself one day?
I could imagine moving there one day – maybe a bit later in life, when I feel more grounded in my work and have a clearer sense of where I’m heading. In my ideal dream world, I’d love to spend half the year in Sicily and half in Germany, where I grew up. That balance feels really beautiful to me. So… we’ll see. (smiles)
“Ocean Blue” is another beautiful song on the EP — it feels so light and so tender. Can you tell us the story behind it?
Thank you so much! Yes, of course. I chose “Ocean Blue” as the intro to the EP because it captures that exact feeling of trying to navigate all this inner chaos and that confusion about why it can be so hard to feel settled. There’s a lightness to it, but also this melancholic kind of frustration.
With the line “I wanna say I found it too”, I wanted to highlight one of the main themes of the whole EP: this longing to arrive somewhere, to finally find that almost impossible-to-grasp feeling of inner peace we’re all chasing. That same phrase returns later in the song “Found It”, where it’s explored from a perspective in a dating context.
For me, “Ocean Blue” feels like that moment of standing at the beach, looking out at the horizon and asking myself what it is that I really want at my core, and who I want to become and where I want to be in life. It’s that hope that maybe, in that stillness, the answer will settle in and that someday I’ll be able to say I found “it” too!
Your recent photos were all taken at the beach. Why did you choose that setting?
I chose the beach because, for a long time, it felt like a safe place in my mind. Whenever everything around me became too loud and the pressure to keep moving or proving myself grew stronger, I would picture myself by the ocean, just listening to the waves. It was the one place where I didn’t have to be anything for anyone, where I could just breathe again.
The sea became a symbol of calm for me – a space where the noise softened and I could find my way back to myself. Especially when I felt homesick, I’d imagine that quieter version of me standing there, suddenly remembering what mattered, and it would bring me back to the present.
That’s why the ocean became the central theme of this EP: it’s both a contrast to that restless search for belonging and, in a way, a reflection of it.
“If you don’t feel at home in your own heart first, every place can feel a bit off.”
What is your impression of the music industry today — its pressures, its possibilities?
I feel like the music industry today is full of incredible possibilities, but also full of pressure. There’s so much room to experiment, to be personal, and to connect with people directly – especially through social media, which I actually really love. But the speed of everything can be intense. You’re constantly aware of algorithms, timelines, expectations… and sometimes that can make you forget why you started in the first place.
And then there’s the fact that everyone has an opinion about everything you do and they’ll happily tell you whenever they can. (laughs) Getting feedback is important, of course, but I’ve learned that you really have to filter it. You need to know which feedback actually helps you grow, and how to listen to people from an outside perspective without tying your whole emotional world to their reactions. It’s hard, but it’s essential when you’re sharing your most intimate thoughts with the world – and today’s industry gives people endless ways to respond instantly.
On one hand, it’s never been easier to create something honest and let it find the people it resonates with. But on the other hand, everything moves so fast that it’s easy to feel like you’re constantly catching up or falling behind. That’s also where comparison becomes really dangerous, which also has never been easier than it is now. If you look at other people’s success as inspiration rather than something that diminishes you, everything feels a bit lighter.
And at the same time, it’s incredibly beautiful how easily you can find the people your music truly speaks to these days – and how you can build such a real, personal connection with them in ways that just weren’t possible before.
So even with all its pressures, the beauty of the industry today is that there’s still so much space to find your own way!
What has creating this EP taught you about yourself?
This EP carried me through some really difficult and confusing times, and I think it really helped me understand my thought patterns and mirrored to me how strong that restlessness had gotten inside of me. I thought I was simply letting my thoughts and emotions out, but the songs ended up holding a mirror to me in a way I didn’t expect – almost like I hadn’t truly been listening to myself before.
As I kept writing and thinking the concept through, I realized that even though each song touched on something different, the same message kept coming up again and again and that I needed to find that anchor within myself. That’s something I’ve been prioritizing more than ever now, and it helps me keep some sense of balance within all this messy, exciting, overwhelming, and incredibly nourishing chaos out there. I honestly wouldn’t have come to that realization without writing this EP.
And I also have to mention the people I worked with, they created such a safe, comfortable environment for me to open up and let all of this unfold, and I’m really grateful for that.
Thanks so much for sharing your world with us! <3
Thank you so much for having me again and for all of these beautiful thought-through questions!
Follow Naomi Panzica for more:
www.instagram.com/naomipanzica
www.naomipanzica.com
