Chavel’s relationship to music has never been solitary, even when she was technically working alone. Before the performances, before the collective, before Nu Indigo Nation, music was already something relational for her — a lifeline, a mirror, a reason to stay. Having come to Philadelphia from Virginia through family lineage rather than industry ambition, her creative life here grew from connection first. What she is building now reflects that origin: music as something made with people, held by people, and sustained through shared responsibility rather than isolation.
Before fully stepping into her own artistry, Chavel was already positioned close to the industry. Supporting artists through booking long-term studio stays in New York, she witnessed the machinery behind the work up close — the pressure, the imbalance, the way creativity could become transactional. That proximity reshaped how she understood her own role as an artist. “I realized my gift wasn’t just music,” she said. “My gift was really service.” When she began performing and releasing her own music, she made a conscious pivot away from individual momentum and toward work that could circulate care rather than extract it.
Through Nu Indigo Nation, a nonprofit collective founded by artist Neptune XXI, Chavel found a creative structure that matched her values. The collective brings together artists, healers, and organizers through shared meals, workshops, open studios, and wellness-centered gatherings. Neptune XXI's leadership anchors the vision, while the collective itself operates as a living system — one where creative labor, emotional support, and practical resources are intentionally shared.
Inside that structure, the music takes shape differently. Chavel describes songwriting as a process of remembering rather than inventing — melodies arriving first, lyrics surfacing once life has been lived. But that process doesn’t unfold in isolation. She is constantly creating alongside friends, collaborators, and fellow members of Nu Indigo Nation. Studio sessions double as community time. Feedback is immediate and trusted. Tasks are distributed rather than hoarded. “The key to creation is community,” she said plainly. “Artistry isn’t just the process of making. It’s also the process of sharing.” For artists reading this, the takeaway is concrete: community isn’t just emotional reassurance. It is a working structure that makes creative output more sustainable.
What Chavel is building now reflects that belief. She is currently working on a new project, with plans for a summer 2026 release, while taking equal care with how the work will be introduced. “Music saved my life,” she said, a truth that continues to shape how she approaches making music, not just as performance but as something meant to heal. “Philly shifted me from being just an artist to a sound healer.” Supported by a wide, invested creative network, that way of working becomes sustainable. Chavel’s path quietly pushes back against a familiar pressure in music culture — the expectation that artists should carry the weight of making music on their own. Her work suggests something else entirely: that the strongest music is often built where people choose to build together.