I miss the Brooklyn indie music scene dearly. When I lived in the New York suburbs, I was always venturing into the boroughs of New York City to attend a variety of different shows and experience the up-and-coming artists in the indie scene there. My love for the New York music scene was invigorated after I had a chat with Brooklyn-based, alt-pop singer-songwriter Sabrina Song. We talked about her first album’s release (“You Could Stay in One Spot, and I’d Love You The Same”), her sold out Union Pool show in June, and her experience as a musician in New York City.
Hi Sabrina, thanks so much for meeting with me!
You had your album release show at Union Pool in Brooklyn a few weeks ago (June 15) and it sold out! How did you feel when you found out your show sold out? What was your experience performing at a full venue?
It was awesome. We weren’t sure if it was going to sell out and we were planning it for so long that we kind of made peace with whatever was going to happen. I found out it sold out right before I went on and it was such a nice boost right before performing just to know that we had hit that milestone. I’ve played a lot of shows too and some were pretty small rooms or empty rooms, so selling out was such a great feeling! There were so many of my friends and people I hadn’t seen in a long time as well as people who were introducing themselves to me. It was such a great atmosphere and it was nice that it went so smoothly.
When performing, do you prefer the sold out atmosphere or more intimate shows with a smaller crowd?
I love having a room packed full of people. It’s all you can really ask for as an artist. Every time there are people who are in the room, it feels great because it takes a lot of effort for people to bring themselves out to something. Tickets cost money and most people are coming after a day of work. So I always appreciate a full room. On the other side, I do also really love a small intimate show where maybe everyone’s seated and I’m playing solo and I get to talk a bit more about the music. But getting to do the songs to the fullest extent with the band and experimenting with transitions or doing a cover and having people singing along or dancing. That’s the most fun part about performing for me.
Do you prefer producing/writing music or performing it? What has been your experience with both?
I started out performing first before I was writing or producing at all. Growing up, I was involved in doing plays and choir. Sometimes I’d sing at restaurants. Then when I finally started writing and learning how to produce and spent years doing that while performing at the same time, I started to prefer writing and producing just because I felt like I had much more control over it. That was really an intimate process that I did alone for so long. With performing my own songs, I almost dreaded it at the beginning because I felt so vulnerable and it felt nothing like performing other people’s music. Now I think I’ve come around full circle where I really enjoy the performances and I’m so appreciative that people want to hear the music. I figured out the band setup and I feel more comfortable in my body and with myself as a performer so it finally leveled out in my head where performing and writing/recording are equally as fulfilling and fun. But it took a long time for me to fall back in love with performing because there was a period of time where it felt so stressful and I felt like the music wasn’t at the level I wanted it to be and I hadn’t figured out how I wanted to act on stage. So it is really satisfying now that I get to actually enjoy it instead of will myself to feel good about it!
You’ve released your debut album in June, which you wrote completely. Can you talk about your writing process a bit? How did you approach your first album?
I’ve been writing, producing, and releasing music for a few years, but I believe in the last few years things have finally started to click. It felt like I was no longer doing it sheepishly and experimentally and I was figuring out what I wanted. I’m always learning more, but towards the end of 2022 it was starting to feel like things were making sense. That’s when I decided I wanted to try an album. A few months after that I found out that I got the grant and then reality set in and it was actually a possibility, not just a far-away goal. I started collecting the songs for the album in 2022 and some of the songs go even further back than that.
My writing process is kind of strange because a lot of the time I tend to come up with lyrics and melodies singing aloud to myself when I’m not in front of a piano or guitar and I’ll just record them into my phone and write down the lyrics. Sometimes I’ll do that with just a section of the song and sometimes I’ll write a whole song that way. Sometimes I record out the whole song accappella when I’m on the go or walking and piece it together later — thinking about what key and tempo it’s in and figuring out the chords. That’s how the majority of the songs came together. Then there are also times where I’ll be in front of the piano or guitar and coming up with a progression and noodling around. But I’m definitely more lyric-focused. Most of the tracks off my album were not me producing an instrumental first and then singing over it. I feel like I really need to know the story of the song to know what needs to be built around it.
Are there any songs on the album that you resonate with more?
I feel like the songs definitely all work together with each other. There are some songs on that now I definitely don’t live in the emotion of every day. “Do You Think About It Too?” is one of the oldest in terms of when I started writing it on the album. I kind of thought I was never going to release it just because it was pretty personal and I didn’t want to release it as a single. It was cool to have a song for the album that I thought it wouldn’t feel right to release it on its own. Even though I’m not in that headspace anymore, it does feel like the beginning of the journey in terms of the time period that it spans. It’s nice for me to look at the album and be able to tell where I started and the songs that more represent where I’m at now. So I feel like it all works together because it works in the arc of that period of my life. Every time I’m playing the songs live I like to take a second to really think about how it felt at the time I wrote each song and feel as connected to those songs as I do to the ones that are more where I am today.
You played guitar and piano on your recordings. Do you play the other instruments as well or do you have others assisting with that?
For the album, it was a mix of me and the co-producer, Torna. We both played guitar, he played some bass, and I played piano and some violin. We both kind of played everything else in between. The drums across the album was my friend Jacob. We had a few other guitarist as well just piecing things in. Some of the album was from the earliest demos; we kept some of those performances. I’m playing on all the songs in some way, but I’m not always the main player. I can play the guitar, but I’m not as virtuosic as I would like to be.
How do you think being located in Brooklyn has influenced your music? What is your experience being a musician in New York?
It’s so funny because it feels like I have this conversation often where I’ll talk to people and they’ll ask me if I’d ever be interested in moving to LA because it’s always LA or New York. But I am such a die-hard New Yorker. I’m so in love with living here and the music scene. The live scene is something special; every show I go to I’m running into someone I know. I’ll be going to my friend’s show and I’m realizing that my other friends know them or are in the band. It really does feel like a small world. I used to feel like I was standing on the outside of that when I first moved here for college. My whole life I wanted to live in the city, being from the suburbs. So at the beginning, it felt like I was just dipping my toes in and now it’s so nice to have a community. It’s so inspiring because there are so many amazing bands who are coming up right now at the same time as me. They’re all playing live as well and I love going to their shows. It’s been super formative for me too. When I first started writing everything was very internal — it was more ballads and intimate pieces. I still like writing like that, but I think eventually I want to write things that would be fun to play live at these shows. So the music scene is starting to shape my music as well. It’s a really awesome scene of people right now and it’s really cool to witness everyone growing as artists. And also seeing different world’s colliding like groups from different settings being on the same bill and going to the same venues is so cool.
Do you have a favorite New York City or Brooklyn venue?
I really love Baby’s All Right. I feel like they’re so nice there and I love going there as an attendee. The sound is great as a performer and in the audience. I also feel like they always book some of my favorite artists. If I’m going to a show that a friend is performing at and it’s at Baby’s that’s like an extra cherry on top. I’m playing a show at Bowery Ballroom soon and I think that venue is pretty sick as well. I’ve never played there before so I’m excited to.
Who are your musical influences?
I didn’t really have a background in songwriting, but I would sing covers and always wanted to be performing and singing all the time. In high school I would make arrangements of songs. My favorite artists were Sara Bareilles, Christina Aguilera, Adele, Hillary Duff, Colbie Caillat — I was really loving the pop, balladeer people that were really big when I was in middle school and high school. At some point in high school, I was introduced by my friends to a ton of big alternative bands at the time like Two Door Cinema Club and Neutral Milk Hotel, so I started listening to that more. I really went night and day in terms of expanding my taste. Now I would say the things that have been most formative in terms of everything I’ve been listening to from then to now are the big legendary singer-songwriters like Joni Mitchell, Billy Joel, Carole King, and a lot of seventies big acts like Fleetwood Mac. Aside from that I’m inspired by the more contemporary indie bands and acts like Mitski, Japanese Breakfast, SASAMI, Adrianne Lenker, and Dijon. It’s really a mixed bag of loving a lot of the alt-rock and indie-rock bands that are coming up just as much as the pop side as well, like Sara Kinsley. I tend to listen to a lot of up-and-coming bands more so than the biggest acts. I’ll always return to the Mitski albums and The 1975 and the things that I’ve loved for years, but I am just super inspired by the people around me and what people are able to accomplish with no budget, writing and producing by themselves. It’s so hard to think about who you love when people ask, but everyone I named here is completely accurate to me.
I tend to listen to a lot more genres outside of the genres that I delve into in my own music. It feels strange to say I’m influenced by the hip-hop or super hyper pop that I listen to, but it’s definitely inspiring in terms of artistry so I always go back to saying the same names when there is truly dozens of people that influence me.
Who would be your dream artist/group to tour with? Whether you’re opening for them or they’re opening for you?
There would be so many artists I could say. I feel like Mitski would really be up there for me. If Fiona Apple ever went on tour again, even though that might be the most unrealistic artist to name, I would love that. Ryan Beatty is a huge inspiration for me as well. There are also so many bands who are just incredible live performances like MUNA.
In terms of bands opening for me, at the level I’m at, I’m mostly just asking all my peers to share a bill with me, which is one of the most fun things. The people who I would like to open for me I’ve mostly played with already because they’re my friends. I feel like I can just look around and ask, “Who is free this date?” and I’m genuinely a fan of their music. Buffchick just opened for me at my album release show and this band Ok Cowgirl I’ve played with before are two groups that I’ve loved to share a bill with.
What are your plans for the rest of 2024?
I have a show at Bowery Ballroom that I’m on the bill for on September 6th for this Class of 2024 annual gig that I’m super excited about. It’s these guys, Ice Cream for Dinner, and this management company Subpop that have been putting on a show where they pick 3 artists and a bunch of special guest and do a showcase of the up-and-coming people from that year. I’m on the bill with Lindsey Lomis and Bizzy. It’s almost like when Spotify sends you some, “Fresh Finds.” Other than that, I’m really looking forward to continuing to play the album live more, promoting the album, and maybe planning some other stuff with the album too. I really want to do some production breakdowns of some of the tracks off the album. So in summary, more to come for the album and playing live as much as I possibly can!
You can check out more about Sabrina Song at the links below!
Words by Morgan
Photograph by Livia O
Comentários