Sabrina Salice

Catch up with pop singer-songwriter Sabrina Salice and watch the video for her new single, "I'm All In", off her debut EP to be released later this year.

What first got you interested in music and performing?

Sabrina: I was really young when I first started singing. My mom and my dad put me and my siblings into piano lesson at a super young age 'cause they wanted us all to take piano and I started singing while I was playing my simple songs, like "Jingle Bells" and all that stuff [laughs]. So, my mom and my piano teacher realized that, I guess, I had a pretty good voice and a lot of people were like, 'oh, you should get her into voice lessons!'. So, at the age of 8 I think, I started getting into voice lessons and into community theater and I just loved it; I loved being on stage. Yeah, that's pretty much how I got into it [laughs].

Do you remember the first concert you went to?

It was me, my mom, my godmother and her daughter - which is my cousin. We would go to a Celine Dion concert every single year - this was back when I lived on Long Island - and I was so young and the first one I went to, I remember we drove all the way into the city and saw her and I knew a couple of her songs because my mom just listened to her on repeat in the car all the time but, in the middle of her concert, she announced that there was a friend there watching her and she invited him up onto stage to sing and the whole time - I had to be 7 or 8 years old - and the whole time I was like, 'oh my gosh, what if it's me? Oh my gosh!'. [Laughs] I don't know why I was thinking that! But then, when I saw her invite him up there and they started singing, I was like, 'oh my gosh, I want that to be me so bad'. So, from that point on, I was like, that's what I want to do.

Which musicians, other than Celine Dion, have you been influenced by?

She's definitely a big one. I guess her, also Billy Joel, Elton John, and The Eagles my dad always listened to. At a very young age, those were the artists I listened to the most because my parents had the pre-programmed radio station on and those were the songs that were pretty much going on and so I took a liking to '80s rock and stuff and I liked the raspiness that people put into their voices and the soul, so that was influenced into my music. As I got older, I loved listening to Christina Aguilera and Kelly Clarkson because they had that grit, that soul to their sound. Also, as I matured and really got into music, I really liked Jay-Z, his producing and all that kind of stuff. I really like Kanye West's producing - his music [laughs] - but yes, all the people that I mentioned. And Katy Perry is a big one too, just because I really like her songs and how they're such feel good songs and that's how I want my songs to be.

How would you describe your sound to someone who had never heard your music before?

I would definitely say that I have a deeper tone to my voice. I have a richness sound but I think it's also clear, when people listen to my voice, that I have a trained voice. I would say, trained but with a soul richness, because I do have a deep tone - I've been told that. I don't know, I have a big range but, other than that, there are people that refer me to Amy Winehouse - her sound - or Celine Dion - I've been told that, too - and I think that's because I was also influenced by them, so some of the things that I do are because I was always listening to them and I was like, 'oh, that's so good, let me try my own kind of thing like that'.

What were your inspirations behind your single "I'm All In"?

My inspirations were definitely my parents. I went through a really tough time my freshman year at college and, pretty much my whole life, I never imagined really going to college: I would always be like, 'oh, that's a really pretty school,' or, 'I would love to go to this campus,' but I never saw myself going and picking a major and all that stuff; I always just saw one path for me, and that was I'm going to work hard until I make this singing thing my job. It was my senior year and everyone's applying to colleges and I was like, 'oh my gosh, what am I doing?' and so I went along with everyone else and started applying and I was like, I guess that's what you're supposed to do. I have nothing against college, I think it's a great thing, it just wasn't for me and it put me, personally, in a box; that's how I felt and so I made a decision with my parents.

They actually took me home the summer after freshman year because I was kind of hating on music because it wasn't making me happy - I guess 'cause I was unhappy and it was always able to make me happy - so they made me cover some songs with a friend they knew and right when I got back - it was even just a home studio - but literally the first day I was back I was like, 'oh my God, now I love this'. I was literally going to transfer schools and be a finance major because I was just so bummed out because something that always made me happy and I loved, I was unhappy so I blamed it on that, and my parents just wouldn't let me; they were the ones that were like, 'no, she's not going back to school next year, this is her passion and we're going to go at this together and she's going to go at this'.

I wrote that song and the bridge is like, 'thank you for bringing me back, you saved me,' and that was thanking them and the song starts with, 'I can't believe I almost threw it all away,' and that's what that's all about. I think it's a really good feel-good song, because the chorus is simple but it's like 'I bet on myself', and I think that's a huge thing for so many people; take a chance on yourself, believe in yourself, so that's where it came from. [Laughs] That was a long explanation!

Could you tell us more about this upcoming EP?

Yeah, there are five song on the EP including "I'm All In" and "I'm All In" definitely has the most dance/electronic vibe to it. The other songs definitely remain in the Top 40 pop genre, but they're not as dance-y. I have a song called "Love Heist" which is like a fantasy song, a romance; every girl, you know when you daydream and you think of things that could never happen, it's kind of like bringing that into reality. "Iconic Love" is another song and I based that song off of that famous picture in Times Square when the soldiers came back from World War II and there was that famous kissing picture in Times Square and it's very imagery and huge and I think that one, because of how distinctly it paints a picture, it really stands out from all the other ones. There's a song called "Leave Me Curious" which is a very different sounding song; it's a little darker and mysterious and it's really cool. The last one is "I'm Sorry" and that's a ballad, almost along the lines of an Adele pop song, if you're going to try to relate it to something. It shows off my voice and it's the biggest song for me that really shows my talent, so I love listening to it and I'm really excited about that one. It's a little slower, but it still really catches the audience and really tells a good story.

Which of those tracks are you most excited for your fans and listeners to hear?

I think it would be "I'm Sorry" just because it mixes the two worlds of 'this girl really can sing and she's showing off her voice, showing off she really does have talent and training' but also it puts in contemporary Top 40 sound and that's why I'm really excited about that one.

What do you hope listeners are able to take away from your music?

I hope that people really listen to the words, not just listen to the sound of the song [laughs] because I think music is supposed to tell a story and take people to a different place and I hope my music takes people to a different place; takes them to a good place where they just want to dance and you're excited about anything, something simple or something huge, it just amps them up just a little bit more.

Is there anything you want to add?

If anyone wants to find out about my events or anything coming up, they can find me at sabrinasalice.com. The rest of my EP is coming out soon; in the next month, month and a half, we should be releasing the songs and I'm super excited about that and if you want to keep up with the release dates and everything, definitely check out my website and all my links to all my social media and everything is on there. And thank you so much for having me!

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Fictionist

Photo Credit: Adam Leishman

Catch up with Salt Lake City-based indie pop band Fictionist and watch the video for the title track off the band's Free Spirit EP, out now.

What brought you all together?

Stuart: All of us - on the phone - we played in bands together in high school. Actually, different bands, different projects - and that was a while ago - so we've always wanted to make music and made a lot of music together, but I can't remember what inspired us to start this band. It's just kind of something that we've always done.

Robbie: Yeah, I think it was just the evolution of always being in bands from high school.

Where does your name, Fictionist, come from?

Robbie: Pretty much, we talked about a lot of different options and the story goes, with our drummer Aaron, he had a dream about the name 'Affectionist' [laughs] and we thought that was interesting. Then, also, we were kind of exploring names of different varieties, things having to do with taking people to other worlds, and Brandon came up with the word 'Fictionist' and we were all like, 'wow, that's really cool,' and we liked that it was like a brand new word that we could just make our own and it's been really awesome.

Which musicians have you been influenced by?

Stuart: We'd probably just have to answer that one individually, just because we all have different influences. So, influences for me, gosh, that's tough. I remember kind of feeling changed, musically, when I listened to Spoon's Transference album; that's kind of relevant to what we're doing: it's kind of got a little bit of a grungey/garagey feel to it that's pretty inspiring. That's one, I don't know... Do you guys wanna jump in?

Robbie: Yeah, our band, I think, is a big mix of a lot of different things. We've all been pretty well versed in classic rock and digging in to all kinds of '80s music and '90s music and so we kind of like to just blend all of that. And we do some current artists that are making stuff now, too; I really like everything from Future Islands to Caribou to Courtney Barnett. Those are just a few examples I'm thinking of of current artists that I think are doing really cool stuff.

Brandon: Yeah, I think that that encapsulates it pretty well but I'm just going to add, you know how everybody says Radiohead? [Laughs] I think these days - I mean, I would say Radiohead, but I don't want to be too predictable - Tame Impala is kind of the new one where everybody's like, 'yeah! They really influenced me'. Just of the more recent bands, Tame Impala is a big one; a record I heard, actually through a mutual friend of a guy in the band that I just heard was super cool, was the Potions' record. I guess I don't know if Wye Oak would be so much an influence so much as just a really cool artist maybe everyone should listen to.

What words would you use to describe your own sound?

Stuart: We've been toying with the idea of - and please, pipe up other band members if you feel boxed by this - but I like the idea of progressive garage or progressive indie because, in what we do, there's always a flair of experimentation. We tend to be pretty reckless and are always pushing each other and pushing the boundaries of what we have done together musically, and there's something very progressive about that - not like Rush progressive - but it's the way that the idea that the rise of indie music and garage rock and progressive thinking collide. With that being said, we definitely write pop songs, or at least we appreciate them; we like songs that you can sing and we like to sing them. We're definitely aware of popular music and don't have an aversion to it.

Robbie: I think, maybe, the thought that just came into my head was unconventionally hooky and sometimes conventionally hooky. It goes along with that idea of pop sensibility in the writing but, with that, we always tend to tweak that straight ahead pop thing or that rock thing and I think, especially lately, just really sturdy.

What were your inspirations behind your video and the single for "Free Spirit"?

Stuart: Well, I wrote the song, so I guess I can talk about the inspiration of it. Honestly, gosh, where do songs even come from? I sat down to write music [laughs] and that was the song that came out that day. [Laughs] That's not very good... I don't know, I'm always surprised by the songs as I hear them back; sometimes I find, if I'm too aware of what I'm writing about in the moment that I lose the sense of discovery, whatever little emotional insight or idea that was hiding inside of me at that time and that song was no different. It's a lot about relationships, looking back on it. Yeah, it's a relationship song.

As far as the video is concerned, a friend of ours, Jed Wells, came up with the concept and he basically pitched it to us and we thought it was a cool idea so we went with it but it was a huge undertaking. When we showed up - he said, 'hey, I want to do this video for you guys,' and we were like, 'cool' - we showed up and there was like a crew of 30 people there [laughs] - it was outrageous. I was really surprised, everything that went into it, we shot in different locations and it took all day along to do; we started in the morning and finished that night, but it was really cool to make it. The concept was Jed's to begin with.

Robbie: I'll just add that the concept, just to give a little history of the band, we've been through a lot together. We've had different managers, labels, and a bunch of stuff that we felt tried different things on us and we went through a major label thing that felt like that, so the original idea behind the video was to have a play on that and have people trying different things on us and dressing us up different ways but, in the end, we just feel most comfortable playing our music.

Brandon: Hear, hear.

Could you tell us more about your Free Spirit EP?

Stuart: I'll just say that, with this EP, we purposefully chose songs that we thought were fun to listen to. Especially historically, for us, it's definitely the group of songs we've released that we've done that feels the most carefree and upbeat and we mostly just wanted to get something for people to listen to and have a fun time listening to. The name Free Spirit ended up being kind of ironic with that, it just has less heaviness to it in general and less inhibitions.

In one sentence, how would you sum up that new EP?

Robbie: I don't know a sentence, but the word that came to my mind was abandonment.

Stuart: The EP is energetic, it has rough edges, there's a lot of abandonment: we favor all the rough demos and I'm not saying there was very little thought that went into it, but the idea was to really just capture the energy and the excitement that we feel when songs are new and fresh and just premiere it as is.

Brandon: Wait, I've got one.

Robbie: Yeah! Go, Brandon.

Brandon: Okay, so, the messy demise of pretense.

[Laughter]

Stuart: Yeah, go with that.

Is there one song off Free Spirit you're most excited to be sharing with fans?

Robbie: "Free Spirit" we technically have already released and as artists we're always most excited about our new things - but we were excited to re-release "Free Spirit" - but I would say, me personally, we've been playing the song "We Can Sleep When We Die" for over a year and it's always been a lot of fun, so I think I was excited to actually just have it released and get it out there for people to enjoy.

Stuart: I'll pipe in and just say that I think that people should listen to the title track. I think that "Free Spirit", again like Robbie said, locally where we are, people know it and it was on a previous album and we're puting it out again just to get it to a wider audience because we think it's a song that should be heard. But that said, I think, just gut feeling, I was most excited to release "High Society" because it's got a lot of really good groove.

Brandon: This is true it does have a good groove... Man, you asked the hardest question for me to answer. I don't know. I'll echo what Robbie said just as far as getting "We Can Sleep When We Die" out; it's been such a solid part of our set forever. The song "Right Now" - now we've said basically all of them - I've always loved that one just because out of all the songs on there, I think that one has the most chaotic - I don't know what you'd call it - it's just energy, energy, energy. We've never done a song that had that much of that in it and so it's fun for me to hear us do such a sweaty song. It's nice to hear that side of us. On our last record, we did a lot of groove based stuff and that one's just straight up crazy, so it's fun.

What do you hope listeners are able to take away from your music?

Brandon: Just an all around good feeling.

Stuart: I think it might be fair to say that, when people listen to our music - I, at least - personally want them to let go. Take that for what you want to understand it as, but I want people to let go.

Is there anything you want to add?

Brandon: Stay tuned to the Fictionist channel.

Robbie: We're releasing this EP obviously with the idea of releasing more music. We have a really exciting kind of a conceptual micro album that we've got that's just about ready that is everything that this EP is and a little bit more in a little crazy direction and so we're super stoked about that. And we've also been talking about the next wave of music even after that, so we've got a lot of cool ideas and we're in a good place artistically and I'm excited to be getting out there.

Brandon: Hold on for the ride. So, climb aboard.

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Oh, Jeremiah

Catch up with singer-songwriter duo Oh, Jeremiah (Jeremiah Stricklin and Erin Raber) and watch the video for the husband and wife duo's single, "Happy Now", off their upcoming album, The Other End Of Passing Time, to be released August 19th.

What brought you two together?

Jeremiah: I've been in bands my whole life. My first band I was in was a glorified Blink-182 cover band and I had the tube socks and the hat turned sideways type thing and then every band I've ever been in broke up and I decided to go solo, which is why it's called 'Oh, Jeremiah', and then I met Erin via a mutual friend and he just said, 'hey, there's this girl who plays violin, she might be interested in backing you up,' and he did not tell me that she had this amazing voice and I don't think that Erin even knew that she had this amazing voice. So, I got her on, we started playing a couple of songs together, it was going really, really well and, obviously, there's the risk of attraction whenever that sort of thing happens, and so we sort of started dating and playing at the same time and then I got the West Nile Virus and Erin kept me from dying - which was one of my favorite things that she's done, as a whole - and we've been together ever since. When I met her I weighed 165 pounds and by the end of West Nile I weighed 143 which was crazy, I don't think I've ever weighed that much; I think I was born weighing 150 pounds, so there was no middle ground. It was the wildest thing.

Do you remember the first song you wrote?

I wrote "Happy Now" almost immediately. "Happy Now" is the song that we're probably the most known for and I wrote that really early on. We did a demo of all the songs we had and that was the first song that I remember knowing all the way through [laughs] and so that song was right off the bat there. We did a lot of covers and stuff, but that was the first song I remember really writing. There was another song called "Better Man" that was early on in our career too, but I think "Happy Now" was the first one. 

Which musicians would say you've been influenced by?

My biggest celebrity crush is a guy named Josh Ritter. He's an Idaho singer-songwriter and he writes about mummies and about these elaborate stories - he's got a song his new album where it's this guy battling alcoholism - but it's all amazing. He is such a great storyteller and he is my Bruce Springsteen, so he is one. Colin Meloy, the lead singer of The Decemberists, is one of my heroes, so that would be one for sure. And, I like any songwriter that would rather tell really weird stories than anything else, like, I do, I love Bruce Springsteen, I love Gregory Alan Isakov; I love people that just want to tell stories. 

Which words would you use to describe your own sound?

I tell people that it's like Simon & Garfunkel with the sad parts of Damien Rice mixed in with the haircuts of R.E.M., because I'm bald [laughs]. That's usually the kind of the compass I give to people in regards to what we sound like. But, there's a lot of influences; obviously, Josh Ritter has influenced us and Erin is a violinist that sings a lot, like Norah Jones, so there's even influences of that, but we try to be as Simon & Garfunkel-y as we can.

What were your inspirations behind your single and video for "Happy Now"?

So, "Happy Now" is actually the most relatable song, but the least relatable topic. I wrote that song thinking, 'no one's ever going to listen to this,' because it was about my high school sweetheart moving to Utah and marrying someone else and I thought, 'no one's ever going to relate to that because no one knows anyone in Utah,' or whatever but it just came out like this anthemic break-up song and people just resonated with it really, really well.

The video though, I have a very strange sense of humor and whenever I talked to the film crew, they wanted to do the video that everyone expected me to make: they wanted it to be like, I'm chasing a girl and I'm playing with a band on a rooftop and it's like 'that' music video. And I thought it would be funny just to be a clown at a kid's birthday party and there was like the awkward silence on the phone [laughs], where they were like, 'oh, he's kidding..?' and then when they realized I wasn't kidding, we all sort of just really fell in love with the idea. I'm at that age where all my friends are starting to have kids and my favorite kid is this kid named Noah and he was having a birthday party and I just asked if we could bring a bunch of cameras to his birthday party and [laughs] let a clown come in and make a video at this birthday party and my favorite moment of that whole shoot is - I didn't realize that people were actually scared of clowns, I thought that that was a joke, but those kids were not happy to see me, they were terrified to see me - there was one kid in particular, they were all playing video games whenever I walked in and it was like ten little kids playing a Playstation or whatever, and one kid stands up and declares to the rest of the group, 'hey everybody, that clown came to hurt us,' and that's my favorite moment of the entire video shoot. 

Could you tell us more about your upcoming album, The Other End Of Passing Time?

My hero in regards to producing is actually Josh Ritter's piano player. His name's Sam Kassirer and he's made just so many of my favorite records; he's responsible for my favorite Josh Ritter albums and he's responsible for Lake Street Dive's first album and he's just a really amazing producer. We got connected with him and we went up to Parsonsfield, Maine to record in his farmhouse and it was March and I don't know if you've ever been to Maine, but they actually have Winter there and Winter is an awful thing that I've never seen before. It was in March but there was still so much snow on the ground that my iPod would freeze whenever I would go running, it was that cold. So, it was a very new and culture shocking experience to have to live with these strangers in a farmhouse for two weeks to make an album, but it was so rewarding at the end of it. Like, we lived two people to a room and we all had these bunk beds and the farmhouse had those old heaters that creaked and moaned throughout the house; it was a very surreal experience and it was the favorite musical experience I've had in my entire life.

How would you sum up that album in one sentence?

The Other End Of Passing Time is inspired by, in dedication to, and in remembrance of the loneliest year of my life. 

Which is the year after college. No one ever told me that that year was going to be so terrible, because you go from having to ask for permission to go to the bathroom to knowing how to do your taxes and, hey, here's all your debt waiting on you, and that's where all these songs were inspired from and The Other End Of Passing Time has been able to look back, after all of that's said and done, and just seeing it for what it was, which was just a really crappy year. Instead of thinking everything was terrible, it was just a bad year.

Do you have a favorite song from that album you're most excited for your fans to hear?

Yeah! So, first, a little back story on me: I started losing my hair whenever I was 16 and I was really insecure about it so, instead of trying to hide it with Rogaine or whatever, I just shaved it all off and I embraced it and whenever I started losing my sight and I needed glasses, I just got the biggest glasses I could find because I was insecure about it and I have this weird thing where I think if you just answer to your insecurities, they go away. The one song I was really insecure on the album ended up being the first song on the album because it helps me embrace the weird stuff that I'm into and the first song is this song called "Dinner Conversations" and it's the story of the main character having a dinner party with God and the devil and that idea was just really hilarious to me. It's the God and devil coming over and talking about music and how that conversation would go and that's what the song's about.

What do you hope that listeners are able to take away from your music?

I just hope that people get an honest representation of what we're trying to do. I've never been the kind of guy to sell myself short just to get a song in a commercial or get ahead, like, this is the most honest thing I've ever done, is this record. I meant every word on it and I worked really hard to show who I was and I think the best compliment you can give the album is that it's a very true representation of who we are as people, which is something that a lot of people try to hide behind; especially now, where you only show the best parts of your life on social media, you only want people to see when you do something awesome. I like the bad stuff too and I think there are a lot of moments that are very vulnerable and weird on this album that I'm really, really proud of. 

Oh, Jeremiah Tour Dates:
8/05/16 – Dalonega, GA – Crimson Moon
8/10/16 – Laurel, MS – Slow Boat Brewery
8/11/16 – New Orleans, LA – Gasa Gasa
8/12/16 – Dallas, TX – Opening Bell
8/13/16 – Austin, TX @ Stay Gold
8/16/16 – Los Angeles, CA – Hotel Café (Stage 2)
8/17/16 – San Francisco, CA – Doc’s Lab
8/18/16 – Portland, OR – White Eagle Saloon
8/19/16 – Salem, OR – Gov Cup
8/22/16 – Salt Lake City, UT – Kilby Court (w/ Matthew and The Hope, Andrew Wiscombe)
8/23/16 – Denver, CO – Lost Lake
8/26/16 – Jackson, MS – Duling Hall
8/27/16 – Hattiesburg, MS – Thirsty Hippo
9/03/16 – Florence, AL – 116 E Mobile

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James George

Catch up with UK-based indie rock singer-songwriter James George and listen to his single "Make You Mine", out now.

What first got you interested in music?

James George: I come from a family of musicians so i was introduced to music from an early age. I was about 12 when I got my first guitar and I have been writing ever since.

Which musicians have you been influenced by?

Growing up I was influenced by The Beatles.

If you were to make a playlist for your fans, what three songs - from other artists - would you have to include?

The Beatles - "Help"

The Killers - "Smile Like You Mean It"

Arctic Monkeys - "Leave Before The Lights Come On"

Which words would you use to describe your sound?

Electric, upbeat and catchy.

What were your inspirations behind your latest single, "Make You Mine"?

I wrote "Make You Mine" by writing what I thought sounded good and what I enjoyed, there is no real inspiration from any other musicians in there, it does have a sound of other bands but that's just pure coincidence.

Do you have plans to release an album or EP?

I have a new single coming out very soon and an album to be released later in the year.

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