“i write songs when I’m sad”
Sofia Schuester is 16 years old and lives in Santa Barbara, California. Without hesitation, I can easily say that Sofia is one of the most talented people I know. Sofia and I formally met at a 1-week songwriting summer intensive at Boston’s Berklee College of Music. We instantly connected and bonded over our passions for music. Music has taken up a big chunk of Sofia’s life. She won the Teen Star singing competition in 2019, and went off to compete on the international show “American Idol,” which will be airing this February. Sofia’s strong passion for music and the accomplishments that she has had and are yet to have, assured me that she is someone that I would like to interview for my blog.
Q: How old were you when you really started to become serious about music?
A: I became super serious about music when I was in second grade after being cast in my first musical theater production.
Q: Which musical artist can you say has impacted you the most and why, and why do you like this artist?
A: Barbara Streisand was my idol for most of my childhood years. I liked how versatile she was as an artist.
Q: When did you start singing?
A: I started singing when I was four years old.
Q: What does the songwriting process look like for you?
A: My songwriting process happens naturally. I usually hear melodies and that’s how I come up with a new song
Q: What have been your biggest accomplishments in the music field?
A: Probably winning teen star and competing in American Idol.
Q: What are your goals for the future when it comes to music?
A: I would like to release some more music soon.
Q: What does music mean to you, and why do you think it is so important to you?
A: Music is my life and it manifests in every aspect of my day-to-day life. I think the reason why it’s so important to me is because it has such a large presence in my life and because i’ve spent so much of my life doing it.
Q: What made you want to audition for American idol? Were you nervous?
A: I’ve been watching American Idol since I was like three years old so when the opportunity presented itself there was no question of whether or not I would audition. I was more nervous for my audition in front of the producers than my celebrity judge audition because the producer audition determined so much, but I was still very nervous for my celebrity audition.
Q: If you could collaborate with any artist who would it be?
A: I would love to collaborate with Maggie Rogers because she’s not only an incredible songwriter, but also an extremely talented producer, so it would be really cool to work with her and understand her musical process.
Q: What genre of music do you find yourself most attracted to.
A: I find that I write mostly pop music but I listen to Motown more than anything else.
Q: Why do you enjoy performing so much?
A: I enjoy performing because I love presenting and sharing my work, especially when I’ve worked hard for a long period of time.
Q: What is something that you are very passionate about that just makes you want to write? And what do you find yourself writing about the most?
A: I write a lot about issues like women’s reproductive rights and beauty standards but I also write about the typical and cliche things like love and heartbreak.
Q: What instruments do you play and which do you find the most useful?
A: I mostly play guitar cause it’s mobile and because it’s also so versatile. I play piano sometimes if i’m writing a song that would sound better on piano but because it’s so hard to change the key in which you are playing, I usually stick to guitar.
Q: Where do you get most of your music inspiration from?
A: I get most of my inspiration from the world around me, but I used to get inspiration from TV shows and movies.
Q: Last Question: What is one word of advice that you would give to aspiring music artists?
A: I wish I could’ve told myself to be more confident in myself and in my work. Another piece of advice is to understand that you’re constantly growing and improving so don’t limit yourself.
for the record 