Artist Spotlight: Sabrina Song

Sabrina Song: You too! Of course. I'm an artist, songwriter and producer based in Brooklyn. I've been playing shows and living here since 2020. Before that, I lived in Manhattan for college.

I've always been involved in music, just in different capacities. It wasn’t until the end of high school that I started songwriting seriously. I spent all of college learning how to produce and figuring out what I wanted my sound to be beyond just writing songs on the piano. After COVID, I felt like I had figured things out, and in the last few years, I’ve just been making music, playing shows, and working on other artists’ projects. It’s been really fun!

SS: Yeah, I think I really considered myself more of a singer than a musician. I was in choir and orchestra, loved playing piano, and would sing in school shows and at restaurants. It was all about singing. I didn’t even consider a career in music or picture myself doing something with music until I started applying to college. I had one teacher who really encouraged me to keep a journal and learn how to record myself in Logic with just a mic and my computer. By the end of high school I had finished 3 songs and had really [made the decision].

Everything kind of clicked from there, but I realized I needed to learn the craft of songwriting since I had no real practice in it. After working on that and continuing to write, I figured out what I really wanted my sound to be. That’s when I decided I wanted to pursue songwriting and producing, in addition to performing, which again had been the main thing I grew up doing.

SS: I think it’s always come from a place of working through an emotion or a complicated feeling. It was always about expression, but I used to limit myself when I first started writing. I was really hard on myself and didn’t know how to put my emotions into a well-structured song. It was a bit of a rollercoaster. The very first songs I wrote were incredibly raw, filled with that 16 or 17-year-old emotion. Then, I’d go through periods where I wished I made music that sounded cooler, and I was putting a lot of pressure on myself to write stuff that met certain expectations.

As I got older and more secure in who I was, I could write songs that reflected what I wanted them to say. Once I started writing without needing validation or trying to fit into a certain style, that’s when songwriting became joyful again.

SS: Totally. So I’m someone who loves listening to albums from start to finish. Because of that, I spent a lot of time thinking about how people would experience the album, mostly in terms of the emotional journey between the songs. It wasn’t a concept album. Not all the songs together told one story, but I knew I wanted to soften the emotional blow between some of the more outwardly painful tracks. I wanted to bridge them with songs that had a softer tone. I didn’t want the album to feel jarring or like things didn’t fit together. Since the album touched on a wider range of sounds and genres, I also wanted it to feel cohesive. I feel like the tracklist really helped with that.

SS: They change all the time. When I first released the album, "Afternoons" was my favorite because it was the oldest. It started as just a piano chord, very sparse. The lyrics and melodies were the same, but the production evolved. I think one cool thing about making the album was I don’t often write a song and then completely change the arrangement or production. I usually hear the whole song in my head as I write it. But with this album, I had the space to revisit songs that I didn’t think would work as singles.

The same thing happened with "Do You Think About It, Too?". That one started as a piano ballad, and revisiting it to turn it into a slow-burn, rock song felt really right. So to answer your question, I think my favorites are the ones that surprised me with how much I liked them by the end. I was happy I got to give them new life, especially since the album covered a few years of emotional and creative growth. Right now, I’d say my favorite songs are the newer ones I’ve written that aren’t released yet.

SS: Exactly! But it’s cool to know I can feel just as excited about older songs after reimagining them for the album.

SS: I learned so much releasing it independently, especially about how I want things to be made and perceived in every aspect. It was very fulfilling. At first, I was really nervous. I knew I wanted to have no regrets about how I put it together, and obviously, you only get to release your first album once. I knew I was ready, so I tried to make it as perfect as I could to meet my own expectations. I also tried to enjoy the process as much as possible, and in the end, I felt so proud of the music and the people I got to work with.

My best friend took all the photos for the cover art and everything. It’s cheesy, but it reminded me of why I’m doing this, which was great because it can be really discouraging at times. I felt so proud of what my collaborators and I made. It was fulfilling to see the whole project through from start to finish, it was my first full body of work. That made me even more excited to keep making music, and it was very validating, as I hoped I would feel after completing such a big project.

SS: Oh, awesome!

SS: It just felt like the perfect opportunity and fit in so many ways. I had only planned to play a New York show that fall. So to have the chance to not only open for Carol [Ades] on her first headline tour, but also to tour my album after it was released, was amazing.

I played a lot of cities for the first time, which was incredible. I learned so much from that experience, playing a lot of shows in a short amount of time and playing many of the album tracks live for the first time. I could feel myself growing with each show. Plus, Carol’s such a professional. I admire how clearly she knows the world she’s building. It was inspiring to see the clarity with which she conducts everything. Her songs are amazing, and her whole team and band are fantastic. I was just with my two friends, my band and my tour manager, so it was a big road trip where I got to meet so many new people and introduce them to my music in such a short time.

SS: No way! Liz is great.

SS: Honestly, it was surprising how many people at the shows were already familiar with my music. It was so cool meeting people in person who knew the words to my songs, especially the older ones. Even beyond that, having people want to talk to me after the show was really validating and motivating.

SS: Yeah, I have a bunch of one-off shows coming up. Actually, earlier today, I announced a headline show in May in Manhattan!

SS: Thank you! I’m super excited about it.

The show will also coincide with a release, so that’s the main thing I’m working toward. I’m also hoping to tour again soon. I had such a fun time with Carol. But for the next few months, most of my shows will be New York-based. The headline show is definitely going to be a blast!

SS: I have so many talented friends. Off the top of my head, I’d say OK Cowgirl, Jules Olson, Darryl Rahn and Jackie Marchal.

Also, the four artists I worked with on the deluxe are some of my favorite artists. Thankfully, some of them were already my friends, and some of them are now my friends. I genuinely find the most inspiration from the people I’m in community with. I think they’re making the most special, incredible music. Oh, and Dearest, who’s one of my close friends.

SS: I’ve learned something new from every artist I’ve worked with, and that’s taken years of trial and error. Some people are very reserved in sessions, while others have a ton of ideas and you have to figure out how to rein them in. It’s so interesting to see how other people’s brains work and be more in service of their vision rather than just expressing my own emotions. It feels like solving a puzzle, which is different from writing from my heart.

I love collaborating like that because it makes me a better writer for my solo work. It’s an honor when people want to write together because I know how precious I feel about my own work. It’s emotionally vulnerable to trust people in that way. It’s also fun to work outside of your usual genre. I co-write a lot of pop songs, and it’s amazing to express myself in a totally different way, even though it’s the same medium.

SS: Oh my god, so many! Off the top of my head, probably Ryan Beatty, HAIM and Mitski. There are a few dream collaborations that feel completely crazy, too. Fiona Apple is one! I can’t even imagine that.

I’m a very lyric-focused listener and writer, so I’m really drawn to people who align with that, like Adrianne Lenker. Artists who can put things into words in a way that feels almost like magic.

SS: Yes! It’s almost like they’re inventing new ways of saying things. That’s incredibly inspiring to me because it’s what I’ve always been drawn to in music. Those are some of the first names that come to mind.

SS: Thank you!