Friday, November 29, 2024

New Music from Sophia B




"Old City (Live)" - by Sophia B

Release Date: November 19, 2024

What You Should Know: "This song is a love letter to Boston and I am so grateful to be here at Berklee. I wrote this song in my LENS class and decided to record it and perform with the help of my amazing friends much love!"

Find It: Everywhere, like Apple or Spotify

Monday, November 25, 2024

Asmi Visits Section 36 Music!

Section 36 Music had another visitor
Asmi is a wonderful artist with a single, "Met Me First", that you should be streaming over and over. I was so excited she was willing to visit with us to discuss the single, her musical goals, and more!

So, let's see what happens when Asmi visits Section 36 Music!

Your recent single, “Met Me First” is simply outstanding. What can you tell me about it?

Thank you so much! “Met Me First” dives deep into that feeling of longing for someone who’s already taken. It’s about the intense chemistry you can’t ignore, even though you know it’s not right. The song captures that bittersweet moment where you wish you could give in to what you’re feeling, wondering if things would have been different if they had met you first. It’s a mix of desire, heartache, and those unspoken ‘what ifs’ that we all go through at some point, and I’m really proud of how it turned out.


What was your favorite part of the recording process?

Honestly, the best part was collaborating with my friends from Berklee. There's something so special about creating music with people who just get you. Their input made the song so much richer, and the whole process was just so fun and inspiring.


You currently attend Berklee College of Music. What made Berklee the right fit for you?

Choosing Berklee was a no-brainer for me. Growing up in India, I always dreamed of coming to the States and immersing myself in a place where music is everything. It's this amazing melting pot of talent, creativity, and opportunities. Being around so many passionate musicians pushes you to level up your own game too. Plus, there's always someone to jam with, experiment with new sounds, and just vibe out together. It's been an incredible journey so far.


Who or what would you say are your biggest musical influences?

I’d say my sound is shaped by the soulful storytelling of Adele, the emotional depth of Alicia Keys, similar grooves to Fleetwood Mac, and Michael Jackson. I love artists who can make you feel something real, and that’s what I aim for in my music. But when it comes to performing, I’m inspired by the electrifying stage presence of BeyoncĂ© and the high-energy showmanship of Bruno Mars. I want my performances to be unforgettable, where the audience feels just as connected to the music as I do.


What is the biggest challenge you face when it comes to your music?

One of the biggest challenges for me is trying not to make my music sound all the same. It’s easy to fall into a pattern, but I love experimenting and trying new things. I’m always adding a little extra spice, whether it’s a unique chord progression, a different vocal approach, or even sampling city sounds that I hear from my apartment. I never want my listeners to get bored, so I’m constantly pushing myself to explore new territories with my sound.


What are your immediate music goals?

Right now, my focus is on getting more gigs across the States and opening for some well-known musicians. I think there’s so much to learn from sharing the stage with established artists, and I’m excited to put myself out there. I also want to release more music, hopefully with a few songs that really catch on and become hits. My dream is to build a fanbase that’s excited to hear what I have to say and create unforgettable live experiences for them.


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Those are great goals. let's get to work building that fanbase!

As always, I want to thank Asmi for visiting with us, and for sending along the pictures to accompany the interview.


I'm sure you’ll all want to follow her and see what she has going on. I would follow her on Instagram, and Spotify to make sure you don't miss a thing. 

Thanks again Asmi, and good luck reaching your goals!


Friday, November 22, 2024

New Music From Elle Sera, Liya, Kiara Skyler, Olivia C. Dacal, Kimaya Diggs, and Cece Benz






"White Christmas" - by Elle Sera 

Release Date: November 22, 2024

What You Should Know: "I love when a last minute idea for sharing some holiday vibes come through - I got this together about a month ago to help the holiday spirit take shape this ‘24 and if you love holiday music I know you’ll want to add this to your listening playlist + pleasure."

Find It: Apple or Spotify

Previously on Section 36: "Elle Sera Visits Section 36 Music!"


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"Naughty n' Nice" - by Liya

Release Date - November 22, 2024

What You Should Know: "were you naughty or nice this season? either way, get ready for a festive treat!"


Find It: Everywhere, like Apple and Spotify


Her Spotify Playlist Inclusions: "It's Christmas in Section 36", "What 2024 Sounds Like From Section 36", "Women Going Places, from Section 36"


Previously on Section 36: "Liya Visits Section 36 Music!", "Liya's Thrift Store Creation!"



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"
Collision" - by Kiara Skyler


Release Date: November 22, 2024

What You Should Know: "recorded this in one session with @kayla.pichichero. super stoked to share this one with you guys :) ”

Find It: Spotify or Apple



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"I AM" - by Olivia Dacal

Release Date: November 19, 2024

What You Should Know: "This album has helped me heal and learn about myself. it’s filled with love, hurt, frustration, forgiveness, longing and my heart. I have so so much love to give and I am so grateful I get to give it all to you.

Find It: Spotify or Apple



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"
I'm Sad Again" - by Kimaya Diggs

Release Date: November 22, 2024

What You Should Know: 
Another fantastic song from this talented artist.

Find It: Everywhere, like Spotify and Apple

Previously on Section 36: "Kimaya Diggs Visits Section 36 Music!"

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"We're Over Now" - by Cece Benz

Release Date: November 22, 2024

What You Should Know: "I first started writing this song back in the fall of last year, but didn’t finish it until this summer. I texted @luke11giles asking if he’d want to produce it and when we got back to Boston this fall, we got to work. With life and busy schedules, we actually ended up doing most of the recording and tracking within a week. This meant back to back studio sessions, mainly between the hours of 12am - 4am. I’m so proud of the way this song turned out and can’t thank @luke11giles enough for helping me bring my vision to life and putting up with me while I figured out what I wanted to do with the song."


Find It: Everywhere, like Apple or Spotify

Previously on Section 36: "Cece Benz Visits Section 36 Music!"

                                             

Wednesday, November 20, 2024

Maeve Zamuner Visits Section 36 Music!

Section 36 Music had another visitor
Maeve Zamuner is an absolutely amazing artist, whose single "Snow in July" should be on all of your playlists. I was so thrilled she was willing to visit with us to discuss the single, her musical goals, and more!

So, let's see what happens when Maeve Zamuner visits Section 36 Music!

I absolutely love your recent single, “Snow in July”. What can you tell me about it?

Thank you so much! I wrote Snow In July just under a year ago. Coming back home to my childhood bedroom after being away for my first semester of college was kind of a weird feeling. Obviously my hometown was still home, but all the sudden I had these different ties to different people and places. It sounds a bit cliche, but home really is a feeling, and this song is about navigating that. It was produced and mixed by Danny Rivera who did an amazing job, and mastered by Harris Newman who has been mastering my music for over a year. My neighbor and good friend Benedikt can be heard on backing vocals and another one of my good friends Jorden Amir is playing violin on the track. It is truly a labour of love filled with the talent of so many people that I love. 


What do you enjoy most about performing in front of an audience?

I grew up doing Musical Theatre and so it was always such an adrenaline high to be a character and put on a show for the audience. As I have transitioned to performing my own music live, I feel that I have found a new rush of joy through being myself on stage. Connecting with audiences has proved itself to be my absolute favourite thing about being in a room performing with people. It’s all about the people, whether it's 5 or 500, if you can connect with at least one person in the room, then that’s a small victory to carry with you. 


You currently attend Berklee College of Music. What made Berklee the right choice for you?

I applied to Berklee as an early applicant, meaning I got accepted in October of my senior year of high school. I knew I loved Boston and I knew I loved Berklee so it was meant to be that I was accepted and didn’t apply anywhere else. It’s kind of a strange thing, pursuing a degree in an art form, for many reasons. It’s easy to get lost in comparison and swept up in an impending sense “oh my gosh I’m turning 20 and I am not headlining TD garden” when you are surrounded by people who have decided to pursue music for a living. But it’s really all about the perspective and flipping that narrative to an outlook that centers on the fact that I get to be inspired and motivated and learn from people who are masters at their craft. I am so unbelievably lucky. It’s so cool to be sitting in a history class next to a lifetime trombone player and a singer who played a sold out show last night. It’s unconventional and super weird which is why I love it. 


Who or what would you say are your biggest musical influences?

I love listening to anything and everything. I always say I'll try anything at least 3 or 4 times (one time surely isn’t enough). Artists like Lizzy Mcalpine, Holly Humberstone, Phoebe Brigders, Maggie Rogers, and Madi Diaz have inspired me to see music through a lyrical perspective and like hello they are all geniuses. I saw Raye perform this summer and that changed my life. I feel like everytime I find a new artist or see a new show I am newly inspired. 


What is the biggest challenge you face when it comes to your music?

I feel like a big challenge I have faced, that I think a lot of small artists are facing right now, is trying to cut through the wall of noise and stand out. I love the music that I make and I hope that it will resonate with people, but getting it to the right ears to hear can sometimes feel impossible. I feel so lucky that I have a wonderful group of family, friends, fellow artists, and a small but mighty following that have been so lovely and supportive. 


What are your immediate music goals?

That’s a tough question. I feel like I have a million ginormous and minuscule goals swirling around my head 24/7 365. Just taking it one day at a time, playing live when I can, and keep writing music that I love that hopefully falls into the loving hands of others so that they can love it as well. 


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Might I suggest letting "Snow in July" fall into your hands ASAP?

As always, I want to thank Maeve for visiting with us, and for sending along the pictures to accompany the interview.


I'm sure you’ll all want to follow her and see what she has going on. I would follow her on Instagram, and Spotify to make sure you don't miss a thing. 

Thanks again Maeve, and good luck reaching your goals!


Tuesday, November 19, 2024

Lilly Bedard Visits Section 36 Music!

It's time for another visitor to Section 36 Music
This time Lilly Bedard, whose EP "Winter" is simply incredible, visits with us to discuss the EP, her musical goals, and more!

So, let's see what happens when Lilly Bedard visits Section 36 Music!

I really enjoyed your recent EP, “Winter”. What can you tell me about it?

Thank you! This EP started for me in October of 2022 when I wrote the title track, "Winter." At the point of writing this song, which I did at basically a whisper in my dorm room my freshman year of college, I had recently decided to "quit music." I had been releasing music since my sophomore year of high school, but had decided it was embarrassing and time consuming as I approached college. However, something in me had other ideas. I put this song on the back burner for a long time because I didn't feel ready to share this kind of honesty and vulnerability in my writing with the world yet, but I released other singles like "Untouchable You" and "What Could've Been" and received so much support from my community that I eventually decided to construct a project. Something I realized when I moved from Florida to Boston was how inspired I am by the seasons. Maybe it is because I never truly experienced them, but something about the dread and cyclical nature of the weather and the emotions associated with it has become a consistent metaphor for my own life that I draw upon frequently. In tandem with my realization of the seasons, I also moved away to college, and with that came its own challenges and realizations. The six songs on the EP are a time capsule of the last two years of my life and explore themes of identity, coming of age, and struggling with love and relationships. Each song represents a season to me, and I have carefully selected certain visuals and sounds in the project to try to communicate that with my audience. The brutal honesty that I put into the writing of the project was frankly terrifying for me, but a lot of my personal growth has been about letting go of worrying about what anyone else thinks of my music, and just putting what I believe is my best work out there. My hope is that any person of any age can listen to the EP and be transported to the universal experiences that accompany coming of age and feel validated in that. 


Do you have a favorite song from the EP?

This is a tough question, and it changes depending on the day! I would say my favorite at the moment is "You Ruined This, You Ruined Them." I will always have a special affinity for the songs I write in less than 20 minutes that are like a time capsule to a very specific, and very emotionally charged point in my life. My producer, Cathy Ponce, also did an amazing job of capturing my exact vision for how I wanted this song to sound and feel. The structure differs from my normal style of writing, and it is definitely the most honest and searing song I have ever written to date. The repetition of the line "you ruined this, you ruined them" in a variety of different contexts feels very poetic to me, which is always the goal of my songwriting.  


You also made a music video for the title track “Winter”. What was it like putting that together?

Making the music video for "Winter" was so exciting to be able to bring my entire vision of the project to life. My cinematographer, Daniel Botton, who also worked with me on my first music video for "What Could've Been," was also incredible at guiding the creative interpretation of my music. It was a very low budget two day shoot on Hutchinson Island, FL, where we used my grandparents house and other natural scenery for the set. The different settings are supposed to represent the four seasons, the leaves area being fall, the house being winter, the grass and bridge being spring, and the beach being summer. Each setting was actually color graded by Daniel in a different way to represent this! I have always been so inspired by nature, so it was really meaningful to have so many scenes of my home in the video. Like the project, I wanted to video to convey the cyclical nature of a tumultuous relationship- fall being the beginnings of love, fear, and expectations, winter being difficulty and emotional abuse, spring being "defrosting" and healing after finally leaving the relationship, and summer being the beginning of a new relationship and version of oneself. Fun fact, when we shot the fall scene in the leaves in jackets and jeans, it was 90 degrees in the middle of Florida summer!


Who or what would you say are your biggest musical influences?

My biggest musical influences when I was younger that got me inspired were Sheryl Crow and Stevie Nicks. I love them specifically because of the amount of emotion they put into all of their music, regardless of whether the songs are happy or sad. More recently, I am being inspired by folk-pop artists such as Lizzy McAlpine. I absolutely adore her style of writing, and there are very few songs of mine that she hasn't influenced both lyrically and through production. Lately, 70s folk artists such as Leonard Cohen and Joni Mitchell have been inspirations because of the poetic nature of their writing and my desire to write about different things in the future. 


What is the biggest challenge you face when it comes to your music?

The biggest challenges I face are being so damn busy! I am a full time college student, student-athlete, and much much more, so it is difficult to also be a full time creative, music marketer, and performer. It is an essential part of my life and my happiness, but I definitely wish I had more time to put towards it. That is why all of my major songs and projects come after the summer!


What are your immediate music goals?

I want as many people to listen to Winter as possible and really connect with the music and the story. Right now, I am focusing on playing shows, getting the word out, and connecting with my fan base trying to build real connections and relationships. I am working on some more songs right now to release, so hopefully I can maintain steady growth in the future and continue to strengthen my craft as an artist and a performer!


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Let's see if we can get a few more people to stream "Winter"!

As always, I want to thank Lilly for visiting with us, and for sending along the pictures to accompany the interview.


I'm sure you’ll all want to follow her and see what she has going on. I would follow her on Instagram, and Spotify to make sure you don't miss a thing. 

Thanks again Lilly, and good luck reaching your goals!