We recently connected with The Sparks Sisters and have shared our conversation below.
The Sparks Sisters, appreciate you joining us today. Can you talk to us about a project that’s meant a lot to you?
The most meaningful project we have worked on is our debut album, Full Circle. Over the past four years, we have created our own original songs for the first time, and the full album of these songs is finally releasing on October 4, 2024! Although we grew up singing and performing together, it wasn’t until we were scouted by 5x Grammy-nominated producer Billy Smiley in 2020 that we began to seriously write and record original compositions. He encouraged us to create our own unique musical identity, so we drew inspiration from our classical training background as well as the singer-songwriter genre to create a sound that is all our own. Our first original song “Flower” was based off of an opera duet from Lakmé known as “The Flower Duet.” From there we released more singles that will also be included on the album, and each one spoke to our experiences as musicians, sisters, and young women. Halfway through the creation of this album, Melody (the older sister) was suddenly diagnosed with Guillain-Barré Syndrome and hospitalized. This rare condition causes full-body paralysis, and she even had to be intubated due to difficulties with breathing. Miraculously, she recovered in just a few months, which is much quicker than expected. We were able to finish our album, and the difficulty of this trial for our whole family brought even more meaning to the lyrics of our songs as it became a part of our story. Now that the album is finally ready to be released, it will always serve as a reminder of what we went through and the trust and patience we needed to have to get to this point. We titled the album “Full Circle” not because our journey is ending, but because it is just beginning. All of the elements of our lives came together at just the right moment to give us this opportunity to share our hearts through songwriting, and we can’t wait to see what the future has in store!
The Sparks Sisters, before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?
We are a sister music duo based in Los Angeles, CA. We grew up in the San Francisco Bay Area, and learned how to sing and perform from our father who is also a musician. We both took private piano lessons from the age of 5, and went on to study music further in college. In 2020, we were scouted by 5x Grammy-nominated producer Billy Smiley based in Nashville, TN. We began to travel back and forth between Los Angeles and Nashville to work on our debut album set to release on October 4, 2024. While we perform a multitude of genres, from classical to pop to swing era music, our style as recording artists combines the intricacy of classical music with the intimacy of a singer-songwriter vibe. We are set apart from other classical-crossover musicians in that our unique sound is inspired by so many different genres, even Celtic music, and our polished harmonies have been described as “magical” by our listeners. We are thrilled to be releasing a project that we poured our heart into – our debut album entitled “Full Circle” that is releasing on October 4, 2024. We hope for our future fans and listeners to be inspired by the positive and heartfelt messages in our lyrics.
Learning and unlearning are both critical parts of growth – can you share a story of a time when you had to unlearn a lesson?
As performers who used to only sing covers, we learned how to adopt the stories of other artists as we performed their music. However, as songwriters, we had to learn how to be vulnerable in sharing our OWN stories. We were used to putting up walls to hide our deeper emotions, and we had to unlearn the fear of sharing our thoughts and feelings with others. It was our first trip to Nashville that really taught us how to use our personal lives in a way that resonates with listeners. Even though it’s scary, it’s worth it!
For you, what’s the most rewarding aspect of being a creative?
Becoming songwriters has been so rewarding because we have the opportunity to share our own personal message with the world. We feel like we can be authentic and use our experiences to encourage and inspire others. When others enjoy our music and tell us that it brought them hope or comfort, we are filled with so much joy. Music is best when it’s shared with others, as we have learned through performing since a young age, and ultimately the best reward is when we can make a positive impact in the lives of our listeners.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.TheSparksSisters.com
- Instagram: @sparks_sisters_music
- Facebook: The Sparks Sisters (https://www.facebook.com/TheSparksSisters)
- Youtube: @SparksSisters (https://youtube.com/@SparksSisters?sub_confirmation=1)
- Other: TikTok: @sparks_sisters_music
Image Credits
Michael Arteaga, Keoni Keur, Josh Hailey