We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Magda Sanchez a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Magda, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today Did you always know you wanted to pursue a creative or artistic career? When did you first know?

I don’t know if it happens to all artists, but in my case I always knew that I wanted to dedicate myself to art, since I can remember in one way or another, even though I said I wanted to be an astronaut, what really always fascinated me was music, the first Sound memories that I have are the melodies that my grandmother sang to me in her arms when I was still a baby, she sang me lullabies over and over again to make me sleep but that was an almost impossible task because I looked at her intently and she always ended up exhausted first. “Made in Heaven by QUEEN” is the first song I remember hearing when I was practically a baby and the album of the same name had just come out. I was always struck by that magical sound that came from a speaker connected by cables, how it had gotten there, who had created it. When I was 10 years old I saw a Gun’s and Roses video for the first time and it had a profound impact on me. At that moment I had a wonderful feeling, I completely fell in love with everything that being an artist represents. I started collecting music, especially 80’s rock, jazz, pop, many classics, I was always listening to music but I never imagined that I would end up being a singer because they didn’t want me in the school choir, according to my teacher, my voice stood out from the others. . So that created a very big insecurity in me so I preferred to say that I was going to be an actress. As a child I loved participating in all the artistic activities at school and in the community, I loved acting, singing and writing. But I still didn’t have decided what to do.
At the age of 15 I began to study music professionally at the music conservatory in my city Holguin Cuba and that marked a before and after in my life because there I learned the necessary tools to become a professional artist.

Magda, love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?

When I finished my studies at the music conservatory, I went to work in China as a singer. This experience was crucial in my development as an artist because I worked every night of the week for 4 hours straight for a year. My biggest challenge was learning to sing in English. and in Chinese, but with practice I perfected my presentations. I loved being there. It was the first time I was away from my family and everything felt exciting, captivating, it was like landing on another planet. At the end of my contract in China I decided to settle in the United States permanently, the beginning was not easy at all, it was to start again this time alone without a job to support me as another immigrant, but music has always saved me in the life. In Louisville Ky I started going to Karaokes and recording videos and uploading them to the internet, that’s how I was invited to the radio for the first time and I realized that it was possible to have a career in the United States even though many people think it wasn’t, working For charitable projects in the city I met my current mentor Freed Bojer who has guided me during these years, together we made my first album La Realidad Diferente , a collection of songs based on my life and musically inspired by The Beach boys The Beatles, Sixto Rodríguez and Silvio Rodríguez! To carry out this project I needed a lot of discipline and inner strength. This is the first time that I share with the world my way of thinking since it is not the same to interpret other people’s songs as it is to tell your own stories and although I really enjoy doing both things, my vocation is for the art of telling my vision of reality. . The different reality started as a personal project just because I had the intense need to record my songs and it went from being something very intimate to making other people feel identified with the album. This has been a very great gift for me because I never imagined that something like this would happen to me. I did it to heal.

Are there any resources you wish you knew about earlier in your creative journey?

I have always believed that in life everything comes at its time, but to achieve our goals we must first go out and look for them. I was born in Cuba and there I suffered many deprivations, as a child my dream was to have a piano but my parents couldn’t afford that luxury so when I wanted to learn to play piano I drew the piano keys on a piece of paper and I imagined that I was playing until I was able to have a keyboard when I was 17, another tool that I would have loved to have access to is the internet, since I came to know it when I left Cuba at 20, so I am new to this whole thing about using social networks, I would have loved to have access to music production programs but once again in Cuba I could not afford a computer, I would also have loved to have freedom of expression in my country and not have to leave it to know freedom and understand the value of the human being from another perspective. When I left my country it was as if I had been reborn because I had no idea how capitalism worked!

What’s the most rewarding aspect of being a creative in your experience?

The most rewarding thing about being an artist is having the ability to influence people. In my case, knowing that one of my songs helped someone in a difficult situation that gave them strength and hope to move forward makes me feel that It’s worth all the effort I put into my music.

Contact Info:

• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/magdasanchezoficial?igsh=MWRrczc2YnBhczJmeg%3D%3D&utm_source=qr
• Youtube: https://youtube.com/@magdasanchezoficial?si=pOFWgB4StVMHcCwX
• Other: https://www.tiktok.com/@magdasanchezoficial?_t=8mNqAc672g3&_r=1

Image Credits
Allan García