We were lucky to catch up with Sahara Grim recently and have shared our conversation below.

Sahara, appreciate you joining us today. What’s been the most meaningful project you’ve worked on?

While every artistic endeavor has been a meaningful one shaping my path, the most meaningful project to date is my recently finished, unreleased album, “Fable.” This record has been a practice on trusting myself again. In April of 2020, during the pandemic, I had spontaneously moved from Los Angeles to the woods of Northern California. Suddenly, I was neighbors with Clydesdale horses, had a river in my backyard, and was enveloped by an abundance of trees. Coming straight from the chaos of being a student in the city, I felt myself gently coming back to my own energy for the first time in years. 

When I look back, this was an important time of returning to my true nature, which came with growing pains and much to process. The songs I was writing during this time were a necessary way to transmute my darkness into something that felt beautiful. These songs were simultaneously being influenced by rather theatrical and whimsical visions I was receiving that I believe must have been conjured by the surrounding forest. I began to notice how many of my life experiences paralleled the themes from fairytales and folklore we are all familiar with from our childhoods. These old stories passed down through time somehow felt more relevant than ever. It’s as if everything was working together to tell me to carry these visions through to something substantial, even if I had no idea what the seed was to bloom into. 

And so carry it, I did! Through long dark nights of the soul, the outside world growing more apocalyptic with each day and oppositely rediscovering the unique joys of my own being in isolation, I kept writing the music. Never forced, the songs arrived on their own time over a span of the next three years. With each year I could feel the vision becoming more clear, yet my patience was growing thinner and my fear larger from pressure that formed from my hiatus of releasing music. Over time, I had begun overprotecting what became a grand vision in my imagination and resisted beginning the recording process, hesitant of letting these songs out into the physical in fear of disappointment. I was back in Los Angeles at this point feeling stuck, like I was starting all over again with the world opening back up.

A long story for another time, my personal life was undergoing intense but positive transformations during 2022 and 2023. By November 2023, I got out of my mind and into my heart, trusting that with intentionality and intuition, I would be guided with each step of this new process. I began to see why this album couldn’t have been born sooner. For one thing, because of timing. Once I found the courage to begin, I was blessed to work with every artist I’d been dreaming of, from the musicians to the visuals. I’m almost certain none of it would’ve been the same had the timing been any different. Even more so, I can now see how crucial it was to deliver these songs from an empowered place, with real compassion for myself, not as the broken person who wrote the songs. It’s true that everything on the outside of our lives changes for the better when everything on the inside does. With all of this said, this album and I have been on a very real and personal journey together, unfolding in real time. This has been the most meaningful project to me because I came out the other side a different person, and that’s been the greatest gift of all. 

Sahara, 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?

I’m an independent artist, musician, and songwriter based in Los Angeles, originally from San Diego. I began my musical journey with a passion to learn guitar at eight years old and was fortunate to take lessons consistently throughout my upbringing. My teacher, Glen Fisher, encouraged me to sing and write music and introduced me to playing bossa nova. Glen also introduced me to the vocal teacher I grew up learning from, Kevyn Lettau (best known for her work with Sergio Mendes and Al Jerrau), who also nurtured my interest in Brazilian jazz. From middle school through high school, I attended the San Diego School of Creative and Performing Arts. I continued my education at the UCLA Herb Alpert School of Music, where I majored in ethnomusicology and jazz with a focus in jazz vocal performance and sitar. Throughout every stage of my musical path, songwriting has been a consistent passion that I approach solely by ear and soul. 

Making music is an emotional, intuitive, and alchemizing process for me, and the creative choices are simply based on whether the musical moment in question feels good or not. I like to think of each song as its own world to transport the listener to, which is why I would say each song off of my upcoming album is unique to the other. Having a background in bossa nova, classic rock, jazz, and Indian classical music, all of these styles are an integral part of how I connect with music. This diversity has been significant, forming my ear subconsciously throughout my entire life, and I am grateful for this abundant well of inspiration that I can tap into when creating. Further, my background has allowed me to create limitlessly and freely, never bound to sheet music or one style. It’s been a pleasure to see how everything organically works together when I allow what’s within to easefully pour out.

For you, what’s the most rewarding aspect of being a creative?

We must not take for granted what a gift it is to be able to contribute to the world in a way that is rooted in creativity, authenticity & goodness. When you’re a creative paving your own way, your very existence is a protest to the disconnected systems society imposes on us. Personally, freedom has been the most rewarding aspect. Freedom to express, explore, choose, etc. However, the ultimate reward is the connection music creates, the way we can all forget time amongst a crowd of strangers and revel in a moment of beauty as one. Are these simple pleasures not what life is really about?

In your view, what can society to do to best support artists, creatives and a thriving creative ecosystem?

Come to our shows! Invest in the worlds you want to create! Buy or stream our music, add it to your playlists! Liking, Commenting and Sharing are all free and when you do so, it actually makes a difference in people’s art reaching more people. Don’t be a passive observer, if you enjoy something an artist is making, be apart of their journey by actively engaging with them. We are here to serve and uplift each other, this dynamic of reciprocity is how we thrive under a profit driven society disconnected from the inherent value of art.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.saharagrim.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/saharagrim/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/saharagrimm/
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@saharagrim

Image Credits

Angela Ricciardi
Chase Shewbridge
Alyssa Soares