We were lucky to catch up with Sam Valladares recently and have shared our conversation below.

Sam, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today Can you talk to us about how you learned to do what you do?

I’m a singer-songwriter now, but until I was 15-16 I had zero interest in creating anything music related. I was focused on visual arts like drawing. My interest in music and the musical learning process was a product of the troubles of the teenage years, my shyness, and my need to express myself. I had a lot of emotions and imaginations that couldn’t be captured by what I could draw and I that I felt couldn’t be communicated to people I knew, so I turned to poems I wrote in private. At the time I loved listening to music but didn’t think of myself being capable of writing it until I saw what I could write in poems and liked it. So I took a leap of faith. Using a guitar I was given, and lessons from my dad, I started humming along melodies as I brainstormed lyrics inspired by the poems I was penning and the thoughts I was having. Before I knew it, I had not only a song, but a rush of adrenaline that I’ve been chasing ever since. To speed up my learning curve, I could have spent more time studying music theory. These days I’m actually learning that side of music and am looking forward to the payoff. I think this learning will increase my potential. The two obstacles I think I’ve battled most are 1) time, and 2) self-consciousness. Time is ruthless: we only get so much, and every day I contend with it, trying to make the best of what I am given. Self-consciousness stems from feeling like you’re not able enough or will be judged for what you do, say, or believe. It translates into embarrassment for what you write or post. I’m not gonna lie, it has given me pause to some actions that would have benefitted me, but I’m tired of wondering about what could have been and am ready to embrace what can be.

Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.

As a singer-songwriter/musician I think the problems I solve are absence of hope and absence of belonging. Songs are opportunities to make people feel better about something, giving them hope, or feel heard and understood. For example, when you listen to a great love song you feel like you’ve been there before (belonging) or feel like you will experience that one day in your own way (hope). If I can satisfy my need to express myself while satisfying other people’s need to feel hope and belonging, then I’ve done my job well. That can’t happen if the song is bad though because then the poor quality overshadows the message, therefore writing, production, and performance are all critical. Now that I’ve put together my home recording studio, I’m learning a lot about how to record, compose, and produce music that effectively conveys what I want to say to the listener, and I’m really looking forward to releasing new music in 2025 and beyond.
While I work on my 2nd and 3rd EP and 1st album in 2025 and 2026, I’d just like people to know that I’ve got you. I’ve spent years collecting the songs I’m producing and accumulating the skills that I now have, and you should know that I’m holding nothing back and that these songs are for you.

Is there something you think non-creatives will struggle to understand about your journey as a creative?

I’ve been thinking a lot about what creativity means lately. I have a very technical career that you wouldn’t think would be creative at all yet without my creative thinking I don’t think I’d be as proficient as I am. I think it’s ironic to put a box on what creativity is, and I tend to think everyone is creative in spectacularly unique ways. Unless you go through life not trying to do much of anything, I don’t believe you are a non-creative. So, any lessons I’ve learned in music are probably very applicable to many other people even though they went through different trials and had different outcomes.
One of the things I’ve struggled with is imposter syndrome. This is not exclusive to music by the way. When I started my technical career, I felt the same way. I don’t think you can think your way out of imposter syndrome and still be authentic. The best you can do is identify what you’re lacking that makes you feel that way, and work hard to fix it. For my career that meant learning database software and product details. For my music that meant learning recording software and how to sing better. If I gaslit myself into thinking I’m “all that” and someone I’m not, then in the back of my mind I think I’d have imposter syndrome on steroids, and I think that if that’s your way of getting passed imposter syndrome then you might be in for a big crash out down the road. I want to get better at my craft, and become the best me so that one day I can be sure that I’ve done the absolute best I could and have no reason to feel lacking or regretful.

Looking back, are there any resources you wish you knew about earlier in your creative journey?

There is a resource I knew about earlier that I should have been using more along the way. I hate to sound like I’m being objectifying, but that resource is people. Leveraging teamwork, collaboration, and even hiring can help you go even further than you can on your own. I’ve tended to be very independent and self-sufficient, handling everything on my own with little help. But when you look at artists who are working at the level you want to be, you see that they have a team behind them handling stuff so that they can do what the main point of everything is: music. I’ve spent a lot of time learning ads, social media content, photo editing, video editing, website building, marketing, newsletters, etc., and as an independent artist you will need to learn the basics on those things, but I probably spent too much time which took away from practice, recording and performing. I’ve halfway through shooting a music video for “I Need to Know It’s You”, and unlike my last music video “Never Be the Same”, this time I’m getting help from my parents to film. This way I’m striking more of a balance between what I do and what others can do. For an upcoming music video, I’m considering hiring someone to do the filming and editing. Collaborating like this is not only more fun than I thought it would be, it’s also saving me time and producing a more creative outcome.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://samsmusichub.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/legitsamv/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/legitsamv/
• Twitter: https://x.com/legitsamv/
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/user/samsmusichub?sub_confirmation=1/
• Soundcloud: https://soundcloud.com/sam-valladares
• Other: Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/artist/6A1zPQqV8NjheqNRfWc6Xu