We were lucky to catch up with Sara Sangfelt recently and have shared our conversation below.

Sara, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. When did you first know you wanted to pursue a creative/artistic path professionally?

I’ve always loved singing, writing, and performing, it’s brought so much love and joy to my life. But it wasn’t until the age of 17 when I started working at an orphanage in the city of Awassa, Ethiopia, that I decided to commit to a music career.

The children taught me the real importance of music, and how it works as a universal language that just about anyone can speak. Music in many ways is a great way of communicating with each other, even though you might not speak the same language.

Seeing how much my songs meant to the kids, how they would sing along even though they didn’t understand much English, filled my heart and from then on I knew I needed to keep creating.

Sara, 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?

At the age of 18, I was handpicked to be a part of the TV show “Swedish Idol” (equivalent to American Idol) and that’s when my artist career really took off. After becoming one of the finalists I got signed to a record label in Sweden. It was a bit of a rollercoaster in the beginning, having no music education, being self-taught in every aspect, yet getting thrown into sessions with real professionals and working with people who had such high expectations of you. It made me question who I was as an artist and where I wanted to take my career.

It also taught me a lot of hard lessons yet gave me the tools to become a professional songwriter and singer myself.

And down the road I decided to study music as well, to be able to connect all of the dots, bringing together what I knew as a self-taught musician, with what I learned during my education. This path lead me to my career as a singer/songwriter.

I now work with fellow singers, songwriters, and producers from all over the world as an independent artist creating toplines (vocal melodies and lyrics) and recording vocals, creating unique catchy songs, and releasing music under my name “Sara Sangfelt” and my alias “Scarlett”. My collaborators typically describe me as an expert singer with a unique raspy, smokey voice and a talent for writing raw and deep heartfelt stories.

I’m extremely proud of myself for being brave enough to commit to a music career knowing the music business isn’t the easiest. It has taught me so much about myself, from writing stories about experiences and past memories to collaborating with like-minded people. It’s taught me to believe in myself, and my craft and keep fighting for it even when times are tough. I’m grateful for all the adventures it has given me so far, and I can’t wait to see what the future holds.

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

The most rewarding aspect of being an artist is hearing from listeners that the music you have created has helped them in so many different ways while; going through hard times, challenges, ups, and downs. Hearing that my music has helped them process whatever they’ve been going through and made them feel like they’re not alone with their thoughts. That means the world to me!

We’d love to hear a story of resilience from your journey.

During my life, I’ve had various ups and down, starting in my childhood when the other kids in my class didn’t like my outgoing personality. They would always try to get in my head and make me feel like I wasn’t good enough, never giving me the chance to stand out, and always laughed when I was given the opportunity to sing and perform. After years of letting it affect me, I decided I wasn’t gonna let it influence me anymore by pursuing my dream career as a singer. There are times when their words and the shame from it still gets in my head but I take it upon myself to be stronger than that and with every success, I feel like I’m proving them wrong – You can truly do anything you put your mind to. I’m never gonna stop writing and recording music. And I know some of them are listening to it.

Contact Info:

• Website: sarasangfelt.com
• Instagram: @sarasangfelt
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/sangfelt/

Image Credits
Julia Håkansson, Rasmus Saari, Peter Sahlin, George Hanson