We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Sarey Savy. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Sarey below.
Alright, Sarey thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. When did you first know you wanted to pursue a creative/artistic path professionally?
I would say when I was about 12 years old officially. Growing up, I wanted to be a video game designer – help with character creation and animation for any console. That changed when I was enrolled in Choir for the first time in 3rd grade. When it happened, It wasn’t much in the beginning for me until more and more people started to tell me I had a singing voice. After 3 years, I was introduced to Cubase and FL Studio. I remember sitting down and learning from an engineer who had formerly worked with an Indie label at the time about the possibilities of what I could create. When I started experimenting and writing my original music at the age of 12, I knew this was something I wanted to do for the rest of my life.
Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers.
My career has led me down multiple different paths! It’s been a crazy ride. I guess you could say I’ve had multiple experiences where I thought to myself “This is going to change my life.” Haha! Every time I thought I had my foot in the door, something happened that felt like closed it. A lot of my fans don’t know this, but I’ve been signed numerous times before I released a song called Games with Chris River & Pards that would later propel me to work with both indie and major labels, chart on different iTunes Dance Charts around the world, included in editorial playlists on different DSPs, and radio airplay in various countries.
When I was 15 years old, I signed a deal with a label in California – that didn’t work out. When I was 16, I signed a management deal that would ultimately also not work out. I had worked with various labels, writing songs for other artists and things of that nature trying to prove myself to industry tastemakers and power players within the industry. I did this for years independently – not really taking big risks on myself and releasing music casually not seriously until I was about 23 years old. I heavily debated quitting music because I was tired of getting nowhere and what’s crazy is I had just left a music event and was on the Explore page on Instagram. I saw a thumbnail of a producer named Chris River that interested me so I looked around his profile and heard he did House music. I DMed him and told him I loved his music. He messaged me back and before I knew it, we got to work and released the single Games. That song went on to do great things for me that led to more opportunities that I had been only dreaming of at that point.
From there on, I worked with the likes of Soave Records, Loudkult/Sony, and received support from some of the biggest artists in House music internationally! I used that momentum to go back into my roots and what I grew up on – Pop and R&B music and released music independently. I’m huge on advocating for mental health and empowerment through my lyricism and hyper-focus on writing songs that are about my personal experiences. Whether it’s good, bad, or ugly, I don’t shy away and give fans (my Sarenaders) a glimpse into my life with an intimate lens.
Is there something you think non-creatives will struggle to understand about your journey as a creative? Maybe you can provide some insight – you never know who might benefit from the enlightenment.
I think to some degree, the average consumer of music and fans who pay attention to what’s happening to the music industry may not wholeheartedly grasp the adaptiveness and flexibility artists need to have to be able to build a sustainable career. Being an artist is not just the social media posts you see of us celebrating our accomplishments – there are so many things that people don’t know what came before that. I’ve been doing this for over 12+ years and to say it’s a grind is a huge understatement and burnout is real. Think about it for a second – having to constantly think about the future is the name of the game for serious artists. Whether it’s creating and scheduling social media posts, spending months working on the promo plan of a single or project, doing photoshoots, shooting music videos, or investing money into our craft, rehearsing and prepping for shows, the industry is always changing! There’s always something to do and it’s hard to relax and find time to do other things because music is never really done.
Learning and unlearning are both critical parts of growth – can you share a story of a time when you had to unlearn a lesson?
Finding the balance between people who genuinely want to see you win and people who just want to ride the wave with you to use you is a story that’s extremely common in the music world. I don’t like to say it because I’m such a people person – but be cautious of who you keep around and who asks you for things. I learned the hard way that being too nice, too giving, and too accessible puts you in a position to be taken for granted and taken advantage of. So don’t do it. Don’t compromise who you naturally are, but don’t bend over backward for everyone because you don’t truly know people’s motives.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://sareymusic.com
- Instagram: https://Instagram.com/sareymusic
- Facebook: https://Facebook.com/Sareymusic
- Twitter: https://Twitter.com/SareySavy
- Youtube: https://Youtube.com/c/SareySavy
- Other: Learn more about Sarey and stream his music here: https://vibe.to/sareysavy.
Image Credits
Black and white photography by Fartsox. Studio Images by Russ Byrne