Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Sonez. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.

Sonez, appreciate you joining us today. 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.

Simply put, I’m an artist. A recording artist, visual artist, and performing artist to name a few, but I essentially just create art based on what inspires me with the intention that it inspires you too.

My most gratifying creation as of late has been my most recent song – a melodic house track called “The Moment”, which I wrote alongside my talented friend and producer, Hyperbits. After connecting over a shared experience amidst the pandemic, we created a song that talks about what it feels like to break through moments of pain and overcome darkness.

The most unexpected part of this song was how it allowed me to explore my skillset when it came to the visual aspect of what I do. I conceptualized, shot, and designed the artwork/visuals for the song myself and felt so pleased with how everything turned out. I love to celebrate this because creating visuals used to be a really daunting part of being a musician for me. Ironically, visuals are sometimes more important than your music when you’re first starting out because lot of people won’t even go listen to your music until they see something that captures their interest first. In the past, I remember I used to be so exhausted by the time I would finish a song that I barely had the energy to fine tune my visuals in the same way I would my music. So the fact that I had so much energy and fun creating the artwork for “The Moment”, made me really happy and spoke to how much I’ve grown in my art.

Though, I have to say, I think the absolute best part about this song has been the way I’ve seen it resonating with listeners. I’ve been putting my art out into the world for well over a decade now, so watching things grow to new heights has been deeply gratifying. Not only did “The Moment” get me on the radio for the first time (shoutout to Ferry Corsten’s Resonation Radio!), but it also led to over 100K streams from all around the world within the first couple months of its release.

Needless to say, I am feeling very excited to see where all this takes me next!

Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Can you talk to us about how you learned to do what you do?

To be honest, sometimes I have no idea how I learned to do what I do! I never got formally trained in making music, though I grew up taking lessons and courses here and there. I used to feel regretful that I never got the chance to really go deep with my music education, but in hindsight, I wouldn’t change a thing because I see now how everything actually worked out in my favor.

Being self-taught, in many ways, taught me how to honor my instincts and my preferences because I didn’t always have someone to guide me. It also allowed me to push myself creatively by learning how to seek out information relevant to what I was making. I have a suspicion that if I would have gotten formally educated from the beginning, I wouldn’t have felt as free to explore, make mistakes and figure things out for myself.

That being said, I think the greatest skill to have as an artist is an understanding of your intuition. I know that sounds super abstract, but all that really means is just trusting yourself, how things make you feel, and noticing what lights you up. Second to that, I think the other most valuable skill is an understanding of business. Selling and marketing art, in my opinion, is not the same as selling a traditional product, especially if you’re an independent artist. However, if you have an awareness for how both art and business work, it’s a lot easier to make decisions that protect your creative spirit while also getting your art out there into the world.

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.

Sometimes I feel that non-creatives have a hard time understanding how much time, effort, and focus is involved in creating art. Whether it be making a song, preparing a performance, or creating visuals, since the end product is meant to entertain, it’s sometimes assumed that the process of creating the art is just as entertaining as the experience of the art itself.

The truth is, there’s so much work involved that no one sees. I’ve grown to love that aspect of being an artist, but early on it was really difficult because I had to realize that non-creatives probably would never perceive my work as valid until I gained massive, outward success. I understand why they might think that way because you can never really know what goes into releasing music until you’ve done it yourself, but that’s why I really don’t focus on people’s opinions of me anymore. As long as I’m cultivating inspiration, creating my art and sharing it, my work is just as valid as any other multi platinum, grammy award winning artist.

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

The most rewarding part of being a creative is that I get to be myself. I have spent so much of my life in situations where I wasn’t able to express myself fully, so I’m deeply grateful that my identity now as a person is in line with who I really am as an artist. It didn’t happen overnight, but I can confidently say that the second I stopped concerning myself with anyone’s judgement of me was the moment I was able to enjoy all of the freedom that comes with being an artist too.

I also love that I get to meet and relate to so many different types of people through my art. Whether it be people I collaborate with (photographers, writers, producers, etc) or the people who enjoy my music, I don’t think I would have had the opportunity to connect with people of so many varying backgrounds and talents if I was in any other field.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.iamsonez.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/iamsonez/
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@iamsonez