When did you realize that you wanted to be an artist/fashionista?
All my life I’ve had an attraction to doing things in a different way. I never wanted to look like someone else, never wanted to share my fashion secrets or my music because I had attached so much emotion in creating whatever piece it was or if were music it would never just be a song, for me. I was never like my friends and for a while that was a struggle for me internally. Sometimes I would even sacrifice my own desires to wear certain pieces in order to skip out on the ‘reading’ sessions. That still didn’t stop me from trying it sometimes though, I remember I would go to the nearest arts and crafts store which for me was ‘Michaels’ (laughs) and would go crazy getting little things to add to my clothes to make them different but then I would also go to Sam Ash, the Virgin Music Store, Guitar Center and I would feel like I was in heaven. No matter what, fashion and music have always been my life. Like I could sit in these stores for the rest of my life and be okay. That’s how much I loved creating and these stores gave me all the tools I needed.
I have always been a magnet to everything that dealt with the arts. But my biggest passion was singing and even though I’ve been singing since the age of 5, I didn’t know that I wanted to pursue being a singer until my 9th grade year in high school. This is why after graduating I ran straight to NYC all by lonesome (giggles) to pursue music. I was way to young to be running off to the Big Apple as a teen with a part time job at the GAP, making minimum wage. New York City was a monster and I’m not going to lie it almost ate me alive. But only after 6 months of being there, thankfully, so many doors opened for me and it was an amazing feeling to be carefree and pursue music with no walls or barriers. NYC was giving me all the life and opportunities needed in order to grind and continue to grind even when I had not a dollar to my name and had to sing on the train with my friends for food. That part never made me feel sad because I never knew how ‘low’ I was because I never had LOW thoughts, I knew that where I was, was temporary and only for the sole purpose of learning the lessons needed to be successful and to grow and to evolve. Crazy thing is I never felt bad for it, it felt so good to grind for my money while doing what I love. I looked at singing on the trains as my stage per say for that chapter in my life. Today, I have experienced so many different things which I won’t even dive into but it has given me a different appreciation for life.
As of late, I am in the studio recording my album and will be performing in Manhattan, Monday, February at 7PM
Rockwood Music Hall, Stage 1.
What inspired your new album?
I had a full album done and ready to go and visuals that my fiancé (Michael Mann) had helped me out with for my release but after the tragedy that happened I no longer connected to the old music. I have so much more to say and so much pinned up aggression that I knew my only healthy escape would be to express it on my debut album. Which will be entitled, Steven my birth name.
It symbolizes me going back to my roots to find myself again.
How’s life after losing a loved one?
Life after losing a loved one has been very up and down for me. As of recent, I’ve drowned myself in work because I know that is where I’m safest right now. When you know yourself and you want better you keep yourself away from danger. Right now dead time is danger for me so I’m always moving. My heart is in constant pain but I’m learning to live with it. It is a battle I have yet to conquer but I know with time I’ll be fine.
