Artist Interview: SHAB
We got the amazing opportunity to speak with the wildly talented SHAB! We discuss her video for Dolce Vita that just dropped (that you can watch here)! But we also talked about what projects she has in the works. And what it was like to change her career path and follow her dreams! So keep reading to check out what SHAB had to say!
What was it like working with Damon Sharpe?
In short, it has been both a career and personal blessing to have Damon Sharpe introduced into my life. We have now collaborated together on more than 20 songs. Including a full second album that will not be released in full until later in 2023.
Damon is both patient and demanding. He is patient in the sense that is glad to educate a promising newcomer to the music business, such as I was five years ago. But demanding insofar as his busy schedule leaves little time for an unfruitful effort period. It did not take long for Damon and I to learn each other’s strengths and peculiarities – and we have very much bonded into a team over the last several years.
Your new song, Dolce Vita, was just released. What’s something you hope those listening to it gain from the lyrics and message?
Dolce Vita is a song about enjoying the immediacy of life. People with ambition and drive are often so focused on the achievement of their dreams. Sometimes they fail to appreciate the beauty of the life that they are currently leading. It ties in with the fundamental Zen concept of being perfectly at ease and comfortable with the present moment. In life, we probably spend too much time concerned about trivial matters that have no bearing on our future lives. Enjoy today, the people in your life that are meaningful to you. Enjoy the present, the places that you visit, the food that you eat in the sunshine that rests on your face. For these enjoyments will soon be in the past.
Your debut album, Infinite Love, has received critical acclaim and has done amazing! How did it feel to have your first album do so well?
To be blunt, in retrospect it is shocking to me that we were able to produce a debut of such quality and conviction. As I hear these songs now almost two years after the initial release, it is greatly pleasing that the songs continue to hold up as compositions – and here including the five songs on Infinite Love that I composed together with Damon & Eric Sanicola, which were the very first songs for which I was a co-writer.
While I have progressed In my musical sensibility since that first album – which was largely completed during 2020 – I am unabashedly proud of the manner in which these songs continue to ring the war as fresh and thoughtful more than three years later.
When did you know that you were meant to write and perform music?
There was probably no Eureka! moment when I realized I truly could become a full-time singer-songwriter. Music had always been part of my life. But the thought of pursuing a career in music professionally really hadn’t occurred to me until perhaps five years ago. At first, it was probably more of an investigation into whether making music appealed to me as a full-time quest. But it was probably in the aftermath of listening to the final pre-master mix of Spell On Me. Which was the first song of mine that I co-wrote. That’s when I began to realize maybe a musical career was an attainable goal.
Image via Spotify
Is there a specific process you go through when it comes to writing songs?
The songwriting process that Damon and I have refined over the years has become pretty much – and maybe, TOO –standardized. First, I’ll formulate overriding themes for song concepts and script narrative stylings meant as suggestions for Damon’s focus. Once Damon has received my initial work, he, and typically Eric Sanicola will develop a rhythm structure. And some basic melody to frame up the rudiments of the song. Thereafter, we work on the elements of the composition. Until a point when Damon can make a demo version of the song. And after working a bit more on this framework, I get into the studio with Damon to record the work. And at which time we make our final edits and changes to the tune.
However, and toward changing things up a bit, during 2023 we are hoping to conduct one or more songwriting camps wherein we bring together other songwriters and producers towards seeing what type of content we might generate out of such a group dynamic.
What was it like to leave law school behind and pursue your passions full-time?
Well, you have to understand a few realities here.
First, dropping out of law school was an absolute no-brainer for me. Within a couple of months having started my legal training, I knew that becoming a lawyer did not appeal to my sensibilities. Now that isn’t anything to suggest that I don’t value the people who do practice law: and indeed, my guy once upon a time was an outrageously high-priced Wall Street lawyer and I love the way that his mind works. It’s just that my brain does not process life in that manner.
But secondly, there was almost a decade of passage between the time that I dropped out of law school and when I later decided to pursue music as a career. And during that passage of time, I was engaged with my family and their various businesses while at the same time trying to figure out who I was as a young woman. And I am very happy with most of the choices that I made during that timeframe.
Yet for all those other young gals out there who find themselves in similar circumstances, my advice to them is: be patient with yourselves. Take your time to figure out what you want to do with your lives. You are worth it.
Do you have any advice for other moms who are trying to juggle parenthood and their own passions?
Nike said it best: JUST DO IT. There’s nothing in life greater than being able to immerse yourself in the daily life of your children while devoting your professional attention to a vocation you’d pursue for free. Now I’m not naïve to think every woman can strike the balance between work and motherhood I’ve been able to achieve. But I have too many friends in different professions and with different responsibilities to believe anything other than that motherhood and professional achievement can be completely complementary and compatible. So don’t allow anyone else to tell you otherwise. As to varying degrees, you CAN have it all.
Do you have any other upcoming projects in the works that you can share?
There are a bunch of things happening in the next few months!
First, the supporting video for my new single Dolce Vita will be released at the end of February. What is particularly cool about the video is we shot it using only my family’s locations and props in Dallas.
Next, we will be releasing two singles during late Spring and early Summer 2023. One of these songs, Indestructible, was included in the set that I performed throughout Europe and Britain on my recent 2022 tour, and the song received terrific reception when played live.
Image via Radio Javan
The other song is going to be quite a departure from my past work as it’s a collaboration with the legendary hip-hop artist Fat Joe. We took the rhythm track from his iconic club hit Lean Back and layered both the lyrics from my first single Spell On Me together with a new rap by Joe into this incredible mashup that we are calling VooDoo. And the video which Joe and I did to support the single was produced on a Hollywood cityscape film set with an army of dancers. So it will be the grandest production we’ve ever done on video.
Thereafter we will be going on tour again overseas during the summer and fall of 2023. I know I’ll be in Britain for maybe ten appearances during May. And anticipate returning for at least two more outdoor festivals in England and Wales during July. Moreover, we’re developing plans for my first North American tour during the latter half of 2023. Which I am hoping will include a dozen and a half club dates located all across the country.
Moreover, at some point during the summer of 2023, I will be releasing my second album. Which will be called Euphoria and will include five or six songs that my fans have not yet heard.
Finally, I anticipate being back in the studio during March and April with a view toward expanding upon the new musical direction that you will hear in my upcoming album.
So it will be a full schedule!
Have you checked out SHAB’s Dolce Vita video that just dropped? If you haven’t, you can check it out here! What do you think of all her upcoming projects? Are you as excited as we are for all of her upcoming projects? And what she has in the works with Fat Joe? You can find and follow us on Twitter and Instagram to talk all things SHAB! Be sure to check out our site for more articles on all things Disney and beyond!
