Let's talk about Sasha Keable! Although, she may be a fresh face in the music industry, she's no stranger to success and working hard. Her giant successes come in the form of being featured as the vocalist on Disclosure's track "Voices" and working or touring with a handful of other huge artists like Tinie Tempah or Katy B. As Sasha Keable works toward establishing herself as a solo female artist, she has already run into a few ups and downs as she is learning the ropes.
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Her first EP Black Boots, was released in October and is followed by her most recent release of her Lemongrass & Limeleaves EP on May 18th. After signing a huge 5-album deal with Polydor Records, Sasha hasn't stopped the momentum and can only be expected to pickup speed from here out. I had the opportunity to have an interview with Sasha Keable this week. We talked about developing as an artist and being so fresh on the scene with so much to prove. Read below to see what else Sasha had to say.
EARMILK: So you’re this young, emerging artist who keeps on popping up everywhere. Why don’t you start off by telling us how you got started with music and how this all started.
Sasha Keable: I first got into music when I was really young, or whatever. When I was 14, I did a gig and Tinie Tempah was playing at the gig, it was a showcase sorta thing, My friend pulled me over and wanted me to sing for him, I was like, “Ok,” and I sang for him. After that, his management contacted me and I was asked to do a bunch of gigs with him. His manager became my manager and it kind of developed from there when I started working on my own stuff. I started getting studio time and it just progressed from there, pretty much.
EM: So you’ve been working with the Disturbing London label?
SK: Yeah, yeah.
EM: What doors have opened from that? I mean, obviously plenty, but what has that experience been like?
SK: It has been amazing! Yeah, it has been an amazing experience. They are like family to me. They’ve helped me to grow and develop as an artist, so it has been great. I can’t imagine having been on this journey without them. Especially without my manager.
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EM: So you just released your Lemongrass & Limeleaves EP, congratulations on that.
SK: Thank you!
EM: Tell us about this project.
SK: For an EP, I was really happy with it. I’m really proud of it. It sort of represents my development in music and within myself as a person. In terms of my songwriting, I’ve come a long way from my Black Book EP. In terms of it being a free EP, I’m not cutting any corners because I’m giving it away for free. I still worked my ass off to get it perfect. I don’t know, I’m just hoping that people just take it and notice my development more than anything. I hope it makes people excited for the album.
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EM: What have been your greatest musical influences?
SK: I listen to so many different types of music that I couldn’t even tell you what my influences are or what specifically has inspired me. I literally get inspired by so many different things. The main genres I listen to have really solidified my love for music and I know without a doubt that I have really drawn influence from these genres. I listen to a lot of hip-hop, a lot of r&b and soul music from the 70’s and 80’s. Those are the main influences that I will listen to. It doesn’t matter the time or place, I will listen to those whenever. There are different producers and different artists from all over the place; from classical music to rock music can inspire me to some extent. I’ll go from one genre to the next in a minute or two, but hip hop, soul, and r&b are the main two that I can listen to whenever.
EM: You’ve already toured with some really great artists like Disclosure and Katy B. What did you learn from those tours?
SK: You know, Disclosure are like really efficient. They are obviously so talented, as is Katy B, but I learned the level it could get to since they’re my age. I got to see how the crowd responds to different things.
With Katy B, it was a much different experience because I was supporting her. I got to travel around and see how it all got set up and all of that good stuff. I got to see her as a solo female artist deliver her performance to the audience. And even that was really interesting, the way she would move her body even. She wouldn’t half move it, she would completely commit to every movement.
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EM: What was one of your favorite moments from your touring experiences?
SK: You know, we didn’t really have any crazy moments touring. I think that everyone thinks that touring is a massive party every night, but it is so not that. Literally, we would finish a set and go back to the hotel and sleep and just get ready for the next day because we had to save our voice. I guess one of my favorite things was with the Katy B tour, at the end, when we had a massive party at the end (laughs). Everyone was so happy and so sad at the same time because it felt like it finished so quickly. That was probably one of my favorite things because getting to that point and thinking, “Wow, we really did that.” At the beginning of the week it didn’t feel like I would ever get through it and I was so nervous. But once I did it, I just wanted to do it all over again.
EM: Rumor has it that you have signed a five album deal with Polydor, that’s huge.
SK: There’s not really much to tell. I obviously know it’s a huge thing, but I don’t know. We got the contract stuff out of the way and now we have to get on with the actual work of getting an album out. I love my team at Polydor, they are all really great. I’m very luck to have the opportunity to be signed with them, it’s so big, especially with how young I was when I signed it.
EM: What can we expect out from you for the rest of 2014? What’s next on the agenda?
SK: I’m playing a few festivals this summer. I’m probably going to be doing a few more of my own shows and then apart from that I’m going to put my head down, no, I am putting my head down and get working on the album. So, I’m probably going to be a hermit for the rest of the year, but that’s fine by me as long as the album is good and is successful.
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EM: Being so busy, must take a toll on the personal life. How do you balance your personal life with your work?
SK: It may be safe to say that I have social life (laughs). I don’t know, I try to see my friends whenever I can. They are all really understanding and know that I have work I have to do. It can get irritating at times when I really want to do something on a week day – or when all of my friends are back from university. They can go out whenever they want and just party 24/7. Then I’m over here like, “Yeah, I can’t come out tonight. I have studio tomorrow or a shoot tomorrow or whatever.” But I’m happy doing that, it doesn’t bug me too much because I’m out here thinking about that end goal.
EM: We’re expecting some great things from you in the future. Do you have any last comments for EARMILK readers?
SK: Stay tuned! And to anyone who does actually like my music, “Thanks!”
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