If you’re a fan of catchy, cathartic pop tunes then there’s no better recommendation than Northern Irish songstress Sasha Samara. Poised with a romantic zest for life, her indie pop anthems bring a warmth we just can’t get enough of - so let’s get to know her!
“I have loved singing my whole life,” beams Sasha. On starting out, she explains, “I got into music very late - I had been doing a degree in illustration and graphic design, and then when I graduated when I was 21 I really sort of fell in love with songwriting. After I graduated I applied for Scratch My Progress and I was like ooh maybe this is something I could potentially find a community in and make a career out of. Scratch My Progress at the Oh Yeah centre is a talent development programme, I was very luckily accepted onto that and that got the momentum going for me.”
Like many young artists, arts funding can be vital in the early days of their career. Sasha comments, “I don’t think I would be where I am without The Oh Yeah Centre and the people who work there, who are all really generous with their time and with their wisdom. There are so many barriers to the music industry across the board. There are a lot of gatekeepers and a lot of things that you just wouldn’t know and you can’t google - it’s hard to understand and without something like the Oh Yeah centre I would have really struggled to find my feet in the beginning.”
Becoming known for her big vocals and even bigger personality, Sasha describes her sound, “I would say it if you had a Venn diagram of Taylor Swift, Hayley Williams and Maggie Rogers, I think I would like to place myself in the middle of it. In terms of vibes, the indie sort of electronica vibes of Maggie Rogers and the heart of Taylor Swift and maybe sort of more of the vocal stylings of Hayley Williams.”
On her writing process, Sasha explains, “It’s definitely changed over the years from the point where I started writing, which was really sort of trying to process difficult emotions, coming out of difficult relationships and that sort of thing, whereas now when you’re writing songs because you want it to be your job - the process can be quite different. It usually always just starts with analysing where I’m at at the minute and trying to figure out what I would like to process and what I would like to say, and figuring out the melodies and imagery that really captures that feeling. I’m always writing for myself as a therapeutic tool but I also want my songs to serve people the way that all of my favourite artists have served me and my heart when I’ve been in difficult situations.”
Bringing all the glitz and charm to the stage, Sasha’s live shows are not to be missed. “I love chatting to my audience,” she laughs, “I play big pop bangers so dancing, shenanigans, probably some sort of sparkly or ridiculously goofy outfit and all the fun vibes is what I’m trying to bring. I love performing, I think it’s maybe my favourite part of being an artist.”
On her career thus far, Sasha recalls, “I released my first single - and then covid happened. So from there, it sort of gave me an opportunity to slow down and think about the kind of music I wanted to make and then I guess I spent the rest of that time up until now writing songs and figuring out who I wanted to be as an artist and just try to teach myself as much as I possibly can, just coming from someone who doesn’t have a formal music education but just really loves the craft.”
Rising up and making her mark on the Belfast scene, Sasha muses, “I think there’s less happening since covid. Everyone is having to grapple with the fact that people don’t go out quite as much and everything’s really expensive to do. So from a musician's perspective, I think there’s a lot less happening just because it’s less accessible, but for the most part, the scene is incredible! Everyone’s usually bringing their A-game and you can expect really engaging performances from people for sure. I think it’s competitive in terms of that there are a lot of people going for a limited pool of opportunity, but I personally don’t feel a sense of competition from the music scene here, like we’re not all at each other throats trying to get the opportunities available."
On the year ahead, Sasha teases, “I really wanna take this year to establish and sort of find out who I am even more. My first EP was very exciting to make so I’m just excited to make more music. I’m in the studio at the minute so you can expect a new single sooner than you could possibly anticipate!”