Meet Sasha Keable – the beautiful 25-year-old singer-songwriter who is making her mark within the competitive music world.
Hailing from south London, and from Columbian descent, Sasha describes her first big moment as featuring and touring with electronic duo, Disclosure. Although, she does tell us that she doesn’t think one big thing has made her stand out: “I don’t think one significant thing made me bigger in the industry,” she says. “I’m just constantly working to keep things moving, really.”
With her EP coming out on 26th April, we caught up with Sasha while she was on her way to do one of her favourite things – taking her dog for a walk in the park. We chatted all about the songwriting process, how important it is to be yourself in the industry and even her favourite London hang out.
“I’m an independent artist, so when you’re independent, you have to literally wake up every day and tell yourself that you’re good enough, that you’re worth it and that you deserve to be here. Honestly, just getting to this point of being able to release new music, being so happy about all of my music and being so comfortable in what I’m putting out into the world, is such a highlight for me.” – Sasha Keable
Taylor Magazine: If you want to just start by telling us about you, who you are and what you do.
Sasha Keable: I’m a singer songwriter from south London and I have a dog called Maggie!
Taylor Magazine: How did you get into the music industry? What would you describe as your big break and how did you cope getting into a very competitive world?
Sasha Keable: I think what got my name out there was when I did a track with Disclosure called ‘Voices’ – people started to know who I was a little bit more. But it’s been a long journey, I don’t think one significant thing made me bigger in the industry. I’m just constantly working to keep things moving really!
Taylor Magazine: You’ve done a lot so far, but what would you say has been your career highlight?
Sasha Keable: I don’t know if you can call it a highlight, but there’s been so many moments where I thought I’m not going to be able to do this. I’m an independent artist, so when you’re independent, you have to literally wake up every day and tell yourself that you’re good enough, that you’re worth it and that you deserve to be here. Honestly, just getting to this point of being able to release new music, being so happy about all of my music and being so comfortable in what I’m putting out into the world, is such a highlight for me.
Taylor Magazine: The music industry is known to be very challenging. What would you say are the challenges that you’ve faced personally and how have you overcome them?
Sasha Keable: Not having great support systems around you is challenging. Especially people that you work with – I’ve found that really challenging in the past. Luckily I don’t find that anymore because I sorted it all out, but having people tell you what they think you should be doing constantly, telling you what they perceive you to be and what they imagine for you, when really, you are the only one that knows what is best for yourself. There’s a lot of challenges. And generally just waking up and being like, ‘I’m good enough to be in the music industry, I’m talented enough, I can do this!’ That is just an every day struggle and challenge, but I’ve just got to crack on and keep going!
Taylor Magazine: What are you working on at the moment music wise? What sort of projects have you got going?
Sasha Keable: I’ve got an EP coming out on April 26th and I’ve got a new music video coming out next week. It’s really exciting, I’m so happy with the music video – I love it. I can’t wait for the EP to come out too, I’ll have a body of work out that I’m so happy with and I’m just so excited about it all!
Taylor Magazine: Talking about the songwriting process, how do you get into the zone and how do you typically song write?
Sasha Keable: I always say that I write songs best when I’m really sad – I can never write a song when I’m in a good mood, I always have to write when I’m in a really bad mood or when I’ve just broken up with someone. I write with just a piano so I know that the song starts amazing with nothing else – it’s just about the lyrics, the melody and how that all works together. I’ll build it from there, that’s generally how I like to work.
Taylor Magazine: What advice would you give to a young artist who’s trying to break into the industry, what would be your top piece of advice be to them?
Sasha Keable: Listen to your gut, because your gut is always right. There’s a difference between being pushed out of your comfort zone for positive reasons and being manipulated into being something that you don’t want to be, or that your not comfortable with. I would always strive for longevity and being able to be proud of something twenty years down the line. Don’t just do things for trends or for moments – do what you want to do. Every time that I haven’t listened to my gut, I’ve regretted it. Anytime that I have listened to my gut, even if it wasn’t necessarily the right decision, I know that it was the decision that made the most sense to me at the time. You know when somethings off or you know when something’s not sitting right with how you want to portray yourself, or how you want people to perceive you.
“Listen to your gut, because your gut is always right. There’s a difference between being pushed out of your comfort zone for positive reasons and being manipulated into being something that you don’t want to be, or that your not comfortable with. I would always strive for longevity and being able to be proud of something twenty years down the line. Don’t just do things for trends or for moments – do what you want to do.” – Sasha Keable
Taylor Magazine: Other than music, what do you like to do? What would you say your interests are?
Sasha Keable: I like walking my dog! I’m literally on my way to walk my dog right now – it just makes me really happy. It’s really nice to have some me-time, with my own thoughts, for a little while.
Taylor Magazine: On a similar theme, when you’re really busy or going through a really stressful time, what how you unwind?
Sasha Keable: I walk my dog for two hours a day and I just know that in that two hours, no matter what’s going on, I’m going to have time for my mind to just switch off. I think you can do that in any way, even if it’s just not looking at your phone to have some mental space or not watch a series. I like to give my brain time to switch off without actually falling asleep!
Taylor Magazine: What advice would you give to 16-year-old Sasha? If you could go back, what would you tell her?
Sasha Keable: Keep doing what you’re doing and don’t let people tell you what they think you should be, or what you are.
Taylor Magazine: So you’re from London, we’re based here too! What would you say is your favourite spot in the city Somewhere you just love to go to all the time?
Sasha Keable: There’s an amazing columbian restaurant in Brixton called El Rancho De Lalo – I always go there for food. It’s pretty local to me!
Taylor Magazine: What should we look out for long term? What are your music plans that are coming up?
Sasha Keable: The EP is coming out 26th April, and then I’m going to be doing a headline show at some point this summer too. I’m just going to be working on my music and releasing more stuff. Generally, just having a really good time!
Keep posted on Sasha’s latest music by following her on Instagram, Facebook, Twitter and YouTube.
