Sarah Brindell: The Alchemist of Sound

At what moment did you realize that music was what you wanted to pursue?

This is an interesting question because I was born into music. I don’t remember not wanting to pursue it in some form. My mother is a professional musician, she plays cello and is just retiring this month from the San Francisco Symphony after 44 years. My father played French horn in the San Francisco Opera and Ballet orchestras for over 40 years. Classical music was my parents’ livelihood. Not only that, I have various aunts and uncles in orchestras all over the world. I can say that it took me till my early twenties to realize that I wanted to be a songwriter, and that changed my life. With a classical music upbringing, after always being told what to sing or how to interpret other peoples’ music, making stuff up was super fun for me. Because I wasn’t reading notation on a page, or learning someone else’s song, songwriting felt like freedom: I was making something out of nothing… I was breaking the “rules” of music established in my family, and that was fun.

What inspires you to write?

Living life and feeling the emotions that go along with it is always inspiring to me: Love, loss, fear, the things my kids say, even random sounds I hear like car radio noises driving past or birds chirping.

What led you to create your latest single, “Horizon Eyes”, and what is the main message you hope to convey with this song?

The lyrics are about a young person I love, who is struggling to grow up and live on their own after undergoing a really rough start to life.

I had this image in my head, of a person’s eyes staring out at the lights reflecting on the ocean, lost in the horizon, lost in thought instead of recognizing the ocean’s tide slowly coming in and eventually surrounding them and pulling them out to sea. It was meant to be a symbol for how we all tend to get lost in trying to change the future instead of focusing on how we can be in the present. It’s meant to be an ambiguous ending to the story, as to whether the person in the song just goes for a swim or actually perishes in the waves… I wanted to keep it open to interpretation.

The recording process of the song took place in Switzerland, Jamaica and the United States.

What challenges and advantages did you encounter while recording in so many different locations?

The challenges I faced had to do with the fact that I am not a great guitar player. I’ve been studying the music of Joao Gilberto forever, and I’m trained as a pianist, so nylon string guitar is something I’ve recently picked up and done my best to capture a bit of the essence of Gilberto, without having as much expertise or experience. I originally had the song in the wrong key for my voice, because it was easier to play on guitar. In Zurich, my friend Pablo Miguez, a wonderful nylon string guitar player, helped me to change the key and work on the form; however, because I was still uncertain about the groove of the song, we ended up not using his guitar tracks. The song evolved from the rhythm I came up with, but eventually that rhythm was played by the drums. Once we established the right groove - we sent the track to Danny Mo, who laid down a fantastic bass line - Earl “Chinna” Smith then tracked some amazing acoustic guitar parts in Kingston. The challenge was that I had worked so hard to get myself and my family to Zurich in order to record Pablo Miguez on guitar, but unfortunately didn’t understand what the song needed until afterward.

Your music has influences from jazz, soul and bossa nova. How do you manage to blend these genres so seamlessly in your compositions?

I grew up with so many influences musically, from classical to soul to bossa to jazz to hip hop and beyond. Because of all of these influences, I’ve been able to musically evolve over the years and create a sound that I feel captures them.

Of all the songs you've written and performed, which one do you identify with the most right now?

I know this sounds like an obvious answer, but I identify the most with Horizon Eyes because it is a conglomerate of all my previous work. And, because the message of the song is currently meaningful for me. Also, new original songs are like births - they’re always super special to songwriters, haha.

Personal transformation and growth are a constant thing happening in my world.

What are some of the musical influences that have impacted you the most throughout your career, and how are they reflected in your music?

Stevie Wonder is first and foremost my all time biggest musical influence. When I first heard Stevie, I was 9 years old, and in my parent’s house, the only music I’d heard up until that point was classical and jazz. Hearing him for the first time for me was like being blessed by an angel. With my classical upbringing and so many hours clocked in listening to Stevie, I think this gave me my harmonic sensibilities. I am also continually inspired by “música popular brasileira” - the popular music of Brazil including samba and bossa nova. Though I am not from Brazil, I hope to honor some of the musical traditions, with my own adapted stylistic approach. For decades, the music from songwriters like Antonio Carlos Jobim and musicians like Joao Gilberto has so deeply touched my soul to a point of wanting to get inside the music and learn everything I can from it.

What projects await you in 2024?

I do a lot of songwriting for other artists as well, and currently I’m working on a song for the upcoming roots reggae album called “Higher Education”, produced by Nathan through Naya Records. I’m also a professor of songwriting at Berklee College of Music, and I get to take a sabbatical soon, so that will be a chance to really focus on my music.

Which song holds significant meaning in your life right now?

I have been listening a lot to Hiatus Kaiyote’s recent release “Everything’s Beautiful” I guess it has really had an impact on me, I love the groove, I love the freedom in Nai Palm’s voice, I love the message of the song, and basically anything that the band plays sounds beautiful to me. Finding healing and beauty in moments of suffering is my charge as a person and a songwriter, and that song is like therapy for me.

Your lyrics often address themes of personal transformation and growth. How do you find inspiration to write about these themes, and what do they mean to you?

Personal transformation and growth are a constant thing happening in my world. I am a professor and a mother, constantly connecting with, assisting, comforting, and hopefully helping young people to grow. I find inspiration in knowing that I don’t have to write from an autobiographical perspective.

Is there an artist you'd like to collaborate with in the future?

Hiatus Kaiyote! Although I’d probably just gush at how great they are the whole time.

How do you see the evolution of your music in the future? Is there any genre or style you would like to explore further?

I would like to keep exploring jazz and the traditional popular music of Brazil, in hopes of accomplishing things on the nylon string guitar I have yet to accomplish.

How do you think the music industry has changed since you started your career, and what role does technology play in your creative process?

This is such a large question. Napster was a peer-to-peer file sharing application primarily associated with digital audio file distribution, founded in 1999. It was the dawn of the digital download and streaming age.

We have now come to an age when anyone can record and release music. This is an amazing opportunity on one end, and on another, it’s completely upended the music industry. Since streaming platforms really took off, we are now living in a kind of a “post-apocalyptic music industry where people can easily release their own music without gatekeepers (record labels, producers, managers, etc.), though only a select few actually make a sustainable living from streaming their own music.

What message would you like to leave your fans with as they listen to your latest single?

I would hope that listeners will hear their own stories in the lyrics of my songs. I would love to inspire people to be themselves and let the music take them on their own journey.