A great song can be healing. It can provide a much needed boost of confidence. It can serve as a congratulatory pat on the back when things go great, or a comforting back rub when life is the polar opposite. Who knows, it might just help restore your faith in humanity. A great song can also be all you need to get through your day, and 18-year-old singer/songwriter Stephen Sanchez is putting his best foot forward with his debut EP What Was, Not Now.
As a kid, the sounds of legendary artists such as Frank Sinatra and Nat King Cole would fuel Stephen’s dreams of being able to create his own masterpieces. Although, perhaps his biggest inspiration was right within his family. Stephen’s grandpa was a musician himself, and Stephen got to catch him in action every year on his family trips to Oregon. “Every time we’d go up there, he’d pull out a guitar and start singing songs that he wrote, or he’d start playing piano and sing songs that he wrote,” he recalls. “It was an amazing time, and all those tiny moments that would happen once a year really stuck out to me… and I wanted to do that for a long time!”
After having closely observed a classmate’s wicked ukulele playing skills in elementary school, Stephen knew it was time to make a move. His family gave him his own ukulele as a Christmas present that year, and he became a master of the instrument himself. As Stephen started learning how to play many more instruments and write his own songs, his family had his back every step of the way.
In June 2020, Stephen decided to test the waters of social media. He posted a cover of Cage The Elephant’s “Cigarette Day Dreams” on TikTok, and was in for the surprise of his life. In a very short period of time, the clip received over 100k views, and his follower count began to increase exponentially.
“For a long time, I was just playing at hot dog places,” he says. “People would show up, maybe some people would clap, maybe some people wouldn’t. I think receiving validation or applause in such a BIG way over something that was like… my first time really ever exploring anything through social media, or trying to release an audience that big in that way… that was pretty insane. I felt very underserving of that, and it was really amazing.”
As Stephen’s new fanbase grew hungry for more tunes, he decided to post a snippet of his own original song “Lady By The Sea.” It caught the attention of multiplatinum singer and songwriter Jeremy Zucker, who reached out to Stephen with an offer to produce the official version. Once it was completed and released into the world, it quickly surpassed 4 million streams on Spotify.
In the midst of it all, Stephen was getting ready to sign a deal with a record label. He remembers having “meeting after meeting with just ridiculous names that I can’t believe I can say.” He made Republic Records his new home, and quickly started looking for producers and engineers to help bring his visions to life. The honors went to Ian Fisher, who worked diligently with Stephen throughout the entire process of creating his debut EP from October 2020 to January 2021.
“It’s a bit long overdue,” Stephen laughs. “I’m a bit of a perfectionist, and I just wanted the first thing I ever put out to be exactly how I want it.”
Perhaps the most important aspect of the journey for Stephen was being able to share a piece of his heart with those he cares about. From the co-writes to the recording sessions, deep emotional connections were formed between everyone involved and the songs themselves. Stephen gushes, “Being able to really connect on a very vulnerable, very human level with other humans, and making something so beautiful out of whatever we share and whatever part we bring to the table. That’s the best part of this whole thing. It’s amazing.”
With a voice as rich as factory-fresh chocolate and remarkably vivid lyrics, Stephen can effortlessly create a connection with his listeners. Even though he’s keeping up with all of the trends around the web, he simply wants to create music he can consider timeless. “Social media is super scary,” he confesses. “To feel like your entire career is solely based on that… would be such a waste in my opinion. I feel like it’d be such a waste to only look at that. For me, I just love writing something that hopefully might mean a whole lot to a small amount of people. If it means a whole lot to a whole lot of people, that’s amazing! If it means a whole lot to some people, I fee like that speaks volumes over whether something goes viral or crazy or anything like that. I feel like just letting the songs speak for themselves.”
What Was, Not Now also allowed Stephen to turn some pretty painful memories into something admirable. He spills, “This whole EP is about a girl I dated, and I was really hurt at the time. Even in the midst of us sitting down and actually talking about these songs, after having written them during the course of our relationship, and then actually jumping into a studio and recording them… it was hard. It was like it re-opened a wound. Every time we’d jump into a new one, it would re-opened a wound. I think, going back to even the conversations with Ian and Conrad, and the really emotional step we took into making this record, it really helped me. It was like therapy. Being able to have made this record and to have record these songs and to have had a safe place to express these emotions really healed my heart in a lot of ways. It opened me up to receive love from someone new, like the girl I’m dating right now! (Her name is Georgia.) If I were to have tried dating her a year ago, I would’ve been a mess… but I’m here today, and I feel like I’ve learned a lot more about relationships and love, and different ways to love. It’s okay to be open, vulnerable, honest, and real.”
Always keep it real, Stephen. We’ll keep listening.
Be sure to say hi to Stephen Sanchez on Instagram @stephensanchezofficial!
