From a collaboration with Flo Rida to her songs being featured in big-brand TV adverts and video games, Sara Cruz is making a name for herself. I spoke with the songwriter to hear about new music recommendations, the latest song ‘Ghost Town‘ and plans she has for the rest of the year.

Give our listeners some music recommendations that we should check out!

As I’m experimenting and shifting more & more towards an ‘Indie Dreampop’ sound I’ve been browsing music and found some amazing artists!

ZEPH: very talented upcoming producer/songwriter and she seems to be having a great following already

ERTHLINGS: Cool upcoming Indie-rock girl band.. really liked their new video: 

SLEEPING AT LAST: This guy is not unknown to the public as he is responsible for some of the most beautiful soundtracks from ‘Twilight’ & ‘Grey’s Anatomy’:

What’s in store for you for the rest of the year?

As I was saying, I’m trying to experiment with new soundscapes and textures. I’m already working on a new set of songs.. the first 2 singles are almost finished, they just need final touches and will be ready to release soon. I will also be shooting the official video for the first track very soon.. so I’m very excited for you to see the results! 🙂

I’m also focusing more on the licensing side of things, pitching songs for TV & Ads so.. we shall see what’s in store. 😉

What’s the music scene like where you are from?

I come from a coastal town in Italy – Livorno – where Surfpop has always been predominant in the local music scene and amongst my friends too. We are very much connected with the sea life and have listened to every song by the ‘The Beach Boy’s at bonfire’s parties.

So, I would say the music scene is very Indie-rock oriented and my home town Livorno in particular is home to a lot of successful musicians & artists.Also the city of Lucca, which is only a 40 minutes drive, hosts one of the largest music festivals in Italy called ‘Lucca Summer Festival’ and their roster includes artists such as ‘The Rolling Stones’, ‘John Legend, ‘Celine Dion’ and many more.

Tell MoggBlog viewers about your latest release! What’s the inspiration behind that?

Well, I was going through a crisis of faith and decided it was time to do some real soul searching to reconnect to my inner self and the love I thought I had lost. It was a dark time filled with sadness but at the same time it was beautifully intense and real and true and necessary. And for the first time it was all out there.. sincerely, truthfully and a bit messy.

I laid down a piano chord progression that sounded nostalgic and interesting to me. I wanted the track to have an evocative vibe that could resonate. Once I had the full structure down I immersed myself into the lyrics, recording & mixing. I like the fact that we used ‘Tibetan healing bells’ for this production. I think they add texture and give the song that haunting – but at the same time healing vibe – supporting the message in the lyrics

How do you feel the Internet has impacted the music business?

Well… a LOT.

Music is way more accessible than before and a lot easier to put out too.

Also the ‘process of making music’ is much more in hand with all these libraries and apps that are available.. you can make records in your bedroom and this is the part I definitely love the most.

On the other hand, we are encountering a lot of problems with ‘fake streams’, but the good thing is that now is much easier to discover an artist, whereas before, the only chances you stood were only if your song was played on radio stations.

Now more than ever is hugely important to have an ‘online presence‘, which is something that I’m working on too.

The promotion and digital marketing side of it are essential.. and unfortunately it’s not something that artists love doing… as it’s not our main thing and it takes a lot of time away from making music.

In my case I hated it at the beginning… but once you see some results coming in, you can actually see how career-changing it can be.

Mostly I love that I’m able to personally connect to people out there and see how my music can get through to people in different ways and the internet can give you a good screenshot of that.

It’s also a very good parameter for feedback and improving yourself along the way.

Follow Sara Cruz on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.