Sarah Meyz touches on her time at Berklee, why “Just Go,” and upcoming collaborations

Sarah Meyz has made a career out of her strong voice and trusty harmonica. Yes, I said harmonica.

Though unique, Sarah uses her harmonica as her “secret weapon”, searching for the abstract in music to give her an edge. She uses unorthodox pedals and delays to create quite the authentic sound. She also has a brand new single out called “Just Go” with a very purposeful meaning behind it. However, I’ll let her talk about it below!

I threw some questions at the São Paulo-native to see how she’s been faring in quarantine.

See entire interview below:

Deviate: How’ve things been for you during the pandemic?
Sarah: Firstly, I just wanted to thank you for having me at Deviate!
Now to pandemic matters…I’ve been quite good and quite busy! I am very fortunate to be able to do all my work from home. It’s easier to build my schedule, and since I don’t have to commute, there’s more time to get through everything on my day. I do need to be careful though not to get too comfortable sometimes, but exercising and trying new home activities during the pandemic has helped me to keep my focus up.

Deviate: Starting at square one, what led you to pursue music?
Sarah: Music has been in my life from a very early age and in a very natural way. My dad is a drummer, and so I’ve been surrounded by music even before I was born. I started playing piano when I was about 4 years old, my sister used to do lessons and one day I just went to our little keyboard and played a song by ear. It was with the harmonica though, at 11, where I started to play professionally. My biggest inspiration to pursue music as a career was the intense and releasing feeling of performing on stage. The energy I get from it is just delightedly incomparable.

Deviate: I know you studied at Berklee…in what ways do you think that helped your music career?
Sarah: Berklee is sometimes referred to as some sort of “Mecca of music”, with musicians from all over the globe, playing all sorts of different styles. I love that place dearly. A few things that got me to stand out was playing an instrument that was uncommon, mixed with my high energy performances and my determination to make things happen. I love pushing limits and trying new and crazy things. There’s a phrase I really like, which defines me in lots of ways: “I want to know the rules so I can break the rules”. This kind of mentality always gave me a good head start.

Deviate: I know you have a single coming out very soon….can you tell us the background to “Just Go?”
Sarah: Absolutely! I wrote “Just Go” while I was living in Bristol, in the UK last year. I heard a few stories from close girl-friends living toxic and misogynistic situations at work and in their relationships, but they didn’t realise how much it was hurting them. The single comes in as a reality shock, when you just want to shake that friend and tell them that they deserve much better in life. It’s about building empowerment and self-confidence. I recorded and mixed the song myself, co-produced it with Brazilian producer Nathan Dies, and the master was amazingly done by Ricardo Cecchi. “Just Go” also features an incredible cover art (which I am absolutely in love with) drawn by artist Cainã Lopes Fontes. The single comes out on November 27th, followed by its music video around mid December.

Deviate: Besides your single, what can your fans look forward to in the future from Sarah Meyz?
Sarah: I have to say that despite all the craziness this year has had, I really cannot complain. I got to do so much for my career as an artist, not just creating and producing more songs, but also working on the business and marketing sides. There’s one collaboration with producer Roberto Prado, coming up later in December, which I am super excited about! Plus, 2021 will come full of good and fresh music, a lot of them which are already at the final stages of preparation. My fans can also expect some fun and exciting collaborations, as well as some cool and quirky music videos.

Deviate: If you were to be an inanimate object what would you be?
Sarah: I’d love to be a really weird art sculpture, placed in a high level museum such as the Louvre, that people would admire purely by its awkwardness. It’d be fun to see people’s reactions to something like that.

I want to thank Sarah for taking the time to think over these questions. Be sure to check out “Just Go” and future releases!

Sarah Meyz is definitely a Deviate.