Formula Indie Sessions _ Interview with Valeria Stewart
What is your earliest memory connected to music?
I recall how moving it was to hear live music in our house, acoustic guitar, and friends of my parents from Argentina gathering after dinner to sing folk songs and tangos.
How did your passion for creating music begin?
I was invited to join an older friend at our latin church in singing and playing the Sunday mass music, and I was lucky enough to learn chords quickly by ear and by charts she would provide. This led me later to try and copy songs I would hear on the radio at the time, Cat Stevens, James Taylor, Beetles… I found I had a knack for ear learning versus reading musical notation, which always got overrided by doing things by ear.
What’s the story behind your current music project?
About a year ago I collaborated with Grammy winning producer Leandro Alvarez, a fellow Argentine musician I met while performing at a private fundraising event in MD last year. The project has turned out to be an eight song medley of world & rootsy music centered around the theme of flying. When Leandro initially asked me if I had material, I gathered some songs I had in my collection that wasn’t professionally recorded yet, and I began to see a common thread in the group – either flight (bird imagery) or being in the air, as in a dream.
How would you describe your sound to someone who has never heard your music before?
A multilingual performance rooted in World, Latin, jazz, and Americana traditions, with a soft, intimate approach similar to Norah Jones.
What is one thing you’ve learned that completely changed the way you make music?
Letting go of what people perceive about me personally and allowing the music and the songwriting to reach an audience. It’s as if I’m a medium for something that is much more special and maybe even healing to offer. Also each singer has their own singular voice to transmit this to listeners. There is no need to imitate or try and be like any other artist; being authentic is at the core of bringing poeple along on my journey.
What tools, instruments, or software are essential in your creative process?
I use a Scarlett interface, Garageband, and a Rode studio condensor mic to draft guitar and vocal layers into demos of songs in my studio, but many times the first draft of a song really begins with my iphone and voice memo app.
Which indie artist or song are you loving right now?
Today I was listening to Gregory Alan Isakov, and Al Green. I listen to latin, world, american roots the most. A single I released recently titled Waiting on Your Love was added to a playlist where I discovered Selah Stone and her amazing sound, a mix of indie soul and blues.
How have your personal experiences influenced your music and artistic vision?
Every song I write has a core of truth in it, some lived experience, and the song was a form of processing for me – either grief or nostalgia or love. I have always been a nurturer, fond of fragile things, and tend to blend themes of nature with emotions. I work with small children as a pre-k assistant, and also bring music to an elderly population in an assisted living program once a month, so the proximity to this circle of life really touches me deeply.
What emotions or messages do you hope listeners take from your work?
The fragility of life and the moments of kindness we share are revealed in my songwriting, along with love and loss. I think people can absorb these themes and feel moved, sometimes to tears, which makes me feel very lucky and blessed to have that connection.
What’s the most important lesson music has taught you so far?
Music is healing, its like water to me, nourishing. I go to music as a form of refuge from the world, or from stress, and also as a way to celebrate, in movement and dance.
What is a dream venue or festival you would love to perform at?
A jazz festival in the US or EU! And also a small reknowned club in NYC called The Bitter End.
If you could collaborate with any artist, past or present, who would it be and why?
Norah Jones maybe – she colloaborates regularly with other Indie artists and seems authentic and down to earth. I also love her voice and her sound.
Where can our listeners follow and support your music? (Website,Spotify, IG, links)
Website: https://www.valeriastewart.com
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/valeriastewartmusic/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/stewartvaleria/
TikTok: valtiktokstewart
Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/artist/1nTXgbkHvozQn5VkRsoq0F?si=CXVWam8MTQG1IWfJi3qEgA
YouTube: http://youtube.com/@valeriastewartmusic
Looking toward the future, what’s your dream for the next chapter of your musical journey?
I’d love to begin a (small) touring schedule outside of my hometown area of DC/VA and even to Europe doing house concerts, festivals. Getting outside of this area.
What do you hope listeners will discover about you along the way?
That I am a mother, wife, a teacher, and an artist in her late 50’s who has been a late comer to the music industry, but I am enjoying every minute I can while I still have the motivation and desire to perform and create music. I spent a good part of my youth raising my kids and don’t regret that a bit. I don’t often feel that my age is a barrier for how I want to share my art. If anything, it gives more weight to the topics I write about.
