Sheila Shahpari Talks About The Music Business & Song Writing

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Sheila Shahpari is one of the fresher faces on the local music circuit, but you wouldn't know that if you judged by her growing fan base and her gig calendar. Her soulful lyrics and singing is stealing the hearts of many local music lovers, and her music career is starting to become almost a full-time job in it's self. Sheila took some time out of her busy schedule to dish with ToastedRav about her aspirations, inspirations and her musical background.

Read on to learn more about Sheila, and click on the Audio tab to listen to her song "Stale"

Since studying music performance at SIUE you have become a staple in the local music scene. Do you think studying music has had any impact on the way you see the music industry, and would you recommend it for aspiring musicians?

College was what I like to refer to as my musical "boot camp." I studied classical piano, and have yet to experience a more stressful style. Depending on the environment, playing 60+ minutes of music from memory can be pretty nerve wracking! I always like to compare it to taking a timed exam where you've studied for months, have no eraser, and to make things even better, you probably have a group of experts looking over your shoulder the entire time. I definitely don't think you have have a formal education in music to be a good musician. I actually tune out my formal knowledge when I'm writing/performing. I feel that music should come from your heart and not from your head, so I don't like to think about things like chord changes and song forms when I can avoid it.

It does makes things a lot easier though, especially when having to teach other people your music. For example, since I know how to read music, I was able to compose and score string parts for some of my tunes, which saves a lot of time when teaching them to other musicians. As far as the business side of music, I think any artist interested in pursuing a career professionally should work to educate themselves. There are tons of free/cheap resources out there and lots of helpful people who can give good advice. One of the ways I was able to get versed was by doing some volunteer writing/editing for a St. Louis music publication. The music industry definitely the oddest marketplace out there, so it's good to know how it all works. I'm still trying to figure it out and I've been at it for a couple of years.

You were named as one of St. Louis' biggest up and coming artists recent and you have been very busy with your music career lately; any plans to take your music full-time?

That is definitely a goal of mine. Like I kind of mentioned earlier, the music industry is a tough nut to crack. I'm very fortunate to have a passion for something a little more stable (computer programming). I'd like to continue doing both as long as I can. It gets pretty tiring at times, though!

You picked "Stale" as the song you wanted to share with your profile; could you tell us the background about the song and why you chose it?

I wrote "Stale" a couple of years ago, right before I made the decision to start performing. After I left the classical circuit, I went for a long time without playing. It has always been my ambition since I was little to make an impact through music, but for the longest time I was really bashful about performing my own music in public. So "Stale" is directed towards myself, instructing me to get over my issues before it's too late to make a difference.

What is your writing process like?

Tends to vary with each song, but usually it starts with some melody getting stuck in my head. Usually I'll record it to make sure I don't forget it (learned my lesson after forgetting a couple of songs). Sometimes I'll write the entre song in one fell swoop, but usually I'll let it sit for a while to let it evolve in my head. A lot of times I'll forget about it and then come back to it by accident while thinking up a different melody that turns out to fit really well with the first one I got stuck in my head. Eventually I'll end up with an entire song, and have a good idea of the instrumentation that will sound right for it. I actually have a bunch of songs I haven't finished because they call for way more instruments than I'm used to writing for. But for the ones I play now, they can all be played with just a guitar or piano, and I can play both of those.

After I know which instrument to play, I'll work out the parts on the guitar or piano. By that point I've usually got a good idea of what mood/message I want the song to convey, and usually have a few phrases that have come out to me. Then I'll sit w/ a notebook and write the song independently of playing it. Sometimes the words will flow pretty easily, other times I'll brood over it for months. I'm very meticulous about my lyrics. Since the melody is such a driving force for me, I choose words that have the phonetics to fit the sound I want to make. If a word works in meaning but doesn't fit the song just right, I'll sit on the phrase forever until eventually the right word will come out.

What is your favorite thing about St. Louis' local music scene?

My favorite thing is probably the sense of community among so many of the musicians. Everyone is so encouraging of other artists - it's rare that I have a gig where I don't make a group of new friends.

Where can we find your music and see you perform?

We're wrapping up my debut album right now - we're shooting for having it completed within a month or so.

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