Interview with Sharon Van Etten

myFanbase had the opportunity to do an exclusive interview with up-and-coming singer/songwriter Sharon Van Etten. She tells us about the roots of her music, some of her current projects and her personal development over the past few months.

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1. How would you describe your music in one sentence?

Stream of conscious confessional

2. Was there something like a light bulb moment when you were young, maybe a concert, a certain song or a record that made you dream about a career as a musician?

When I sang harmonies with my mom and sisters to duwop in the car.
Del Shannon, Leslie Gore, Everly Brothers

3. Are there any artists that might have influenced you some time?

Leslie Gore, Whitney Houston, Fleetwood Mac, Vashti Bunyan

4. How do you develop your songs? What part comes first, music or lyrics?

Usually the guitar and melody… and then I write lyrics

5. What song is most important to you? Why and how did it develop?

The song is called I Fold. It is about living in my parents' basement in my 20s and learning to be ok with it. Although when I wrote it, it was stream of conscious and I didn’t realize that’s what it was about for a while after.

6. In what aspects did your music change compared to when you started to make music?

After I started playing out more, and meeting more people, and going to more shows in New York I got a lot more confident in my writing and in my performance.

7. What has been the best experience so far, as an artist?

Connecting with people on a personal level.

8. What can you tell us about your current projects?

Collaborating with other people, getting my demos together, learning other aspects of the music "business"…

9. And what are you aspiring to in the future, what do you want to achieve?

I want to do music as long as I can, in whatever capacity.

10. With whom would you like to go on tour?

Wye Oak! Tiny Vipers! Scary Mansion! She Keeps Bees! Cat Power! M. Ward! Bill Callahan! The Antlers! Shearwater!

11. What record would we find in your CD-player right now?

Magnetic Fields, Shearwater, Twin Sister, Scary Mansion, Songs, Love Language

12. What do you think, as artists, about platforms like MySpace?

It is an easy way to find and listen and connect with music for free. Not good for friend-keeping…

13. myFanbase is a website that is devoted to American television shows. Do you have a favorite show?

Seinfeld, Simpsons, "The Office", Larry Sanders

Catherine Bühnsack - myFanbase