From a young age, pop singer and songwriter Caroline Sky always knew she wanted to make music. In fact, by the time she was five years old she had already become a member of the San Francisco Girls Chorus. Then later at the tender age of twelve, she landed a role in San Francisco Opera’s production of Turnadot.
When people would ask her what she wanted to do when she grew up, she already had her plans mapped out. “That’s just what I want to do,” says Sky, adding, “and my parents kind of laughed at me and said, ‘okay, that’s good.” Sky’s parents were always more than supportive of her art, even acting as her first manager and helping her to book early shows and performances. Sky’s father—who played in a band himself when he was younger—was particularly helpful in fostering her love for music, who she shares, “would play guitar to [her] and sing to [her].” Thankful for her parent’s support, Caroline Sky details growing up within a family of musicians, saying “music was just always around.”
After nearly a decade of classical training, which gave her a much-needed foundation in music theory and taught her “how to collaborate with other people,” the California native traded in her rigid uniformity to forge a unique and individual sound for herself. Following her time on the hit TV show, The Voice, and forming her band in New York City, Sky is seeing just what direction her career will take.
Complementary to her musical ambitions, Sky is a rising junior at Barnard College where she studies Political Science. Sky is finding ways to merge her passions for both music and humanitarian/political causes. We discussed this, as well as her experience on The Voice, her new music, and much more. Check out the full interview below.
Which musicians have served as your biggest artistic influences.
“When I was growing up, my parents played a lot of folk from the 1960s and 1970s like Joan Baez, Joni Mitchell, Carole King, and James Taylor. And so when I started writing that was the style that I would write with. I would write in folk chord progressions and the storyline would follow a narrative. And then as I stepped away from classical training, that was the time that I also started listening to new music. So I started listening to people like Etta James and Amy Winehouse, Nina Simone. I love Grace Potter as well… she’s really a badass. And then I also incorporate influences of people like Ariana Grande and her into music as well. So it’s kind of a wide range, but I think it allows for some exploration and some versatility in terms of what I write.”
So how as a musician have you been dealing with the coronavirus quarantine?
“It’s just a lot of time to have on your hands, and for the first month, I was just freaked out. I couldn’t focus on anything… I was anxious all the time. And then I kind of zoned in and started working on music more. It’s tough because I feel like as a musician, the thing that makes me the happiest is to be able to go into spaces and connect with people through live music. I think there’s nothing else like it. I think it’s one of the most magical experiences that you can have when there’s a really good song playing and the audience is really into it. And there’s just that connection that everyone is experiencing together. That’s one of the most important things in my life.
So it was tough to have that taken away. At the same time I was lucky, I got to be with my family. It was a good experience. I learned how to play mandolin, a little bit just out of boredom. I’ve been recording and working with a producer who’s in New York. So we’re kind of communicating over Zoom, text, and Dropbox. Sending back mixes and it’s like not an efficient way to do it. But I need to put music out. And I really want to and I feel like I have this opportunity now to slow down and focus on music, which is a really valuable thing. So yeah, I’ve been recording at home and then doing some Instagram lives for different nonprofits.”
How do you feel that The Voice has helped you out as a musician, and what was it like being on that?
“It was definitely a really good experience. I had never been to LA before. I was basically sequestered in a hotel for about three months, since I was on three episodes. So one month per episode. I had pneumonia during my Blind Audition, I couldn’t speak, I was really not confident that anything was gonna happen. But it did, which was awesome. But unfortunately, I also feel like I didn’t have an idea of what I wanted my message to be, I didn’t have an idea of what I wanted my brand to be.
I’ve sung so many different styles of music in my life that I didn’t know what I wanted to stick with. So it felt like kind of a chaotic experience because I really had no idea what I was doing. And you’re being thrust into a very fast paced world with a lot of judgment. So you know, I was on TV as a 16 year old with millions of people watching and judging and commenting on videos and I didn’t even know who I was. I hadn’t graduated high school yet and the expectation is that you’re a fully fleshed out artist. So that definitely provided an opportunity to grow a little bit in that way.”
What was your mindset when you were working on your latest singles, “Leave My Love” and “Paint Me Red?”
“For ‘Leave My Love’ I actually recorded that over a year ago, last summer—summer of 2019. It was like one take, we did it live. There’s no production, no auto tune, no anything. I didn’t even have a metronome in my ear while I was playing, I just sat down and played the song. I had written that song when I was a lot younger. I think I wrote it at an NYU songwriting session when I was probably like 16. I forgot about the song, I truly forgot about it. Then I was warming up on the piano to start recording a completely different track and I was like, wait, I remember, ‘Leave My Love’ now. So it’s kind of a weird coincidence that we even recorded it because I definitely wasn’t intending to record it at all.
It’s a song about a New York City heartbreak and I had never been to New York before. I went to NYU for that summer program. I had never really been in love or had a horrible, traumatizing heartbreak in my life. So it was kind of a made-up song about a made-up couple in New York City going through all these trials and tribulations I didn’t know shit about. But yeah, it was just kind of a raw song. I just wanted it to be simple. I didn’t want any production on it because it’s not a flashy song. It’s really simple and sad. I kind of wanted it to just be out and just be able to like, tell that story in that way. It sounds so different from ‘Paint Me Red,’ which is a very produced track and it had a very specific vibe I was going for in that track. So yeah, I kind of just assess what I feel that song needs and how to best tell the story in each song. So it’s less about an album structure or an EP structure where there needs to be a thread going through. I kind of assess what each song needs and what feels right.”
What’s the evolution that you’ve seen since your self-titled debut album in 2015? How have you grown as an artist?
“When I recorded that, I was 15, and a lot of the songs I had written when I was younger than that. So I definitely had no idea who I was as a person or as an artist. And I feel like my main goal, you know, you’re conditioned in choir to make music that just sounds pretty and sounds good and doesn’t offend people. And so I think that that was my goal [when] recording that and writing those types of songs. I just wanted to make it listenable, I wanted it to appeal to a really wide range of people. I just wanted people to listen to it and not to think, ‘oh, this sucks.’ That was the choir mentality, just make it work and make it smooth and make it work for everybody.
And so moving forward, I took a four-year break from releasing stuff. In that time, I grew as a person, I graduated high school, I had all these experiences that makes the songs that I write a little bit more authentic than they were when I was 15. Writing about a heartbreak that looking back, it’s like, okay, that’s a kid from math class, like, let’s take a deep breath and calm down. I have a better idea of who I am as a person, and I’m a lot more willing to lean into my own authenticity instead of trying to make something that just appeals to everybody because that’s not possible. People are gonna hate everything and people hated what I produced in 2015. So that’s not gonna work.”
Earlier you mentioned charity benefit concerts you’ve been performing in online, can you elaborate on these?
“We raised money for Feeding America pretty early on in quarantine. And then I also did a fundraiser for the Bail Project. We raised $300. It’s not a huge amount of money, but it definitely makes a difference. That’s how I started playing music really was at benefit shows for different nonprofits and local politicians. It’s about finding different ways to still make an impact and to still use music for all that it can be used for as well.”
What has been the most touching moment music has given you during these times?
“I work at a camp for people with disabilities called Camp Jabberwocky, and I’ve done this for the last six years. Camp was canceled this summer, unfortunately, because of COVID, but all of these campers are pretty isolated and look forward to it all year. The girl that I took care of last year, she’s blind and has cerebral palsy. It’s hard for her to go out and interact with people during COVID, and so I got to zoom with her and play her favorite song. That just made me so much happier. I think finding ways to connect with people through music, even in these horrible, tough conditions is really, really important. And it’s definitely made quarantine a lot more enjoyable and fulfilling. It’s just about finding ways to connect with people, even in different circumstances. And adapting to that.”
So if you can give any message to your fans, what would that be?
“I grew up hearing my parents say, ‘do what you can with what you’ve got.’ That’s a really good message for people because we all have different capabilities. We all have different passions. We all have different life experiences, and the diversity and those experiences and those points of view are what makes the world interesting and creative. So yeah I feel like we all have different ways to contribute something meaningful and we’re all capable in unique ways. And so for me, that feels like music. I work with people with disabilities, and I’ve seen music connect to nonverbal people in ways that bring tears to your eyes. I think the connection that music fosters is something that is another worldly thing.”
What should our readers be on the lookout from you in the future?
“I’ll be releasing a new song in September, October, and then two in November. It’s definitely a new way to present myself because if you look on my Spotify, you’ll see stuff from The Voice when I was 16, and then you’ll see stuff from when I was 15 years old singing about the boy who broke my heart from my math class. So yeah, I’m excited to release these new songs and kind of have a new, fresh start. I feel like it’s a good way to hopefully end 2020 for me because for everyone I think it’s been a shitty, horrifying year. So hopefully, I’m starting 2021 with some new tracks. And yeah, looking forward to things in the future.”
Caroline Sky’s new single, “Better Than This” is expected to be released on September 18th. To pre-save or pre-order click HERE. Stay connected with Caroline Sky across your favorite social media platforms including Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.
