What is your name?
Sarah Bernstein
What is your genre of music?
Pop-Rock/Singer-Songwriter
Give us a little bio about you.
Hey there! I’m Sarah, and writing songs is my favorite thing in the world. I was born in Salisbury, Maryland and raised back and forth between Germany and America. But I’m lucky enough to have called New York City home for over a decade now.
What made you go into music?
I’ve always been a writer. Whether it was little poems or songs, I spent a lot of time inside my head as an only child growing up. I used to think it made me socially awkward, but in retrospect I’m grateful. I hope it’s made me a stronger and more insightful storyteller. Ultimately though, every musician knows that the urge to make music is just an itch inside that you can’t help but scratch!
Who are your influences?
My taste in music is so eclectic that I don’t feel safe putting my library on shuffle with passengers in the car. I grew up on 2000’s pop-rock, admiring artists like P!nk and Avril Lavigne. They had me dying blue streaks in my hair WAY before it was acceptable in school. But it was watching Ed Sheeran open for Taylor Swift on the Red tour that changed everything for me. All I could think was “Oh my god, he’s alone up there with his guitar? Playing songs he wrote himself? Opening for Taylor…?! If I get good enough, maybe I could do that too…”
…since then, I’ve seen him live on each of his solo tours. His live performance is a huge inspiration to me, and remains a goal-post for me.
Are you signed?
I am happily un-signed!
I know getting signed to a major label is supposed to be the “dream” for every artist, but as someone with a day job who was performing solo-shows and had more opportunities on the table than I could take on, I learned how far you can go with some elbow grease and a LOT of emails. Right now, I’m just pushing along with my original music as much as I can. Who knows what tomorrow will bring, but for now, I’m embracing the unlimited creative freedom that comes with being an unsigned artist.
You released your latest Single ‘Loser Of The Year’, tell us more about the single and the meaning behind the song.
Like I said, I performed a lot of live shows last year for the first time in NYC. This was in addition to my full-time job, and to my surprise, my coworkers bought the majority of tickets (…which I was absolutely not expecting)
The nights leading up to that first show, I’d wake up in a cold sweat, terrified of embarrassing myself on-stage. What if I made a fool of myself in front of everybody I know? What if I forgot the words? Or said something dumb?
Whether I did or I didn’t ultimately make a fool of myself, I was proud I did it. And in-short, that’s how “Loser of the Year” came about.
Describe the track in two words.
Pop rock.
What was the writing and recording process like?
The song was actually built off a song I had written as a teenager called “Only in my Soul”. The melody was good, but it was lacking something overall. But once I took that piece, kicked it into high-gear lyrically, and double-timed the tempo, the whole song fell together incredibly quickly. A few months after finishing it I recorded it in Nashville, Tennessee with a group of incredibly talented musicians. We went into it with two reference tracks– “Ultimate”- by Lindsay Lohan (off the Freaky Friday soundtrack) and “Sugar, We’re Goin’ Down” by Fall Out Boy. Needless to say– they nailed the assignment.
Who did you work with on the single?
I wrote it myself, and it was recorded at Coop De Ville Studio in Nashville (…which is also owned by Wes Little, who also played drums on the track).
Kenny Varga engineered the session and mixed the song, and has been essential to every other track in my catalog starting with “Till 3am”.The same goes for Luis Espaillat, who played bass on all those singles as well.
And as much as I love playing guitar…I could never ever compete with Justin Ostrander, who truly knocked it out of the park with this one. He captured the essence and the energy so effortlessly– I’ve never seen or heard anything like it.
Finally, the session was Co-Produced by Shane Adams, who was my professor at Berklee Online and introduced me to the Nashville recording scene back in 2020.
Are we expected to see a music video for ‘Loser Of The Year’ if so, what can we expect from it?
It’s already here! And I’d be honored if you checked out the lyric video on YouTube, because it was 100% DIY from start to finish (…Amazon backdrop and self-timer included!)
Will we see an EP or Album and if so, what can we expect from it and the meaning behind it.
I’ve been dreaming of doing an EP of cover songs, because of how well they go over at my live shows. For example, I’ve been performing “Linger” by The Cranberries since I was about 18. It’s one of my all-time favorite songs. Watching how people respond to it when I play it live, even after all this time, still gives me chills. I’d love to capture that.
Do you have any live shows coming up?
Plenty, and outside of New York City too. For now, all I can say is… stay tuned 🙂
What else can we expect in 2024?
I just quit my day job, and I’m so thrilled to just keep on creating. Whether that’s connecting with people on social media or releasing music on a monthly basis– the sky feels like the limit right about now.
Where do you see yourself now in 5 Years?
God willing, I’ll be writing songs and making music!
What quote or saying do you always stick by?
I hang so heavily on quotes and mantras that my boyfriend laughs at all the post-it’s in our apartment. But when faced with this question all I can think of is my best friend Abby, who always tells me– “you can do hard things”. I can’t express how many hard things that expression has actually gotten me through.
When you are at a gig, what are 5 things you cannot forget?
- Printed setlist (because everything goes out the window once I’m up there)
- Guitar picks
- Capo
- Tuner
- Guitar (Possibly too obvious, but also crucial)
Do you have social media accounts so your fans can follow you?
@SarahBernstein on Instagram and @SarahWritesSongs on TikTok.
Otherwise, you can always keep up by subscribing to my mailing list from my site:
