We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Sloane Simon. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Sloane below.
Sloane , we’re so excited for our community to get to know you and learn from your journey and the wisdom you’ve acquired over time. Let’s kick things off with a discussion on self-confidence and self-esteem. How did you develop yours?
I landed my first regular gig in seventh grade, playing weekend nights in a rowdy pizza shop for $27, a fountain drink, and a slice. I have no idea what possessed me then to think I had something to offer a room full of people, but I am glad I got that awkwarndess out of the way early. There were a lot of self-conscious moments, like when a middle school crush would walk into the restuarant and sit down for dinner with his family, but I think it only made me a better performer. That same year, I was selected to perform at The Three Rivers Arts Festival. The largest compliment was the selection committee’s suprise upon learning they had programmed a 13 year old. In high school, I was invited to record my original songs with Carnegie Mellon University’s Music Production Department. I made the top 40 on American Idol. I won music and songwriting competitions, including The Jazz Aspen Snowmass Festival, the National Young Arts Foundation, the Louis Armstrong Jazz Award, and the Robbie’s Hope Foundation Grand Prize. By the time I was a junior in high school, I was performing about 80 gigs a year at breweries, restaurants, and events throughout Pittsburgh and the surrounding region. Each success contributed to my identity as an artist and gave me the confidence to push forward.
Let’s take a small detour – maybe you can share a bit about yourself before we dive back into some of the other questions we had for you?
I am currently in my freshman year at NYU’s Clive Davis Institute for Recorded Music which has a holistic cirriculum grounded in business, production, and performance. I am constantly engaging with students who share the same deep appreciation for the arts, and being taught by professors with life experiences and successes to which I aspire. Being surrounded by such talented mentors and peers pushes me to be my most creative and productive self. In the fall, I won the Women Who Rock Rising Star Competition, which gave me the honor of opening for one of my idols, Ann Wilson of Heart. I have also been fortunate to continue performing regularly at venues throughout New York City and my hometown of Pittsburgh (There is a link to my calender on my website). I will be playing the part of Mary Travers (Peter, Paul and Mary) in an Off Broadway musical about the famed Gaslight Cafe in Greenwich Village where performers like Bob Dylan and Joni Mitchell got their start. It Opens April 27th at the The Cutting Room in NYC. But my primary focus is in releasing an EP this year which will be preceded by two singles. The first single, Take a Step Back, will be released March 1st along side my performance of the song in the finals of Ultraviolet Live, NYU’s talent show. There are big shoes to fill on the stage, Lady Gaga came in third when she was a student. The second single, Daylight Savings, which will be released shortly after, is very meaningful to me. It is about feeling like you are losing time with the people who matter most. I had the amazing opportunity of recording it with six time grammy winning produce Jimmy Hoyson. Both songs will be released on all streaming platforms under the artist name Sloane, and you can pre save the songs and and hear more up my upcoming releases through my social media @OfficiallySloane.
If you had to pick three qualities that are most important to develop, which three would you say matter most?
This is a difficult question to answer because I feel like I am still early in my journey. I think the most important thing is that I always want to learn from the people around me and pick up new skills. I feel like such a different artist now then I was even a year ago. The most important piece of advice I can offer is just to do what you love. I think if you are true to yourself, you will find your community.
What was the most impactful thing your parents did for you?
The most impactful thing my parents did was to teach me that to get things done, you actually have to do them. And they always believed in me. My mom gave me a guitar when I was nine years old when she was diagnosed with an agggressive lymphoma. In retrospect, the guitar, meant to distract me from the gravity of her illness, shaped my identity. After ten years of remission, my mother was rediagnosed with cancer a few weeks into my first semester of college. It was difficult being away from her. I would wake up in a panic in my dorm room, wishing I could be with her to help her through it. I wrote Daylight Savings for her.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://officiallysloane.wixsite.com/officiallysloane
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/officiallysloane/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/officiallysloane
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@officiallysloane
- Other: I am most active on Instagram.
