Meet Salem Davern

Today we’d like to introduce you to Salem Davern.

Every artist has a unique story. Can you briefly walk us through yours?
I’m from Mill Valley, California, right outside of San Francisco. Salem is my real name, and no, I’m not a witch. My grandparents met and fell in love in Salem, MA, and it means “peace.” I started singing when I was 4 years old, and my parents thankfully caught on quickly. They enrolled me in a chorus class, as well as musical theatre, which I loved. I’m fortunate to say that my family has been exceptionally supportive of my career for as long as I can remember. When I was 12, I took a songwriting class at Blue Bear Music School in San Francisco, taught by the amazing Bonnie Hayes. She took me under her wing and helped me discover my affinity for writing pop music. A few years later, she got the job as chair of the songwriting department at Berklee College of Music. I knew I eventually wanted to go there, as well. I originally wanted to be the next Norah Jones, writing exclusively acoustic, folk-influenced music. I sang my power ballads during open mic nights at the Sweetwater Café in Mill Valley every Monday night, accompanying myself on piano. It wasn’t until I downloaded Logic Pro X that I realized up-tempo, electro-pop was a thing, and one that I happened to enjoy.

In high school, I was part of an AwesomenessTV series called “This is Summer.” To this day, I’m not quite sure why, but a casting director found a group of my friends and me and thought, “these people would make for a great reality show.” We were, in reality, pretty boring. A group of 7 of us were followed around by a camera crew during my senior year and the summer after. We talked about music, school, relationships, and the struggles of growing up. The show got canceled after one season, as we were a bit too wholesome for reality TV. Even so, it was an extremely rewarding experience, allowing me to meet some amazing humans and integrate myself into the entertainment scene. For anyone reading this: Please don’t watch the series, but if you’re heart-set on it, listen to my music first.

I then attended Berklee for two years, where I met some of my closest collaborators. Caroline Carlson, who now works as an A&R at Ultra Music, found me during my second semester and offered to help manage me and create an EP. Carol showed me that there was much more to Berklee than getting good grades. She introduced me to Bendik Møller (who is now my boyfriend and most frequent co-writer/producer), and Noah McGuire (Sleeping Lion), who’s production consistently blows my mind. The four of us spent the summer of 2018 making “757,” an EP that is currently out in the world! The title track landed me my first New Music Friday placement, something that I had only ever joked about happening. I dropped out of Berklee in 2019 and moved straight to LA, immediately throwing myself into the music scene. I was lucky to meet some great people on the business side of things, including Kara DioGuardi and Benjamin Groff. Both made my move to LA pleasant and exciting, putting me in sessions and giving me invaluable feedback. I write every day, often with new people, for my artist project and others. My goal has always been to be an artist, as well as a writer for other artists. I often play live with my band, who I’m fortunate enough to say is made up of some of my best friends, Bendik Møller (keys), Jacob Harelick (drums), and Dave Kaminski (guitar). I’m currently working on my next EP, which will come out during the summer of 2020.

Please tell us about your music.
I’m a songwriter and artist. I guess my artist project genre would be left of center pop, but who even puts music in genres anymore. Everything and anything can be pop, in my opinion. As a writer, I will work on anything I find inspiring. I started with folk / country, then moved into jazz influenced pop, then electro pop. I have R&B sessions, rock sessions, and everything in between. As long as I’m making a song, sign me up.

My writing process usually centers around the song concept. Coming up with a good concept is like Christmas to me. If I have something, I want to say, saying it is the easy part. Lyrics have always been really important to me, as both a listener and a writer. My favorite artist is Lorde, mostly for her insightful way of articulating simple things. Her songs make people feel smart and understood. My theory about concepts and lyrics is that literally anything personal will be relatable to someone. There is only a finite set of emotions, and every human on earth can experience them. Therefore, how could I be going through something that no one can relate to? As long as a song is honest, it will connect to listeners by default. Similar to relationships, writing, is truly the best policy.

I make music for a number of reasons, but the most obvious one is that it’s what I’m best at in life. I never really considered being anything else but a musician. When I was 10, I told myself, “I’m going to be Taylor Swift when I’m 13.” I turned 13 and was not in fact Taylor Swift, but had learned how to write a song (not a great one, but still a song). I originally began writing stories; when I was in elementary school, I wrote a children’s book about a magic pen. I started putting music to the stories once I understood how powerful songs could be. In my mind, every hard time in my life is closely associated with a soundtrack that helped get through it. In middle school, I remember my friend asking me if I could write her a song about her and her crush. They unfortunately, they didn’t work out, but she did love the song. I saw how happy it made her relate so strongly to a piece of art, and decided I wanted to see that reaction as much as possible.

I do often write about love, mostly because it confuses me, but I also make a conscious effort to talk about an abundance of subjects in my songs. Like most people, I want to make a positive impact on the world. My way of doing this is through music, so I’m always most excited about songs that carry a heavier meaning. My life long quest is to find relatable and palatable ways to write about things like gun control, women’s rights, global warming, and the many issues our world today faces. This is a challenge, though, as no one wants to be preached at, but instead empowered. Some artists who successfully accomplish this are Yungblud, The 1975, Halsey, and Alec Benjamin. I’m very excited to release more music about things that truly matter to me.

What do you think is the biggest challenge facing artists today?
The easiest part of being an artist is making music. Everything else is the hardest part. I’m a creative type to the core, so trying to build a business for myself doesn’t come naturally. In school, I was the girl who shoved all of her paperwork into one big folder without organizing it. Also, in an age when hundreds of thousands of songs are released every week, it’s harder than ever for artists to cut through the noise. It’s sadly ironic that all it takes for some is to post a video of their pet being cute for 3 seconds on tik tok, and boom, an overnight sensation. I struggle daily between trying to be my most authentic, honest self, while also finding a way to be interesting and unique to listeners. I’m a firm believer that great music will find ears eventually, so that’s what I’m trying to focus on: making great music that will last.

I feel like one of the hardest things to do is create a musical career with longevity. People are becoming famous quickly and being forgotten even faster. Also, especially as a woman, ageism is still very present in the music industry. It’s rare to see a new pop artist emerge that isn’t in their early 20’s. This industry has a weird power of make you feel a lot older than you actually are. I moved to LA 8 months ago and already feel like I’ve aged 3 years. I never thought I’d be in an environment where being 20 feels old, but when I look around, there are 17 year old succeeding right alongside me. I don’t let this discourage me though, as I feel like our generation is such a powerful and insightful group of young people, and I want us to prosper and grow together. Today’s youth has the unique responsibility of sparking change in many areas of life, whether it be advocating for better gun control or choosing to ditch plastic bottles. Another challenge is inspiring this type of change, though. It feels as if getting the attention of young people today takes a new set of skills and a different sense of humor. Making music palatable for all ages is something I’m working on. In the end, though, if I love what I’m making, I think someone else out there just as well.

The last challenge I’ll mention is building an image. I can’t count the number of times I’ve been in a business meeting with an A&R and heard, “let’s talk about your look.” Everyone always has something to say. I’ve gotten, “You need to dress more like a star. Every session you go to should be like you’re auditioning for a TV show.” I’ve also heard, “You’re a pretty girl, but that isn’t an asset anymore. Unless we ‘ugly you up,’ you won’t be taken seriously.” My response to that is if people won’t take me seriously because of my physical appearance, giving into society’s standards and expectations is not the way to change that. Being blonde and female shouldn’t make me appear less intelligent or hard working. I want to work to breakdown that stereotype in society, and conforming is definitely not the way to go about that. I’ve met some amazing people on the business side of this industry, but they’re far and few between. Many can help but see an artist as nothing more than a product, something they can market and make money off 0of.

How or where can people see your work? How can people support your work?
My music is available on all streaming platforms (Spotify, Apple Music, Amazon, etc.) Here are some links to my work! Roses to His Ex: sptfy.com/salemroses
757 EP: sptfy.com/salem757

Impatient music video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SEaGwQ7pVqo
I have an upcoming EP set to be released in the summer of 2020! To stay updated, you can follow my Instagram @imsalem. You can support by streaming my songs, and sharing them with friends if you like them! If you’re reading this, thank you, you’re already supporting. I’m very grateful. <3

Contact Info:

• Email: [email protected]
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/imsalem/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/salemdavernmusic/

Image Credit:
Lucky Shulman
Gohar G
Logan Wilder
Geometro

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