Today we’d like to introduce you to Sabrina Jordan.
Hi Sabrina, we’re thrilled to have a chance to learn your story today. So, before we get into specifics, maybe you can briefly walk us through how you got to where you are today?
One of my mum’s favourite stories to tell takes place years back in an old Honda Pilot on a Montana ranch. As she drove down the long, winding gravel driveway in the company of her infant daughter in the backseat and Andrea Bocelli on the stereo, she nearly stopped the car when she heard the pre-verbal toddler matching pitch with the opera singer. In that moment, she became the most supportive mother a creative individual could ask for.
After we had relocated to Hawai`i and I showed interest in learning to play guitar at nine years old, she didn’t bat an eye. Two days later, I found myself at our neighborhood music store with a nylon-string classical in my lap. When 13-year-old Sabrina just HAD to audition for the nationwide talent search that came through town, without an ounce of hesitation, my mum sat with me through both 10-hour days, and when I was selected, packed her bags and flew with me to LA for a week-long training and showcase. When I decided to move to LA in 2021, she flew across the Pacific to Seattle (where I was living at the time), helped me pack all of my belongings into a VW Tiguan, and headed down the coast in the company of her adult daughter in the driver’s seat and Andrea Bocelli on the stereo. We love a full-circle moment. I am just constantly overflowing with gratitude for that wonderful woman.
Now, coming up on three years, hundreds of studio sessions, and 10 car rides across the city with everything I own later (2022 was a wild one), I’m finally releasing music. Before moving to LA, around the time TikTok was becoming popular, I recognized the potential of having an online presence, and after posting consistently on the platform for a few months, lightbulbs started illuminating. A few videos passed the 100k mark, then a few more, and the moment I saw that small, white “1M” on my guitar cover of “Suga Suga” by Baby Bash, I knew there was something there that could work. Within a few years of focusing solely on content, I had released one single and built a following of around 200,000 people. But I didn’t feel proud of it; I was treating the content like a task, something I had to do if I wanted the music to reach the right ears. What I had yet to realize was how fulfilling content creation can be when it’s approached from the viewpoint of further expanding upon the vision that’s already being created by the music. Once a song of mine (unreleased at the time) titled “Hazel Eyes” began to gain traction online, I began to focus on creating what I think of as world-building content with my producer, Andrew Fitzpatrick, who’s also a skilled videographer and drone pilot. We worked day and night to record, produce, and release the song in under three weeks, with a lineup of videos that each amplified the realm that “Hazel Eyes” lives in. In 2 months, my fanbase doubled, and I was receiving comments that made me realize that I’d finally connected with people on the most authentic level I can imagine as an artist: with art that I loved.
Seeing how well this approach was being received, Andrew and I traveled to Scotland to prepare a new lineup of videos for my upcoming dual release in October, “Mouth of the Eden” and “Tiller’s Prayer.” And in her classic supportive fashion, my mum joined us and became the best PA the world has ever seen.
Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way. Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
There have been a few potholes, speed bumps, ever-so-terrifying road closures and reroutes, and the occasional MACK truck t-bone collision. But I am so unimaginably grateful for it all. Everything that I’ve ever viewed as an obstacle or closed door has propelled my life in the best direction possible. One that comes to mind: while on the previously mentioned coastal road trip on my way to move to LA, my living situation fell through. I was exactly 8 hours outside of the city and suddenly had no place to live. Thank GOD. I ended up contacting a friend in Malibu, and though I can’t say for sure how things would have gone if I had lived where I had been planning to live, I wholeheartedly believe that it was a necessary reroute. So many incredible experiences and connections have arisen from that shift that I don’t know where I’d be without. I’ll stick with one example for this conversation, we could be here all day; it’s been quite the journey.
Alright, so let’s switch gears a bit and talk business. What should we know about your work?
I am first and foremost an artist. Music has always been the most easily accessible medium to me, and my artist project, Sabrina Jordan, is my current focus. Expanding that outside of music and into creative direction and visual artistry through content creation is a craft that I’ve been honing, and I’m falling in love with it. Bringing something that doesn’t yet exist in the physical realm into the physical realm in ways that bring people together and weave a common thread through those who experience it fascinates and inspires me more than anything.
Recently, I’ve been heavily inspired by Celtic culture, a piece of my heritage and so many others. My 2nd and most recent single, “Hazel Eyes,” is written in the style of Celtic folk tunes and has taken on a life of its own among the fantasy/medieval/Celtic communities on social media. My upcoming October dual release, “Mouth of the Eden” and “Tiller’s Prayer,” can easily be braided into that realm. These songs are some of my best work to date, conceptually, lyrically, and sonically. I’m beyond excited to let them fly free.
We all have a different way of looking at and defining success. How do you define success?
Success has always been an interesting concept to me; the word itself implies a certain point at which something is achieved or attained. As anyone with a dream can relate to, there are musical milestones and goals I’d like to achieve, and they’ll each be individual successes once accomplished. I’d imagine I’ll only be able to judge whether my life as a whole has been successful at the very end of it. I was brought up with a beautiful concept in Hawaiian culture called “pono,” which loosely translates to the state of harmony, balance, and alignment. If I can close my eyes peacefully and feel fulfilled by the sum of my experiences and imprints that I’ve left on the world and people in it, if I know that I’ve been pono, I’ll have been successful.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.sabrinajordanmusic.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/sabrinajordanmusic/
- SoundCloud: https://open.spotify.com/artist/2zgQujI3jnTTKJpj9Im76b?si=LbYuv1eASyOWKrMCUwDD1g
- Other: https://www.tiktok.com/@sabrinajordanmusic?is_from_webapp=1&sender_device=pc
Image Credits
Robiee Ziegler, Max Christiansen, Andrew Fitzpatrick
