Today we’d like to introduce you to SAVNT .
Alright, so thank you so much for sharing your story and insight with our readers. To kick things off, can you tell us a bit about how you got started?
My name is SAVNT, I’m a singer and songwriter. The best way to understand my vibe as an artist is to think to yourself if Seal and Sade had a baby and gave that baby to Lenny Kravitz to raise, that would be me. As an artist I’m in a space where I want to create whatever inspiration brings to me; as a person I am navigating through life the best way I can, keeping gratitude at the center of everything I do. I was born on October 12th so if you are into astrology, I’m a Libra through and through. My family is everything to me, I am blessed with the most amazing parents. My parents are first-generation Guyanese Americans and I wouldn’t be the man I am today without their love and my heritage. Our home was full of music growing up and I have to admit, for a while most classics that people would love, I never heard the original version. Growing up in a West Indian household things are different. I was blown away when I realized “Hero” was actually by Enrique Iglesias and not Sanchez, I just assumed that Sanchez’s version was the only one. My Dad listened to all types of music so I was singing Chain Gang at 6yrs old to the point that Sam Cooke became my favorite artist. My dad also liked Sheryl Crow, Hootie & the Blowfish, Tupac, Brandy and so many genres of music that my palette became extremely diverse.
As a kid, singing was a normal thing for me and I didn’t know that other people couldn’t sing because my mom and I would sing around the house all the time. It wasn’t until I got to third grade and started singing at my desk that this girl said, “oh my God, you can really sing. You should go up there and sing for the class”. So I did and my teacher Mr. Brown just smiled and said, “wow, you, you might really have something here”. I want to say thank you to that young lady because she’s the one that really helped me to start my love for performing. Joined choruses and ran track in high school and did what most teenagers at that time did- just tried to make it to senior year. My parents didn’t know about performing arts schools so we didn’t know that there was an avenue that I could take to really hone my skill. While it is something I wished I could have experienced, it’s no fault of theirs and the world became my teacher. Everything I learned was either from friends or from watching and imitating other singers. Going through college, I remember locking myself up in the room and writing -not even thinking I was a songwriter- because it was a huge culture shock for me. I went to Bowie State University, an HBCU in Maryland, and while I was surrounded by people who looked like me as African American people, we are not a monolith so we aren’t all the same. I was this suburban West Indian kid who was from the north. My clothes fit a little bit differently, I had a different swag and everybody down south was completely different to me. Maybe I was cooler than I thought but I just didn’t feel like I fit in anywhere. So I went to class and stayed in my room. I would listen to Lauryn Hill, Bob Marley, Erykah Badu, D’Angelo, and Maxwell on repeat. They really got into the storytelling of what they were, what they were saying. I even got into folk and country music, even though I used to hate country, I loved the stories that they were telling. Around that time I sat down and wrote this song called Cupid. Cupid was about recovering from a heartbreak and wondering if there was anybody else out there for me or am I out of luck. My advisers pushed me to go to an open mic and to be honest, I wasn’t sure how it would go but I went and that was all it took. From that moment on, I would walk through campus, and people would stop me and be like, “Yo, yo, could you just sing like, Keep it real quick?” It was an incredible feeling and that’s where my magnetic relationship with music started. I went on to do a masterclass with Ledisi and she gave me the confirmation that I was what the industry was missing.
But like many artists, I was afraid to want music because I felt like if I wanted it too much, it wouldn’t happen. So I did what most people do after college and got a job that has nothing to do with what I majored in and got fed up because I just wanted to sing. I finally gave myself the permission to pursue it and poured my all into it from then on, I started performing and writing non-stop.
Shortly after making that decision, I released my first single on Soundcloud called “Puppeteer” and it hit over 700,000 streams and was featured on AfroPunk. A few months later, I was contacted by The Voice to audition and then, the rest is history. With all the highs and lows, I am now in this space where I am creating just to create. I’m giving myself room to let inspiration come to me.
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?
If you ask any creative- especially a musician if the road has been easy I’m pretty sure they would love to reply with a firm “Absolutely! Smooth sailing, honestly – the easiest thing I’ve ever done.” When in actuality, our journeys are the exact opposite. So that said, of course, my path has been difficult. There’s been trials, tribulations, and things that come with the territory that I’ve had to overcome but I also had to conquer things within myself. We hear it all the time that “ anything worth having is worth fighting for “ but nobody tells you that mastering self is the biggest part of the process. So while I do believe that sometimes you do have to go boldly in the direction of your dreams to do so you must figure out how to drown out the noise and motivate yourself in the process. It’s hard to ask for advice on a road that is constantly changing, people can empathize but unless they are living it from your vantage point it’s hard to fully grasp. So when all signs lead to a stop, you have to figure out how to pivot and move forward. That’s kind of been my motto for life. I would say that the Greek tragedy of my story started with The Voice. Now, many people may think that doesn’t make any sense and would affirm what could be bad about getting on one of the biggest platforms for music at that time and gaining exposure across the globe. But the experience kind of broke me. I had spent most of my life feeling like a magnet like I had the power to attract any positive situation I wanted towards me. To be transparent, I never thought that I would want to be on The Voice. But I got an email that asked me if I wanted to audition and I skipped a round or two and when I went in for the audition they liked me a lot. People were intimidated by me, but in a great way, they were just like, “Yo, you’re so dope-we’re going to see you on TV”. But I knew better than to let the praise get to me because in my mind to make it I needed to focus and be in perfectionist mode so I was always thinking about what could be better. I would always make sure that I was practicing, rehearsing, making sure that everything was tight, so tight to the point where I got up on stage, I put myself in the wrong position and I couldn’t hear myself. And I had, to me, one of the worst auditions because to the world it looked like I forgot my words when the truth was I just couldn’t hear myself. So although I made history as the first artist to ever mess up and get a chair turn, that stuck with me for a while because the place I was the most confident became a place where I questioned myself the most and I just knew that any performance moving forward, I could not f*ck up because people will never let you forget it. After that, I was in a completely different space and I was completely nervous and filled with anxiety. When the thing you love becomes the thing you have to battle it gets hard to move forward. From what the world could see I had three great shows and that was that. But I would cringe any time anybody tells me that they watched it because I never knew if people were coming to hug me with open arms and congratulations or if it was a pity. After all, I didn’t make it to the end. Shouldering that disappointment, the criticisms and consistent reminders crushed me. I stepped onto sold-out shows on emotional auto-pilot trying to forget it, hoping to move on and replace the memory with something bigger. It felt like everyone around me needed to see my brand ambassador, the guy who was just happy for the experience as if it was wrong to want to do well and succeed. After that experience every stage I stepped onto, regardless of how great the opportunity was, I was still arrested with this anxious feeling and the question of is it going to happen again. Am I going to actually forget my words this time? Am I going to hit the wrong note? What if somebody in the crowd saw the show and would they look at me like, Oh, he’s just a f*ck up? Those were a lot of my thoughts and they hit hard and hurt more than I was prepared for. That anxiety stayed with me for a long time. Although I am grateful to have made the friends I made and to have worked with Jennifer Hudson and Miley Cyrus, the feeling of questioning if you are good enough is something I wouldn’t wish on anyone, especially in correlation with something you love.
But I kept releasing music and performing, no matter how I felt on the inside because it almost felt like if I stop then what was all that for? Who sacrifices the way I did, and works as hard as I do just to stop. People already push “be realistic” to creatives consistently as if our passions are just a hobby. So it was a process to get back on solid ground and as soon as I felt like I got my second wind COVID hit and anything music came to a halt. It allowed me to slow down and process my relationship with music and myself. Somewhere around September 2021, after recovering from COVID, I decided to change my stage name from Stephan Marcellus to SAVNT. A savant is “one with detailed knowledge in some specialized field” and I’m humble enough to know I haven’t mastered everything when it comes to music but I know through this process I gained a deep understanding & mastery of self.
I saw something online that said “Don’t let people’s compliments go to your head, and don’t let their criticisms go to your heart. The degree to which you do either of these things is the degree to which you’ll be ruled by what other people think of you.” As an artist, I think we should tattoo this on our foreheads because everyone in the industry and on social media has an opinion about us. Before I adopted this mindset all the compliments, criticisms, and critiques weighed with me. Labels would reach out to me and would reach out to me-everybody could tell me that I was undeniable, this is a good look, this is different, this is next. But they didn’t know exactly what to do with me. It felt like my lyrics were too deep for people to understand, the music was too anthemic, too this and that. Then I finally got to a point where I decided to make music for myself. I’m going to thank God for the downloads and inspiration that’s coming to me. I’m just going to write and whatever comes out comes out, if it’s R&B, cool, if it’s Rock, cool, if it’s Country, cool, I’m just going to write. My frequency will attract the people who are like me and the people who appreciate the music will listen. Once I gave myself the permission to create on my terms the return has been pretty amazing.
Alright, so let’s switch gears a bit and talk business. What should we know about your work?
While I’ve had some amazing opportunities, selling out the Apollo Music Café…Rockwood Music Hall, getting a partnership with Xfinity Studios and OrangeTheory Fitness, and even nobs of approval from amazing artists like H.E.R; my music brings me the biggest sense of pride. My sound is heavy on the soul with a pinch of rock and a dash of vulnerability. When I’m not writing my own songs I like to “Savntify” songs from other artists I love and make them my own. If you follow me on TikTok or catch me performing live my covers are an element I like to add to every show.
I desire to spend the rest of my life doing what I love, performing and creating. Music helps me heal and I hope it inspires more people to get free, express themselves and tap into their emotions. Vulnerability is our greatest strength because when you acknowledge how you feel and the root of those emotions nobody can hold it against you. You become bolder and more confident because you have a full awareness of self.
Before we go, is there anything else you can share with us?
Thank you to everyone who has supported me over the years! You love means everything!
Contact Info:
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/iamsavnt/
- Other: https://www.tiktok.com/@iamsavnt
Image Credits
Photographer – Sergio Colon Creative Director & Stylist – Alaya Lynae
