Today we’d like to introduce you to Pretty Sister.
So, before we jump into specific questions, why don’t you give us some details about you and your story.
It all started when I was about five in my underwear playing air guitar to my dad’s VHS Copy of Metallica’s music video “one”. Soon I upgraded to dancing in front of the TV in my mom’s west Hollywood apartment to Michael Jackson’s “Smooth Criminal.” Early in elementary school, I would record mixtapes for friends off of power 106 with stuff like Bone thugs in harmony Tony, Toni, Tone and Coolio. But it wasn’t until hearing Elvis’s “That’s all right mama” that I really felt inspired to sing. that one really hit me. a close second was Brian McKnight’s “back at one.” I would secretly sing in my room all the way up till the end of high school. I didn’t even let my parents hear really me, I kind of kept it a secret. being a skate kid from the valley, that also happened to box competitively, wrestle and play football, I wasn’t really keen on sharing my other hobby. Singing along to my step-dads collection of Jodeci, Boyz II men, El debarge and Earth Wind & Fire and D’angelo. Finally, senior year I got over myself and did what any angsty teen with a love for 90’s R&B does. Joins a METAL BAND. It was short-lived but did give me my first taste for songwriting and the rush of playing in front of people. We played our first shows at the whiskey on sunset and played a few times at the valley famous trash hole Cobalt Cafe. It was exhilarating. That band broke up, I started a newer one. That one led a record deal with Motown and some fun tours and more opportunities to write and produce. That ended and my solo career started as Zak Waters and now finally my newest incarnation Pretty Sister.
We’re always bombarded by how great it is to pursue your passion, etc – but we’ve spoken with enough people to know that it’s not always easy. Overall, would you say things have been easy for you?
Is it ever a smooth road!? Absolutely not. I found that the biggest challenge has been, being seen and heard. There’s so much noise out there and so much music to be heard. Gaining some kind of critical mass is like pushing a giant boulder up a hill and sometimes you trip and have to start back down at the bottom. The hills and valleys can be immense and it took me years to come to the conclusion that I wasn’t going to quit no matter what. It’s taken me about a decade to make my career into a semi sustainable living.
Can you give our readers some background on your music?
I am a songwriter/producer and artist. I would say I’m most known for my knack for writing and producing fun, funky soulful songs. People come to me when they want something funky and I love that. I think me being a genuine neo-soul / r&b freak helps what I make be authentic. I’ve been studying that music since before puberty. I’ve definitely put my 10,000 hours many times over.
What is “success” or “successful” for you?
The old cliche “success is when opportunity and preparation meet” is very true when talking about the music biz. You never know whose going to show up at your show, or who’s gonna hear your song from some random Spotify playlist ya know? You can’t really predict anything. all you can do is make sure you’ve got your shit together so that when Spotify happens to put your cover of Pony at the top of one of their biggest playlists, you’re not currently in the process of deleting and switching ALL of your social media over to a different artist name. (Yes this happened to me LOL)
Contact Info:
- Website: prettysistermusic.com
- Instagram: @prettysistermusic
- Twitter: @prettysister
Image Credit:
1st 2 photos by Sam Nahirny, big crowd live shot Zak Cassar
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