Today we’d like to introduce you to Sarah Strubbe.
Thanks for sharing your story with us Sarah. So, let’s start at the beginning and we can move on from there.
I started training classically at age eight and walked the life of an opera singer in training until halfway through college! I sat down with my vocal teacher, Professor Jeremy Hunt, at the University of Central Florida to decide whether I truly wanted to continue on this path. It was that moment that defined the trajectory of my musical journey, I was just too confused and in limbo to know it-I said no. As an identical twin (yep, I forget to let people in on this little detail, so here it is) I really believed I was destined to be in competition with someone who looks, talks, acts, sings so much like me that I LIVED to overcome and prove that I was different.
My journey as a pop singer-songwriter is not about defining who I am apart from my twin and apart from anyone else, but about celebrating the YOU. The little moments, the big moments and the growth. We are so focused (me included) on finding who we are that we forget to BE who we are… I wouldn’t change a thing. I would study and participate in all of the vocal competitions, perform classical songs, have a voice and piano lessons every week, go to music camp at Florida State University, join the notoriously gold-winning traveling choir in high school and be bullied constantly for my voice all over again if it meant I could understand what I understand today. If it meant, I could do what I do today, and I could give that knowledge to someone else (I am also a piano and vocal coach!)
Overall, has it been relatively smooth? If not, what were some of the struggles along the way?
NOPE! The life of a musician has never been easy. I decided at age eight that my life would be spent immersed in song. Did I know it would be hard then? No, I did not. Do I know now? Sure as heck I do, haha! I would never have been able to get through the self-doubt, bullying, questionable teachers (not you, billy) without my family. The number of times my parents had to listen to me cry after a performance or after an audition is INSURMOUNTABLE. Yet, they stood by my side and let me do exactly what I wanted. Perform, audition and study music. In middle school, I developed some… bad eating habits. There, I said it. I had an eating disorder. This engulfed my life completely. I would do everything as far as music, but my practicing lessened. I became so full of self-doubt. I didn’t think I was good enough, therefore I didn’t train as hard.
Funny how the mind works, right? In High School, I went through all the bad relationships while maintaining that eating disorder, but guess what? Bullying. YEP. I had a warble in my voice. My vibrato, that slight up and down, below and above a sung note, made me stick out like a sore thumb in a choir. The hate train started and the confidence dropped and the paranoia oh my goodness. I remember hearing two peers laughing behind me and I SWORE they were talking about me, so I turned around and stood up for myself for the first time ever. It was then I noticed everyone had stopped singing and the choir teacher was staring at me. I remember his booming voice… “you have something to say?”… such an embarrassing moment. The number of stories from that time of my life could fill a whole biography. Anyway, this is NOT a “woe-is-me” answer to your question, this is a “let me explain why I am so messed up and that I overcame it and you can to” kind of answer. I really am passionate about others being able to live their truth, no matter if that truth is “too much.” eye roll *giggle*
Can you give our readers some background on your music?
I am Sarah Tay, a pop singer-songwriter. I play the piano, I sing, I write music, I teach music. I am proud of being authentic to myself, even though I’ve never truly known who that is (and that’s ok). I am proud of my passion for people, my love for people, and my mission as an artist. I want others to know they are loved, they are valid, they have permission (not mine, don’t have that authority over anyone lol) to be exactly who they are. I giggle A LOT, sometimes I blabber if I’m excited, I don’t always love my body, I sing sad songs at my piano in the dim light of a flickering candle like I’m in one of those dramatic music videos, I fear for my future, I love life despite its uncertainties, and I never let the world stop me from loving anyone who walks into it. Oh I can also sing pretty high thanks to my operatic background.
If you had to go back in time and start over, would you have done anything differently?
I think I might have already answered this! I think life is meant to be how it is. Everything that has happened was meant to happen if that makes sense. For me, I’ve been through a fair few things, and so much of it hurts. So much of it claws its way into your nerve endings and stabs at you when you’re triggered. But I know I would not be exactly where I am without it. Now, I’m not saying, “this pain or my past defines me”, absolutely not! Growth, baby! But, I know how to talk to someone that feels down about themselves. I know how to always hype a student up and make sure they don’t apologize just for making a mistake.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.sarahtaymusic.com/
- Email: [email protected]
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/sarahtaymusic/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/sarahtaymusic
- Other: https://open.spotify.com/artist/6Vujt3lyatpewMPdZoydSW
Image Credit:
Shaunte Sahagun
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