WZLY Interviews: Shaia
By Lucy Humphrey ‘24
10-15 min
WZLY: So, do you want to just give like a short introduction as to who you are?
Shaia: Sure! So, I'm Shaia, also known as Sasha. I am a senior at Wellesley College and I just started to release my own music.
WZLY: Very, very cool. How did you get into making music? I know a little bit, but yeah.
Shaia: So, honestly, I think it started now as an elementary school [student], like when I was in choir, like the little band they had, followed by middle school. I was still in band, and then I joined choir, and then did three years of orchestra, and I'm now playing the viola. When high school came around, I was introduced to musical theater and I continued orchestra. Now I'm in the Brandeis Wellesley Orchestra. I’m the vice president and I play viola. I do private lessons and any singing opportunities that I can find, from when I was abroad and performing for the Music Society at the University of Cambridge, Latinx, and senior celebrations. I took MUS 275, which is a Wellesley course titled “Intro to Electronic and Computer Music.” I had a great time, and I was sort of like, oh! I really like this process and I think it's really fun, so now I'm writing my own songs.
WZLY: That's funny that you say that because I'm in MUS 275 right now.
Shaia: Awesome!
WZLY: So I have questions to ask because I finally know a little bit about how this process works. Do you want to talk a little bit about your most recent release? I know you just dropped something a few days ago.
Shaia: Yeah! It's called “All for You” and it's in collaboration with someone I've known since elementary school. His artist name is Og Basho. And I think he's sort of more, I guess, indie and rap, but he first contacted me and was like, “Do you want to collaborate? I know you like singing and stuff.” And I was like, okay, like I never actually seriously thought about it. But I think, you know, he kind of taught me a little bit more about the process and how it works. And so my very first thing that I was featured in was a song called “Does It Ever Get Lonely?” on his SoundCloud. But then we started making, I guess, this song. It finally came to fruition and I decided to release it. Yeah.
WZLY: No, I listened to it! It was really cool to hear the way you two collaborated together. And am I incorrect in thinking that you just released three more new songs, like two days ago?
Shaia: Oh, yeah! Those are actually a compilation of the music projects that I did in MUS 275.
WZLY: Oh, okay. I was going to ask because I was trying to figure out how they all flowed together and why you called it Polyprotic.
Shaia: Polyprotic, yeah. I'm a neuroscience major and a music minor, so STEM and music have always gone together for me. I think this was during a CHEM 205 lab maybe about a year ago; we had a creative project in which we explored the intersection of chemistry and any form of art. So I decided to make a song. And, it was the same time that I was taking MUS 275. From what I remember, a polyprotic has something to do with protons and things that I can't really remember at the moment. I took a recording from one of the lab equipment that we use and I just sort of combined it into a song. Overall the compilation is about my love for music but also STEM and sort of figuring out what I want to do after graduation, and ultimately I think I’ll choose both. I think the two other songs there, "Delirious" and "Dr. Daydream" sort of talk about this; especially “Dr. Daydream” because, for the majority of my life, I've been pre-med. So I'm not really sure about it right now—maybe more PhD—but it's still the same kind of STEM-y route. So sort of, okay, I could be a doctor and I could really go down this academic route. But also this thing for music is still in my heart. And so it's a daydream in a sense. It's like, oh, I could become an artist, I could become big. But it feels like reality pulls in and the song is sort of exploring that idea.
WZLY: Yeah, no, I feel like people are often told that if they want to be a musician, they can't really be a musician. Like that is a daydream and that the more practical career is where the doctor comes in; it's like that's something you are supposed to be aspiring towards as opposed to trying to make it in the world of music. But I like that you're trying to do both. That's a very, I don't want to say ambitious, but maybe, noble goal. I admire it.
Shaia: Thank you.
WZLY: So I guess that I'm thinking about just because I'm taking this class too, I know how the assignments generally work. How much of it is sound that you've recorded yourself or sounds that you've created on virtual synths? What's the process of making the songs?
Shaia: Yeah, so I think it's sort of similar to like, I don't even know, not that I would compare myself to Billie Eilish or like Charlie Puth or something. But I see these videos like “Oh I took this recording of this random scene and just incorporated it into a beat and then added lyrics and all of this stuff.” So “Dr. Daydream” has a lot of samples of me turning the page or ripping something or playing a simple scale on the viola. Somehow I compiled it. I honestly don't know. I think I kind of like how it's not such a main melody.
WZLY: Yeah, no no no, it's very cool. And then this, I'm assuming your friend Og Basho, does he live nearby or did you guys have to create this while you were in different states?
Shaia: Yeah. So we were in different states and he introduced me to BandLab. And it’s a very easy app to use to just record anything. And we have really cool features similar to a DAW that we have in the sound lab, but it's simpler. But yeah, it still does the job, I guess
WZLY: Do you think that affected the collaboration process in that you guys weren't right there talking to each other about it while you're creating things, but you're having to record and then send it and then give feedback and stuff like that?
Shaia: Yeah. I think it's kind of interesting in that BandLab is sort of like a Google Doc in the sense that you can both be on the same platform at the same time.
WZLY: Okay, that's awesome. Do you have any musical inspirations? I know you said you're not going to compare yourself to Billie Eilish or Charlie Puth, but do you have musical inspirations?
Shaia: Yeah, definitely Billie Eilish.
WZLY: That's so fair.
Shaia: I discovered her, I think when she just came out with the song “Lovely”, with Khalid. And I was like, Wow! This is cool.
WZLY: No, that song is absolutely gorgeous. She changed pop in a very unique way, and so I see what you're going for with the sound that you've created for yourself. I definitely see that there. And with that, I want to ask just to know, is there any song that you have on repeat in your head right now?
Shaia: Actually, it's an Ariana Grande song and it's her new one that's like, “We Can’t Be Friends”. I think it's just a really catchy melody. You know, like, wow, it's just, it's just playing over and over.
WZLY: I was trying to think, is there anything you wish that I had asked you that you want to talk about?
Shaia: I'm not sure, but I guess the idea of collaboration, I think, is really interesting because once we had that one feature that Og Basho and I released, someone that he's also collaborated with in the past reached out to me and said, “I heard this song, do you want to collaborate with me?” And I was like, sure. And yeah, he just released a whole album. His name is MacaveliCoop. And I'm in one of the songs called “Held Back”. Yeah, it was kind of new for me because I've never really explored the world of, I guess, more rap, or things like that, so that was fun. It kind of worked.
WZLY: No yeah, I mean, assuming that since you played viola, you were raised in somewhat of a classical world, which to be fair, I played bassoon and I am very familiar with that, but when you think about those two classical music and like rap, I feel like people don't see often how they could like, flow into each other. But I don't know, I feel like when you create your music, what I've heard is that there's a lot of your viola and that type of music, but also like, interesting beats and sound clips that I feel are seen in a lot of other genres. I could be wrong, but that's what I'm getting from your music.
Shaia: Yeah, I don't like the idea of labeling myself in a box in any sense, whether it's career, academic, or just what I create, which is why I think I sort of make compilations of things and explore that as well.
WZLY: Yeah. I mean, okay, so we're at Wellesley and you're making music on campus. How do you think that like, I'm not even sure how to phrase my question, but like, support from your friends or like, any Wellesley support while you were doing this or…
Shaia: I definitely think my number one source of inspiration and support was Professor Sid Richardson. He was my professor in Electronic Computer Music. I told him that I was really interested in just releasing a song or singing and that I didn’t know if I should do it. I didn’t know if I had the right ability. He was very much like, no, like, go for it. Just like, you never know. Just be creative and put anything out there. It doesn't have to be like a whole melody that you hear on the radio. It could be something completely random. Just some of the topics that you talked about, from recording icebergs or birds and making it into a song or just sound, because sound can also be art doesn't necessarily have to be what we've all heard previously.
WZLY: I know exactly what you're talking about. When I was listening to your music, I was like, oh, I see the inspiration for this and just like, the way that sound is so expansive and music is so expansive and you can create like a “melody” from basically anything.
Shaia: I think that's kind of what art is about though, because it's very subjective in that something that is ugly or horrible to some person can be the most beautiful thing to another.
WZLY: No, yeah! Unfortunately, my brain went to the Macklemore line “one man's trash is another man's treasure,” like specifically him saying that.
Shaia: I guess that’s true.
WZLY: And that is, I mean, that is like the general point. Do you have plans to release more music or make more music eventually?
Shaia: Yes. I do have another song that is almost done, but I think I'm going to work on mastering it after I graduate.
WZLY: That's fair. We are about to start finals season. You're graduating, a lot is going on.
Shaia: Yeah, for sure.
WZLY: I mean, I'm glad you reached out to WZLY because we definitely want to promote artists on campus.
Shaia: Yeah, I'm very grateful for you guys. Like, I love WZLY, I wish I could join, but I was so busy.
WZLY: That's so fair. You’re doing orchestra and you’re a pre-med major and a music minor. That's like a lot of stuff. Well, very cool. I feel like that's all I have to ask you. I don't know. Any concluding remarks?
Shaia: Don't be afraid. Just do what you want to do. Don't worry about, I guess, what other popular artists are making and thinking that that's the benchmark of a standard that you have to reach. Your music or your art or whatever you do is yours.
