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Without revealing too much, it's an important year to us small-troupe-of-music-obsessed-concert-stans, and with that in mind we wanted to start revisiting our favorite artists who helped us come up over the past decade. One of those stars, and by star we mean a verifiable bright shining object that radiates talent and emotive energy, is Sabrina Claudio. On the eve of her latest album Fall In Love With Her, did just that to us. Huddled in our small content cubbyhole, the artist who toured with us after viral explosion in 2018, dove into the ebbs and flows of a career that so few artists get to achieve, how family, a vision paired with strong morals makes you so much more than a icon, but a very real human to learn from. We celebrate her graciousness, and can’t wait for you to fall in love with Sabrina again as well:

OnesToWatch: You grew up in Broward County, Florida, and you wanted to be an artist. How did it all start for you? 

Sabrina Claudio: I was a child at one point. I’d always enjoyed singing, but it’s not something I had ever imagined to become a career. But my parents recognized that I could sing, and for my birthday one year, they bought me a microphone, computer, and a camera. They said I should start making covers and post them on YouTube. It started as fun for me and progressed from there, but it was kind of random, my parents really kickstarted it. 

Did they have any musical background? 

I’d credit my dad in regards to my musical knowledge, because he’s like a library of music. My grandfather, also, in his younger years, was part of a Cuban salsa band. My brother’s also extremely musical, and I have an uncle who’s a part of a band called Spanish Harlem. So music was in my vicinity, but it was just in my world, in and out, not necessarily right there. 

Did you have any other sort of creative ventures, like acting, painting, etc.”

No, which is kind of ironic because I didn’t realize how creative I was internally. I just never tapped into my creative side until I was in high school. I wasn’t even writing poetry or anything. My parents, I’m telling you, they really were the ones that saw it in me. Once I started recording covers, I embraced that creativity. I would grab instrumentals from SoundCloud that had nothing to do with the song I was covering, and reimagine the song that way. I’d shoot my YouTube videos interestingly, too.. The creative aspect came with a director or producer’s perspective, although I couldn’t see it at the time. 

I’m glad you brought up SoundCloud, because every artist needs a platform to launch themselves. And you had a nice crossover between SoundCloud and YouTube. Do you have any advice for artists about how to separate yourself from the sea of other artists doing the same thing? 

Well, I came up at a time where discovering artists looked a lot different and was so much less accessible. When you discovered something you loved, it was like finding treasure. Now, because of social media and streaming services, it’s so oversaturated and you can release anything whenever you want. I think I got really lucky with the timing of it all. 

If you could imagine yourself starting your career, do you think it would be different? 

I’m finding it difficult now, as an artist that’s somewhat established, to stay in front of people’s eyes. No matter the status of artist that you are in this day and age, it’s so hard to stay relevant. I’m lucky I have my foundation of core fans, but if I didn’t have that, I can’t imagine having the resilience to push through the saturation of the industry right now and the content you have to make. 

I love that you brought up your fanbase, because they are fanatically dedicated to you. Did you do anything purposefully to foster that, or was that something that just happened naturally? 

Honestly, I feel kind of guilty that I haven’t dedicated more of myself to my fans. I think this is why I love touring so much, because when I’m in front of people, I feel so much more connected with them, and it’s difficult to manufacture that on social media. I hope that people can feel at these shows how much I love them, because the live shows truly save my life. I blossom on stage, I’m so much more energetic and my passion for it is so evident. So maybe that’s where the fanbase stems from? 

That’s interesting. What do you think is the barrier there with social media?

It’s not so much a reluctancy, the truth is it’s just not my personality. It’s not within me to expose myself in that way, not even in my personal life. Unless you’re extremely close to me, you don’t know when I’m going through a heartbreak. Chances are, I’m gonna show up and work even harder, and you’re gonna think, “Damn, she’s killing it.” You’d never know, and that’s just my personality. So, it’s really hard for me to change that about myself in order to be more visible on social media. I’m not walking around taking pictures of myself all day or thinking about documenting what I’m doing. It’s tough because fans want to connect more than ever now, and I totally understand it. But part of me also wants to maintain some sort of privacy, and I love that I can walk around and be kind of normal and only semi-get recognized. I think I would die if I couldn’t go to the flea market. Obviously I want to grow in the sense of traveling the world and accessing more of an audience, but I love my privacy. 

What is your connection with flea markets?

I love them, I love the sun, being outdoors, but not on a hike. I hike between stalls. I stop and I like to look, and see what people brought, and when you find something, it’s so satisfying because it’s one of a kind. It’s just my favorite thing to do. 

Okay. Hard pivot now back to privacy. One key part of artistry right now is developing a brand identity, and we see artists struggle with the fact that it is an extension of themselves, but not necessarily who they are. Do you have any advice for artists trying to navigate that differentiation? 

It’s different for everyone, but for me, I don’t like to be Sabrina Claudio, the artist, all of the time. I’m capable of turning it on and off. Personally, I have people who keep me grounded, which makes it easy for me to turn it off. When I go to my mom’s house, I’m not the artist. I think people feel like they need to live up to this perception of who they are when they post online, and if anyone sees them as who they actually are behind closed doors, then maybe they aren’t living up to expectations. My advice would just be to do what makes the happiest, but personally if I didn’t have the balance of my artist life and my family life grounding me, I wouldn’t be able to do it. That’s what saved me. 

Pivoting now to your exciting touring career, you’re embarking on tour now, and have many times in the past. What are some of the lessons you’ve learned over the years about touring? 

Touring is not glamorous, everyone. It’s really dirty. Sometimes you don’t shower for three days because you’re on a bus. I have had to learn to accept that. I’m very lucky, though, I have been with my band for almost ten years, so there’s a level of chemistry that is really difficult to come by. I’m a unique person where I want my team to feel like my family, so I’ve created that dynamic when I’m on tour, so that when we’re on the road for months at a time, it just feels like a bunch of friends traveling the world doing what we love. My band and team have always been respectful, and I set boundaries so they know what the routine is. Touring is exhausting, but it is so worth it once you get on that stage. 

How do you rejuvenate yourself on tour? 

I probably do what I shouldn’t do, which is go out every night. I just love my band so much, and we’re living and protect each other, so I feel safe doing all that. 

Sounds like you’re having fun and I love that. Any all time favorite places you’ve performed? 

Life Is Beautiful festival in Vegas. That was the most amazing show, between the vibes, the sunset, and the energy. Otherwise, I love traveling to southeast Asia, I go there all the time. South Korea is my spot. I like the way people receive music outside of North America. 

How do you put together your sets? It sounds like you have a great relationship with your band.

My band and I, we create the set from scratch. So essentially, they’re producing the set. My keyboard player does all of the playback and arrangement, putting the track sin the system. We find the flow of the setlist, where the highs should be, where we should chill, and take it song by song to create a sort of medley. I think that’s why the shows are so incredible in energy, because they’re so involved in it that the passion seeps into the music. 

How long does that take you? 

Maybe a week? If we’re timecoding the lights and all that, maybe two weeks. But throw us in a rehearsal room, give us a week, and we got it. 

What about your costume design and that kind of stuff? Who does that? 

My stylist Katie helps with the glam of it all, and she’s been with me for many years. We always go off of the album we’re touring and what the vibe is, and she transforms that visually. We do a lot of custom pieces. But I don’t tour with a makeup artist or hair stylist. I do all of that myself. I'm gonna sweat it off anyway, who cares? 

How do you balance the nuance of credible demure and fun sexy popstar in your style? 

I don’t do it intentionally, I do what I think looks and feels good. I don’t know if it’s classier, tasteful or not. I don’t really care. I love how I look when I wear certain things and I don’t worry if it’s too much. I’m naturally classy, even when I’m wearing nothing, so I don’t think about that stuff. If you want to think something of me, I don’t care.

What does the process look like between you and your stylist?

It’s very collaborative, the back and forth of it all, but she is the mastermind behind it. I tell her the vibe of the songs and the look we’re going for, and she gets the sketches and we work from there. We look to color palettes and textures to keep the brand cohesive but tell the story of the album. Like this album that I’m working on is feminine and romantic and cinematic and vulnerable, so we’ll be looking to make those adjectives tangible. 

Is there anything with this upcoming album that we should look forward to? 

I’m doing something that I’ve never done before with this release. But other than that… I started writing this album in January 2024, and prior to that I had been doing a lot of writing for other artists. So there was huge experimentation in terms of genres, creative processes, and production. This album is different from anything I’ve done before because I implemented everything I’ve learned from my sessions. And, going back to the privacy thing, although I’m a natural storyteller, it’s sometimes hard for me to reveal personal stories in my songs. But, after really living my life over the past 2 years, I realized how important it is to talk about those things. Not only for my fans, but food myself. So I’ve finally allowed myself to be open about love and heartbreak on this album, and the romance and vulnerability is very different. Conceptually, it was created when my best friend and I sat down to listen to this one song I’d been saving to release when I was ready. She immediately started writing something to it that completely transformed the world I created. 

It’s amazing that you still have such ambition. Is that something you have to work for at all, or does it come naturally? 

I definitely go through my phases of feeling stuck, but I think I just need to be excited about something. The reason why I started writing for other people was because I was in a phase of not knowing what I was going to do or how I felt about what I do, but I didn’t want to stop being creative. I could still be creative, but all the responsibility is off of me. But once my best friend and I started dreaming up this album, it sparked a fire in me that could not be put out, even now. I’m so excited about what has been created, but I need those little sparks to keep fueled. 

It’s admirable to be able to pivot, and give yourself time and space. Things aren’t always linear, as you mentioned. As an artist, how do you feel about collaborating? Is that easy for you?

I expected it to be much more difficult than it was, emotionally and in practice, but once I got in rooms with other people, something in me fully shifted. It was just exciting for me to be there, and I wanted to give it my all. Even if nothing happened song-wise by the end of the day, the conversations and community really filled my cup. Even more so than the music, it was connecting with people that I didn’t realize I was missing while doing my previous albums. I ended up involving a songwriter Nasri on a lot of this album, and I wouldn’t have gotten my favorite music if I hadn’t involved him. 

You mentioned being independent, any big takeaways on how to navigate that? 

Being independent is amazing, but also really difficult. I don’t like to spend money, so I dind’t realize how much I’d have to spend being independent. But if it weren’t for it, I would not be where I am today, because I quite literally couldn’t take two years off to do what I did previous to this album. I am with Empire now though, which is more of a partnership, so I’m still technically independent. I’m very happy. But being fully independent, you just have to be prepared, but it’s so nice to own your music. 

Amazing. My last question, if you could imagine yourself in 5 years from now, where are you? What are you doing? 

I don’t think that far ahead, but if I had to… I’d be 33? I would like to be a mom by then. I would like to be really, really rich, have traveled all over the world and done all of the shows and put out my best music ever. And then I want to chill. I want to have my best friends with me, them to have kids, too, and we can raise them together. I want to have a village with my family and friends. I’ll have embarked on other creative ventures by then, too. 

Thank you so much for your time. 

Thank you!