Q&A: meet Sarah Stone, Melbourne singer-songwriter making waves

Sarah Stone has been someone we’ve known about for a while. She has consistently worked hard to get what she wants. She slayed YouTube gaining a huge audience over 8 years ago, she was on The Voice a few years back and more recently Sarah had a Zoom call with Britain’s Dua Lipa, she is straight up killing it. Our Melbourne slice has since dropped a juicy gift for us in What We Do, a song depicting the high’s and Low’s of relationships between people who are inevitably incompatible. 

Sarah’s sound is inspired by dark and synth-pop elements and What We Do is no exception. This song has layers, it’s one of those songs that doesn’t give you everything upfront, it builds. We love a good build up. The thing we love most about this song though is that it is polished, from her tone to the quality throughout the track. It just sounds like a song you would absolutely turn up when you hear it come on the radio. 

We’ve all been finding new projects this year, partly due to being thrust into a new environment, Sarah though has gained somewhat of a green thumb. Tending to her new veggie patch as well as cooking to help weather the storm. P.S. she’s looking for new recipes so slide into her DM’s if you’ve got any good ones.

We caught up with our Melbourne slice to talk about her new track, her awkward public transport encounter and her go to karaoke song. 

Check out all the feels below. Here’s a snippet of our conversation

Hey Sarah, tell us a little bit about your experience with music so far?

I’ve had quite an interesting journey with my music up until now starting with a love for musical theatre and performing arts. In my teenage years I poured everything into that being my outlet and learning how to connect emotionally through music. After graduating school and applying for every musical theatre college in the country, I sustained quite a bad knee injury that really put that dream on hold. During this time I had a real lightbulb moment of moving out of my comfort zone and experimenting with music styles and writing that I had pushed aside for so long. Slowly I really started to find my feet and find my own sound and that’s when I realised that musical theatre was no longer the direction I wanted to head in. I made a YouTube channel and had greet success with building an audience and then everything really snowballed from there! I feel like now, after taking some time away from music to focus on myself and enjoying my life, i feel ready to go full throttle on my music and I feel so confident in where my head is at and the music that is coming out of my studio and writing sessions. It’s a great place to be! 

You’ve had some great experiences over the past few years with music, what’s been your favourite?

I have been so fortunate to have so many great music experiences to look back on but I must say 2 of my favourites would be meeting Ed Sheeran in Dublin pre show before a gig and having the opportunity to just talk about music and life. I remember feeling so overwhelmed yet so calm and he was such a wonderful presence and provided so much great advice.  And secondly, last month I had the chance to chat with Dua Lipa via a Zoom chat while I was on set filming my music video for What We Do and it was once again, extremely surreal but her energy was so magnetic and I took so much away from that call. 

Talk me through your new banger “What We Do”, what’s it about and what was the creative process like?

It feels SOOO good to have What We Do out in the world and share this song that has been a concept in my mind for so long. I guess to summarise, I would say this song is about a complicated romance between 2 people who are inevitably incompatible. There is something so fascinating about the push and pull of love and the intense highs and deep lows you feel when you love hard. It’s like this constant dance of danger where you both know it’s not good for you but when you do have those moments where everything feels right, it’s like you’re on top of the world.  

What are your go-to toasted sandwich fillings?

Offt I mean I loveeee a straight up ham, cheese, tomato and onion vibe but I am also impartial to a chicken and avocado with a good stringy, tasty cheese. The cheese is everything.

If we’re going next level and talking about a Jaffa, then my vibe is definitely baked beans. I think that’s my English heritage coming out haha. 

What’re some of your other passions besides music?

I’m telling you now, iso has aged me by about 20 years haha I am really loving my cooking and baking which I’ve always been mediocre at and slowly through many fails, I’m starting to have success! I’ve basically been cooking every second day of lockdown and I’m running short of ideas so please send me some recipe ideas! 

And I’ve also been spending so much time in my veggie garden learning about home grown produce which has been so wonderful and calming in a time of chaos. I already know this passion is going to send me broke but I love it! 

What’s your go-to Karaoke song?

Look to be honest I am actually terrified of Karaoke so I avoid it at all costs haha but I do love me some If I Could Turn Back Time by Cher or Since You’ve Been Gone by Kelly Clarkson. I guess the reality is after 3 drinks I will sing basically anything.

What is the weirdest thing you’ve experienced on public transport?

Wowza I wouldn’t even be able to nail down my top 5! I remember watching a child drink chocolate milk with his mum on the train and this kid was like chugging it down. Like how you would drink water after a run. After like a minute he literally just stood up and then vomited everywhere. I remember this child being so casual about it and the mum was actually speechless it was a weird time.

What was the last thing you googled?

“Best Banoffee Pie Recipe” haha well isn’t that just fitting. PSA I’ve never actually eaten Banoffee pie so the first time I do will be tonight when I’ve finished making it. So hopefully I don’t ruin this delicacy. 

Are we sensing another single soon?

I can definitely feel something brewing...it will be on its way in the coming months. I’m really excited for this next one which feels like a good progression forward from What We Do. Keep your eyes peeled on the socials! 

Omg banoffee pie is LIT, if you haven’t made it before do yourself a favour and pull up a recipe now.

Sarah has been smashing goals for a while now but her recent drop is something to proud of, it is a bop and a half.

Check out her new track below or head to our new Snap, Crackle and Pop 🎤 playlist to hear more fab songs like this one.

By Samuel Seedsman.