Fast rising Netherlands based artiste Stemin, was amongst the artiste that got interviewed by us this week.The talented multi-lingual wonder-kid is now ready to take on more as he will be introducing himself to the world with his upcoming album titled “Tell Your Heart.”
In this interview, Stemin shared fun details about himself as he fielded questions from us regarding his musical career and lifestyle in general.Check out the interview beneath and be sure to stream and download “Better Than Wine“ afterwards.
Tell me about yourself and how you first got into music?
My name is STEMIN and I am a musician-artist born in Switzerland to a Swiss father and a German mother. I was raised in the southern part of Italy, in the area of Napoli. Growing up in a large family and being the youngest of six children, I was exposed to music at a very young age. Around the age of 8 I was introduced to professional piano lessons by my parents while later on I took also saxophone classes and embraced singing as my main instrument in music and main expression tool during my teenage years. The piano is still the instrument I use to write most of my tunes even though I am experimenting with other instruments as well.
The introduction to music was supported by my parents who were tenacious listenersof classical music as well as gospel, soul and pop. The biggest factor that made me fall in love with music in the first place and later on favored and nourished my career was the ability to intensively listen to music and appreciate different music styles, without setting boundaries to my ears. This gave me a deeper understanding of music and it really shaped my understanding of music in general.
What motivated you to write “Closer”?
The story that inspired ‘Closer’ was the encounter of a girl that I saw for the first time at a friend’s party and kept on meeting over and over again, strangely enough, in different occasions. From the first moment I met her, I felt something for her, she captured my attention with her vibes but then in time I realized that this feeling was not reciprocated.
Closer is an invitation to grow nearer to someone, letting go of self and personal prejudices by seizing the moment. The song portrays the feelings involved when that special encounter with that one person takes place. It also describes that moment when you start thinking, dreaming and fantasizing about a stranger that you barely know but who catches your attention. Your mind is completely taken and your thoughts are sailing through a sea of excitement and emotions.Sometimes, the feelings one has for a person are connected with a desire that is concealed, a thought that withstands prejudices, and that, in the eyes of many, should be banned. ‘Closer’ is an invitation to let go of false myths, prejudices and mental limitations; an invitation to find closure with the one you love, enabling your eyes to see bridges instead of walls and grow closer, either mentally or physically.
Who or what inspired you to choose music as your career? And how long have you been into the music business?
I always say that it was never an actual choice but more like a destination to somehow reach in time. I can say that I fell in love with music and I never left: while I was growing into music during my upbringing I did not reallychoose if I would pursue music or not. It’s almost like music chose me over the years. I was always surrounded by music in different formsas well as being influenced by other artistic forms: choosing music as a fulltime calling was kind of a naturalstep for me. I started with pursuing music on a professional level when I was around the age of 19, after I really knew that music was the world through which I wanted to express myself and through which I would work fulltime in the future.
I pursued a professional music degree and graduated with a bachelor and master of music. In the past I have been working on different music projects and will release my second debut album on August 28th. I try to keep a healthy balance in dealing with artistic expression through the exploration ofperformance, composition and song writing as well as collaboration with other musicians. In all of this I try topursue, find and developmy artistic and personal expression.
You speak different languages. How were you able to achieve this?
I speak Italian because I grew up in Italy but my mother tongue is also German because of my parents. My father is from Switzerland and my mom from Germany; at home we would speak German and, of course, I would speak Italian in school and with my friends. I studied English in school and lived in Australia for a while and so practiced all I had learned beforehand.I also speak Spanish because of my friends and ex-partner: Italian and Spanish are very similar so it was a very natural process for me to actually learn some Spanish.
You have lived in Italy, Australia, Germany and Switzerland and currently residing in Netherlands. How is the experience like living in these countries?
Living in all these countries is very challenging and very different at times especially in the way life is intended and done. All these countries have a strong, unique personality and somehow deal differently with life in general. What I like about the singularity and uniqueness of these countries is that they all work out things differently but in a very efficient way. All countries have different aspects, sometimes positive, sometimes negative, but of course the nice things are the ones that really matters. I have learned a lot just be living in these countries and I am very thankful and blessed to have had this possibility because it taught me a lot about myself first of all, people and life. It gave me an extra sensibility and understanding for the way I intend life and people nowadays. It also taught me that we should never compare incomparable things, such as different cultures and different countriessinceevery culture has a unique character.
What should your fans expect from your upcoming album ‘Tell Your Heart’?
#tellyourheart will be out on August 28th on all online platforms and I am really looking forward to it. I am also very proud of this album because it is the result of a specific sound, as well as compositional and production research that I have been pursuing for the last two years. I tried to find my own style and tried to grow more into a unique and personal sound through the writing and the production of this album.
#tellyourheart depicts the dating part in a relationship as one of the most beautiful and challenging season. Different feelings are involved: it is a fresh, wonderful and exciting time for the relationship. Everything looks new. The flourishing love changes each little thing: emotions, dreams and colours. #tellyourheart is a journey into one’s heart: a gracious, joyful and colourfulheart; a heart that is young in its ways and behaviours; a heart that has much love to pour out as a generous gift.
It also describes different aspect of love and how love is intended in relationships or which yourself etc.
Have you collaborated with any artist before? If yes! Which artists would youlike to collaborate with next?
Yes, I have collaborated with several artists before and I am still collaborating with different artists at the moment for the launch of the album as well as for my artistic development. I have collaborated with musicians, performers, producers and many artists from different areas while researching and creating my personal style. I like all kinds of arts, especially visual arts, dance and poetry. I like to include all kinds of arts in my music as well as in my productions.
I have collaborated with Italian musicians, actors and performers, Australian producers and UK DJs. My dream is to be able to collaborate with Tom Misch, PJ Morton and Braxton Cook.
What’s the story behind naming your upcoming album ‘Tell Your Heart’?
I chose to call the new album #tellyourheart because I wanted to described the different shades that a heart can obtain.Thealbum is meant to describe the process of taking care of one’s heart. It depicts the process of literally ‘talking’ to one’s heart. We can speak good things to our hearts and favour a stronger and faster healing process!
The logo that is shown on all the single releases, the album cover and represents my brand depicts a heart:the upper part represents a heart made of flesh. A heart that we all have when we are born: innocent and young. A heart that always hopes for better things and loves without limits. A heart that has a strong will: a force that cannot be stopped. Over the course of our lives things happen to us; sometimes pleasant things unfold, sometimes difficult things get in our way. Disappointments and trials strike us. We grow weary and heavy. We grow distant. We lose that fresh love we had when we were young.The lower part represents a heart made of diamond. A heart that is shaped by circumstances, difficulties and is refined by everything that happens. Interesting thing: diamonds represent the hardest matter in the world. In order to become pure and valuable, diamonds need to go through a whole process of refining, cleansing and a strong workforce has to be applied on them. Diamonds need to be purified and go through constant hardships in order to become what we, in the end, call a ‘diamond’. This whole process gives them value. Only at the end of this process diamonds become DIAMONDS; only then they gain value, strength and purity.As well as diamonds, a human heart has to go through difficulties in order to become stronger and gain value. It does not matter what we do or what happens to us in life, we can either choose to let struggles affect and destroy us, or let these trials change us for better in order to flourish and learn from them!
Where do you see yourself in five years time?
I see myself developed artistically and humanly on different frontssince I have always seen myself as a person who wants to improve personal aspects and learn new things. I have always seen myself as a ‘work in progress’ in the way I intend life: I always try to improve myself and grow in specific areas in which I still want and have to grow. In five years of time I definitely see myself grown in my performing skills and my writing skills as well as having done different music productions and different collaborations with different artists within different styles.
What is the biggest challenge you have encountered in your musical career?
The biggest challenge I have encountered was to find people that would believe in me for who I really am: people that I would trust and that I could rely on when needed for personal and artistic support and development. I took quite some time to find people I could trust and that would care about my artistic vision. After years I can say that I have found and built a team of people that I can ask for consultation and that I truly trust. It’s easy to get trapped into difficult dynamics and get stuck to people’s opinion so it is very important to surround yourself with people that respect, love and support you.
