Just Good Music, Vol. One: Interview with Sierra Sikora

Sierra Sikora is an independent pop and indie artist from Chicago, IL. She put out her debut EP, Confessions, on May 19th, as well as “Hopeless Summer,” at the beginning of July. Sikora has also been hosting meet-and-greets throughout the summer and is going to perform her second headline show at Schubas Tavern in Chicago on August 11th. I had the pleasure of interviewing her the day after the release of “Hopeless Summer” on Zoom. Be sure to follow Sikora on Instagram/TikTok and check out her music on all streaming platforms!

Interview with Sierra Sikora

NOTE: Some parts of the interview transcripts are not included

What got you interested in making music?

I got interested in making music, writing music around eighth grade just because I had a lot of emotions that I didn’t know what to do with them so I decided to turn them to music, but I’ve been interested in music my whole life ‘cause I’ve always been in piano lessons so before I wrote lyrics, I wrote instrumental piano pieces.

Now’s that helped shape your overall music career, like being able to express?

I think my piano upbringing definitely helped me with music theory understanding and writing different parts so I think the piano lessons contributed to my musicality and musicianship but I also did music theory growing up and I think that really contributed to my sound a lot. People tell me they can hear hints of musical theory in my songs.

Nice! Again, I’m very glad you were able to find a channel to be able to express how you’re feeling, especially through music.

Yeah! Thank you!

You’re welcome and once again, you put out “Hopeless Summer” [on July 1st]. What inspired you to write it?

Well, “Hopeless Summer” is a song about a summer unrequited crush so it was quite inspired by my real life. I just, I liked someone who didn’t like me but I was still happy about it because of the feelings that came with it. I liked being around them and it inspired me to write sort of a more carefree, lovey song than something sad for once.

Yeah, I feel you. It’s always nice to make something upbeat.

Yeah, it was a change of pace for me. A lot of my other songs are very slow.

I feel you and speaking of, on your Confessions EP, you have a song on there called “Jade,” and it touches upon how your best friend is essentially a star and the feeling of being jealous of her. In your opinion, how can someone dealing with that situation admire their best friend as opposed to being jealous?

Yeah, I will admit that song is a little bit of me being the problem. I did make it a little bit more dramatic of course just for the purpose of the song but I do admire my best friend. It was really, I was only jealous of her when it came to people that I wanted to like me and I thought that they like her more than me but I think it’s important to not be jealous of people that you love so I did—I wrote that song but even if people relate to it, I encourage them to try and look at it from a different way and appreciate themselves and their best friend.

Yeah, I feel you and I saw on one of your Instagram posts promoting that song, you mentioned “lacy” by Olivia Rodrigo.

Yeah! It was inspired by “lacy.” 

Nice and how was making the Confessions EP? Like, what was the process?

Well, I wrote those songs throughout high school and I started producing them as I made them but when I started producing, I didn’t know how to produce or mix so I kind of was learning as I went along. So, because of that, it ended up taking a couple of years just because when I produced a song, I ended up reproducing it and reproducing it again so it took some time to learn and get it to where it is.

Nice and I feel it’s so important to take your time and perfect your craft, and I really enjoyed listening to the EP.

Thank you!

You’re welcome! Now, I know that you have some shows coming up: some meet-and-greets and your headline show in Chicago. What are some of your favorite parts of performing live?

I really like the feeling of just everyone in the room connecting to the same thing at once. One of my favorite parts of performing live is when the audience pulls out their phones and, like, wave flashlights. It’s such a cool thing to see and it’s one of my goals. I want people to take out their flashlights but I just really like that when I could see people’s emotions. Like when I’m singing a sad song, I can see people in the audience are getting like they’re really feeling it. They look like they’re gonna cry and I like how I can make everyone in the room feel like the same thing at once with something I wrote and possibly move them or help them with that.

Nice! I’m very glad you’re able to have an audience that’s engaged with your music and what songs do you personally enjoy performing live?

Well, I play most of my songs live, a lot of my songs that are out. There’s a couple of them that I don’t play every show but I have my main ones. My favorites to play live are “Relapse” and “Hopeless Summer,” which just came out, but I have a couple covers I also do. One of my regular covers is “Creep” by Radiohead. It’s one of my favorites because the crowd always knows it and sometimes, they’ll mosh. It’s really fun!

Nice! I’m very glad and sort of a follow-up, for an artist who is thinking about performing live for the first time, what would be your advice for them?

My advice would be to practice so that you know what you’re doing not just for the songs but in between every song because sometimes, you don’t think about it but you have to talk in between songs and you have to move things around. I know it’s easier said than done but try not to be nervous about it and it’s a lot easier when you know the people are there to see you so always invite your friends to your performances so you know there’s someone that’s there for you and it makes you less nervous hopefully.

Nice! I agree. Practice makes progress so I also agree with that. So, what artists have you been listening to and you think people should listen to?

I’ve been listening to a lot of indie lately, honestly. I have a playlist I’ve been listening to rather than individual artists but one that sticks out to me is Gordon’s Grandson. He’s a very small—not very but he’s bigger than me—but he’s a small artist. He’s from Australia. I think he makes really good music. It’s similar to TV Girl so he’s been on my list.

Nice! I love TV Girl’s music so I feel you and sort of on that note, what are some of your dream collaborations? It can be artists or producers.

I would love to collaborate—producing with Dan Nigro or FINNEAS. FINNEAS produces for Billie Eilish. They’re siblings and Dan Nigro produces for Chappell Roan and Olivia Rodrigo, some very big inspirations for me. I love their music so I would love to work with them but for artists, I would love to work with ALINA. She’s kind of a small artist and we get compared a lot. I see a lot of people say they remind or I remind them of Nep. She’s another small artist and I really love her music.

Nice and I just heard ALINA’s new single, “get a grip.”

Yeah, I’ve heard it too. It’s really good. All her music is really good.

Nice and being that you’re from Chicago, what are some of your go-to spots there?

My go-to spots? Oh my gosh! I’m trying to think. Honestly, lately, I haven’t been in Chicago a lot because I was in Urbana for school but back in Chicago, my favorite spot, well, I really do like Schubas. I’ve been there for a couple shows. I’m performing at Schubas but it’s a great spot to go see a concert. I also like going downtown to see musicals. There’s a couple different theaters down there and it’s like Broadway on tour. They’ll go to Chicago so I like going downtown for that.

Nice and if I were to go to Chicago, would you recommend those places to me?

Yeah, I definitely recommend checking out downtown. There’s a ton of different shows you can watch if you like musicals. If not, there’s also a bunch of music venues in Chicago always having both local and touring artists.

Nice! Thanks and suppose if someone was to stumble upon your music on Instagram or TikTok or on their preferred streaming platforms. What would you say they should start with?

Well, I would say my top songs are “Dear Athena,” and “Jade” so I would say, “Listen to those!” “Dear Athena,” is a little bit different from the rest of my music because it’s more folky but it is the most popular so I think those are good and then, after that, I’d go to “Relapse” because it’s a little more indie vibe. Um, yeah, honestly, you could just go in order of my songs too. I have a playlist linked on my profile with all my songs in one so if anyone’s interested, they could listen there. I don’t have a lot right now. I think I have, like, eight songs.

Nice! If you don’t mind me asking, do you have other projects you’re working on?

Well, I definitely will be releasing more music in the future but right now, since I just released “Hopeless Summer,” I’m mainly trying to promote my show in August, which is my headline show, my second one and I’m going to take a break for a bit and try to work on some new music, create a new plan for, like, releasing so it’ll be a little bit but I will have more music out.

Nice and good blessings on that!

Thank you!

You’re welcome and what advice do you have for someone who wants to be an artist someday?

My advice would be just to keep writing. Even if you don’t like what you’re writing—because you have to write a lot of bad things to get to the good stuff—and even when you’re discouraged, just keep writing bad until you get good and then, if you’re producing, keep producing the bad stuff until you produce well. You just gotta learn over time—just remembering that nothing’s really going to happen overnight.

Nice! I agree and before we end [the interview], is there anything else that you would like people to know about you?

Well, if you missed it, my name is Sierra Sikora and I just released my song, “Hopeless Summer.” I also have an EP out called Confessions. I know this isn’t in Chicago but I do have a headline concert this summer, August 11th. It’s in Chicago—Schubas Tavern but yeah, if you want to check out my music, I have music out on all streaming platforms and my Instagram is @sierrasikoramusic so I’d appreciate any support. 

Thank you so much!

No problem! Thanks for having me!

You’re welcome! Good blessings on your headline show next month and your future projects!

Thank you