Interview with Rising Singer and Songwriter Zaccaï
Words by Bona Lee
With her latest single “cryptic” and working alongside the Grammy U program, New York-based singer-songwriter Zaccaï has shown a new and matured side of her dark pop music style. Gaining inspiration from artists such as Lana Del Rey, Zaccaï’s song similarly showcases dreamy vocals alongside relatable lyrics, allowing her to convey strong emotions to her listeners. Join us in learning more about her creative process, how she started her career, future goals, and advice for those who want to get started in the music industry.
Introduce yourself to people who may not know you yet: your name, what you do, and something you just want people to know about you
Hi! I'm Zaccaï and I'm a singer-songwriter. Something I want people to know about me is that I love making music and one day I want to go on tour.
How and when did you start your music career?
When I was around 14 or so, I took a guitar class in junior high and I really loved the process of songwriting and making music. So, I got this really cheap book off of Amazon and I taught myself how to listen to notes, play music, and start songwriting. I think around that time I was like “I kind of just want to pursue a music career”.
Recently you released a new song, “cryptic” (which sounds amazing by the way). I want to ask what your inspiration was behind it and how you think it shows a different side of your musicality compared to your older release “self centered”?
“cryptic” was an emotional song because I had just moved to New York City alone, and being a teenager living in a big city alone with less connection to your family was really hard; like juggling with work, school, friendships, heartbreaks, and whatever. At that time, I was really depressed and had so much anxiety because I was falling out of a routine and I’m such a routine person, so it was hard for me to get my life on track. I would spend a lot of time in Washington Square Park writing and just observing, and that’s kind of how the song came about really. “cryptic” really differs from “self centered” because I wrote that when I was graduating high school and I was at such a different headspace, whereas right now, I’m able to write where it’s more reflective of who I am so that’s really like the big difference between the two.
I also noticed throughout the process, you received mentorship from Grammy U. How did that opportunity come about and what was the experience like?
So, it’s amazing though, because I was taking a lot of music classes in college, and it really helps you partner with people in the industry to understand how music works, and you have really great mentors, access to people helping you songwrite, producers, and people helping you understand the windfalls of the music industry, so that’s really what allowed me to have such a solid release that happened a couple of weeks ago. It really helped me as an individual because if I didn’t have this program, I would be really lost, and if I didn’t take music business or a production class I wouldn’t really understand what I wanted to do in the music industry. I think it’s such a great platform that I had access to at this age.
Adding onto the process of the creation of “cryptic”, what was your favourite part of it? Was there anything new that you learned about yourself as an artist or just an individual?
Oh for sure. Before I started making music, I was always against collaboration because I’m obsessed with doing things myself and I felt like “Oh if I do it myself it will be better, etc.” But like, once I realized that’s not the case - that working with others really helps you - it helped me to grow, and you know let something that started small grow bigger. So, it was really great for me to collaborate with others. I had to learn that it was okay to let people in and let them hear what you have to say because it’s not embarrassing. They can see something in you that you don’t see in yourself and help you perfect that. My producer Jake was also really helpful with me and my favourite process was just the overall production like being in the studio, hearing it, saying things like “I don’t like this”, “can we edit this”, and so that was the biggest and most exciting part for me in terms of the creative process.
What shapes and influences your music and your identity as an artist? Your genre, musical style, and just overall vibe?
I love alternative music - that’s what I’m making I guess, like a dark pop alternative vibe. Somebody that I grew up on, obviously like Lana Del Rey, is one of my biggest inspirations. I’m obsessed with her. You have no idea, like I love her so much, and also hearing the way she writes, her lyricism, and also the way Taylor Swift writes - it’s like storytelling… an adventure. So that’s the kind of way I write songs as well and that’s the way I want to keep doing it in the future to create a picture that someone can envision. And honestly I feel like my overall aesthetic is very moody I guess because I’m very interested in writing songs that are connected to oneself, so I guess it comes off that way, but I’m just focusing on creating an alternative sound because I feel like genres are really hard to fit in because music is such a bending thing. You can make a song that sounds like something out of a pop movie or whatever, and I just feel like I want to make music that just sounds good in general. I don’t really care about genres so to speak, but I guess I fit in the “alternative” box.
Yeah, I totally get that. It’s hard as an artist to sometimes feel the need to essentially “have to fit” into these set genres and stylistic choices.
Since you are a young artist and started your career quite young, what advice do you have for people who want to become a musician but don’t know where to start or are perhaps scared to?
I feel like again about the collaboration thing, you need to collaborate with others who believe in you and it is kind of weird starting a career so young because when you’re young everyone wants to jump on a bandwagon and make you into something that they feel they should. If you have an idea, people are like “Well I don't think that’s going to work”, “I think you should do this, do that” because you’re young and they feel like you have no experience. But I feel like if you’re feeling something, just do it. If you want your song, sound, or title to be a certain way with certain people, just keep doing that and believing in yourself. I know that sounds so cliche but you have to keep on believing in what your abilities are. No one knows what you can do except for yourself.
Yes I agree - knowing yourself well is important in establishing a sound that feels authentic and representative of you as an artist. Bouncing back to the statement you made about fitting into a genre and style, what advice do you have for people who are struggling to develop their own style?
I feel like the best way for me is to make a mood board. “What am I seeing visually?”, “what is it that I want this album to look like and sound like”. I feel like once you do that, you’re able to understand where that genre fits in. And obviously if you want to make like pop and country, like go for it! Like I know people will be like “Oh that doesn’t match”, but like that's why you can create a whole new genre. I feel like you know what you want to sound like and you’ll find a niche that works for you and people that like that sound. I feel like just take your time. My biggest lesson is that I am so impatient. I try to rush everything because I feel like the faster I go, it gets me to the end goal quicker. But I feel like that’s not really the case, so I would say take your time and figure out yourself, your sound, and work with people who believe in you.
What are some future plans for your music career? Perhaps collaborations, an album, new experimental genres, or anything? You also mentioned earlier that you want to go on tour one day - so where are some tour spots you really want to go one day?
Obviously I want to create and release more singles, and then after that just go on tour but I really want to play an LA or Paris show. Recently, I was also looking at my analytics and I saw that a lot of people from the Netherlands listen to me and I was like “That’s so cool!”, so now that’s where I want to go. I also have this favourite band called “Between Friends” and I would love to collaborate with them. And one day if I get to their platform somehow, I would love to collaborate with Doja Cat, I love her so much. For future goals, I really want to go to award shows - that’s like the vibe.