New release by Warren artist highlights importance of moving forward | News, Sports, Jobs

She has been writing songs since middle school.

She studied music in college and is now a music teacher.

And she just released her third single. “I wish you all the best.”

Producer of that single? Someone who has worked with Taylor Swift or Ariana Grande.

Photo provided to The Times Observer Sarah Monticue has released her third single, Wish You Well. She worked with producers credited with names such as Taylor Swift and Ariana Grande, and she recorded a video for the song in the Cayman Islands before returning to Warren.

“I’ve been writing songs my whole life, really.” Monticue said in a recent interview:

I still have a diary of the songs I wrote in middle school and high school. Her first songs were recorded at her Avenue studio in Pennsylvania.

After high school, she went on to study music in college and then took an organizing role. “A bunch of different bands and songs”.

In recent years, her music has undergone a more personal transformation.

And there “I wish you all the best” come in.

“Over the last few years, I’ve realized that I just want to write about life and share what I’ve been through. she explained. So she posted her work on SoundBetter, a site designed to connect singers and producers.

So she reached out to Matthew Torriba, who has credits for Grande, Swift and One Direction.

“That’s part of what drew me to him.” Monticue calls himself “I’m a huge Taylor Swift fan. I really admire her as a songwriter. I really admire her for the album”red” came out and really touched my heart. I appreciate that she put herself into it. I felt like that inspired me. ”

Monticue begins a dialogue with Tryba, sharing some of her work with him, “We discussed the songs he thought were the most promising and worked together.”

And that process had its own set of challenges.

“Especially this song ‘Wish You Well’ is a song that I worked really hard on.” she said. “He pushed me to do better with lyrics and storytelling….in hindsight, I was so glad he pushed me to improve my poetry. made stronger.

“It was a great opportunity. Someone pushed my songwriting.”

However, due to the limited work she can do remotely, she ended up in Denver for 10 days to record the song in her home studio.

The song was released in late March and can be found on the front page of her website sarahmonticue.com.

“‘Wish You Well’ is a song about ending everything that’s not good for you anymore.” she explained. “Everything that makes you feel worthless, having to end a toxic relationship that needs to be left behind.”

That’s the core message she wants people to take away from this song.

“When we leave them behind, we are able to connect with our true selves…our magic.” she said. “My hope is that despite what anyone else has gone through…even if it feels like it’s destroying you, you feel ready to fly.

“You are much more than what happened to you, much more than what brought you down.” she explained. “I hope people, especially women and girls, will watch the video and think, ‘I can accept my whole being. I don’t have to make myself smaller to make other people more comfortable.'” That’s part of the beauty of the images woven into the video — mermaids, phoenixes, humans…you can be all of them at once. Be multifaceted. ”

Now that the song is out there, one of the challenges is defining success. How can such a project be successful?

Monticue said so “What I personally work on is that in the music industry … there is a saying, ‘Make it. are you going to make it I think that’s saying that in some ways it doesn’t help the way we think about musicians in our minds. ”

“Part of being successful as an artist is simply making your own work and putting it out there.” she said. “They believe in it, so they put it out there….

Part of success is also overcoming challenges in the creative process.

Monticue, who lives with her husband Jason Knox in the Cayman Islands, said the video was shot in just a few weeks. Back dancers did not show up. There was a lot of effort put into the lyrics. I had a video editing challenge.

Now that this project is over, she has some thoughts on what’s next for her music.

She plans to create a Patreon page so people can join her journey.

“I think everything feels better when you have someone you want to do something with.” she said.

The dance routines in the videos she created also opened some doors.

“Taking lessons at Linda Dice Dance Studio has really increased my love of dancing.” she said. She said, “She was able to put her love of dance into this song and video, but just being able to put it out there felt like reconnecting with a part of herself, so It made sense.

“I wanted to make a song that really makes you want to dance.”

She teaches the routine to some friends and some students at the Tidioute Community Charter School want to learn it too. There is also the potential for increased exposure through her dancing challenges on her social media networks such as TikTok.

Monticue and Knox return to the area from the Cayman Islands to care for their grandfather Jim Miller.

“It was interesting because I was nervous about sharing the song with him. I wasn’t sure if he would like it.” she said. “He’s a huge Frank Shinata fan….it was fun to see him embrace the song. He really supported all my songs. It was beautiful for me.” .”

She also thanks her mother, Grace Backstrom, and her husband for their support. “Very supportive of my whole project” I was a video cameraman.

The support of her family and community has not been lost on her.

“I think it means a lot to have people in your life who are willing to do that.” she said. “Sometimes we take it for granted, and I think you come to appreciate it more even when you leave and come back.

“This is a very supportive community where people care about each other[and]want to be excited about what people around here are doing.”