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Where are you from?
I’m from Chicago, the South Suburbs.
When did you start making music – and what or who were your early influences?
I wrote my first song when I was 13 years old. But before that I was playing piano by ear, learning at the side of my Dad who was a musician in the church. He taught me how to play a lot of gospel music early on, and it’s something I think still fuels my sound to this day. Some of my early influences were Janet Jackson, Beyoncé, Aaliyah, Brandy, and TLC. I would spend hours on YouTube watching their performances and interviews. I wanted to be just like them and create music like them.
What skills do you think artists need to be successful?
Resilience is the main thing I’d say. This is a very rough industry and along the journey you receive an extensive amount of no’s. You have to be able to bounce back from them and not let those no’s affect your self-worth, and more than anything, not let it make you quit. That’s probably the most important thing. And then I’d say a strong work ethic and also, talent and skill for the craft. Plus a good team of people around you who really have your best interest at heart.
How do you stay up to date with the latest music trends?
I don’t. Not all the time. I’ll for sure catch some stuff in the TikTok streets, but I’m not really focused on staying up to date with trends. I just do me.
When performing, what techniques do you use to engage the audience?
Just by being myself. The warm and genuine person that I am. I try to connect with my audience by relating to them. Before every song I’ll talk a little bit about what it’s about and always give some type of anecdote that I feel most people have been through themselves or at least can understand where I’m coming from even if they haven’t been through it.
What would you say is the most rewarding part of being an artist?
The most rewarding part of being an artist is knowing your music made a difference for someone, or brightened their day, maybe helped them through a tough situation. My most recent single, “My Life” has really been resonating with people. They’ve reached out to me and let me know it was the exact type of motivation they needed, and that’s what it’s about for me. Because that song was also the exact type of motivation I, myself needed when I was at a low point. So, to hear it did that for someone else, means it’s all worth it.
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How did you spend your lockdown/pandemic time?
What did you accomplish before the entertainment world began to open up again? I actually spent lockdown creating my debut album. The pandemic was a very humbling time for me. It was like a reality check. With all the uncertainty in the world and the enormous amount of fear early on, it made me realize if I were to leave the earth at that time, I wouldn’t be happy with what I was leaving behind to show for myself as an artist. I hadn’t put myself out there and showed the world this is who I am. So, I locked in and started creating my debut album, “Golden Hour” which was released on my 25th golden birthday during the pandemic. It’s truly my proudest accomplishment to date. So if anyone wants to know who Summer Payton is, as an artist, as a human being, all you have to do is listen to “Golden Hour” and it’ll tell you.
What makes you different from other artists?
I think every artist is different just by nature of being different individuals with different life experiences. Many of my life experiences have shaped me as a creative. My mom is a screenwriter, and unconsciously as I was growing up she taught me how to be a great storyteller just by always having me come home from school everyday and tell her about my day and everything that happened. Her catch phrase was “Put me there.” meaning tell the story so well she could feel like she was actually there and experienced it herself and that taught me how to tell a descriptive story. Which is something that adds to my songwriting to this day and shows up in my love for filmmaking and desire to tell stories visually in music videos, etc. I’ve had the privilege of attending two different music schools, NYU Tisch’s Clive Davis Institute of Recorded Music where I went to college and got my Bachelor of Fine Arts degree and the 1500 Sound Academy that I attended post graduation for some supplementary education on the current music landscape, learning at the side of legendary members of the band 1500 or Nothin, Larrance Dopson and James Fauntleroy. Going to school for music has never been a requirement for artists and the greatest of our time never did and were successful without it, but my schooling is something I feel sets me apart from other artists. I’m a true multi-hyphenate creative in the fullest sense of the term. I have experience being hands on in every part of the creative process from the artistry, to songwriting, to producing and composing, to engineering and not to mention education on the business side of music and even journalism side of how to critically listen to and judge music. I have a large arsenal of tools to pull from when I’m creating and I’m very grateful for that, because I’m never at the mercy of anyone else to create.
Last question, when not making music, where can we find you?
When I’m not making music, I’m usually somewhere watching TV or at the beach reflecting on life and working on gratitude and manifestation while looking out into the ocean. You can find me on all social media platforms @Somamoma.
Listen to Summer Payton’s Music Here: