Interview + Guest Playlist: Musician Hayley Solano
Image source: Hayley Solano
Young musician Hayley Solano is in love with stories, choosing to tell her heart-warming tales through her songs. Graduating high school a year early, Hayley began her college career when she was just 17 years of age, choosing to major in Sociology with a minor in Psychology and Social Behavior.
A couple of years later and after having written over a hundred songs, Hayley felt it was finally time to start sharing her music with others. As Hayley continued to receive positive feedback, she made her way into the studio to begin recording her original songs.
“I was so lucky to work with a Grammy and Emmy award-winning producer. I played my songs and he told me that he knew I was meant to do this. He was moved by my music and that got me even more hooked. I wanted to see people react to my stories. I wanted to make more people feel,” she explains.
Fast-forward to the present day and the extremely talented musician has opened for American Idol contestant, Casey Abrams and The Voice contestant, Tony Lucca. Hayley has even played at notable venues such as The Hotel Cafe in Los Angeles and been featured on Time Warner Cable's show, 'SoCal Beat'.
Recently, we were lucky enough to be able to ask Hayley a series of questions about her budding music career, and she kindly presented us with a guest playlist, curated just for Whim's readers! You can find both of these below, and we hope you find them to be as inspiring as we did:
...............
Q: When did you first discover your love of singing and song writing?A: I've always loved to sing and write but I didn't think about putting the two together until I was in high school. During my teenage years I would come across songs that described exactly how I felt. I was so inspired by that and wanted to write music that others could relate to as well.
Q: What inspires your creativity the most?A: Life experiences! Songwriting provides me with the means to make sense of what is going on in my life. I love reflecting on past experiences - my music usually has a nostalgic feel.
Q: Congratulations on the release of your lovely music video, 'If I Was There'. Please tell us a little about the experience you had whilst working on this production?A: Thank you so much! The process was very laid back and experimental. I wasn't even sure if we were going to end up creating the final product that day. I had some ideas for the video and thought it would be fun to do some shots. We ended up loving the scenes and I edited them together that same evening!
Q: 'If I Was There' is a beautiful song - Please tell our readers about the story behind these dreamy lyrics?A: Thank you!! 'If I Was There' is loosely based on personal experience. I was really inspired by the idea of a long distance relationship – the idea of longing for someone that you literally could not have. The idea of loving someone with your whole heart but not being able to show it the way you wished you could seemed so tragic to me. I've always dreamed of going to London so I decided to incorporate that setting into the story.
Q: What do you hope to achieve with your music career in the not-too-distant future; Do you have any exciting, upcoming plans that you would like to share with us?A: My number one goal is to inspire others with my music. I aim to achieve this on a regular basis through posting YouTube videos, Instagram photos, on my blog, etc.! In terms of exciting plans, I will be recording very soon and making plans to officially release music next year. I can't wait!
Guest Playlist:
- Eavesdrop – The Civil Wars
- Comfortable – John Mayer
- White Suburban – Skylar Grey
- Regarding Your Lover – Foy Vance
- The Wonderful Unknown – Ingrid Michaelson
- The Nicest Thing – Kate Nash
...............We encourage you to check out the following links to listen to Hayley's music or read more about the inspirational singer / song-writer: website, Facebook, YouTube, Twitter, Instagram (@hayleysolano) and Blog. Enjoy!