Abigail Virginia – I Can See Your Voice

By starrymag | February 23, 2024

By: Gladys Luna

 

 

Q) If you were to describe your sound, how would you define it?

A) I would define my sound as unique. It’s deep, it’s warm, it’s inviting, it’s round and full.

 

Q) We know you grew up with a profound love for music; what made you realize you wanted to be part of the music industry?

A) I feel like I’ve known it since I was a kid. I felt like that’s always been my purpose. There’s been a couple of moments for me like hearing Adele on the radio. That made me want to do that kind of music. But I always thought it was a known thing for me. I always felt like God told me that from a young age.

 

Q) Who would you consider to be your main musical influences when you growing up?

A) Honestly, I listened to a lot of country music like Carrie Underwood and George Strait, but the older I’ve got I listen to people like Sam Smith and Adele. I know those great vocal acts made me super inspired and I fell in love with that. Definitely Adele, she was the first woman who had a similar tone to me in range and she was someone I could sing along with. So, she’s been a big influence on me.

 

Q) You recently debuted on Season 3 of the successfully acclaimed TV series “I Can See Your Voice” where you have received nationwide recognition for your participation there. What made you decide to audition and participate in this show?

A) Well, actually I kind of knew this producer Josh who casted for this show but he also casted for “American Idol.” And I originally did “American Idol” and didn’t hear back from them, but Josh reached back out to me and was like, “You would be good for this TV show though” and that’s kind of how it happened. I didn’t know a lot about the show initially but fell in love with the idea of it and thought that I’d be perfect for it because my voice is very distinctive and different from how I look so it just made sense and it was a good fit for me.

 

Q) Please tell us a bit about this experience and what it means for your career.

A) It was so funny I didn’t even know I was gonna be flying out to Atlanta where the show is based until two days before. Literally I got an email that was like, “Hey, you made it” after I had done multiple tryouts and these tryouts were pre-recorded videos that I did in my bathroom or in my car because I had roommates and I didn’t want to annoy them with all the singing. So, they told me two days before, and I went and there were still a lot of precautions because of COVID, so we needed to be isolated a lot just in case anybody got COVID. They wanted to be super mindful of that while on set. Besides that, though, the cast on my show were great. I feel like we all got close really quickly when we started doing rehearsals. You know it means a lot – being on national television is such a milestone that I think a lot of artists want to reach. So, I think it shows people what I’m capable of. I think it’s going to open a lot of doors for me to reach a much bigger audience than I’ve been able to. TikTok has helped reach a lot of people, but this is my first time being on national TV so I’m sure it’s gonna reach a lot of people I never thought it would have.

 

Q) The rendition of a flawless interpretation of the cover “House of the Rising Sun,” which you absolutely owned, has gained you a broad appreciation across different streaming platforms. What does it mean to you receive such incredible recognition?

A) It’s such an honor. It truly is such an honor to be able to do that. I mean, a lot of people don’t know this, but they don’t even know who wrote “House of The Rising Sun.” It’s Public Domain, which means anyone can record it and it technically is their own. This is such a well-known song so for me to have my own version and people respond so positively has been incredible and I’m so thankful that “I Can See Your Voice” gave me that opportunity on a nationwide platform to sing my own rendition. I’m definitely honored.

 

Q) Success appears to keep calling at your door and now with the recent release of your original single “Set It On Fire” we have the opportunity to continue experiencing your powerful and soulful voice. Please tell us about your writing process for the song.

A) So, “Set It On Fire” was a song that was really two years in the making. It’s a really special song to me. It really embodies what moving on and changing really means to me specifically. I went through a really dark time in my life and I wanted change and a lot of things happened. They had to happen for me to finally be at the point to really change and set it on fire. So, for me, through these life events that happened I was finally ready to let go and once I sat down at the piano AT Fame Studios with friends it came out so organically. It was a planned write. I just started writing what I genuinely felt. “Set It On Fire” was exactly what I was feeling at that moment in time. It’s such a powerful song and it means so much to me, and I’m so glad it’s finally out in the world.

 

Q) Certainly, for every song there’s a full story that motivated them. How hands on were you with the crafting and production aspects of this song??

A) Very! We actually recorded this song once before the one you’re hearing, and I knew it wasn’t right. We originally did a lot of guitars, and I knew it wasn’t right. I immediately knew that I wanted this song to be more of a piano ballad and I wanted strings, and synths and I wanted this to be different. So, me and my friend Brad did vocals and we laid down the piano and then we brought it my friends and we laid some programmed strings on it. I actually can’t play a lot of instruments well. I only know the minimum, but I hear what I want in my head and I kind of sing to them what I’m hearing. Like even some of the string parts are my voice. I sang what I wanted it to sound like and they kind of programmed it to sound like it does. I’m very hands on. I would consider myself partly producing without actually doing it on the computer. But a lot of the ideas you hear, I heard in my head. But obviously the producers do a lot too and they’re so talented and they do it better than I ever could.

 

Q) In the current era, social media definitely plays a pivotal role in the path of an artist. Why is it so important to you to be so hands on with your fans that way?

A) Artists prior to this never had this opportunity to speak directly to their fans in such a way that reaches so many people. I love doing content creation and enjoy it. I know some people don’t. It can be a lot but how cool is it to be able to connect with people from your phone? It was an honor to be on TV, but you don’t need to be on TV to reach a million people. I had one video on TikTok reach 13M views, which is crazy. The amount of people you can reach from your phone direct to your fans is so impactful and shouldn’t be taken lightly. The bigger I get as an artist, I’m still going to want to use social media and talk to my fans like a friend because that reaches them so impactfully and it’s important.

 

Q) Do you have any plans to release a full album or EP this year?

A) I definitely do. I have so many songs. I have a ton of songs that I have written. Being an independent artist, it can be hard to have a full plan at times, but I definitely have a lot of songs I’m excited about releasing. Right now, I plan to do a single rollout and put it up as an EP. But, yes, I definitely have plans to do that.

 

Q) If you could give advice to all the emerging artists out there that helped you or you would’ve loved someone to tell you about this career, what would it be?

A) I think the biggest thing and it probably sounds so cheesy, but it’s like genuinely be who you are. You know I’ve had meetings with labels and they’re like, “Who are you? “What is your story?” Don’t compare yourself to other artists because you are creating art within yourself and it’s gonna reach its own audience and you’re gonna impact those you’re meant to impact. So, I think you just need to stay super true to who you are. Also, it is very hard work and there are other talents you need to use aside from being an artist. In this day and age, where social media is a big thing, you need to be on socials; you need to be networking. This business is about who you know, and I think the more events, the more collaborations and the more things you can do to be involved, the better off you’re gonna be and the faster your career is gonna elevate because it takes a team. It takes work and it takes time. So, I would say stay true to you and work really hard, and I would network. Don’t be shy and put yourself out there.

 

Q) What would you like to say to all of the fans and supporters of your work out there?

A) I just want to say thank you. Thank you so much for investing in me and believing in me. For encouraging me because you’re the reason I do this. These songs are therapy for me, and I want them to be for the fans and for my family. I consider my fans to be family and for the people out there encouraging me I want these songs to be something that they have, that they can treasure – something that when they have nowhere else to go, they have that song so that’s why I do it. I want to do it for them to have. These life experiences are not for no reason. We’re all the same in a way, we all go through similar things. So, I just want to say thank you, thank you for believing in me.