“I came back to the States just like very inspired. And it was all very much what I needed to kind of keep that motivation going.” - Artist Interview - By The Fans Magazine

Sergio - Artist Interview.

Words & Interview: Grace Wearn, Jessica Kamp & Soph Leigh

Photography Credit: Jessica Kamp (Cover Photograph) & Allison Virginia (Press Photograph)

Who are your musical influences? And how do you think that has influenced you with writing your own music?

I have a few, but some of the biggest definitely have to be Bruno Mars and Ed Sheeran. Those two are definitely up there for my musical influences. And I feel like I take a little bit of both and like to put it into everything that I do. So when it comes to the writing side, they're both fantastic at writing both melodies and lyrics, they also both play instruments.

I try to take that into my sessions as well even as every session is a little different. But it’s always nice to have some sort of my personal DNA in the song, whether it's me playing the guitar or piano. Then when it comes to writing; it's just me, or I have a couple of co-writers.

I think also, on the performing side of things, they are both just fantastic performers. Like Ed Sheeran, it's just him and his guitar.

Then with Bruno Mars, it's him and a whole band and he's dancing and I think what I love about both of them - is that they bring such an energy to the stage. But also, both of their shows are so dynamic at the same time. There’s definitely moments in both artist’ shows where everyone's jumping to lyrics together, but there's also equally more intimate moments. That’s something that I’ve been inspired to include into my shows as well.

I've recently been hearing a lot of people tell me that when I have some guitar parts in my songs, that almost feel like Ed Sheeran strums, because both him and Shawn Mendes heavily influenced my guitar playing. I think, for sure, Bruno Mars and Ed Sheeran are two of the biggest influences. And then, I mean, to be honest, Justin Bieber also, I think is the artist I look up to the most when it comes to vocals. At the end of the day, I always work on becoming and being a well-rounded vocalist.. But at the end of the day, first thing first; I'm a vocalist.

And that's why I prioritise that when I'm performing, when I'm recording, even just on the side, I do a lot of vocal exercises as well. I'm always singing like non-stop. So yeah, those are definitely a few of my biggest influences musically.

On that subject, Do you have any advice for anyone trying to get into music, like production tips, lyrics, writing, or just any general advice within that?

Yeah. Any advice I'd give out to anybody is just stay patient, to be honest. I think that's the the biggest thing that I've learned the past couple of years. I mean, I've been pursuing my music career in general for 10 years now, but my solo career, it's been five and a bit years. And I think the biggest thing that has killed me, but also started to help me was patience, you know?

We’re definitely not biased.. but what is your favourite venue you've played so far?

I'm not even saying this just because it's us here, but I really, really loved the Amsterdam and the London venues. The two venues that we played, the one in Amsterdam and in London, Paris was pretty crazy too. And I say that because I vividly remember the Amsterdam show, I walked in the venue to do soundcheck and I just saw the stage and the production of the lights and everything else. And I was just like this is the setting I've always seen myself in. Now, I look back at videos of that night and I was like, wow that show was amazing; everybody that was working there was so kind. They came up to me and asked me how I wanted my lights and how I wanted to have the stage when I came out etc; it was just so cool to experience that. Looking back at those videos, I was seeing the vision, it gave me a glimpse of the vision. And in London, the same thing, like it was a great venue. It was packed as well. High energy from everybody.

Leading on from that, what is your dream venue to play at?

I mean, the dream is to work towards getting those arenas and stadiums, but I think what I've learned is to keep my eyes on the closer goals, because that way, I don't get lost in not meeting expectations, like whether that's like getting to this venue by this age etc. I say all that because my dream is to play like all the arenas everywhere such as the stadium back in my hometown.

But I think right now, the one I'm really working towards is playing the Greek Theatre in Los Angeles. I think it's just like a couple thousand, but it's a really cool venue. And like, when you play the Greek Theatre, and you sell it out, that essentially means that your next tour is like, bound to be a bigger one, whether it's an arena or something. So that's my first big venue goal, for sure.

What has been your best fan interaction while performing off or on stage?

There was one girl that was singing every single lyric to all my songs in Munich. We were in Munich, Germany, and she was singing everything like I played the whole set.

At other shows, there were a couple fans that already knew me, which was really cool, because I'd never been to Europe or UK or anything. But the was one fan in Munich that was just so like, knew everything- I'm talking every single lyric of my own songs, obviously the covers, but like my own songs, too and I was like, wow, that's crazy. In Spanish and English too! because, I sing both. She was singing it all, I was like, dang!. And after I remember, I shouted her out, between one of the songs, I had to ask her what her name was, because I was like, I've never had anyone, you know, be this excited or know this many lyrics in all of my songs, to be honest, especially from another country.

So I think that was definitely the most memorable, it just reminded me of the path that I'm going in. And then meeting everyone new as well, that's the whole point of why I’m opening shows to meet new fans. So it was so exciting to everybody and, it's funny because I had a lot of people apologising that they didn't know who I was; I was just like you don't have to apologise. But I promise I'm gonna start listening to your music. I was like, you're good. Like, give me a hug. Thank you for watching the show and I'm glad you like the music.

That’s why I'm doing this.

Yeah! I bet that's like a memory you'll never ever forget. That's your European “Yeah, I'll never forget that” moment.

Her name is Anika. I'll never forget it. Her favourite song is always one of the songs that's on my project that I dropped last year. She was singing everything. I was just like, Oh, my. And she was like, freaking out that I was there. Yeah, it was the sweetest thing. Sweetest, sweetest thing.

Anika, if you're watching this, I love you.

What’s your favourite fan interaction OFF stage?

Paris was also really cool meeting all the new fans there because everyone was just so sweet. I mean, everyone at all the shows was so sweet and just really nice people, very kind. They were just all so excited to be there.

And I think that all as I said, I came back to the States just like very inspired. And it was all very much what I needed to kind of keep that motivation going.

Dublin was also cool, there was a good amount of people there. There were four fans that all came up to me afterwards. They were fans of they knew my old boy band ‘In Real Life’, and they were just so excited to finally meet me.

They were like, we've been following you since 2018. It’s crazy that, you're part of these people's lives, you basically grow up together. So it was really special to to talk to them and finally meet them.

Tell us more!

It was called “In Real Life”. We were put together on a TV show that was called Boy Band, in 2017. A bunch of guys flew in to audition to be a part of this band, then throughout the competition, they would put us in groups, we'd perform and then people would get eliminated. They'd then shuffle the groups until there was one last band. Then we got signed to Hollywood Records, a record label that was affiliated with Disney. Yeah, basically just threw us on tour right after the show. It was very similar to Jonah, that’s how Jonah and I met back when we were in boy bands.

In Real Life and Why Don’t We, huh! Leading on, what’s your favourite song to perform?

My favourite song to perform? Honestly, right now, Fix Me. Because it is just so it's such a good it's high energy. It's really fun. But I know my new song Don't Come Back is coming out. And it might it MIGHT turn into that one. Not gonna lie, because I mean, with every single show, I know the song isn't even out yet, but by the end of the song, everybody was already singing it and jumping around. And I mean, it's just it's a great one to perform live! So I feel like when I start to perform, so I'm like, all right, I really enjoyed it, and everyone seemed to really have enjoyed it before it even came out, so I can't imagine once it's out, it might be a fan favourite, everyone's gonna be yelling it, all these things, but during the tour, I had a lot of fun performing Fix Me, because it's just like, it's a pop banger, you know, and it's a great way to come on stage, it's very high energy, it's exactly how I like to start my shows.

In no particular order, top 3 countries you’ve performed in?

The UK for sure, Netherlands, and France.

So, this month is June. June promotes two different types of Awarenesses - it's Pride Month, but also it's Men's Mental Health Awareness Month. Have you got any advice, if you’re able too, for anyone struggling?

Definitely, I think, talk to people that you really trust, but also, journaling. For me, journaling truly changed my life. I got to learn so much about what you hold in your head, and half the things that we're worrying about, or have anxiety about, or where all the doubts that we have, we have to get them out.

Because at least for me, once I speak about something, I realise, or write it down, I realise the importance, and it helps you truly just empty your brain out.

But also, truly giving yourself some more grace. I think we put a lot of pressure on ourselves, and journaling just teaches you a lot. It shows what's in your head, and it helps you process things, and yeah! everyone has their own experience with it, but I think it's a really, really big one, for sure.

Your new single, Don't Come Back, comes out on the 6th. What was the writing process like, and can you tell us what we can expect to see from you in the future?

Don't Come Back, was recorded when I got to Nashville. It was one of the first ones and my friend had a good amount of writing for it done already. So, I went in and tweaked a couple things that made it more true to me and then it just felt real special. It was one of those that was just like an instant favourite. On tour, everybody was loving it, I'm glad that we followed our gut there.

And in the future - you can definitely expect a lot of more music.

Photography credit to Allison Virginia.

Don’t Come Back is released on 06/06 on all major streaming platforms.

You can find Sergio on Instagram here.