Interview with Maria Labate
We recently interviewed teen singer, Maria Labate.
Read the interview between Kaitlyn C. and Maria Labate.
Maria: I’m Maria Labate. I just turned 13 and I’m a singer. Some of my hobby’s are jumping on the trampoline, hanging out with my twin brother and ju jitsu.
Kaitlyn: Wow! Ju jitsu sounds awesome!
Question 1: When did you start singing and songwriting and how did you get into it?
Maria: Thanks! I’ve been training for 9 years! I’ve always loved to sing even when I was a toddler, there are old videos of me at 3 years old singing “Tommorow” from the movie Annie at the top of my lungs. But I always had stage fright. My stage fright went away two years ago in fifth grade when I did the school talent show and I sang “fight song” by Rachel Platten. I got into songwriting two years ago because I was really interested in having my own song and expressing myself(:
Kaityln: Very interesting!
Question 2: What’s your favorite part about being a singer?
Maria: Being able to perform on different stages and just having a lot of fun
Kaitlyn: That’s very cool! I have lots of friends that like to preform too!
Question 3: What’s your favorite genre of music to sing or preform?
Maria: My favorite genres to perform are soul and pop. I like listening to all types of music but to perform are definitely those two.
Question 4: Do you enjoy working in a group or with another person or solo?
Maria: I like to sing solo because when I had stage fright (which I don’t anymore) I couldn’t sing without anyone singing with me. In Long Island where I live there is an amusement park called adventurland and there was a little talent show thing there and I could not sing without two other girls singing with me and I regret that.
Question 5: How would you describe your sound?
Maria: I can sing high and low ranges but going really low is definitely one of my specialty’s. I also love to belt out songs, I’m not that big a fan of singing soft songs I just sing them because that’s what people seem to really like. Belting and going very low are my specialty’s (: Some people say I go so low I sound like a man.
Kaitlyn: Haha! That’s pretty cool.
Question 6: What qualities do you think a good musician should posses?
Maria: Some qualities musicians should have are dedication, being very hard working, and staying humble. I really like this saying “There is no elevator to success, you have to take the stairs” and staying humble is really important too because being a musician isn’t just about the music you make it’s about the person who is behind the music (:
Kaitlyn: That’s a really good saying to have!
Question 7: How does music make you feel?
Maria: Thanks!! Music makes me feel really great. Also when I’m on stage and I sing it’s like I forget I’m even on stage and it’s really cool
Question 8: That sounds amazing! Do you ever feel like you are struggling to juggle life and music? Do you have any advice on how to handle that?
Maria: Yeah sometimes I do feel like it’s really hard to handle music and life/mostly school at the same time. What I do personally is I make sure everything important besides music is taken care of like schoolwork and when I’m done with everything I try to get as much work with my music done as I can (:
Question 9: What is the best advice you’ve received regarding music?
Maria: Make sure set the right priorities and work really hard because like I said before if you want to be successful you have to work really hard. There are no shortcuts.
Question 10: Absolutely! Do you have a career goal in the music industry? If so what is it?
Maria: My goal is to be a professional singer, travel around the world to sing and write a ton of new songs for an EP (:
Question 11: That’s very cool! What advice would you give to teenagers trying to pursue music?
Maria: As I said before, there are no short cuts. You have to work very hard and care about what you are doing. Some things I think teenagers trying to pursue music should do are make social media accounts and post on them often and stay active with your supporters (: Also make sure you are putting out quality stuff not posts like the food you ate for dinner, people aren’t interested in that. They want to see you and your music.
Kaitlyn: I think that’s it. Thank you!
Maria: No problem, thank you!
Kaitlyn: Wow! Ju jitsu sounds awesome!
Question 1: When did you start singing and songwriting and how did you get into it?
Maria: Thanks! I’ve been training for 9 years! I’ve always loved to sing even when I was a toddler, there are old videos of me at 3 years old singing “Tommorow” from the movie Annie at the top of my lungs. But I always had stage fright. My stage fright went away two years ago in fifth grade when I did the school talent show and I sang “fight song” by Rachel Platten. I got into songwriting two years ago because I was really interested in having my own song and expressing myself(:
Kaityln: Very interesting!
Question 2: What’s your favorite part about being a singer?
Maria: Being able to perform on different stages and just having a lot of fun
Kaitlyn: That’s very cool! I have lots of friends that like to preform too!
Question 3: What’s your favorite genre of music to sing or preform?
Maria: My favorite genres to perform are soul and pop. I like listening to all types of music but to perform are definitely those two.
Question 4: Do you enjoy working in a group or with another person or solo?
Maria: I like to sing solo because when I had stage fright (which I don’t anymore) I couldn’t sing without anyone singing with me. In Long Island where I live there is an amusement park called adventurland and there was a little talent show thing there and I could not sing without two other girls singing with me and I regret that.
Question 5: How would you describe your sound?
Maria: I can sing high and low ranges but going really low is definitely one of my specialty’s. I also love to belt out songs, I’m not that big a fan of singing soft songs I just sing them because that’s what people seem to really like. Belting and going very low are my specialty’s (: Some people say I go so low I sound like a man.
Kaitlyn: Haha! That’s pretty cool.
Question 6: What qualities do you think a good musician should posses?
Maria: Some qualities musicians should have are dedication, being very hard working, and staying humble. I really like this saying “There is no elevator to success, you have to take the stairs” and staying humble is really important too because being a musician isn’t just about the music you make it’s about the person who is behind the music (:
Kaitlyn: That’s a really good saying to have!
Question 7: How does music make you feel?
Maria: Thanks!! Music makes me feel really great. Also when I’m on stage and I sing it’s like I forget I’m even on stage and it’s really cool
Question 8: That sounds amazing! Do you ever feel like you are struggling to juggle life and music? Do you have any advice on how to handle that?
Maria: Yeah sometimes I do feel like it’s really hard to handle music and life/mostly school at the same time. What I do personally is I make sure everything important besides music is taken care of like schoolwork and when I’m done with everything I try to get as much work with my music done as I can (:
Question 9: What is the best advice you’ve received regarding music?
Maria: Make sure set the right priorities and work really hard because like I said before if you want to be successful you have to work really hard. There are no shortcuts.
Question 10: Absolutely! Do you have a career goal in the music industry? If so what is it?
Maria: My goal is to be a professional singer, travel around the world to sing and write a ton of new songs for an EP (:
Question 11: That’s very cool! What advice would you give to teenagers trying to pursue music?
Maria: As I said before, there are no short cuts. You have to work very hard and care about what you are doing. Some things I think teenagers trying to pursue music should do are make social media accounts and post on them often and stay active with your supporters (: Also make sure you are putting out quality stuff not posts like the food you ate for dinner, people aren’t interested in that. They want to see you and your music.
Kaitlyn: I think that’s it. Thank you!
Maria: No problem, thank you!