Meet Birmingham-born UK Open Mic performer Luna Sparks:

Hi Luna Sparks, thanks for joining us! Let’s get into it:

Do you play solo only, or also in a group?

Solo

How old are you?

37

Where were you born?

Birmingham

Where did you grow up?

Birmingham

How did that place influence your music? (if at all!)

Growing up in Birmingham influenced my music massively. The mix of cultures and independent artists was always a huge inspiration. In particularly the reggae artists. The multiculturalism in the city meant you could find any genre of music anywhere as well as fusions of new styles and experimental sounds. The night life offered venues that hosted every type of music you could think of and the characters of the city took full advantage of this bravely sharing their talent on the streets, in independent record stores, by creating and distributing mix tapes independently and on pirate radio stations. I couldn’t escape music and thankfully I didn’t want to.

Where are you based now, and why?

Birmingham is my home town and base. I of course love to visit different cities across the U.K. As a whole the UK hosts some amazing music scenes, call me greedy but I like to experience them all.

What got you into making music in the first place?

I grew up in a very musical household. There was constant singing and dancing, it was a very loud and lively household. We always had a lot of visitors and being the youngest sibling of 9 there was a huge variety of tastes that I was exposed to. Since we had pretty much an open house a lot of my siblings friends would also bring in their influences. It was a very multicultural household. I grew up listening to everything from trance to hip hop. I don’t think there was a single music genre that was excluded from my consciousness!
One day a friend gave me a music program and I just could not get my head around it so I thought I’d stick to listening rather than producing.
It was over a decade later during a really low period of my life after a traumatic experience occurred and I felt completely lost and empty and had no idea what to do with myself that the same friend gave me the same program again and I thought well if that ain’t a sign that someone wants this to happen then I don’t know what is.
So I gave it another go and lo and behold I started producing music independently on my own in my flat with a second hand laptop and zoom microphone I brought off eBay.
It was a trial at first trying to translate the music in my head into live sound but the more I practiced, and the more patience I applied the better I got.
I’d always have music pop into my head throughout the day, at night, in my dreams, I never thought I’d be able to translate it into real music but gradually that’s what began to happen.
Music helped me get through a very very tough period of my life until it became a huge outlet for me to channel and express my art. My own music doesn’t judge me, it doesn’t tell me that I’m wrong, or I should be doing me differently. When I’m working with notes, sounds and instruments they accommodate my expression without judgement. It’s a beautiful thing.

What instrument/s do you play?

Singing
Music Producer
Music Producer
Beat Making
Learning piano but I mainly produce electronically.

Who would be in your top 10 musical influences, and why?

That’s a huge question. OK I’ll try to answer in no particular order.
N.B (I tried and couldn’t do it so the following is a list of some of my most influential artists.
And I love them all because they are my most influential artists. I tried to think back to my youth and to current day in order to not forget the biggest it just transmuted into a big party in my head.

1. Mary J Blige, Brandy, Monica, Faith Evans, SWV, Brownstone, Tevin Campbell, Jodeci, Michael Jackson, Bobby brown, Boys to men, Erykah Badu

2. Every motown artist ever.

3. Beres Hammond, Gregory Isaacs, Beenie man, Ja cure, Gyptian

4. Blur, Oasis, Spice girls, Mariah Carey, jamiroquai

5. Jenna G, The prodigy , Goldie , Filey quaye, Basement Jaxx, Shy fx, Armand van helden , groove armada, moloko

6. Lauryn Hill, Nas, Kelis, Beyonce, Missy Elliott

7. Bloc party, Likke Li , Amy Winehouse, Hot chip, Darwin Deez, Katy B , The Guillemots, Roisin Murphy

8. The garage Mcs I grew up with , The streets, disclosure, rudimental

9. Childish gambino, Solange

10. Kelela , mnek

Do you write your own songs?

Yes

How many years have you been writing songs for?

20

What process, or processes, do you often find yourself using when you write songs?

I usually use my experiences. Sometimes I’ll sit and think about unexpressed emotions I’ve had, things I left unsaid, things that anger me, that make me feel good, that make me feel bad and I just write it out.
I find it much easier to write on the spot and let it all out in the moment I’m feeling it rather than writing a song over days or weeks so a lot of my songs are written in a few hours and then maybe tweaked later if needed.

How long have you been playing open mic nights?

0

Why did you get into playing them in the first place?

I want to challenge myself.

If it’s not already, are you hoping to make music your full-time career?

No

Where is the main place should people go to find out more about you?

https://youtube.com/@LunaSparksSounds?si=JpF2euR98DmU_JmW

What other sites/profiles should people go to to find out more about you?

youtube.com/@LunaSparksSounds?si=JpF2euR98DmU_JmW" target="_blank" rel="noopener">youtube.com/@LunaSparksSounds?si=JpF2euR98DmU_JmW

We’re done! Anything else you want to share before we go?

No thanks!