Today we’d like to introduce you to Sheilava.
Sheilava, please share your story with us. How did you get to where you are today?
Sheilava (also known as Sheila V.A. or Sheila Victoria Anne) is a singer/songwriter, master flautist, model, actress, director, and producer based in Austin, TX. She earned her Bachelor’s Degree in Music Performance at the University of Houston and her Master’s at the University of New Mexico. After several years of traveling, studying, performing, and working in several major cities across Texas, New Mexico, and Massachusetts, she settled down in Austin and branched out to other art forms and expanded her love of creativity.
Her interest in music first blossomed during childhood. She loved listening to musical cassette tapes on repeat, playing video games while memorizing the music for each level, watching Disney movies or animated cartoons, and singing everywhere she went. Her parents got her hooked on listening to great artists such as Lynyrd Skynyrd and Whitney Houston. Her grandmother sparked a love for orchestral music after taking little Sheila to see The Nutcracker and soon thereafter taught her how to whistle “like they do in that old-timey music.” Sheila’s first performance on stage was in elementary school when she was selected to sing “Hopelessly Devoted To You” in the school play, but her ultimate love for performing came when she was given a flute to try out for the 6th-grade band.
Throughout middle school and high school, Sheila loved and lived for the discipline, structure, and competition that playing music provided. She further realized her passion for learning and playing different styles and genres after participating in choir, jazz, and marching band. By Junior Year she held the roles of Section Leader, Music Tech, and Band Historian. She continued her musical efforts when she was accepted into the Moores School of Music on a partial band scholarship.
Even amidst working full-time during college, Sheila put in endless hours rehearsing and performing with the Spirit of Houston Marching Band and large ensembles during concert season, the University Women’s Choir, and the Imperial Percussion Theatre Indoor Drumline. Months before graduation, she auditioned for a scholarship with the University of New Mexico and was accepted into the Master’s Program at the College of Fine Arts. She played piccolo and performed as co-principal flautist for both the UNM Symphony Orchestra and UNM Wind Symphony. For her Master’s Recital, she spearheaded a colorful collaborative performance that consisted of a string quartet, a jazz trio, and a 23 piece orchestra.
After graduating in 2014, Sheila moved to Boston and focused on songwriting and churning out collaborative projects with local indie musicians. Her love for embracing and defying all genres was evident amidst her kaleidoscope of projects such as writing melodies and lyrics for a Latin-Rock project, performing as the front woman for an acoustic trio, and recording cover songs of several pop, folk, country, alternative, and oldies hits. She started sharing her musical endeavors after creating a Youtube and Soundcloud channel under the name “Sheilava”, a nickname coined by a colleague that combined “Sheila” and “Lava” which poked fun at her written signature “Sheila V.A”.
After two years, Sheilava and her fiancé moved to Austin, TX where she started teaching, writing, and performing music full-time. In three short years, Sheilava continued to find her voice and develop her technique across many genres. In 2016 she rehearsed and performed with both a Latin-Jazz ensemble and an acoustic duo. She also combined collaborative efforts with local songwriter Jason Garcia with a goal of creating an indie-electro pop album. After six months of writing and recording, their debut LP “Nonsense” was finished in the Spring of 2017. They put together a five-piece band and performed eclectic and electric shows throughout the Greater Austin Area and received recognition through several mediums— Four of Sheilava’s songs aired on ACL Radio (previously KGSR) and the band received acclaim through reviews by local and international indie music blogs, an interview with Texas Legend Johnny Goudie, three invitations to perform on the Austin Public TV show UpLateAustin, and a live performance at The Statesman 360 Studio Sessions. Amidst performing, their other projects include the release of a Christmas EP and several singles.
The year of 2018 not only proved successful for the band, but Sheilava also came across numerous opportunities to meet and network with various creatives from Austin’s photography and film scene; she quickly discovered a new-found love for modeling, acting, and writing songs for indie films. At the start of 2019, Sheilava refocused her time and energy towards multiple art forms and the five-piece band ultimately transitioned into a husband-wife duo with the goal of further embracing and defying genre.
After deciding to split her time between the local music, film, and modeling scenes, Sheilava has either finished or booked worked for 13 short films, 2 features, 2 musicals, two pilots, two web series, five commercials and 17 photography series. 18 of her songs and melodies have been used or featured in Austin indie films, half of which were commissioned and written specifically as theme songs for the film or credits. Her upcoming album “V” will be a tribute to the original five piece band and will include a mix of released singles, published film songs and unfinished demos.
Sheilava’s latest completed projects revolve around a vigorous 2-day film competition.
During the 2019 Austin 48 Hour Film Project, she joined efforts with Tennessee-based Stoned Hero Productions and spearheaded a 36 member cast and crew under the team name Lava Productions. Sheilava co-produced, co-wrote, and co-starred in Camp Grenada, a narrative musical that was written, scored, filmed, edited, and submitted in less than 48 hours. Her team received recognition for one of the Top 10 Films in the ATX 48 Hr competition and tied for Second Runner-Up Best Film out of over 40 participating teams. In addition to receiving the Producer’s Award for Women in Film, Lava Productions also won Best Sound Design, Best Overall Use of Music, Best Editing, and the Audience Choice Award for their screening group. Additionally, Camp Grenada received nominations in five other categories including Best Cinematography, Best Directing, Best Set Design, Best Original Song (for 2 different songs!) and Best Use of Character.
Sheilava recently combined forces with local Austin filmmaker Samuel Ali and put together an army consisting of over 100 cast and crew positions for the 2019 San Antonio 48 Hour Film Project. Under the team name Ali/Lava Productions they produced Iris, a climate film depicting a doomsday scenario with a conflicting but colorful display of personalities. Award-winning actress Lorelei Linklater stars in the short film and is scheduled to star in Sheilava’s music video Lady Outlaw.
What’s next?
Sheilava recently received sponsorship from Austin-based lifestyle craft liqueurs PinkKitty and Easy Rhino. Their new craft martini “PolarLava” is a dual nod to the endangered polar bear as the face of global warming and the fires passion of independent creativity that Sheilava strives to embody. Aside from empowering people to embrace self-love and be as bold and daring as they are, PinkKitty and EasyRhino Liqueur give back to the world by supporting wildlife conservation efforts and donating portions of their proceeds to global organizations including World Wildlife Fund, Wildlife Conservation Network, Wildlife Conservation Society, and United for Wildlife.
On October 25th, 2019 Sheilava and PinkKitty/EasyRhino will host LAVAFest, a showcase that aims to spotlight and combine the passion behind independent creatives as well as the passion behind wildlife conservation efforts. Several bands, artists, photographers, videographers, models, and craft vendors will come together at The Venue ATX to celebrate creativity and a great cause. Sheilava plans to unveil her newest album, celebrate her new sponsors, and help raise money amidst live performances and products from local talent and vendors.
There are still dozens of songs, films and projects underway, but many of Sheilava’s published endeavors (including a Christmas album!) can be found via her social media accounts (Facebook, Soundcloud, Bandcamp, Instagram, and Youtube). Sheilava has pulled her music from Amazon, iTunes, and Spotify as a personal stance against the corporate music streaming giants.
Outside of performing, modeling, acting, and songwriting, Sheilava also enjoys hiking, traveling, working on puzzles, playing video games, watching cartoons, golfing with her husband, and caring for three rescue Yorkies and an ugly cat.
Overall, has it been relatively smooth? If not, what were some of the struggles along the way?
Going to school for music was not an easy decision. It is a lot of money upfront and very little money in return, but all you can do is hustle until people start to see you…or more importantly, until they start to HEAR you. I worked as a waitress and bartender for nearly 13 years trying to keep myself afloat before, during, and after college. I eventually tried working for a bank and then took on a job doing car sales where I had more opportunity to pay off the hefty amount of student loan debt I had acquired with two degrees… I remember calculating my finances one night and realized that after paying my $1400 student loan payment on top of my regular bills that I would only have $5 left at the end of each month. Some people have it even worse!!
I was always so incredibly lucky to have unending support from my family when times were tough and their help when I experienced the hardest months. Meeting my future husband changed my life and paved the way for a better future. We both hoped to be professional instrumentalists and slowly gave up that dream after facing the fact that a career as classical musicians would be endlessly daunting and seemingly hopeless. My husband decided to try something else and taught himself how to code. Five years have passed and he is now a manager for an unbelievable tech company in Austin! We’ve both made sacrifices along the way but without him nothing would be the same. I am so thankful I can continue to write music with him as well… he happens to be technologically savvy in more ways than one and is a wizard when it comes to programming electronic music!
Please tell us about your work.
Sheilava is one big grind, or “hustle” as many of us creatives call it. I produce, direct, act, model, and do voice-over work. I write theme songs for films. I write songs for people. I write songs for myself! I teach music in my home studio. I love everything I do, which in turn fuels my work ethic and creativity.
What sets me apart from most self-made artists and creatives is I have an unending drive. I am so fortunate, able, and willing to dive into multiple projects at once. Everyone has their own method but my utmost creativity stems from combining energy from all of my endeavors. A few people warned me that I’ll never be famous doing so many things or they’ll say “there’s only one way to the top”….. but my goal isn’t to be famous, it is simply to create. Furthermore, if you love doing one thing, then great! Do it. If you love doing many different things, then that is what you’re meant to do. This is what I’m meant to do, and whether I’m famous or not doesn’t matter. I am simply ecstatic and eternally grateful I get to do so many different things!
I think the fact that I am open to everything wild, weird, and wonderful, I come across many more opportunities than if I were to stick to one art form. For example, if someone wants me to write a song about a team of female bandits, human trafficking awareness, suicide, depression, illegal immigrants, or a narcissistic boss who double-crossed you, I’m immediately on it and will stop at nothing to create a song that tells someone else’s story. If a venue is looking to book an artist for an ethereal instrumental performance, a sultry acoustic set, or an eclectic electropop gig, I’m there! If a film calls for a hopeless romantic, a music professor, a space alien, a Furry Fandom fox, or a crazy cat lady, I’ll play it… because why not? If someone needs a voiceover artist to play a crazy fish in a cartoon, or read the spiel for corporate pimps, or talk about a mansion in a real estate commercial, I’m game! If there a last minute photoshoot that calls for an outrageous costume and the director needs me to bring 12 outfits and create a theme on the spot or through improv, I’m happy to be there and be that model. I love delving into all forms of creativity and I love combining multiple art forms with other talented people. Life is short so why not make the most of it?
What is “success” or “successful” for you?
To me, success is whatever you make it. It can be defined in many different ways but I have recently started looking at it in levels. I believe it first starts with seeing what you’re capable of and then fine-tuning it from there until you’ve made something that people can truly see, hear, or feel. When people are coming to you for your time and energy, that is a success. When people are paying you for your time and energy, that is another level of success. When people start talking about you and referring you, that is a whole other level of success. The varying levels of success differ from artist to artist and from trade to trade. You can be successful in your own city, throughout your state or country, internationally, or even in your own home. If you have it your all and are proud of your efforts at the end of the day, that is still success. Ultimately whatever success you’ve found, take it and go from there. Love it, live with it, learn from it! I consider myself successful because I get to do what I love everyday and after several years of grinding I am now making a living off of it and watching start to come full circle. Whether I’m “famous” by the rest of the world’s standards means nothing, because I’m already successful in my own eyes here and now. I’m happy where I am and hope to keep that happiness and humility wherever I continue to go. I feel like that is one of the hardest things for people to accept… there can always be “more” or “next”. But looking at how far you’ve come and where you are NOW is the most beautiful part. It removes boundaries and paves the way for further success. Recognizing all of this keeps me working and keeps me humble. Eventually you start finding yourself on reaching higher levels without even realizing they were possible to begin with!
Pricing:
- My film song commissions range from $300-$1000 per song, depending on legth and detail. I am always open to collaborative work, especially for non-profit organizations!
- My current rate for music lessons is $60/hour
Contact Info:
- Facebook: Facebook.com/
sheilavafilmmusic - YouTube: https://youtu.be/deE-
3JNygbl - Music: https://soundcloud.com/
sheilavamusic - Instagram: Instagram.com/
sheilava - Twitter: Instagram.com/
sheilavamodel - Other: sheilava.bandcamp.com/
album/christmas - Phone: 210-413-8382
- Email: [email protected]
Image Credit:
Christopher De La Rosa, Mesh Bhakta, Kushal Bose, Eric Livingston, Louie Ayuma, Jacob Stone, Robert L. Moore, Pati Currie.
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