The Sound of Gold with guest Rob and SophiaMarie Suarace

0:00 This program is designed to provide general information with regards to the subject matters covered. This information is given with the understanding that neither the hosts, guests, sponsors, or station are engaged in rendering any specific and personal medical, financial, legal counseling, professional service, or any advice. You should seek the services of competent professionals before applying or trying any suggested ideas.

0:51 Hi, welcome to the Sound of Gold. It is so good to be here with you, and I love doing these shows. Focus is, as you know, and if you're new, my focus is on music, musicians, music venues, music studios, music schools, music teachers, composers, anything related to music. And that's why we're here. And it is a true passion for me to have some wonderful connections and to bring us onto my show and have them in the spotlight, because there is so much talent around us and in our communities and in our world that you know, we grew up with the icons of like the Billy Joels, the the Michael Bublea, the I mean, I can go on and on, but you know they they've been such an inspiration to us and we've grown from them. However, it's almost like we don't get that same light, and why not, right, we have a gift to share with our world. We have the gift of music, the gift of giving, and it's a gift from God because we embody that passion and we get to share it with our audiences and with you. Today's Monday, So whether you're watching this live or listening to this live, or whether you're watching or listening to this on another day. I always like to start out my show with a little bit of piano because it's Monday, it's the end of a work day, and wherever you are, whatever you're doing,

2:25 you're tuning in to listen, and it's thundering and lightning here, so you might hear that in the background in addition to the music. So if you know, you know, if you don't know, I play music that's channeled in for me. I don't have anything memorized or specifically practice. I feel the energy from my audiences and I play that severy ward. Sit back for a few minutes before I get to introduced some fabulous guests I have waiting backstage. Thank you

4:30 for being here. You can see me, I can't see you, So whoever wherever you're tuning from, and again, thank you. Every week, I have these fabulous guests that join me on my radio show, and it's a pleasure that I get to know my guests and that I get to speak with him offline. And today my special guests are personal friends. And not only are they personal friends, they have made such an impact to me and they inspire me. And I don't know them well like well, well, I know them well enough to say that they are inspirations to me and that I know that with what they have to share today, they will inspire you as well.

5:21 I have mister Rob Seras and his beautiful talented daughter and Rob, you're talented too, is beautiful talented daughter Sophia Marie and you are both backstage. Please come out and join me. There's so much we have to talk about today and share with our audiences. Hi, Hey, thank you. For having us. Yeah, thank you so much for taking the time out and being here. And so our audience is out there, and I mean we go worldwide, and our audiences out there are either musicians looking for inspiration on how to get to the next level or musicians that are maybe amateurs and feel like you know, they want to do something someday. Maybe there's all different levels. And as we know as musicians, we weren't born this way, you know, we were just we were born with talent. We didn't know we had until we put an effort into growing our talents. Yes, so Rob and I love you both.

6:27 You like I said, this is my third time saying that you're such an inspiration to me. And you're so humble. You're both just so humble and live life just like everybody else. You have you know, you have a job, you you know, you have family, and it's but outside of that, not outside but inside out. This is a passion that you get to share with the world. And I would love to hear Rob and then and then Sophia Tart with us and our audience has some backstory as to how you got to where you are and where you are now with what you're doing. Well, Lisa, thank you for that very kind introduction. Wonderful and so thankful to be here to be a part of your show, and thankful with my daughter and share this beautiful gift with her.

7:16 I'll take you back. I was a kid born and raised in New York on Long Island and you mentioned her before, Billy Joel. He lived about fifteen minutes from me. Okay, when I heard Billy. My mom wanted me to play piano when very young, but I thought I was into sports. Italian kid from New York, and I took my mom asked me at seven that wanted. Me to play a piano. I said piano was for girls. I said, I'm a bit I. Want to play baseball and basketball for girls. But then I got a little older, Billy Joel came out and I heard him play piano and sing, and my world was forever changed.

7:56 All the patches went. From sports to music, and he was the reason I started playing and then the reason I started writing music, you know, just music became a huge passion and was. Able to make a living since. I'm twenty one years old, performing music all over New York the Tri State area for many events, and always came very close with recording deals as a songwriter producer from seventeen years old with a record had a few deals with Atlantic Records and different labels publishing with music, but it know, nothing ever materialized fully. Anyway, fast forward, life goes on. I married my beautiful wife Sophia, and we give birth to a beautiful daughter, Sophie Marie, and I prayed for God to give her a passion for music and was truly blessed that she got that passion.

8:58 And from two three years old we were playing music together. When I moved to Florida twenty years ago, I had a band and were performing out solid Gold and you know, great but kind of a New York style band. But in Florida, okay. From four years old she was performing with us, singing Hannah Montana, Katie Perry, and that started her on stage and she never wanted to get off. Remember, yes, that started her. She used to rehearse in my garage and we had some great female vocalists. And Janelle will mention. Janelle, one of Sophia's favorite, really started her, you know, singing and going. But from that point on started working together.

9:44 When your teenager started writing together and then worked with a great team of producers and writers, she became an artist. For fifteen sixteen, has been on Spotify doing amazing and we write together, but she writes alone, be produced together. But now she's producing for other artists. I mean, she took the ball. She took the I should say the baton. The baton, yeah, and she's running with it. But I'm so glad we do get to still work together all the time. And I've said enough, I'm gonna let my daughter speak, but she's an incredible God gave me more of.

10:26 Sophia. Before you take this stage, I have a couple of questions Rob for audiences. Can you share a few nuggets about your journey and then we're gonna focus I said, we're gonna focus on Sofia, but a few nuggets as to like how you how you got to make the connections you made to make to like be on stage and be performed, because that's not easy. That just doesn't come easy for any of us. How did you in the past and we're going you know, we're here in the now, we're going into the future. Not sure how that's all going, but and times are changing. So what worked then and what's different now?

11:09 You know what? At least that's a great question. And I was a kid brought up in the church, So what was great about the church? They gave you opportunities to perform very young. So and actually another reason I started playing the piano was my cousin Henry used to play the piano and sing that Billy Joel and Elton John songs. And I used to see all the girls crowded around him and I go, wait a minute. You know, you're at that age where you want to know how do you attract members? Yeah, I said, this is a great idea. But church started, you know, me being able to play in front of people, and I did that for many years, and then you.

11:50 Know, when you're a teenager. I was with my first band at fourteen and we used to play sweet sixteens and parties for kids at the school and thank you guys. It was always very comfortable in front of people. And I always loved the fact that what we do, as you know, with music, to bring joy to people. Our job is making people happy. What a job. That's a wonderful thing to do. So I never really got nervous from young on. I just felt I was in my living room, but there's England. Front of me. And that followed through for the rest of my but my whole life performing in front of people.

12:32 And now she's doing the same same thing. But yeah, and I would say if anybody out there you have a passion and. Love music, and just do what you love and just you know, whether it there's two people, five people. Some of the best times were playing in my living room in front of my friends, hearing the new song, sitting on the couch, and of four or five people, and it's like, it doesn't matter if there's four or five, four or five hundred or four or five thousand. I played in front of all those different numbers of people. You're doing the same thing. It's exactly the same. You're playing you and you bring people joy, which is to me, the best thing you do.

13:15 It is the best. It is the best. And you have a recording studio, you have an at home recording studio. Yes, we have a studio at home. That and again, Sophia, she's great. She learned all the technical things that you need to do to work at it. And we also work at different studios, have a team of some great producers and engineers, you know, professionals. So but we could do amazing things right in this room. Sophia, There's so many questions I have for you. You know, it's like where do I want to begin. You've been playing since you were a very young girl, and you're a beautiful woman now and you have. You know, I sometimes I feel or I think certain things and I just don't say. But then when I get to be have like my guests on my show, then I get to like share it. It is so beautiful and hopefully I don't get teary eyed to see the relationship. And I met your wife. Your wife is a beautiful you have a beautiful family. But Sophia, you and your dad, I would have to say, I have never met a more beautifully entwined family net and what you share with your dad, I think, I think every parent it's almost like a dream every parent has. And what you have with your dad, you know, that's something to cherish and

14:45 I know you do, and it's just it's a measured relationship that you have and it's so beautiful that you support your support each other in this journey. Sophia, you started at a very young age, so it was probably like I think of Amy Winehouse, she started at a young age and like she never thought anything of it because she had this gift. And you have this gift that you share with your your dad. Well, you have your own gift and your dad has, yes, yes, but you bring them together. Share a little bit about your journey, what's it been like, What has been your highs, your lows, what's helped, what hasn't helped. Yeah, So growing up I have been surrounded by music my whole life. I'm twenty one years old now, and growing up my dad had the band, like he mentioned, and just being around that band my whole entire life, I've gained so much experience and just information from seeing the singers, the musicians, to how a set is coordinated and you know, how they're singing out live. And I've learned a lot. And I would say I've been watching the bands, what right? Yeah, yeah, just you know, I would hop on the stage sing but still at that age, you know, wasn't really thinking, but it just gave me experience and inspiration. And then from that point on, as I got older, I kept going to the shows and I started more around nine ten eleven. Then around the age of eleven, I think it was a nine or eleven I started writing.

16:17 So you were writing at eleven but mentioned releasing your YouTube videos. Yeah, doing from seventy. I did a lot of YouTube videos, like you know, cute little videos that all kays to do, but except I was doing covers yeah, I would singing, do covers, and around the age of eleven, I started writing and I would write some songs in my little notebook here and there. But then, you know, I realized that I'm really good at this, so I need to keep pursuing that. So I would say around thirteen fourteen, that's when we started writing together too, started producing together, and we got some songs, we got them into a studio. We worked with the producer at the time. I think one of my songs back then that we did was want to Want You, and I put that out on my old Spotify account. But then from that point on, I realized that music is something that I want to do. But I would say around the age of eighteen is when I got really serious with it. And that's when I started, you know, growing myself as a vocalist, as a performer, as a songwriter, and as a producer. You know, because when you're younger, you're not really sure. Yeah, you know, you're not really sure. But then I was really sure at the age of eighteen. And I have so many inspirations like Arianna Grande, Ray Billie Eilan and so around the age of eighteen, I really started taking it serious.

17:38 We worked with a great group of producers, a great team, which we still do, and I released some songs back then that we did together, Someone did on my own, Something did with the producer, and I learned a lot, and I learned what style I like and I learned what style I don't like. So from that point on, I would say around the age of twenty twenty one, I really got my writing down what style I want to do and what style I love. And also when I was eighteen, that's when I really started taking seriously performing and singing. I auditioned for The Voice. I've been auditioning for America Idol and The Voice ever since, gotten a few callbacks. I'm actually in touch with the producer from Idol and working out when I'm going to audition this summer.

18:29 What's that like? Tell if you could share a little bit with the audience, Like, because we most people just sit in front of the TV and they watch it. They don't know what goes into the behind the scenes, Like from your experience, what's what's it taken you? What have you stepped out of your own comfort zone to show up in that that way? Or I don't know what's expected, So. For auditioning, they mainly want you to sing covers. So for the auditions, you know, I'll do it alone. Sometimes I'll just have a karaoke track for I'll have my dad play in the background and don't play the piano, and then I'll sing a song. But it's really really good to know a wide catalog of music, so I know songs from the eighties and nineties, two thousand top hits, and it's also great that I have a set list that I could sing. So for these auditions, I'm just picking the best song that showcases my voice the best.

19:22 So I auditioned for the voice. I got a call back for that having gotten. On the show and actually got in the room. She got in the room with the executive producers. One time she went through wow ages and was with the executive producer. But she's not there yet. She's she's working hard even get her voice, working with a great mucial coach to another level. Okay, great work after which, so I've. Been auditioning for those shows ever since, and I know I'm going to get on it one day, just a matter of time, and that will be such a great opportunity for me. Because millions of people see you, they see your social media, your platform. And so not only have I been writing for myself, but I've been writing and producing for some other artists what I like to call my clients. So you know, I'll post on my social media, I'll say I can produce for you guys, and then I'll figure out what style they like or what I'm going to need to do, and then I charge my rate. So I've been doing that. But we also work with great producers, and we work together. We produced together in this studio, and that's what's great about today.

20:32 You don't need to fly out somewhere big or go all the way to New York or California to do a song. We can literally do a song in this room right now if we wanted to. And I think that's what's so great about what we do and being an independent artist, and I think that's what makes me unique and special. And also I did I entered a competition last year and it was an iHeartRadio competition and I ended up as a finalist in it Wow with some of our songs, some of my songs, and it was a great experience to be a part of. And I learned so much from that competition. It was great. She was actually top ten. Oh wow, so out of I believe there were like ninety thousand people who entered.

21:22 That number. Well, I don't know if I mentioned, but we will our show. This show that we have are all my shows also airs on iHeartRadio, so there's a connection there. I love that, Okay. I've also been a part of some commercials. I actually model and some TV film and I got to be in a McDonald's commercial abo and half about a year and a half of the Yeah, so that was great. And I do some modeling here and there. But the main thing that I'm focusing on is really social media and music and growing my platforms.

22:04 That's awesome, thank you. I had my foot in the door, or over the years, I had my foot more in the door with film and television and I've had some friends do you McDonald's commercials and other things and like those. I'm going to use the word your nuggets, like those little nuggets, Sophia like that. You'll have it forever. But it's such a platform to build off of. And I don't mean not only literally, but just you have grown and you have such a vast experience already that as you continue to move forward, it's just so beautiful to see how you're putting out, giving out your talent, and not not giving it out, but sharing it from that hard place because it's a passion. It's not something you have to, Yes, it's work to I guess, meet with you know, yeah, executives, and tell us a little bit about how you get over that anxiety of having to let's say, whether it's being on stage or being in a zoom with wanting to promote yourself, how do you deal with the anxiety of that.

23:16 I would say when I was younger, I definitely was more nervous on a stage. But then at some point you're just like, I really don't care what people think. And sometimes I think it's more of a confidence thing. So you know, the more you gain confidence and the older you get, which the older I got, I'm matured moment, and I think I'm at a very confident point in my life where I can get on a stage and I'm really not that nervous anymore. In but that's something you do have to prepare for. So the more I sing out, the more I practice, the more I'm in front of people, whether it's on a stage or whether I'm singing live from my phone on Instagram or TikTok, I'm way less nervous. So I'm really never that nervous anymore.

23:57 Maybe I'll be nervous if I'm singing at the Grammys. Rob, you, I'm. Sorry if you're at the ground. Yes, yes, I remember. I took acting lessons for many years, and I remember one of the biggest things that I took away that I still remember today is that if you're not even a little bit nervous, like it's healthy to be nervous, because then it shows that you care about how you're showing up. And I mean not I would you say this, not from self conscious way, but caring as far as wanting to give your best performance. Yeah, yeah, so healthy.

24:40 It is absolutely absolutely And Rob, you have so many different connections, and Sophia, you're kind of taking the baton as you said, how do you continue? And you made it it is easier today you don't have to go to New York to audition. But Sophia, Rob, how are are you finding it to make connections? Are you just like, oh, doing research on it or oh, hey, I know this person that knows that person, what's what's the tactic that you can share with us? Interestingly enough so because Sophia has a great presence on social media, yes, which is and she's actually has a lot of companies that she's doing brand deals with. That's the new way, which okay, But even through social media, she someone contacted her about getting placements into TVM films sync fields and that was through you know, hearing music on social media. And actually there's a pretty big company that is you know, asking for certain songs to be put on be in film commercials.

25:56 And that's a great way, another way to get into the business, not through the front door, but through the side door, so to speak. But that was true. I mean day in my day, you had to put a demo together, three songs. You had to go to Atlantic Records, knock on the door, you know, Columbia Records, there were Arista six labels. Today it's social media. You have to build that presence actually do it yourself independently. Yeah, and that's the way it happens. But what I love is very good with social media. There are some artists who they're so talented, they don't like social media. You know, artists, you want to play in front of people, you want to do gigs. It's social media is different. You got to talk, you got to put yourself out there. You got to know everyday stories.

26:48 But she's been on video camera since she's a very young kid with YouTube, so very natural, and now she's that he loves it. He loves it. So's it works well with the music career. Actually, you can't have a music career without a social media career today. I was brought up in the day where labels work with you. They kind of put their money in the time and effort and made your grave And don't do. That any You have to be up there before they even talk to you. But I think that's great because it gives us more of an opportunity because you know, let's say, labels only want a specific amount of people. Now, you don't need a label to be successful or to be big. You could just have social media followers and if they like and support what you do, I guarantee that you can become successful from that.

27:44 Yeah, now, how do you? Social media is constantly growing, Like every day we wake up, it's more social media stuff. And I get that too because I live in your world, but not not yes, in the world, in the music world. How do you in this way it's it's something I can't relate to yet, but rob with your experience, and sof you're with your experience, how when you're moving forward, when you're making these connections, how do you h if I could say the word decipher, how can you how do you know the difference between somebody being true and somebody that's something that's a scam out there?

28:26 Oh, and we were very familiar with that. Unfortunately, there's a lot of fakes in this business, just trying to make money off they they always choose people who really are so that's all they want in this world, and they take advantage of your passion. And because I've lived a long time and have been all that, I kind of can protect her from all that. And all the people who actually we work with are truly vetted and you know, just the real deal and the same with the same goal. But but she doesn't get taken advantage. And that's one good thing about being an older dad who we could see through all that and all all the stuff, and and there's been a lot of that, but we've had some fantas and we have some We have a mutual friend who you know very well, Frank Lacarrie.

29:22 Uh you or Frank is awesome. Yeah, he's so great and he was a big fan. Yeah, And and set Sophia up with a major publishing company because he loved you know, her music or. Singing and writing. He Frank was the reason we moved here. He knew Sophia from two years old and that she was a performing arts agether and set up a very big meeting with somebody, uh of. A publishing I could say, yeah. Yeah. So last summer this time actually went to Nashville and we met with the president of Anthon Entertainment, which he set up. And Anthem is a very big publishing company.

30:05 They own, They work with Taylor, a bunch of Brits. They have a big catalog of Justin Timberlake, Steven Spielberg. So we were working out, you know, whether in the future I can maybe sign with them as a songwriter, which I would love to do because that's one of my goals in my career to get signed as a songwriter and write songs for other artists. So that's what you know. I'm always working forwards, but we know whether someone is real or fake. And we actually sat down because of Frank with the president, the guy who runs the whole publishing company, and he loves Sophia. So it's still in process, you know, still working on it.

30:50 This business, it takes time. It takes years, Bob. You know, through good people. Like a Franklin carry that set up a beautiful meeting that Putten actually could be a springboard. In the future. And he believed in Haranah. You had to do that because you just don't do that for anyone. But you know, and Frank, I know Frank and Natasha, and I know the family many many years, and they're just they're like extended family to me. So if Frank says something or Frank you know, shows up for you, it's no joke because he's got some great connections and he's he's the real deal. He's not gonna like schmooze you or say things you want to hear. He'll justus say it like it is. And he's funny.

31:34 So yeah, and I'll have all I knew Frank forty years from New York City. Wow, when he first moved to the city. My brother's a write a playwright. Okay, actually wrote movies for Disney for years. My brother Okay, he might know my cousin in California. Yeah, that's what we're gonna find out. Yeah. Yes, And Frank was in Merry Christmasmas, Molly. My brother produced it off Broadway in the Ages. He was one of the stars in the show. And my brother wrote, produced it, and performed in it. And they've been very good friends for forty years. And that's why I told you I moved here because of visiting Frank twenty three years.

32:23 Ago and the nerve. Frank, if you're listening, the nerve. He moved out of state. He's back to Jersey. But great guy, great guy. Yes, yes he is. Sophia, what what are you working on now? Like, what's your main focus? What are you creating? What do you have coming up that you'd like to share with our audiences? And how do we connect with you and Rob at the same you know, how do we? Yeah? So right now? Definitely focus on social media. I do a lot of fun content everyday, lifestyle content and on my Instagram, I will be sharing a lot of covers.

33:03 I have so many covers out and some that I'm going to put out and original music which I have an eth kay actually that we created some songs and I'm so excited to put that out. I think it should be coming out towards the end of this year. Some songs that I wrote, some songs that we wrote together, and we work with a really great producer Ian on them. And so you guys should be looking forward for that to be released towards the end of this year. And tell her about the brand deals. Oh yeah, and on my social media, Like I said, I do a lot of content, So I do a lot of brand deals that I get offered. So that means that if a company wants to send me a product, they want me to post it and promote it and they will pay me for that. So I've been working on a lot of those.

33:51 And yeah, I'm sorry, Rat, I'll tell you, yes, Yes, you've done well, Dad, you did From John, my. Goal was for her to you know, we worked together, but I wanted to be able to make everything firm and be able to do it herself, and. And and so thinks doing it, that's amazing, it's amazing. I kind of derailed my train like was going then. So I want to rewind a little bit. We I think when I first met you you were I was voting for you, really and so.

34:34 Voting on the contest last year, yeah yeah, almost two years ago, crazy Yeah. Can you share with our audience a little bit about your experience and what that was all about and how that's different from like I had. We talked about that a little bit in text. I re arranged what I said because I misunderstood your involvement on the How is that different from being there and all that with the competition or the voice, But well maybe both share a little bit of both because you have so much experience. But with the competition, I actually entered it myself on social media. I saw that this competition was going and it ended up being an iHeartRadio competition, and I think every round you would share your own original music and people would vote on which one that they liked the best.

35:27 And it was great because I connected with a lot of other artists too, and musicians and people were clicking on my page hearing my music more and more that I shared it and promoted it. So that was a really great way to get myself out there too. And then I ended up being a finalist on that competition, and then with the Voice, I actually got reached out with Idle and that's how I auditioned for that. And then with the Voice, I just signed up online and got some callbacks for that. But those the audition processes have been really great and fun because I learned a lot and gain a lot of experience and now I know how to talk in front of a judge, and you know, it made me way more contant than I first started with, So I know when I get on the show, I'm going to be great.

36:15 Yeah, And that takes the edge off when you know what to expect. And I don't think it matters like what our ages when we have a new experience. That's the gift of like the new stuff or even like I've been playing, this is different, but I'm relating. I've been playing piano for over forty five years and I'm still a student. I'm still learning. There's still stuff I don't know or what I'm dealing with, different connections, different people, different platforms. Like you just don't know what you don't know, and you think you have to we have to train ourselves to be okay with that and just keep moving forward. And so you've you've got great thank you an. Interesting thing to reply to? That least.

36:57 I always tell Sophia all the time, I learned every day, when you stop learning, life's over. Yeah, Like you always have to have the ability to want to learn more, get better at. What you do. It's till till you're done. I mean, this life is all about learning and getting better. I remember when my my dads passed on. But I remember I was in high school and I said to my dad, now I'm going to say, I'm going to back myself up first in defense. I'm a student for life. But with that, I mean I said I'm going to be I'm going to defend myself before I say what I'm going to say. I'm a student for life. I love to learn. My passion is always I want to always almost like compete with myself. I want to always better myself. I always want to outdo what I did yesterday for me, yeah, anybody else. But I remember being in high school and I said to my dad, you know, I can't wait till high school is finished, because then I'm done with school. I don't have to do all this homework, all this stuff anymore. I meant laughed at me.

38:00 He's like, no, it. Doesn't stop there. You'll always be learning. And I'm like, what do you mean? And you know, I didn't really grasp the idea of how you know, life is so precious and we have this gift that we're given to constantly learn, constantly grow. And when you find your passion like you have, and you can just hone into that and focus on that, I think in a spiritual way, you attract all the people and all the energy and all the opportunities to you because you're doing the work right. And it's not always about the money, like how much are they going to pay me?

38:42 Yes, it's absolutely you do it because you love it. You as you know, Liza, you don't get into music for the money in the beginning. You don't get it because you have to love it because you don't make money for a long time. And so and sometimes, and I tell her all the time, enjoy the journey, enjoy the ride, because sometimes that's all you get. But if you enjoyed it all the way through. Because if you want to be, you know, a hand artist, that's fantastic to shoot for. That, but you might not get it. But if you enjoyed it, like me all the way through. I loved my what I did. I love my life. I got closed, you know, and and I got a second chance for my daughter. How how lucky is that?

39:29 It's very yeah, And I will say the goal isn't, you know, always to be a hit successful artist, which you know, I do want to be a successful artist, But there are so many other lanes that you could take, Like, for example, since I write songs, since I produce, I could be a songwriter. I could write songs for other artists. I could produce songs for other artists. I could work for a label. I could do social media marketing. So that's the great thing about you know, if you love something, I would definitely stay in that lane and just grow as as much as you can. And a couple of different things come to mind. I heard ed Sheernan on an interview and he goes, there, goes to tell us about your success, and he goes, once you're successful, there's nothing to talk about. You're there, right, And then another person I won't mention, Well, I worked very closely with Burt Reynolds for many years, and I remember he would always say, it's not being the celebrity.

40:29 It's not being successful. It's the journey that tells the story. Because once you're successful, you're not going to talk about oh, like here I am, You're going to talk about how you got there. That's that's like, that's it, that's it. Yeah, And that's the beauty and the journey. Some people, like I know people from my life who said, I'm not going to be happy till I'm successful, till I make it. I know that's a terrible attitude because you know, you have to enjoy the journey, the ride. It's all about the. Journey, about the journey. Yes, And I recently saw or read a quote that said, once upon a time, where you are right now was your goal. Yeah, And it's you know, like I hold on to that because I'm like, that's so true because once upon a time, like I wasn't here, this is maybe where I wanted to be.

41:25 But you know, you know, when you're when you're standing where you're at, you don't we don't think about it all the time, and sometimes those little quotes are great reminders to be like, you know, tease me, hey, like you know, remember once you know, once upon a time. But we have a few minutes left, Sophia is there. Well, First of all, how can our listeners out there and our viewers, how can they hear you sing? How can they connect with you? How can they learn more about what? We want to hear your voice? Like? How can you can definitely follow me on my social media? Instagram is at the Sophia Marie YouTube is Sophia Marie and then my Spotify is Sophia Marie as well, and then if you go to my Instagram, it will just lead you to all of those things. And I'll be releasing some new music soon on Spotify.

42:15 And she sings all over Yeah, social media and sometimes and I gotta thank my daughter. I'm not a social media person. I never was, but she got me to do a lot of videos with her, and now I enjoy that I watched them. I love YouTube. It's just like I'm like, oh, I didn't know that, or like I watched you guys, and I'm like, this is so great that you guys that you both do this. We really enjoy it, really fun. I love it. It's you know, it's the dad daughter thing, which is fun and people enjoy. So it's awesome. No, now rob your home studio. Is it that your home studio for the two of you or do you produce other people's worked you have way people can get in touch with you.

43:04 Yeah, I just worked with my daughter now I am. I mean I worked with, produced, wrote and produced for many artists about thirty years. But once my daughter turned twelve, that was it. My whole focus was was with her. But I love my home studios is where I get to play. And you know, we do videos, a lot of videos here. We do we write songs, covers. You're going to see some cool stuff coming out and you know, I think you know, Lisa, I'm a music director, which I love for Christ Relationship Church, Yes, almost twenty years and I've been a part of the beginning of six campuses Wow.

43:46 Which I love being part of the worship team. It's a wonderful church and I'm thankful that God used my gift for him, So. That's that's awesome. Yes, it's a beautiful church and they have I think all hands down, they always have the best bands. The music is really amazed. I love what they've done and being a part of it is fantastic. So you're very best. We have a couple of minutes left for our listeners, our viewers. Out there, we have, I said, we have people from all walks of life. A lot of them are musicians. A lot of them are thinking about being a musician. What advice do you have for them?

44:34 So your okay, My advice is, if music is your passion, don't give it up. Do what you love. There's nothing that's been the best thing I did in my life, besides my daughter and besides my God is music. Music has kept me out of trumble. Music has given me a purpose, something to shoot for. Yes, bos without music be. Wrong what I do. So I'm thankful that God gave me the gift and he made me a little crazy enough to never give up. You know, because it's not easy. It's not an easy career. But I was able to always make a very good live.

45:17 Thankful that I was able to do enough things to make up a living at just that. Thank you. Yeah, I'd say, don't give up, you know, just hold on to your dream. And again, you don't do music, especially in the beginning, for just money for the money. Yeah, because look at at leasta forty five years you've been playing, You play beautiful. I'm a piano player, so we share that that I know what it's like to play and just your home. Yeah, but like I feel home and it's for mental health. Like I even tell my students because I'm a music teacher I've been for over twenty years. When you I have this student he's nine, I go, when you have these tough days, because he tells me stuff about school and nine years old, I go, when you have these tough days, I go, we've been working together for a couple of years. Now, I go, you go sit at the piano and you play how you feel. Don't worry about what it sounds like. Just express yourself because it's the most healthiest outlet to you. And I mean, you don't want to treat a piano as like drums.

46:25 But it's just it's you understand whatever you And again, if you're a songwriter, there's nothing bad YEA taking what you're going through, good or bad, and being able to get that out into a song, whether it's a good song, I hit song and no one hears it. It's an amazing way to get get it out. And it's mental health. That's good mental health. We have one minute, Sophia, really quick in your writing what inspires you, I would. Say lately, I would say what inspires as me is to not care what anyone thinks, to be confident in my own skin. And I think that's what my ePK really stands for and what it talks about. You'll see what the songs, but it's really all about self empowerment, confidence.

47:16 And one of my songs that I just released is called that Girl. Oh it's a great, great song and the song that changed was reinvent Yeah. So that's when I started this new chapter of music really talking about myself. And yeah, and so so long you on Spotify, Sophia Marie, thank you so much for being on our show Are at a Time today and for listeners, thank you for tuning in. Rob Sophia, I look forward to seeing you and speaking with you soon. Rob, you and I we have so much, so many connections. Yeah for having Yes, Yes, this is fun.

47:57 You will get so fun. Thank you. Okay, we'll talk soon. Bye,