When I attended Coffeehouse at Brentwood School for the first time, I expected to see singers, dancers, maybe some musicians and songwriters. But what I was not prepared for was seeing the legendary Selma Eriksen perform. She mesmerized everyone, hitting each note perfectly. It was easy to see how this was not her first time performing. Her voice was the perfect balance of melodic and soft, and she could hit every high note with ease. I was admittedly blown away by her sheer talent and amazing voice.
Eriksen is a junior at Brentwood, who said that she has had a love for singing for as long as she can remember. I decided to ask her a few questions about her singing career and ultimately what it has evolved to today. I was curious as to when she began singing and how she started.
“I have been singing my entire life, like since I can remember. I started having piano and singing lessons when I was like four. I think my passion for singing has kind of been led by my dad and my sister, who are both really passionate about music,” Eriksen said.
Upon hearing how long she has loved singing, you might be asking yourself if it is hard to balance schoolwork and singing. Schoolwork can take up a lot of time and so can singing, so I wondered if it was hard to save time for singing, while in the middle of a stressful junior year.
“With the career that I’ve started, sometimes balancing that is hard, like obviously wanting to do everything I can to further my career in singing, but then also having to work on school. Thankfully, though, it is one of those passions where you can do it simultaneously,” Eriksen said.
Knowing that Brentwood has a lot of options for kids who enjoy singing, so they can work during their school day, I asked Eriksen if she is involved in singing at Brentwood. She explained that she is in the Honors Vocal Jazz Choir. Eriksen said that in all her eleven years of being at the school, she has always been involved in singing. Her middle school music teacher, Gregg Barnes, commented on Eriksen’s pure love for music, and how she always stood out as an exceptional student.
“Selma was an outstanding music student. She always led by example, taking immense pride in her vocal deliveries, especially when selecting emotive notes to help tell an authentic story. It’s normal for any singer to feel a little vulnerable standing as a lone vocalist in front of peers, especially in middle school. But, whenever Selma walked into the rehearsal room or onto the stage, you could feel an assured confidence emanating from the group,” Barnes said.
Another concept that comes up for some people when singing in front of a crowd is stage fright. I was genuinely interested as to how Eriksen combats this when she is asked to perform in front of a room full of people. Eriksen responded that it used to be a bigger concern of hers when she was younger. As she practices singing more, and grows older, she has become more confident. She even had to sing in front of the entire student body once!
Something else most students tend to think about is what they aspire to do after high school. Eriksen said that she aspires to become a professional someday, and she has even started releasing singles on Spotify. She also has a very active Instagram where she teases her upcoming tracks and posts content to almost six thousand followers.
“I definitely want to grow my trajectory as a professional singer and artist. Every week, a few times a week, I work in a studio with my friends and make new songs, and I’m constantly releasing music, so I just want to continue that and grow a bigger audience,” Eriksen said.
You might be wondering about her singles and which ones are her favorites.
“My first single, “By Now” is probably my favorite, because having your first single out is really special,” said Eriksen.
She’s also released “Cherries and Lime,” “Vinyl,” and her newest song “None for Me.” “By Now” has reached over 240 thousand downloads, and her other songs each have over 10 thousand downloads. Eriksen said that she is a huge Lana Del Rey fan and tries to channel her inner Lana into her music. Her music genre is generally alternative indie and pop.
My final question for Eriksen was for advice for young singer/songwriters like herself.
“If it’s something you want to do, dedicate your time to it because it takes a lot of hard work, and be open to the process creatively and physically. Do what feels like you, and be 100 percent authentically yourself when creating anything or singing anything,” Eriksen said.
Think about how exciting it would be to see a Brentwood student break out beyond her high school career and become the next Gracie Abrams. Someday, maybe you will even be able to see her on tour.
