.png)
|
Zara Smile is a rising queer alternative rock artist captivating audiences with raw lyricism and genre-defying soundscapes. Drawing on inspirations such as Riot Grrrl, the indie icons The Beths, and alternative rock bands such as Black Country, New Road, Smile weaves stories of love, identity, and self-discovery. Their music balances intimacy and ambition, pairing tender melodies with restless experimentation. Inviting listeners into a world where honesty and authenticity reign, Zara Smile offers a sound that feels both familiar and strikingly new. Unafraid of vulnerability and refusing to be boxed in, they are a bold, evolving voice within the alternative rock scene today and beyond worldwide. |
—
3 words to describe you:
Bubbly, emotional, excited!
Describe your sound:
Intimate, overwhelming, fun
Tell us about you early music memories and the moment you knew you wanted to pursue music:
I wrote my first song super young and there’s a video of me running into the living room at my parents’ and singing my first ‘song’ (which was a series of woahs and yeahs- almost definitely inspired by One Direction!)
How does your heritage impact your art?
My heritage is in everything I do and everything I am. Being mixed race and on top of that, being queer, taught me from a young age that I had to decide who I was going to be! I write a lot about the cultural divide within me, struggling to find a place to fit in and all the complicated feelings that come with being mixed race!
What moment are you most proud of in your music journey so far?
Getting the PPL momentum accelerator grant! It was honestly something that I thought I’d just apply for and never get, I still am in disbelief that they believed in me enough to give me the grant!
Your next music goal:
Release an EP this year + maybe go on tour!!
If you could collaborate with anyone, who and why?
Probably Hayley Williams! Her voice has been my vocal goal since I started singing, and her new solo album is the most beautiful thing I’ve ever heard!
A song that has shaped you:
Coolest Fucking bitch in Town - Haley Blais
I first heard this song, I remember walking into town and it came on a random shuffle, I listened to it 15 times that day! The production is so incredibly gorgeous, everything about the song just stuck with me, and it’s still one of my most used reference tracks to this day!
3 songs you're listening to right now:
Disco Deewane - Nazia Hassan
40% - The Army, The Navy
Haiku Nursery Rhyme - Forager
Your community shout out:
I had a workshop with Nadia Khan once through Come Play with Me Records, the woman who founded Stormzy, and I think she is just such an inspiration! She has worked so hard and it was so cool to see a South Asian woman who was actually super successful in the music industry!
Anything else you'd like to share:
I’ve got an EP coming this October! It’s called Listen! and it features 4 songs about learning, growing and feeling a bit out of place no matter what I do! It explores a lot of weird complicated feelings :)
