Iceland review - 2016, Page 18

16 ICELAND REVIEW
10Q
my stage name helps me come out of my
shell. At first I just wanted to be ‘Sarah,’
with an ‘h,’ but then the name ‘Glowie’
came up during a chat on Facebook
between me, my boyfriend and my pro-
ducers. I thought it might be too artsy
at first, but then it stuck. [I later ask her
if she knows that ‘glowie’ is apparently
slang in English for ‘very hot female.’
She laughs, saying she had no idea].
When did you first decide you want-
ed to be a singer? What was your
first big break?
I’ve wanted this since I was a little girl.
Between the ages of nine and 15, I
was always taking every opportunity to
make my dream come true. However,
when I was 16, I grew depressed and
started to think that it wasn’t going to
happen. Then, in 2014, I participat-
ed in Söngkeppni framhaldsskólanna [a
nationwide singing competition between
Icelandic high schools], and I won. That’s
where StopWaitGo first heard me, and
now here I am.
Is there a song or album that never
fails to move you emotionally?
I really connect with music. I can feel
the songs, the lyrics, and the emotions
inside me when I listen to them. There’s
this album by Coldplay called Ghost
Stories that I listened to a lot when I was
depressed; it’s a great album, even though
it’s kind of sad.
Where do you draw inspiration
from? Will you write your own
songs in the future?
I haven’t recorded my own songs yet.
I’m still learning how to write them, so
sometimes my lyrics get too personal.
When I write songs, I’m writing about
how I feel—or about something that I’ve
gone through in my life—not just writing
a song to write a song. I actually get most
of my ideas while riding the bus. I’m
usually just listening to music, looking up
at the sky or at the trees, and that’s when
inspiration hits. In the future, I hope to
write songs with a message—songs that
people can relate to—but right now, I’m
still figuring out what I want to do. *