Spend time in nature — when you do this, you get closer to yourself and you get inspired. For instance, I wrote my song Stoked On Life while spending time in Hawaii, inspired by nature and feeling one with the Earth.
Live for the moments you can’t put into words — collect beautiful moments. Diving in Tonga with humpback whales for the first time was an experience I will never forget.
Do not look for outside validation — Achieve relevance within yourself and focus on what makes you happy. My biggest joy as an artist is creating music with live musicians in the studio, and being on stage singing the songs that are in my heart.
Don’t take anything personally — Nothing other people do is because of you. It is because of themselves.
Nobody is going to discover you — you have to discover yourself. Having my own record label The Trash Mermaids and writing, producing my own songs is hard work. You have to work and create content 24/7 and you get rejected all the time by music festivals or playlist curators. It is nice to have mentors who encourage you but in the end you have to create your own fan base. You have to own your success and career and make it happen.
As a part of my seres about social impact heroes, I had the pleasure to interview Scarlett Blu. Scarlett is a French singer-songwriter, musician, and technology insider. She is best known as the lead vocalist for the band The Trash Mermaids. Her music is not channeled into a category as she wants everybody to listen to it. Because of this, she has earned the reputation of being a “genre-hopper”. Scarlett Blu’s creativity comes from her authenticity and honesty. Her music reflects the highs and lows of her life, and she pours her heart and soul into her songs, turning them into her diary. Like Scarlett Blu, they are passionate, whimsical and theatrical, a manifestation of her authentic self. Scarlett Blu comes as she is: a pure state of being with no filters and layers of artifice. Scarlett Blu writes and creates her own melodies, experimenting and pushing the rules of music. Scarlett Blu’s main source of inspiration for her songs is the natural world. Nature and animals are her creative muses. Their physical and ethereal beauty inspire the lyrics and melodies of her songs. Her songs are direct emotional responses to what she sees and feels around her; she wrote the hit song Cryptic Love while diving with whales in Tonga. She listens to her animal instincts to tap into the spiritual energy she needs to create her songs. Scarlett Blu is using her music and technology to protect the natural world she cares for. Her spirit of adventure led her to sail and dive in the world’s oceans and she was really upset by the plastic pollution she saw everywhere. That’s why she called her band The Trash Mermaids. With the help of her fans and their communities, she hopes to fulfill the bigger purpose of helping to clean the oceans. All the proceeds from Scarlett Blu’s stores go towards the clean up of the oceans. Besides advocating for the oceans, Scarlett Blu supports the rights of the LGBTQ community. Her hit songs Cryptic Love and Xperiel were played at the 2018 Paris Olympic Gay Games to raise awareness about gay rights and support equality and diversity for all. Scarlett Blu is also passionate about mental health and how the arts can heal anxieties and release stress. She herself suffered from a panic attack and wrote a song about her experience, using music as a remedy to heal herself. Scarlett hopes that sharing her personal experience through her song will encourage other people to use art therapies to explore their feelings, reconcile emotional conflicts and manage addictions. Scarlett Blu’s passion is to bring people of the world together towards a common purpose and a beloved community. She encourages her fans to reach deep down into their own truths and use technology to foster their own community of purpose, serving the causes they want to support. In this way, everyone can contribute to the wellbeing of nature and humanity. Together we love and serve all of humanity, building a beloved community: we talk it, we sing it, we do it!
Thank you so much for joining us Scarlett! Can you tell us a story about what brought you to this specific career path?
I started writing songs while sailing and diving around the world. Nature is the inspiration behind most of my songs and the reason I started writing songs.
While diving in the world’s oceans, I was really upset by the plastic pollution I saw everywhere. That’s why I named my band The Trash Mermaids.
Can you share the most interesting story that happened to you since you started The Trash Mermaids?
One of the most incredible experiences for me so far was writing a song for Earth Day called Stoked On Life and donating all of the song’s profits to ocean conservation.
Another great memory was performing my song Cryptic Love with a 12 feet python around my body and hear it breathing heavily while playing the piano.
Singing and dancing underwater for the music video for my song Cryptic Love was also another experience I will never forget.
Can you share a story about the funniest mistake you made when you were first starting? Can you tell us what lesson you learned from that?
When I first started writing songs and creating melodies, I did not know about song structures and music composition rules in general and I explored alternative song structures without knowing it.
I did not realize it until one day a producer pointed it to me and said “Is that the chorus? Is that the bridge?”
Can you describe how you hope your music is making a significant social impact?
Through my music and with the help of my fans and their communities, I hope to fulfill the bigger purpose of protecting the world’s oceans and preserving its biodiversity.
That’s why I wrote a song for Earth Day called “Stoked On Life” and decided to donate all the song’s profits to Mission Blue and ocean conservation.
Can you tell me a story about a particular individual who was impacted this cause?
Sylvia Earle has dedicated her life to save the ocean and is one of my heroes. Her organization, Mission Blue, is a global coalition of more than 200 ocean conservation groups and like-minded organizations dedicated to protecting the world’s oceans from threats, including climate change, pollution, habitat destruction and invasive species. The organization supports ocean exploration, research and education with expeditions, documentaries and social media that focus on raising support for a global network of marine protected areas.
Are there three things the community/society/politicians can do help you address the root of the problem you are trying to solve?
The world’s oceans are in trouble from the effects of climate change, plastic pollution and overfishing . While many of these issues will require leadership from governments and businesses, there are plenty of small actions you can take that will make a big difference for the ocean. Decrease the effects of climate change on the ocean by cutting your carbon footprint at home: turn off lights and unplug electronics when you’re not using them.
Stop using plastic items such as plastic bags and straws. Influence change in your community by telling your friends and family why the ocean matters.
How do you define “Leadership”? Can you explain what you mean or give an example?
Leaders often challenge the status quo and inspire others to do the same. Anyone can become a leader by taking action to reduce harm to our planet: plant a tree, be a vegetarian for one day, stop using plastic items, pick up a discarded bottle and recycle it even if it’s not yours.
What are your “5 things I wish someone told me when I first started” and why. Please share a story or example for each.
Spend time in nature — when you do this, you get closer to yourself and you get inspired. For instance, I wrote my song Stoked On Life while spending time in Hawaii, inspired by nature and feeling one with the Earth.
Live for the moments you can’t put into words — collect beautiful moments. Diving in Tonga with humpback whales for the first time was an experience I will never forget.
Do not look for outside validation — Achieve relevance within yourself and focus on what makes you happy. My biggest joy as an artist is creating music with live musicians in the studio, and being on stage singing the songs that are in my heart.
Don’t take anything personally — Nothing other people do is because of you. It is because of themselves.
Nobody is going to discover you — you have to discover yourself. Having my own record label The Trash Mermaids and writing, producing my own songs is hard work. You have to work and create content 24/7 and you get rejected all the time by music festivals or playlist curators. It is nice to have mentors who encourage you but in the end you have to create your own fan base. You have to own your success and career and make it happen.
If you could inspire a movement that would bring the most amount of good to the most amount of people, what would that be?
I would start a revolution of love: love for yourself, love for others and love for the planet we all share. Replace violence and intolerance with self-love, understanding and compassion.
Can you please give us your favorite “Life Lesson Quote”? Can you share how that was relevant to you in your life?
Change is the only constant in life so it is important to embrace change and see it as an opportunity to evolve and grow.
I love to get out of my comfort zone every day and try new things like singing in a genre I haven’t tried before, learning to play a new instrument or exploring a country I have never been to.
Is there a person in the world, or in the US whom you would love to have a private breakfast or lunch with, and why?
I had the chance to meet many inspiring people in my life such as Sylvia Earle.
I would love to have lunch with other environmental leaders such as Jane Goodall who dedicated her life to bridge the divide between humans and animals and showed us the importance to reconnect with nature to save the planet.