Meet Sterre Marith Tapilatu, a multi-talented woman in different industries. She is a dancer, singer, model and actress. In this interview she shares her passions and what make her strengths as a creative. We also get some insights in how she deals with anxiety and an inspiring empowering statement.
T:What is it about music that makes you feel passionate?
S: Everything about it, music is some sort of universal language, you don’t always have to understand it or relate to it to be touched by it. It can be energizing, it can be empowering or comforting. It can accompany you whenever you’re lonely or travel you back and forth from old memories where you played that certain song to future thoughts as when you’re listening to love songs that got you fantasizing about the person you’re in love with. What’s a life without music..It gives life another layer, makes it all even more beautiful.
T: What’s your favorite empowering statement?
S: The simple but empowering thing I tell myself the most is ‘I got this/I can do this’ whenever I’m having a rough day or I’m about to get on stage. It’s something that just works for me. I think I say it around 5 times a day, I just whisper it to myself whenever nerves are taking over. Oh, and every time I’m leaving the house. It’s a reminder that I shouldn’t doubt myself before even trying..I wasn’t born scared
T: What would you do if you made a mistake during a performance?
S: I would just continue and then eventually, when I’m doing my talk in between the songs, I would probably make a joke out of it, I have a thing for self-mockery that’s why. Also awkward situations are kinda my thing. I’m a professional at dealing with them.
T: What’s your favorite part about being a singer?
S: I started off as a dancer but when I started singing too I had found a whole new way of expressing myself, I love being a singer because it’s like a new quality of mine that, for a long time, I didn’t even know was there. My favorite part(s) about it are all the experiences it brought me and all the people I’ve met during the journey, many of whom I now call friends.
T: What’s your process for dealing with performance anxiety?
S: Nowadays when I experience anxiety, I do a visualization that protects my aura and I go into a meditative state where I receive energy from the source of all life, it’s a spiritual approach that makes me feel more relaxed and energized. Beforehand I also do my breathing exercises: 4 counts in through the nose, 4 counts out through the mouth. In case you want to try this at home make sure you breathe from your belly and not your chest: your belly blows up when you breathe in, your chest stays exactly in the same place. When you breathe out your belly deflates. Your chest shouldn’t be moving during the exercise. You can get a little light in your head..That means you’re doing it right!
T: What strengths do you have that you believe make you a great singer?
S: My strength as a singer would be my talent to make people feel a type of way, I believe I’m good at telling stories and my sincerity has been and is still bringing me great opportunities. I’m striving to be an artist who makes music that feels sincere too! I think that being a great singer depends on a few things, like experience and technique for example. But the way you deliver the message and how you perform the song are half of the work! At the end of the day. What’s really great to see is ‘Authenticity’ everyone is intrigued by authenticity.
