A CONVERSATION WITH... sabina beyli
At The Great Escape, rising alt pop-rock artist Sabina Beyli chats with us about their emotions, upcoming releases, and songwriting process.
Photo by Imogen Mosley
Hey, I'm Sabina Beyli, and I'm a 22-year-old alternative rock singer and songwriter. I fell in love with music when I was probably four or five years old and I always knew that I wanted to pursue it from a very young age. I don't have a logical reason. I just remember being in a car with my dad and him playing Christina Aguilera. I thought to myself, I want to be like that. I want to sing like that.
So, what inspirations, whether it's Christina or anybody else, do you take for your own music now?
I grew up listening to a lot of Avril Lavigne and Christina Aguilera. But now I listen to a lot of Pierce the Veil, the Deftones, Lana del Rey and Melanie Martinez, Arctic Monkeys, and Justin Bieber.
I'm a huge fan of Melanie's production and lyric writing. I think my newer stuff is kind of a grungier, darker version of that. It’s sonically mixed with the other artists I mentioned. And I also write about all kinds of things, like whether it's relationships and personal issues.
Like with your latest release, ‘Bones.’ Was there any part of that that you really struggled with writing or really loved writing?
I really enjoyed writing it because it was very therapeutic. It felt like a therapy session because I co-wrote it with my friend. But releasing it was a little scary because it's such a vulnerable song. It's such a vulnerable topic. But I knew that it's something that so many people relate to and I think it's important to talk about. That helped me go through that.
Since you do write about very vulnerable topics, is there any topic that you want to cover but you haven't yet?
I tend to write a lot about self-sabotage and write sadder music. I think in my EP and in my future stuff, I want to lean more into the other side of that and write more about love.
What future releases can you talk about? Maybe more about the EP?
For 2026, I have another single dropping in July. It's one of my favourites, actually. It is actually like a happy love song. I wrote about my relationship and it's really wholesome.
Hopefully early 2027, I'm thinking of dropping my EP and then sometime in the summer, I'll drop a few singles from the EP. To give a hint about the the EP, it focuses on limerence and infatuation.
Would you want to dive into the process of writing one of your songs? Either off that EP or something in the past?
With ‘Novocaine’, I really enjoyed the whole process of writing it and recording it, just because I usually take my time when it comes to songwriting. I can write the whole thing and then have one section that I'm stuck on for a month. But with this song, it was so smooth, and I wrote it super quickly, and it just came out of me so naturally. It was sick.
I used to only write alone, but then because I went to Berklee College of Music, and I just graduated, I learned from all the people around me that it’s so important to collaborate and work with others. And after I started doing that, I worked with these two very talented singer-songwriters. I co-wrote some of my music. Seeing their writing process and how different it is from mine, but also how similar it can be is just insane. I think what I learned from them is that it’s okay to write something that's kind of shitty and just keep trying. You will get something out of that.
Like one of the tracks off the upcoming EP, I really struggled with it because it felt like more of a generic love song. I didn't really know how to approach the lyric writing aspect of it. But I love it sonically, but recording it was also really difficult. Most of the songs in my EP, they're, very vocally challenging. Which is great, but also a little scary, but I think as long as it sounds great, that's all that matters. I’ll be practicing it for the live shows.
Photo by Imogen Mosley
We've talked a lot about other emotions, but what's a moment of joy for you in your whole music-making adventures you want to share?
The feeling that gives me the most joy isn’t the numbers. It's none of that. It's just hearing my song sound the way I want it to. Hearing a demo or a mix in my headphones or in a car and falling in love with what I made. Feeling so proud that I made that. That's my child.
And finally, The Great Escape! How are you feeling about being here at Great Escape?
I'm so, so, so happy to be here. I've actually never really performed properly before here, but I'm really looking forward to it. Plus, I've never been to Brighton before, even though I grew up coming to London all the time. I'm really excited to perform with all these talented artists. I'm excited to see D3lta for sure.
Since I like to incorporate different genres, so maybe even a collab one day would work. Who knows!