Meet our newest Center Stage artist, Sāvion - Born in Galveston, Texas in 1992. His love for music began with bass lessons at the age of eight. From there, he became familiar with the piano and guitar. Today, Sāvion also plays the ukulele, saxophone, harmonica, and mandolin. To top it all off, he is a talented whistler. Growing up, Sāvion would sing solos in church in his hometown of Jasper, Texas.
Sāvion self-released an EP titled “Breathing Underwater” in early 2014, after making the Top 48 on American Idol. It sold over 8,000 copies reaching the Top 40 Alternative charts on iTunes. As a two-time contestant on FOX’s American Idol, Sāvion made the Top 48 in 2014 and the Top 12 Guys in 2015. Immediately after elimination in 2015, Sāvion embarked on a regional U.S. tour.
Sāvion commands the stage with a powerful sound and raw emotions that draw the audience in from his first note. With a plethora of genres under his belt – pop, rock, alternative, and reggae, drawing comparison to very charismatic performers like–Bruno Mars, Chris Martin (of Coldplay), Pharrell, and international music legend Stevie Wonder.
Sāvion’s favorite artists are as distinctive as he is. They include Coldplay, Maroon 5, Bruno Mars, Michael Jackson, Nick Jonas, The Weeknd, John Mayer, Adele, One Republic, and U2.
Sāvion currently collaborates with Los Angeles-based production trio–Tryst (Warner-Chappell Music). He has released his summer EP titled "On Top of the World", featuring a single which was one of the winning songs in Radio Airplay's 2016 Summer Summer Song Contest. The pop/dance tune showcases powerful vocals and an undeniably catchy melody. Hear for yourself by tuning in here and learn more about the artist's promising music career in our Center Stage Q&A feature below:
I have a very poppy eclectic gritty sound with a lot of timbre and feeling.
What's your earliest music-related memory growing up?
Singing in church at the age of 6 years old
What was the first tune(s) you learned?
On the guitar, the first song I ever learned was "Dock of the Bay" by Otis Redding.
On the guitar, the first song I ever learned was "Dock of the Bay" by Otis Redding.
Do you write/compose your own songs? Briefly describe your songwriting process
Of course! I'm a very random person. Sometimes I can wake up filled with tunes/lyrics already written and composed in my head. Other days I'll force myself to write so I can come up with better lyrics.
If you were to cover another artist's album, which would you pick and why?
Continuum by John Mayer because that album is full of juicy blues and well written tunes that I can completely relate to - especially I Don't Trust Myself (With Loving You).
What was the highlight of 2015, either for you personally or for the band? What was the low point?
Highlight of 2015 was definitely being on my last season of American Idol (I auditioned twice) made the Top 48 the first time, then came back and made the Top 12.
I can also say that Jennifer Lopez is a fan of my music and follows me on Twitter!
A low point was getting cut from the show. It really does a number on you mentally, because you have all these expectations for yourself and they put it in your head that you could be the next America Idol. Luckily I made it far enough to not get caught up in a crappy deal.
What is 2016 looking like for you? Upcoming projects? Can you give us a little hint, on what we can expect for this year?
I just released a new EP titled "On Top of the World" based around my first single. I also released a lyric video for that song and will be shooting a Vevo certified music video for it before the end of the year, so I'm very excited about that. I will also be releasing another EP this fall titled "Light Stars and Dreams."
Any embarrassing on stage moments you'd like to share? C’mon, don’t be shy.
I'm very energetic when I'm on stage and when I got back to my hotel after doing a show on my tour last year, I realized the whole time I had this big tear in my pants and you could almost see something you're not supposed to see in public. hahaha
What do you enjoy doing outside of music? Does your hobby rejuvenate their creativity?
I love playing Pokemon, I'm a total nerd. I love PokemonGO now! Like seriously, I'm a total nerd. I'm also a HUGE movie buff and I pretty much know every actor/actresses name (major/minor). I also love doing Sudoku and Crossword puzzles. Like I said, I'm a total nerd lol
What do you like the most about Radio Airplay?
I love having the chance to share my music in a new age way, and happy to know that my song "I Feel (oN Top of the World)" is resonating with listeners.