Rolling out had a chance to take a sneak peek and eavesdrop on the multi-Grammy Award-winning songwriter Sean Garrett and learn about the motivation behind his success. Garrett was preparing for his cable television interview with host Armani Iman and she was able to get some juicy information.
The humble Garrett expressed how blessed he is to have worked with talented A-list artists like Julio Iglesias, Mary J. Blige, Fergie, Chris Brown, Beyoncé and Usher. He expressed that at a young age it was music that touched him emotionally and gave him strength to cope. Moving from Atlanta to Germany at the age of 4, Garrett’s military family moved around a lot and he became accustomed to spending a lot of time in his bedroom. That solitary time allowed him to begin to explore music as a way to articulate his inner feelings. And with Jay Z and P. Diddy as his childhood idols, it encouraged him to want to express himself better.
Armani posed the question, “if you were able to choose between three hats and they were songwriting, producing or the artist hat; which one would you choose first?” After contemplating on the answer to the question, Garrett stated the following:
“Hmmmmm, that’s a very difficult question. I would have to say I would choose the producer hat. Let me explain why. Even though I love the artist hat; there have been a couple times I have received calls from a DJ about a song and because I was emotionally feeling a certain kind of way about the industry and the politics involved I found myself not pushing as hard as I would have as a producer because I was thinking from an artist prospective. Thinking as a producer I would have a different mindset. I love to just be about the music instead of having to get involved on the politics that go behind certain decisions.”
Next, when he was asked if he ever heard a song on the radio and started to feel like he should be the one singing the song instead of being the writer. Garrett responded:
“I never have a moment of wishing it was me performing the song. Writing a song is such a giving, sharing, building process. The goal is to have a hit record on that artist with that scenario and that’s the goal you focus on. Music has always been about inspiring people. Either you are stopping people from hating or encouraging them to love more. It’s about sparking an emotion.
“I wrote ‘Soldier’ on the way to a Destiny’s Child session in a taxi. I love hearing a song on the radio or out and knowing that I wrote it. I love even more that like no one in the gym (or wherever I hear the song) know that I actually wrote it. What’s most inspiring is how the song takes you back to that moment in time. That moment of what was going on. I was excited to present the song Soldier to Destiny’s Child and give it to Kelly, Michelle and Beyoncé and remember the feeling we all shared in that moment.”
Currently, Garrett is working with Keke Palmer and Seven Streeter on their new projects. He’s also working with Avery Wilson, who’s signed to RCA by music mogul Clive Davis in joint partnership with Garrett’s Bet I Penned It label.
Garrett closed out the interview by sharing how a lot of people think “times are always good” when you have maintained the level of success that he has but he advised us, it’s not always all good. “We don’t live a normal life. We work odd hours. Always on a plane going here or flying there. It’s like the media is always on you and you can’t just lead a normal life. So much comes with success. But this is the life we asked for so I definitely would never complain,” he said.
Garrett is on Snapchat as SeanGarrett3 and he has a new single coming soon. After the break, check out the sneak peek of the interview and catch it on “The Network ATL” comcast 24 Fridays at 3:30. Check your tv guide for more details.
