Meet Sydni Cook | Musical Artist

We had the good fortune of connecting with Sydni Cook and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Sydni, what inspires you?
I’m inspired by things and people that make me feel a hit in my gut, that touch my heart, warm me up or cool me down; If I feel a physical sensation from a piece of art, a conversation, or a person it will stay with me and might come through in my art. Some artists that truly inspire and shock me are Amy Winehouse, Tyler, The Creator, Ella Fitzgerald, Thundercat, Aretha Franklin, Lauryn Hill to name a few.

Can you open up a bit about your work and career? We’re big fans and we’d love for our community to learn more about your work.
I’ve wanted to be a professional touring famous musician since I was a kid, I mean seriously look at all my yearbooks from pre-k to whenever they stop asking you “what do you want to be when you grow up?” my answer was always ‘rockstar’ or ‘pop star’. So my music is a part of me and it’s something I’ve worked on and enjoyed my whole life. Music is my favorite drug. haha seriously tho! When I just can’t get my mind right, writing a song or singing a cover heals me in a way I could never explain. My musical inspirations are absolutely incredible and range far and wide from Funkadelic to Bessie Smith to The Beatles to Billie Boyo – it goes on forever. I try to channel different artists in my work, I think the more music you listen to the more inspiration you have the better the music you write will sound.
Getting here was not easy. I work really hard at what I do, especially the past two years. I work at this every day, Being an indie artist is a beautiful challenge, you have to keep so many things in order. Like your marketing, growing your skill on the guitar writing or singing, networking with strangers, playing gigs, creating content for Instagram, and trying to grow your following. There are so many aspects to tackle, and there’s really no ‘how to’, you have to figure these things out by trial and error. But music is a very inspiring field to be in, there are things I’ve thought I’d never be able to do then you practice and work at it enough all the sudden your capable and you’ve hit a milestone – once you hit a couple of those milestones nothing is scary or undoable because you’ve already accomplished what you never thought you could.
I’ve learned a lot of lessons, a big one is if a label or somebody is trying to rush you to make a decision or sign something DO NOT DO IT. If it’s a legit situation they will wait for you. Another thing I’ve learned is you have got to believe in yourself because if you don’t literally no one will, you have to sell your art, your brand, and yourself and how can you do that if you don’t believe in it?
Take your time and don’t compare your career progress to another artists, this business is a slow hustle with a lot of moving pieces, just continually practice and work you will get there.

Let’s say your best friend was visiting the area and you wanted to show them the best time ever. Where would you take them? Give us a little itinerary – say it was a week long trip, where would you eat, drink, visit, hang out, etc.
Ooh how fun of a question. I would start off by taking my friend to Pheonix & Dragon- it’s a crystal spiritual store and the biggest best one you’ve ever seen. After that, I’d take them to Muchacho for brunch and drinks, then we’d walk or bike on the beltline; that night we’d go out to Tongue and Groove then maybe Smokehouse.
On another day I’d take them to little five points, we’d walk around and shop, get some lunch at Thai 5. Then we’d go walk some nearby railroad tracks and talk.
On another day I’d take them to piedmont park and walk my doggies.

The Shoutout series is all about recognizing that our success and where we are in life is at least somewhat thanks to the efforts, support, mentorship, love and encouragement of others. So is there someone that you want to dedicate your shoutout to?
There are so many people who have contributed to where I am now, first of all, my parents. They have always supported my dreams and truly believe in me, they will do anything to help me get to where I want to get and I’m forever grateful. Shoutout Icon Studios for accepting me as an intern at 17, they created a job for me because they had more than enough interns, and they accepted me even though I wasn’t 18 yet. I learned so much at Icon studios and actually stayed in Atlanta for college instead of going to NYU because of these connections and I’m so glad I stayed.
Then I gotta shoutout BNDWTH Studios for recording my EP and teaching me a lot!

Website: sydnicookmusic.com

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/sydnicookmusic/

Twitter: https://twitter.com/sydnicookmusic

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/sydneycookmusic

Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCxZNETxaE9n6xF6MmsSHCvw

Image Credits
I took both of these myself