Taydem Shoesmith is a new artist who fell in love with music from a young age. Her father would sing to her every night and from that sparked an interest in Taydem. She found comfort in writing music during her freshman year of high school. At first she was afraid to show others her music, not wanting to be judged about her thoughts and feelings. But as time went on, she realized that others felt the way she did and knew she should keep sharing her creations. Her music ranges from singer-song writer to pop to alternative.
By Kamil Bobin
Discovered via Musosoup
Hey Taydem Shoesmith, super nice to have the chance to chat with you. What is your dream project?
My dream project? Oh that’s kind of a difficult one because there are so many things I would like to do. If I have to choose one, I think being in a production like “The Greatest Showman,” would be a dream. I just love so many things about the film. The music is so amazing! It makes you feel inspired, heard, understood, and makes you feel like you can do anything you put your mind to. The storyline has a great message. The dances are so cool and fun. Being a part of a film like that would make you feel like you’ve done something special. So something along the lines of that would be a dream for me to do.
Do you have any hobbies or interests outside of music?
Outside of music I love acting. While I’ve been singing forever, acting was actually my first career choice. Now I’m pursuing both because there are times where both go hand in hand, and I don’t have the heart to just let one of them go! Plus, I like all the lessons acting can teach me. I feel like I’ve grown quite a bit since I started acting. Putting yourself in someone else’s shoes and looking at the world through someone else’s eyes can really teach you a lot. Dancing is also another interest of mine. My mom put me in dance lessons when I was around eight years old. I learned jazz, hip-hop, tap, lyrical, and gymnastics, and I have to say hip-hop is still my favorite!
I also like to read and to learn languages. I’ve always been interested in different languages and cultures because I love how all over the world everyone has different norms, different customs, different food, etc. A little before I graduated highschool I started learning Korean and absolutely love it. I’m probably not as good at it as I should be for how long I’ve been learning haha, but it’s still really fun for me!
Your latest song is 'Are You Clapping?'. Can you tell us more about the making of it and if there were any unusual things happening during the process?
“Are You Clapping” was written a bit out of anger of repeatedly hearing the same things. Things that can make you feel like you are never enough, and are lacking in so many ways. And when it came to dating and relationships I realized how much I thought these ridiculous things to be true, and I really hated that I felt that way. So one day I angrily wrote down those feelings and thoughts in my journal, and eventually that entry turned into lyrics for this song. We ended up having to take a lot of lyrics out because when I first wrote the song it was more of a ballad, and we knew we wanted the song to have a more upbeat dance vibe. So it was hard to give up so many lyrics, but it turned out for the best I think. I’m not sure anything really unusual happened during the recordings, other than me struggling to death with harmonies. Man I don’t know what happened to me, but it was comically bad!
When you are working through problems in your work, who do you talk to?
I talk to my mom about a lot of my struggles. My mom is basically like my best friend, and we don’t live far from each other so it’s easy to just go get a coffee with her and talk. She has this calming effect about her that whenever you have a problem she makes you feel like you’ll find a way through it. When I’m struggling with writing or worried about an acting gig, just talking with her helps me breathe and think about things clearly.
What are you doing to ensure you continue to grow and develop as an artist?
Moving backwards or not improving is always a fear of mine, and I don’t know if I have one specific way of making sure that doesn’t happen. I try to make sure I don’t get comfortable with things for too long. I think if you are too comfortable with how things are in life, you might not be learning anything. Learning new things, improving, growing take effort, and typically you have to step out of your comfort zone to do so. I try to get myself to do random things. There are not always big steps, it's just a way for me to break out of my boring normal cycle and try to switch things up. Like ordering something new at a coffee shop you’ve gone to a thousand times. Going on a random drive by myself listening to new music. Changing things up gets my mind working and helps me see things from a different perspective. Knowing that life constantly changes is important and helps me from thinking I’ve learned all I need too.
Describe your favorite and least favorite part about being a musician.
Since I’m just starting out I haven’t experienced much of either side yet. But my favorite part so far was being able to work on my song in a professional studio. Just being in that space made me want to work harder and keep improving to become a real artist. Plus seeing how proud my parents were of the end product of the song made me really happy!
My least favorite part is probably me trying to promote myself. I’m so bad with social media. It gives me a lot of anxiety. I haven’t really followed social media trends or things like that so I kind of feel behind in that aspect which worries me. Hopefully that will get easier with time. So for any one who sees my social media accounts, I apologize for being so terrible with posting!
Can you write what was your best performance in your career? How do you remember it?
Considering I’m still pretty new to all of this I haven’t actually performed my song yet, but I’m looking forward to the day I do! While I haven’t performed my songs yet I have performed in some musicals and it’s such an incredible feeling. My favorite performance was probably when I played Donna in Mamma Mia. Being Donna was a dream role for me. I was super nervous about having to perform “Winner Takes It All,” but after the reactions and feedback from the crowd, I felt like I’d done a good job which made me proud of myself.
What makes you angry?
People judging or being judged for being different really makes me angry. I think if you’re not hurting anyone, live how you want. People are so quick to judge or shut people down for thinking differently or liking things different from them. You don’t have to understand the way they live, but just let people be, you know? I love people watching and seeing or finding out those different aspects of people. It makes them who they are, and they should never feel ashamed for just being themselves.
What is an artistic outlook on life?
For me I think having an artistic outlook on life means you find beauty and inspiration in almost everything around you. Sometimes I get so used to the things around me that I forget to truly look at things. It’s like our world is full of moving poems, and inspiring artwork, but you only really see it if you truly pay attention.
What accomplishments do you see yourself achieving in the next five to 10 years?
I never really know how to answer this question if I’m being honest. Thinking that far into the future gives me anxiety, and I’d prefer to keep my goals a bit vague. Sometimes I think I know what I want, but those things might not be meant for me. I hope five to 10 years from now I’m still writing music, acting, and dancing, and have improved in all those fields. I hope I’m fluent in Korean by then haha! I hope I’ve tried many new things and learned from various new experiences. Living happy and healthy with great friends and family. It’s kind of a boring answer but it is how I feel.