Especially for www.MeetingVenus.com
by Sherif Awad
I am from Queens NY and grew up with two brothers. Our mother and father later divorced. My mother took acting classes and started modeling. Here and there, she would put me in classes as well and I loved it. She continued off and on but eventually stopped. I continued on in minor ways like school plays through high school and local theater. When I was thirteen I started writing lyrics and soon I discovered my musical aspirations. It wasn’t until a bit later that I decided officially to go after becoming an entertainer.
A lot of my early role models came from the past. My aunt had a massive CD collection and I listened to a lot of 80’s and 90’s stuff. Prince, Blondie, Cyndi Lauper, Tina Turner, Madonna, Garbage, Smashing Pumpkins, Ace of Base….etc. I also was big into Nelly Furtado, Pink, Mariah Carey, the Killers and Missy Elliot. As for Actresses, I loved Angela Bassett, Halle Berry, Angelina Jolie and Meryl Streep. I think it is important to know your art but also your business. First obviously you should be studying your craft and master it as much as possible (1,000 hours as the story goes). On the flip side of that, is to find out how the business works. What do you need to do to go from A to Z? It is definitely a marathon and not a sprint. Becoming an artist itself is a journey into who you really are at your core and I think art expresses what we are going through as we grow and change… I think growth is a marker for me. I am growing as an artist and that is important. Worldwide Stardom would be amazing but my goal right now is to be a more functional performer meaning that I would be at a point where I didn’t need side jobs anymore and could be a full time entertainer.But at the moment I am trying to enjoy the journey and learn.
Being a female performer can be tough when working with men that want to get in your pants. The “Me Too” era is relatively recent and it’s great. I have never been assaulted or anything but I have been proposition before and its really uncomfortable and annoying. I want to perform not do “favors”. I once wanted to work with a producer who through discourse call me a “snack”. No sir! I am not a “snack” I am a female artist and this is a professional environment. Right Now we are in the era of instagram and youtube stars so the flood gate is open which is a good and bad thing. It’s great in that if you have a story to tell you can break through. The problem is so many people are doing it that it gets hard to stand out amongst the fray. What is good is that everyone is more available. You can follow and friend your favorite director, producer etc and build relationships possibly. Sadly though I think we are stuck in a rut of terrible remakes and hopefully more original content breaks through.
Regarding searching the characters, I first just google everything I can about the person or type of person it is. Watch videos and read up on things. Try to get a feel of their point of view. Then I add a dose of my own personality for full effect. What would Demi be like as a sociopath?
Right now my new EP Holograms comes out Aug 16th and on the 22nd I have a release concert at Pianos in NYC. I am also shooting some independent movies and web series. I love playing a variety of characters. It makes me dig deep into those parts of myself.
