On The Rise: Sirah

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Sirah is a talented female hip-hop, moombahton and rap artist on the rise.

Born in Long Island and now living in Los Angeles, Sirah has had the opportunity to collaborate a number of times with Skrillex, Alvin Risk, Icona Pop, K.Flay and other artists in the industry.

She has also won a Grammy Award for Best Dance Recording. I had the opportunity to see her perform in September while opening up for Icona Pop on their fall tour.

Sirah is now currently touring with Twenty One Pilots on their headlining tour, and will be making her way up and down the East Coast over the next month. I can't wait to catch another performance by Sirah next Sunday, December 1st, at Stage AE in my hometown of Pittsburgh.

Empty Lighthouse had the opportunity to chat with Sirah about her musical background and how touring the past few months has been going. Read further and get to know Sirah, the extraordinary talented rapper on the rise.

EMPTY LIGHTHOUSE: How did you get your start in music?
SIRAH: By way of an open-mic in LA called Project Blowed.

I would go every week and watch other rappers like Nocando, Dumbfoundead, Aceyalone and others. By watching them, I learned the basics and eventually started doing shows.

EMPTY LIGHTHOUSE: Who do you consider your musical influences?
SIRAH: There's honestly so many musicians that have shaped me. If I had to narrow it down, I'd go with Joni Mitchell, Sam Cooke, Cat Stevens and The Beach Boys.

EMPTY LIGHTHOUSE: In spare time, who are some bands and artists you listen to?
SIRAH: Lately, I've been listening to Action Bronson, Chance the Rapper, Ellie Goulding - a lot of people since we've ben driving a ton.

EMPTY LIGHTHOUSE: How was touring with Icona Pop and K.Flay (you were great, by the way!), and what are you most looking forward to about touring with Twenty One Pilots?
SIRAH: Why thank you! The Iconic Tour with Icona Pop and K.Flay was mad fun. It was incredible being on tour with other girls, because that is so rare. The girls in Icona Pop are the sweetest people.

K.Flay and I shared a tour bus, we started a book club, Kristine trained for a Nike marathon and we threw dance parties. With Twenty One Pilots, it's been more so honing in on my live show and writing a ton of music on the road.

I'm very inspired right now musically. Tyler and Josh are awesome and it's amazing to see artists build something so organically on their own.

EMPTY LIGTHHOUSE: You teamed up with Skrillex on Bangarang", - do you plan to collaborate with him again in the future?
SIRAH: Absolutely! Sonny's been my boy forever and we always end up making music.

EMPTY LIGHTHOUSE: That being said, if you could collaborate with anyone in the industry, who would it be and why?
SIRAH: I never really think like that, I just like making music, so if people want to and I like what they're doing, I'm excited.

Making music with my friends is my favorite.

EMPTY LIGHTHOUSE: What has been your most memorable experience while touring?
SIRAH: Ahh, I think every tour has a specific memorable story. Overall, I will always remember sleeping on fan's floors across America doing underground rap shows.

EMPTY LIGHTHOUSE: If you were stranded on an island, what three things would you bring with you?
SIRAH: Unfortunately, if I'm being honest, I would bring my phone (we went to Canada last week and I felt like I was stranded on an island).

Secondly, I would bring pen and paper, which I'm hoping counts as one thing. And lastly, I'd bring my iPod with headphones - I could survive off music.

EMPTY LIGHTHOUSE: What are your upcoming plans in regards to touring, recording and releases?
SIRAH: After this tour and the west coast Icona Pop dates in December, I'm back in the studio in LA wrapping up my full-length album, which I'm excited about.

It'll be my first release of a full-length album.

EMPTY LIGHTHOUSE: Anything else you would like to add?
SIRAH: Ah! I'm not sure what else to add, but I am currently knitting in a green room in Ventura, living the dream.

For up-to-date information on tour date announcements and releases from Sirah, visit http://www.sirahmusic.com.

Be sure to catch Sirah on tour with Twenty One Pilots at one of their important East Coast show dates including Washington DC, Philadelphia, Cleveland, Chicago and Pittsburgh.