One of the newer faces featured at the VIBC this year was San Diego-based Sabrina Sapal. With the release of her debut song ‘Sire de Shaukeen’ earlier this year, Sapal is gaining a following in the North American Punjabi music scene.
Sapal was born in Toronto, Canada, she moved to the US with her family at the age of three. She recalls her childhood memories when her parents would play Bollywood music in the car and she would sing along. They knew well that their daughter was going to take on music at some point in her life.
“My dad was always involved with an organization that promoted Punjabi culture so when I was about six years old I told my parents that I want to try and sing on stage,” says Sapal.
From then on, her journey toward becoming a musician began. She was classically trained to play the tuba and the clarinet. She liked anything to do with music and tried her hands at it, be it dancing, singing or playing an instrument. Nonetheless, singing was her main passion.
At the age of six, Sapal had already started playing with live bands and orchestras. Since her dad was involved in organizing Punjabi concerts, she has had the opportunity to play with Jazzy B, Mickey Singh, and Sherry Mann at a very young age.
Inspired by Punjabi culture and music, she wanted to learn how to play the dhol. To her surprise, back in the day, people did not think that girls should play the dhol so her parents could not find her a teacher. “But I thought I am going to learn whether someone’s going to teach me or not and so I ended up learning,” she says.
A defining moment for her was when she was in Chicago as a child and saw Jazzy B performing live. “I was in the front row and I was so star struck. My brain was not old enough to process how to get there but I knew that one day I am going to be up there singing,” she recalls.
Sapal has a Bachelor’s degree in Political Science with a minor in Business. But over the years she realized that Political Science did not have much in common with music but business did. So, she decided to pursue graduate school in Business and graduated a month ago. She is now on her path to be an artist full time.
She has been performing all over North America as well as India. “I have a lot of upcoming songs, and a lot of the projects I do are with artists from India. A lot of the producers and lyricists are from there. There is definitely a lot of cultural difference, even within Punjabis. I just feel there is more professionalism here but overall it has been a great experience.”
Besides her live performances, Sapal was also one of the speakers on the panel for a discussion on women empowerment at the Vancouver International Bhangra Celebration Society (VIBC). The discussion focused on trying to get the audience to understand what women have to deal with within the music industry.
“We shouldn’t have to constantly prove that females do have a brain. It’s a constant struggle. Sometimes I don’t exactly get that certain respect that I do have sound knowledge in music, even though I have studied and have been trained in it,” she says.
Sapal credits T-Series for providing her and others like herself a platform to launch their music.
