Meet Valeria Corso | Artist

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

Hi Valeria, how do you think about risk?
Taking risks is the key to success. Since I was a little kid, I’ve tried to challenge myself by testing my abilities in sports, art and literature. I remember trying out different sports like: ballet, swimming, volleyball, athletics, boxing, tai chi, yoga, weightlifting, modern dance and Caribbean dance; I’ve tried painting, sculpting, writing poetry and short fictional stories, piano lessons and voice lessons. My entire childhood was dedicated to find out what I really love doing, which now I can finally say is music.

Life has never been easy and in moments where I felt constant comparison and a feeling of having to always look in a certain way, I decided to take a risk. I acknowledge that people will always judge you anyway, so it doesn’t matter if what you do is “right” or “wrong”, they will always have an opinion on what you do, say and look. Once you decide to put yourself out there, that’s when you must start taking risks.

The first risk I took it was in 2011 when I left my family for two months to study English in the UK. I was all by myself, didn’t know anybody and I had to adjust to a new culture and language. But that didn’t stop me from doing it again a year and a half later, in USA and for 6 months this time. Traveling all by myself to live an experience completely new to me, graduating with a High School Diploma and meeting people from all over the world. One of the biggest risk I had to take, though, it was in 2015 when I decided to study music in order to make a living out of it. Therefore, I flew to USA once again to study at Berklee College of Music and after I graduated in 2018, I decided to take another huge risk by moving to New York to work as a musician. Even if I had literally nothing concrete in my hands, I believed it was possible and I made it work. I was living in Manhattan, singing with my band and working as a sound engineer. People told me how brave I was and they would never have the courage to leave their families, their routine and friends to something so uncertain and unstable. I’m currently living in Oslo, after taking another Diploma from a music academy called LIMPI, and I’m betting my life on an everyday basis. I’m investing my time and energies, being far from home to pursue my dream and what I hope will be my everyday life at work, doing music. It’s not easy, but if I look back at what I’ve accomplished, nothing would’ve been the same if I’d never taken a risk before.

As a musician and artist, I have to take many risks and that’s part of the game. Social media is a huge dimension where people love to say their opinion and you, as a content creator, have to respect their different opinion but learn to move forward. No one should ever do something just because it’s more likeable to others, since you will be criticized anyways. What everyone should do is to be themselves, get rid of that fear of failure and try many different paths, test out your creativity, be vulnerable and take as many risks as possible.

My love for music got me to a place where taking risks is an everyday question mark. Should I post that video? Should I release that song? Am I going to hurt someone if I say this in my lyrics? Will people think I’m “this” or “that” if I wear this outfit? Is it too personal to share? Will they like it?
So what is the actual risk? Letting go of your fears, do not follow stereotypes, be as weird as you want and most importantly don’t care about other people’s opinion that much. Trust your gut and hopefully other people will start following your journey and liking you for who you really are, and it’s all thanks to a risk that you took.

Let’s talk shop? Tell us more about your career, what can you share with our community?
It’s really hard for me to see how successful I am, because I always feel like there’s too much to learn and too many goals to achieve. But, this question made me realize how far I’ve come since I started loving art and be a creative freak. I love to create art in any type of form and one thing I always tell myself is to be real and honest with the people I share my art with. For instance, I would never put out in the world a song that I don’t like just because it’ll make me go viral. Everything I do, from singing, to writing, producing and even dancing, is never casual. I always think about how my message can help and impact me firstly and the others secondly. I’m a perfectionist, though, which makes my life not very easy, because I tend to over criticize myself and my work, leading me to not seeing what I’ve accomplished. Therefore, I had to sit down and think about everything I’ve done in the past to answer this question, and what I can tell you is that the little me would be so proud of where I’m standing right now. It all started when I was a toddler, with my parents playing in a band and my sisters singing every Sunday morning. I begun studying ballet and piano at the age of 4 and as I was growing older, I figured how much I loved singing and writing my own songs. I kept studying, but this time modern dance and voice lessons, and once I got older, I knew that I wanted to do this professionally and for the rest of my life. I had to quit dance, sadly, to focus on singing, and my parents were always there, cheering me up. I moved to Boston in 2015, after getting accepted to the second best music school in the world, Berklee College of Music. Two months after, I was already working as a FoH engineer, Light tech, stage mix engineer and stage tech, and I also declared my major as Contemporary Writing and Production. Can you believe that I wrote an orchestral piece, conducted a chamber orchestra, mixed and mastered the final piece? I still can’t wrap my head around the fact that I was actually capable of doing something that I’ve dreamed so badly. It wasn’t easy at all but if you believe you can do it, you most definitely will be able to. It’s just a matter of time depending on what your goal and your current living situation are, but you got to trust the process and your capabilities.
After graduating from Berklee with Summa Cum Laude (such a nerd), I moved to New York to work for Pulse Music as sound engineer, but my role in there was shifting according to the situation. I wrote songs, recorded harmonies myself, coached singers, assist a composer in a huge documentary with Bon Jovi, composed for commercials and radio, helped with music videos, danced in a music video, I put myself in a position of being whatever they asked for. I felt like a chameleon sometimes, but I loved it. In the weekend I used to play with my band in Boston, so I had to take the bus, 5 hours each way, to perform all around Massachusetts, and I would do it again because performing was the best feeling ever.
As we all know, COVID-19 hit really bad and I had to fly back to Italy, leaving everything I worked for and all my friends behind. It was very traumatic and depression wasn’t a joke. Two years went by and one day a friend of mine told me about a school in Norway called LIMPI. I looked at their program and it seemed too good to be true. They promised many mentors like Stargate, Axident, Kiesza, Dagny, Emily Warren, Sarah Hudson, and meetings with Sony Music, Universal and Warner Music. They were selecting only the best 48 people all over the world (16 producers, 16 artists, 16 songwriters) and guess what?! It was real and they chose me! I think I cried for 30 minutes straight when I received the acceptance letter, and believe me when I tell you that this experience changed me completely. I found hope and I started to believe in myself again, that I was talented and worthy, and that there are people, besides my parents, that also believe in me. Not mentioning the scholarship I won at the end of the academic year, consisting in a week at LAAMP (the sister school) in Los Angeles founded by the duo Stargate, with everything covered, like EVERYTHING. Did I say that out of 48 students, only 6 were selected? And I was one of them!!! How crazy?
I wrote many songs over the past year thanks to all the connections I’ve made and the huge opportunities given to me, and some of them will be out on Spotify.
I already have two songs out on Spotify made at LIMPI and the first one, called “Floating Sauna”, my first release ever, got into 9 New Music Friday playlists and 4 editorial playlists! As an independent artist, without any support from the big labels, this achievement made me realize that I could do whatever I set my mind to.
I’m in Oslo right now, writing more music and working on my future releases, hoping that one day my music will embrace some people’s journey and inspire others to be brave and to follow their dreams.

If you had a friend visiting you, what are some of the local spots you’d want to take them around to?
I’ve been super lucky throughout my life, because I got the chance to live in different places for the right amount of time to know a little bit about the surroundings. I’m from a small town called Alcamo in Sicily, and I’ve got to say it’s one of the most beautiful region I’ve ever been. Sicily is unique in everything. Its culture, the architecture, the people, the food, the sea, the mountains, the weather. Everything about Sicily is wonderful, but unfortunately Italy has a big flow: the work system. That’s the main reason why I had to leave my country and moved to America. I lived in Boston and New York City for a total of 5 years and I can’t say the same about the beaches, food and weather, but the work ethic and even the people are lovely! I’ve found a lot of friends that I call “family” now, but I gotta say I still prefer Italians eheheh. New York City is definitely a city where I would take my best friend to eat any type of food, from Korean BBQ, to Thai, Japanese ramen, Vietnamese, Brazilian BBQ, 1$ pizza is a must, Shake Shack, Five Guys… I’m getting hungry. The point is, New York has all the different types of food that you could possibly imagine and I love that! After tasting so much food, I would go for a walk in Central Park, to feel some nature after being in the chaos of the city. I would also take her to Harlem to see the real gospel choir, and not only she’s going to get free unstoppable goosebumps but she’s also going to cry, a lot. Also, talking about music, I will definitely take her to Broadway to see the Lion King, very “basic” but you have to watch it once in your life. Night life in New York is the best ever, you can literally walk at 4 am and still feels like it’s 5 pm. The streets are still crowded and night clubs are rolling every night. There’s always something going on at any hour of the day and so many great places like “The Box” that are very unique. Let’s say it’s Christmas time… Definitely I will take my bestie to Rockefeller center for some ice skating and just to drink a hot chocolate in front of the majestic Christmas tree. I’m getting very nostalgic now. I fall in love very easily and there’s something about every single place I’ve been that is so special. If I could I would take my best friend on a world tour with me to show her every beauty hidden in every city and also to discover new places and cultures. One of my biggest dream would be to live in Japan, and one day I’ll check that box out of my wish list.

Who else deserves some credit and recognition?
Shoutout to all the people that really changed my life and the way I see things now. Starting with the people I grew up with, my family and friends. Thanks to my parents I was able to have a high level education and most importantly their love and everyday support. I couldn’t have done anything that I’ve accomplished today if it wasn’t for them. Shoutout to all the friends I’ve met all over the globe that taught me a life lesson or simply how to wrap a cable. All the teachers that shared their secrets and knowledge with me. All the people that have helped me over the years to go through my ups and downs and that have made my stay in all these different countries such a wonderful experience. Shoutout to those who tried to hurt me, make me feel unworthy, and hoped to see me fail, because thanks to them I’m stronger now and I have one more reason to pursue my dream.

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

Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/valeria-corso-b00ba7178/?originalSubdomain=no

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

Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TT1vO8aFaAk

Other: https://www.tiktok.com/@valeriasings

Image Credits
Federico Faraci, Fredrik Haslev Martinsen, Benedetto D’angelo