Today we are shining a spotlight on Semiiina, a talented live singer and musician taking the virtual music scene by storm with her soulful performances that blend a range of styles and influences.

How long have you been in Second Life and how did you first hear about it?
I've been in Second Life for 10 years! I first heard about it from my friends. I had just gotten back to Sweden after playing music in the states for a while. My friends thought SL would be a great way to keep in touch and still hang out over the pond. 

They eventually got tired of SL but the vampire world sucked me in together with the art, creativity, and the different communities. There was something about always being one teleport away from the next adventure and getting to know people from all over the world that kept it interesting for me. However, I've been a human for years now! haha!

How did music become such an important part of your life?
Music never "became" an important part of my life, it was just life. My mornings as a kid always started with walking straight to our black piano in the living room. I would sing a note with my tiny morning voice and then press down the key I thought it sounded like on the piano. I didn't always get it right back then but I do now.

Saturday trips were to the record store. Dad and I spent hours listening to music in crappy headphones that were attached to the wall. You skipped tracks until you found something that spoke to you and if it was a good Saturday, you even got to buy a single to bring home.

My bedtime stories were reading sheet music by Debussy, Chopin, or Liszt and the fairy tale stories I was told were the life of David Bowie and The runaways mixed with the artwork of Andy Warhol.

When I was playing with my girlfriends we all wanted to be princesses. My princess was always called Edie Sedgwick. Pretty alarming looking back at it now!

Do you write your own songs and/or compose your own music? Do you play any instruments?
I do! Quite a lot! I haven't done any shows in SL yet with only original music but I'm planning on it. I play the piano, guitar, bass, and harmonica; and I also DJ.

How would you describe your music, and who are some of the musicians who have influenced your style?
How I would describe my music is always the hardest question for me. The way I deal with everything that comes with being a live musician (SL and RL) and me being an introverted extrovert is to stick to my part.

My part is to perform and do every creative thing that pops up in my mind and not question it or what it sounds like, am I good enough? What do people think of me? Is this a good song choice? I just follow the creativity and the flow.

If I step out of my part, I would probably go insane. However, I guess I could describe the music as "Chamelionic." In both worlds, I like to jump between genres and not stick to the same thing.
It goes from Indy to Jazz to showgirl to pop to electronic to acoustic to a beautiful classic piano to singer-songwriter. Most shows I do in SL are acoustic with piano/guitar and vocals.

Musicians that have influenced my style are definitely Björk, Marina, Bon Iver, Fever Ray, Soko, Lykke li, Lana del Rey, Birdy, and the list goes on and on and on.

When did you start performing in Second Life, and what venues or shows can people visit to hear you sing?
This is my third year as a live performer in SL! I play all over the grid so it's hard to mention only a few. It's been a tradition for me to play at the Second Life Birthday Event, Fantasy Faire, and Rezz Room & Versovs’ ugly Christmas sweater party.  

Posters come out every week on my Facebook, in my in-world group, and on discord so the best way to catch me is to join any of my social media groups.

Tell us about some of the other Residents in SL that inspire you and whose work you admire.
Bryn Oh is my number one inspiration. She is an amazing artist in both worlds. I've been amazed by her work since my first week in SL. Bryn was also the first one to ever give me a stage to perform when others turned me down because I had no experience in performing in SL. She didn't have to do that for me at all being a stranger at the time. Her heart is kind and she has a way of telling a story through her art that I've never seen before.

Another inspiration is Tye Dinzel-Easton and Gabriel Easton. They literally saved us all from boredom during the pandemic. Together with their High Life destination team, they put together the most amazing resorts in SL with the best RP activities you could ever imagine. I had the privilege to perform at their Vegas sim together with the Dollhouse dancers. They put up a whole vegas show! Just by being in their creative and passionate presence inspires me so much.

Every creator inspires me, every artist inspires me, photographers, models, DJs, designers, bloggers, event creators, and kind people in general. There is so much creativity to be found in Second Life and so many opportunities to go all in on what you're passionate about. Whether that be hunting for blood, running a venue, performing live music, or just simply having a conversation with a stranger on a wooden mesh raft in the middle of the Blake sea.  

Where can people follow you to know more about your music and shows? Please share links to your sites and social media accounts.

• Facebook  
• Discord  
• In world group: secondlife:///app/group/7ebe3807-5ae8-25bc-2d9c-2fd58e34d24a/about 
• Soundcloud  
• Spotify  

Thank you Semiina, for adding your voice to the live music scene in Second Life! 

Each of our Spotlight posts features a different Resident to showcase the spectrum of experiences and personalities found in our virtual world. If you have created something inworld that you’re proud of, or have had a deeply meaningful experience that could brighten someone else’s day, please sign up! More info here: https://second.life/spotlight-signup