Sarah, the Illstrumentalist brings her signature style to sampled tunes

Sarah, the Illstrumentalist / Epidemic Sound / Adobe Stock.

Sarah, the Illstrumentalist, is a lot of things: a music producer, instrumentalist, radio producer, composer, rug maker, and a dog mom. But she’s definitely not predictable or conventional.

“I describe my music as everything from lo-fi, hip hop, and upbeat dance to spaceship sounds,” she says. “My style is laid back, colorful, and soulful. It all depends on my mood, and how I feel. Every day is different.”

Born and raised in Raleigh, North Carolina, Sarah began her life surrounded by music.

“I learned a lot from my uncle,” explained Sarah. “They were doing a lot of church choir gigs, so I kind of just sat on the sidelines, and learned a lot about playing the keys. And then I picked up the bass guitar.”

From performance to production

As she grew up, Sarah’s aspirations blossomed when she discovered Motown Records. Sarah realized that she wanted to not only make music for her own enjoyment but record and produce professionally.

“I was really excited by the music that Motown created,” she says. “I love [Motown Records founder] Berry Gordy, and he inspired me to want to learn more about the music industry — and open a record label.”

After some time in college, Sarah embraced the world of streaming services, seeing a powerful way to create music and share it with listeners, and the music community.

“I discovered this whole world where people were making their own remixes and their own beats,” she says. “Once I found out how to kind of make my own music, I decided to finally start calling myself a music producer.”

A community of content creators

One of the deepest joys of music is its collaborative nature. Sarah moved to Los Angeles, and soon found a rich community where she could thrive and find her own voice.

“I love being in L.A.,” she tells Adobe Stock. “I see so many artists and other creative people that are just like me, and it helps to be surrounded and inspired by them.”

We can see exactly what she means in her recent video, Main Character Energy. Casual and spontaneous, the video came together when Sarah invited some friends over to dance and simply be themselves.

“’Main Character Energy’ is being like the main character in your own story,” she says. “The essence of the music video was going back to original hip hop in the park, where people used to just show up, have a boombox, and just dance and crowd around, hype people up, and have a good time. I just want people to have fun, dance, and be present. When you're listening to music and you're dancing, you're not thinking about the past or the future. You're right there.”

Expanding the reach with Adobe Stock

Sampling has come to play a key role in Sarah’s musical toolbox, and she enjoys reworking jazz, funk, and hip hop tunes to express her own “crunchy, dusty” sound.

“I’ll find parts of a song that resonate with me, take a little piece of it, chop it up, and turn it into a whole different song,” she explains. “I might add some drums to the bass line, change the sample up a little bit, or add some effects.”

Sarah shares much of her work on Adobe Stock through music partner Epidemic Sound, and she has been excited to discover other artists sampling and working with her music.

“One of the coolest things that I get to do is collaborate with different artists without knowing that I'm collaborating with other artists,” says Sarah. “I use Adobe Stock all the time, and it’s just a great experience to just be a part of other people's projects. I've seen certain things that have made me cry. I’ll be watching it like a regular consumer, my music shows up, and I’ll say ‘wow, I’m a part of this story!’”

“I get so many types of content creators,” she adds. “People that are skateboarders, people that sell boats, people that are into animals. They all use my music, and to see that I’m a part of their creation is super huge.”

Today, Sarah is extending her vision beyond music, across a wide range of creative outlets, through her own No Quantize brand.

“I decided to make my own merch and clothing brand, creating T-shirts and graphics,” she says. “Now we’ve expanded to making sound packs, making courses for producers, and even making rugs.”

As her success grows, Sarah stays centered by saying affirmations to herself and focusing on mental health, to assure she’ll feel good and stay on point as an artist.

“It's super easy for us to be stuck in the past or have anxiety about the future,” she says. “So it’s important to meditate, be present, and know that everything is okay, because there are so many beautiful things that are happening right now. I feel it’s important to just be grateful. It’s called the present because it’s a gift.”

Explore audio tracks by Sarah, the Illstrumentalist (Epidemic Sound) on Adobe Stock.