Page 13 - ION Indie Magazine JanFeb 2020 Issue

MH: What is your biggest inspiration as a songwriter and artist?

MGS: I've written songs on numerous topics. The things that truly inspired me to write the most are
feelings from the heart: love, sadness, love lost, the memories we hold so dear and how we face
great challenges of moving forward and letting go of yesterday.

MH: What do you think about downloading music online?

MGS: MGS: Being a part of the older generation (I can't even believe I actually said that), it's very
strange to see how the musical landscape has changed so much -- not to mention the manner in
which it is distributed. 25 years ago, if an artist were to release a song, you would have to buy it in
order to hear it unless you were lucky enough to catch it on the radio. Today, everything is readily
available with the push of a button. I don't know if any one way is better or worse, but that's reality.

You’d better embrace it or you are going to suffer some harsh opposition from the rest of the world.

There are many advantages to having down-loadable music as a weapon in your arsenal. You can
send it to anyone, anywhere for free! That's pretty cool! It offers you the opportunity to get your song
heard and have it stand on its own merits. You can launch your own video campaign and electronic
press kit to gather constituency...for FREE! It's hard to knock that. You just have to be in tune with
how to do it artfully and effectively in comparison to doing things like we did in the old days. Today,

your music is more a source of promotion – not the commodity. Certainly not like it was 20 years
ago.

MH: Tell us about your new song ‘With You…’ and the meaning behind it.

MGS: Sometimes there are songs that hold special meaning and different meanings to different
people. This song is pretty straightforward; no hidden meaning. I wrote it for someone who came
out of nowhere that totally captured my heart. I could not even believe that after so many years of
unhappiness in a bad marriage and crappy relationships that someone like this even existed. That
this person was able to bring out feelings in me that I never thought I would experience; to instill so

much hope, only to have it ripped away…a profound sadness so deep, that years later, tears still
fall. But yet still, there is hope.

It is that kind of feeling that
inspired me to reach down
deep and write. I wrote this
song for one person to hear
and understand how I felt
about them…amazing to see
how love can be so beautiful,
have such a positive effect on
people that ultimately, can
make the world a better
place. But at the same time,
can produce so much evil,
jealousy, negativity, and
bring out the very worst in
others.