Cindy Sterling Names Her Dream Collab And Teases Her Upcoming Album ‘Roxbury Romance’

The music artist you were looking for!

From ‘Kids Back Then’ to ‘Red Lights’ Cindy Sterling has an amazing discography. She is about to release her debut album titled ‘Roxbury Romance’.

We had the amazing honor of speaking with Cindy about the emojis that describe her debut album, Roxbury Dr., and more!

Can you share more about the inspiration behind the title “Roxbury Romance” and how the album reflects your personal journey?

C: “Well, I would just drive home everyday amongst many of these mansions thinking about how grateful I was for life, because so many people all across the world dream of living here & here I am. I felt very blessed. Yet I felt very alone. One street I would be stopped in traffic all the time was Roxbury & days when I felt lost about my life then, I would often walk my dog on the street Roxbury Dr.

I’d catch myself contemplating life especially deeply; things about myself, my past life experiences, I’d ask myself how I ended up here… I chose that home personally with the person I was dating after living in Miracle Mile, by The Grove, and then it brought me back to past love & one in particular that bloomed around that same respective area, growing up, and then it brought me back to my very serious committed relationship in that present day.

My mind unraveled on life at that more adolescent time, how it shaped who I am in my 20s, why I like certain things I like now due to that experience in life early on… then it also began unraveling questions for me about what I liked now. Am I doing all that I want to be? Am I doing what I should be doing? I always felt a deep calling to make music. But here I was getting distracted with endless partying, vacations, losing myself in someone because I was in love. I was lost. The things I had were all the things a person wanted but my priority was staying true to myself and my commitment to making music with my life. It’s been an uphill challenge. Finding my voice. But it’s all I ever wanted. 

I asked, “Do I want to keep being the same or tap into who I’m meant to be? …I have to make a change”. So many overwhelming feelings day after day started wounding up inside me that eventually came out via music as I started locking myself away in a music room we built at the Benedict Canyon home, draped in these hand-made, red velvet curtains and it just had the right vibe built over time, that although I went into a deeper, darker, hidden place, that began this journey, I felt a huge sense of relief that I was able to finally begin writing something that felt so personal and purposeful to me. I wanted to keep going.”

Can you take us through your songwriting process, especially for the title track? How did the setting of your Beverly Hills and West Hollywood homes contribute to the creative atmosphere?

C: “Through this inner affliction I felt the need to explore myself further & on these Roxbury walks in my neighborhood, I felt that I was ideally where I would want to end up after so much triumph and suffering in my life, but perhaps it was too early for me. Maybe I wanted the wrong things or things I didn’t really need. Even though I worked hard & deserved them. My priorities were not matching up with my truest character, the person inside me who only ever wanted one thing: to love life unabashedly making music. I was starting to feel separate from myself. 

I would catch myself singing about it on these walks. There was music, just coming outside of me. Finally, it felt like I had lived to a point I felt courageous enough to maybe possibly even release my singing and writing. I needed to bite the bullet & get over my fears; because this is who I am. Why can’t I just embrace it? I have a story. So many stories. Some are quite horrific, some are quite beautiful.

Anyway, North of Sunset in Beverly Hills can be eloquent but also quite distant from the hustle & bustle in LA. I wanted to move closer to the center of the city as opposed to the suburban hills, that left me feeling secluded and far removed from life, leaving me with a longing feeling for more. Originally, I almost moved to Barcelona, Spain and put a deposit down for a place. One day after swimming, I decided I would miss my friends here too much & then met my engineer. So I relocated to West Hollywood, off Santa Monica Blvd to be in the middle of the city and there I continued writing music. Those different chapters of change are reflected in the transcendence of each song. Each song on the album comes usually after one dire experience/chapter I had, that taught me a lot whether good or bad. 

It’s been pretty crazy to see my Bluebird Mic follow me from different homes where I recorded them originally. My life kept changing since then, but my home recording mic followed – something that didn’t change.”

You mention admitting to your part in loving some of the toxicity in relationships. How did you navigate incorporating these complex emotions into your music?

C: “Well, I actually don’t love toxic relationships. I have been known to quickly leave new relationships when they become the slightest bit toxic. I am a very bubbly, silly person who just wants to laugh and joke around and toxicity is something I try to avoid. Time is precious. I don’t want that for myself or for others at all. But we all make our mistakes sometimes.

The song “Dominoes”, the last song on the album – touches light on the fact that for each action, there’s a consequence. Once made they affect each other like Domino pieces falling over. This can happen when your love becomes an addiction and you can’t see the difference being made with each action, but ultimately everything has a reaction causing lives to change slowly over time. I admit to the part that I played in the toxicity of the relationship towards the end and leaning into being ok with it. Consumed with loss and regret for ending the relationship to chase my dreams, after some time, I then wanted to do anything I could to get the relationship back.

I felt I almost leaned into the toxicity accidentally, wanting to control the situation for the outcome I deeply desired as much I could, hoping I could reconcile and get that person back, no matter what & that was a bit toxic – on both our parts, because we couldn’t let each other go when it was time to move on.  However, that relationship did not start out toxic. It was actually a very whimsical, fun, easy going, lively, happy and caring relationship – but once it shifted to a dark place it seemed to get darker & darker and I guess when I mention I became okay with the toxicity, it’s because there were so many more moments where it was really good that I was willing to sacrifice dealing with the chaos it then became, because I wanted to make it work and I myself started becoming a bit toxic myself because when you’re blinded by love like that – I think you change a bit – from what your normal self would do.

Anyone who’s ever been deeply enthralled by love I think knows and has seen that side of themselves that changes and accidentally sacrifices parts of themselves that goes against their merit, because they’re consumed by love and willing to do anything to make it work.”

This being your first album, how do you feel you’ve evolved as an artist throughout the creative process?

C: “The start of the album goes from me being lost trying to find myself through music and reflecting on past experiences, to then learning more about how my mind actually thinks, works and feels. I’ve learned so much about myself by writing music. Things I ignored or tried to sweep under the rug definitely came out in my music.

I’ve experienced a huge evolution in myself  & feel very proud of who and how I’ve become since learning more about life through the creative process of making music. Definitely have also gotten better at writing and embracing myself as I am & am extremely excited to see who I continue to grow to be. With each chapter and experience I’ve had in life I’ve become more wired into expressing it via music, that I know while I’m just starting I have to not care what others may think, keep going & I’ll only continue to get better and grow as an artist.”

Can you share more about your next single, “Shut My Eyes,” and how it represents a shift in energy and sound for you?

C: “Shut My Eyes” shows this shift in energy in me as a whole, from recognizing a pain within me and working through heartache, to then returning back to myself, loving myself, claiming my power & recognizing I don’t want to focus on love right now, just loving myself, focusing on my career and shifting towards a focal point of more so following my dreams. My music after this album follows more so in the sequence of Singles & the energy definitely shifts and you’ll be able to see that when it starts to come out.”

Do you have a guilty pleasure song or artist that might surprise your fans?

C: “Haha I might listen to every genre so I’m not sure who would come as a surprise. Maybe people can find out over time as the evolution of my music changes and after seeing different collabs I do with different artists.”

If you could collaborate with any artist, dead or alive, who would it be and why?

C: “I would love to collaborate with Lana Del Rey, A$AP Rocky, Rihanna, Mac Miller, Dua Lipa, Billie Eilish, Justin Beiber, Dominic Fike, Blackbear, Jeremy Zucker, LANY, Miley Cyrus, Mac DeMarco, Marc E Bassy, Omar Apollo, The 1975, Frank Ocean & SZA.

I feel like my music is a combination of many different styles – I can’t really put it into one specific box and I think I listen to a lot of different types of music and they’ll all had their euphoria sense of influence on my sound, that I think I could really mesh well with many different sounds & love artists who are multifaceted as well that I’d love to hear my music with lots of different types of artists & also experience what their creative mind is like.”

If you had to pick an emoji that represents the mood of “Roxbury Romance,” what would it be and why?

C: “Haha, I can’t think of one but I would say collectively all of those together made a good take on it. I’d say it’s romantic, glamorous, magical, a coastal indie vibe with also a little bit of a darker side hidden beneath its sunny disposition, there’s a lot of life there but also the feeling of death to something that once was, but it still lives on in a different way that still brings love & light.”

Thank you for taking the time to interview with us! How can our readers stay connected with you?

C: “I would honestly say Instagram is where I’m at to find the most active interaction from me. Tik Tok can be fun but sometimes requires too much insight into my life at another level of effort. Instagram is nice cause I can kinda give people a glimpse into my life from a distance. TikTok can be maybe a bit too revealing and more work for me hahaha. I’d rather just express myself more deeply in that way through my music. @Cindyesterling  is my handle for everywhere basically Youtube, Tik Tok, and all of that. I respond to DMs.

Thanks for catching up with me and wanting to learn about the story behind the music. I can’t wait to make more of it & keep growing with you.”

Make sure to stream Cindy’s amazing music, available now on all music platforms!