South Fayette teen’s song to debut on Pittsburgh radio on Friday
Share this post:
As a 14-year-old, Aleia Snider of South Fayette was excited to be meeting “American Idol” standout Gabby Barrett after one of Barrett’s performances at the South Hills Village Mall a few years ago.
“I her her through my dad (Star 100.7 FM DJ) Bubba Snider,” she said. “After hearing that I sing as well, Gabby’s dad took a chance on me by offering a chance to sing with her on the Fourth of July.”
Snider took the stage with Barrett at the 2018 Three Rivers Regatta, covering a Miley Cyrus song.
‘I had never performed in front of an audience that big, and Gabby made the experience comfortable and fun for me,” she said.
The experience led Snider — now 18 and a senior at South Fayette High School — to continue singing and to start working on original music. And at 8 a.m. on Friday, her first song, “Peace of Mind,” will make its debut on her father’s radio show.
The song explores emotional turmoil and struggling with one’s feelings.
Snider, who performs using her middle name as Aleia Gabrielle, spoke recently with the Tribune-Review about waiting to hear her first song on the radio.
This interview has been edited for length.
Q: How long have you been singing and what music got you interested in starting?
A: I have been singing since I was able to speak. It was always the one thing that was most important in my life. When I was younger, I would sing Adele non-stop. Now she is a big inspiration for me alongside Ruth B. Ruth B.’s music is exactly what I wish I would sound like.
Q: What was the inspiration for “Peace of Mind”?
A: “Peace of Mind” is inspired by a very real and emotional situation I was in where I had to decide whether or not to let somebody back into my life who had treated me poorly. I was facing a battle with what my heart wanted and what my brain wanted, and it was really hard. I realized that I was not the only person feeling this way, and that’s when I sat down and wrote my first song ever.
Q: What do you enjoy most about the process of creating music?
A: What I enjoy most about making music is the time spent at the studio. I recorded at The Vault in Neville Island, and it wasn’t only a great educational experience for me, but also a way to know myself and what I like and dislike. I’ve struggled with being my own person in the past, but I broke out of that at The Vault.
Q: What is the biggest challenge for you in songwriting?
A: I have moments where all I do is write music, and it’s as if my brain can’t stop, but there are other moments where I have writer’s block and can’t write anything. I only want to write about things that I know, and sometimes it’s hard to know how you feel.