Songs From Sacramento

Student musician Zanner Sacramento is set to debut his newest song at the Fine Arts Fair

Staff Writer

Zanner Sacramento (11), known by his stage name Zjayye (pronounced Zee-jay), is a musician at AHS. Garnering nearly 1,500 subscribers and over 100,000 views on his YouTube channel, Sacramento sat down with the Eagle Era to discuss his passion for music and the work that goes into it behind the scenes.

“I’ve been producing music for over five years, but I’ve been surrounded by music my entire life,” Sacramento says. “My earliest memory is singing to one of my favorite songs, a Filipino song. I started playing drums when I was three, and that’s what started my passion for music. I moved on to piano when I was seven, and I just picked up the guitar and ukulele last year.”

Since beginning to release official music in 2023, Sacramento has since produced four songs, the first of which being “STARGAZE.”

“[Making the song] was a whole learning experience, and it was a really fun time. The main melody just popped up in my head, and I was like ‘This is the one!’ After that, I built the chords and the drums and all of that. I made it in November, and worked on it in December. I made the lyrics in winter break of 2022. Then I thought I finished it in January, but I didn’t like it. I changed it, and that’s when I released it in February. It was four months total. It probably took the longest because it was my first song.”

Behind the making of his first song, Sacramento reveals that music is more to him than just a hobby.

“Originally, I got into song-writing to release my emotions. You can see that in ‘STARGAZE.’ It’s a little bit personal if you actually look into the lyrics. Music is like therapy to me. It’s something through which I can directly translate my feelings.”

Sacramento credits his musical talent to family and their unconditional support of his endeavors.

“My family has always been supportive of almost everything that I do, which I really appreciate. They’ll unexpectedly buy me things [for music production] that I didn’t even ask for. The mic I have, the sound panels across my room, they bought these things [for me]. My mom’s side of the family is musically gifted. All of my mom’s siblings sing, and I’m really really grateful for them because they’ve always been supportive of my music [as a result].”

Supported by his close friends and family, Sacramento hopes to one day make his music into a full-time career.

“This is what I hope to do because it’s what makes me happy. My favorite part is when everything just clicks together. It feels so good, just knowing that I made that [song]. I don’t wanna say I’m ‘really good’ as of right now because I still have a lot to learn, but music is something I actually have a drive towards and have an interest in. It’s also something that could potentially make a lot of money, of course.”

Sacramento’s newest song “darling, please stay” is coming out next month, but he has plans to premiere parts of it this month at the Fine Arts Fair.

“It’s only going to be a snippet [of the song], so it’s not going to be too long. It’s more R&B than my other songs, so it feels a little bit different. The song is one whole genre compared to the others. It’s going to be my first actual performance, so I’m gonna be kind of nervous.”

Caption: Zanner has received school-wide acclaim for his recently released music. (PC: Zyrus Sacramento)