Ep. 223: sombr | How a 100% Writer-Producer Took Over Pop

And The Writer Is...with Ross Golan

And The Writer Is

Unknown, Music Interviews, Songwriting, Music, Songwriters, Education, Interviews, Music Creation, Artists

4.9 • 1.1K Ratings

🗓️ 6 October 2025

⏱️ 60 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

Today’s guest is one of the most exciting young artists in the world right now.

A once-in-a-generation artist writing and producing every record himself — and turning that independence into global hits.

His records aren’t just topping charts — many of them are 100%ers.

Self-written, self-produced, and streamed hundreds of millions of times.

He’s building a world entirely his own...

In this episode of And The Writer Is, Ross Golan sits down with Sombr to unpack how he:

- Writes and produces 100% of his music

- Went from viral moments to global success

- Deals with pressure, purpose, and proving himself

Presented by our friends at @NMPA @splice

A huge thank you to our sponsors.

Chapter list

0:00 The Rise of Sombr: Bedroom Producer to Global Prodigy

0:01:02;15 [NMPA] - Fighting for Songwriters (Season Sponsor)

0:01:51 Early Discovery: Why Warner Music Bet on a 16-Year-Old

0:03:38 My First Song Blew Up: Waking Up to 200K Likes & Columbia Records

0:06:00;14 From NYC Roots to Proving Haters Wrong

0:08:16 From Charlie Puth to Operatic Arias: My Secret Classical Music Training

00:11:04 How I Dropped Out of LaGuardia to Get Signed (TikTok Made Me Quit)

00:13:39 Opening for The Strokes at SXSW

00:14:41 The Imposter Syndrome of a Global Superstar

00:15:36 From GarageBand to Global Hits: My FLOPS & Early Projects (Cherry Valley)

00:17:50 Who is Sombr? Shane vs. The Artist & Why New York Makes Anything Possible

00:21:02 The TRUTH About "Caroline": She's Everyone... She's You.

00:22:13 The $0 Photo Shoot That Became My Global Album Cover

00:24:28 Advice to My 16-Year-Old Self

00:26:18 My Secret Writing Method: Saving Choruses & How I Made the Album in 1 Month

00:28:14 [NMPA] - The Power of Music Publishers (Sponsor Segment)

00:28:56 [SPLICE] - Using AI Ethically & Protecting Creators (Sponsor Segment)

00:30:42 "Back to Friends": Writing a Global Hit from a Career Low

00:36:44 Working with Tony Berg: A Mentor and Real Instruments

00:40:54 "Undress": Building Confidence After a Breakthrough

00:43:40 Sacrifices of Fame: Losing My Social Life

00:45:30 Anxiety and Expectations: Navigating Global Success

00:51:23 Critics vs. Appreciation: Why Art Shouldn’t Be Rated

00:058:09 The Final Word: Why the Haters Say I'm Not "Serious" (A Joke)

00:58:50 The Beatles & The Muse: The Real Secret to Timeless Art

00:59:11 Thank You & Outro

NMPA fights for songwriters' rights, ensuring fair pay and protection.

Check them out at NMPA.org and follow them on social media at @NMPAorg

Splice is the industry’s top sample library—royalty-free for all. It empowers creators with its incredible library and ethical AI tools, supporting original artists every step of the way.

Download Splice today and follow them on social media at @splice

And The Writer Is...

Hosted by Ross Golan

Executive produced by Joe London and Jad Saad

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Transcript

Click on a timestamp to play from that location

0:00.0	You're just doing 100% songs.
0:02.0	It's crazy what you can do on your own, expecting to get made fun of. One of the fears I think a lot of artists have is that there'll be a one-hit wonder, and here you are with hits all at the same time. I was kind of flopping. You know, we'd put out like 18 songs. There was nothing close to a hit. Two years went by and I wasn't enjoying making music.
0:21.6	Something like clicked inside of me where I was like,
0:23.6	I'm just gonna make everything that I want to do
0:25.6	without thinking of the internet or record label.
0:28.6	And that was back to friends.
0:30.6	The next day it had like 200,000 streams of day on Spotify,
0:34.6	300,000, 500,000, 600,000.
0:38.1	I just was posting the song every day, and it just started climbing.
0:41.6	You write songs at the same level, the greatest writers who are currently around, and you do it alone.
0:47.7	Anybody who doesn't get it is somebody who has never done it.
0:51.8	How did you learn to do all the things?
0:53.7	One of my biggest motivations is wanting to prove people wrong.
1:02.2	This season is presented by NMPA, the National Music Publishers Association,
1:08.1	champions of songwriters and publishers everywhere. Welcome to And The Writer is. I am your
1:14.5	host, Ross Golan. Today's rising star is an already star, a genre blurring prodigy. He's a hundred
1:22.4	percenter writer, producer, whose hypnotic melodies and storytelling are topping charts everywhere.
1:29.8	His breakout is fueled by nostalgic New York distortion and that generational business savviness.
1:37.6	From his bedroom to awards shows this writer-producer, rock star executive is on an insane, insane, insane run. And the writer is
1:48.4	somber. Let's go. Let's go, dude. You're here. Thank you for having me. So you know the podcast.
2:01.3	Yeah, dude, it's my favorite podcast.
2:03.7	That's not real.
	...

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