Young British Guitarist Shiveena Saw on Music and Supporting Eric Clapton’s Crossroads

Shiveena Saw Interview

[Intro]

From Swansea, UK. comes 18-year-old guitarist Shiveena  Soar, a young player already using her talent to make a difference. She first picked up the guitar at age 8 after seeing Slash, went on to become the prestigious Millfield Musician of the Year in 2025, and won gold medals at the UK school's music festival two years running.

Now heading to Berkeley on a scholarship, she blends rock, blues, and funk with purpose. Shiveena  has performed at several hard rock cafes around the world to raise money for charities, and has a special connection to Eric Clapton's Crossroads Rehabilitation Facility in Antigua through her own charity, shows supporting their important work. Today on the Trout Show, we talk with Shiveena  Soar about music, giving back, and the road ahead.

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[The Trout]

You mentioned that let's go let's go back to what you mentioned to me when you saw Slash. Were you watching a YouTube video or what was that when you said I want to play guitar?

[Shiveena Saw]

I remember in so Guns N' Roses got back together to do their very first like proper tour in 2016 and my mom has always been a huge like music fan. She loves like rock music, Guns N' Roses, ACDC, all of them she loves. So she saw that they were going back on tour and she was really excited and I was eight at the time and she she got tickets for us all to go and then...

[The Trout]

Where were they performing? Was it in London?

[Shiveena Saw]

Yeah we went to see them in the O2 I think it was. Me I actually have a twin brother as well so we both went.

[The Trout]

Where did you see him? What did you say?

[Shiveena Saw]

Sorry?

[The Trout]

Where did you say you saw him?

[Shiveena Saw]

London.

[The Trout]

Okay. Oh okay. All right just curious.

[Shiveena Saw]

And then yeah I saw him play and I saw them play and it was just it was just something else really like the energy that there was on that stage and like seeing all of them come together and then seeing Slash play and like the way you know how he owns that Les Paul and it's just like a part of him and it was just yeah I realised that I wanted to do that so then I started getting into we started doing guitar lessons and I actually initially started doing classical guitar because my school only offered that but I found it really boring because I wanted to do all that rock stuff you know so then we stopped those lessons and I started guitar lessons outside of school these private electric guitar lessons and then that is where I really I fell in love with electric guitar and I just yeah I tried to play as much as I could.

[The Trout]

When you were learning and it's everybody has the same situation because we all have to start someplace we don't you know we don't just give a guitar and we go okay let's do something.

[Shiveena Saw]

No definitely not.

[The Trout]

What was what was it you listened to I mean when you went to your teacher when you approached your teacher what did you say to him I want to play Guns and Roses I got a song I want to learn what did you tell him?

[Shiveena Saw]

Yeah so oftentimes I would just like hear a song or hear a solo and then I would ask him to teach me that and then he would teach me the different techniques and I would just go home and do it over and over again and also I would go on YouTube and you'd have these YouTube videos even of like these pop songs with tabs and you could like play along with them so I did so many of those that I got pretty good at reading tabs so I could learn things pretty quickly and then I just yeah I just kept going with that and I think because I was learning like I was so interested in like rock music and these amazing guitar solos and I really really wanted to learn how they do that so then I asked my guitar teacher you know how do you do this how do you make solos like this and yeah he showed me how to do it and he was yeah it was pretty cool.

[The Trout]

So then you went to and you and I suppose that your mom was happy maybe to a certain extent that you were spending all your time on this but you were doing well in school too correct?

[Shiveena Saw]

Yeah yes yeah very very we're quite like I guess we're very well all rounded because I did a lot of guitar a lot of music but also you know my parents I guess were always very keen on doing well academically and I also like I was also very interested in doing well in school so yeah I actually I got into dentistry as well this year I applied but I also applied Berkeley and I've chosen obviously to do music.

[The Trout]

Well I think what the thing I learned about all people at Berkeley and when I see people's name that they've gone to Berkeley or graduated from Berkeley I already know they're good. Yeah. I know Berkeley doesn't take anybody unless they're good and I know it's not cheap.

I interviewed a guy from Romania recently not too much like a couple three months ago he had friends of his get together and put enough money to go to a semester or two to Berkeley so I couldn't afford it after that but he said I did yeah so you literally start next week right?

[Shiveena Saw]

Yeah I mean I'm moving I actually move in tomorrow.

[The Trout]

Okay.

[Shiveena Saw]

So today after this we're gonna have to go buy everything I need.

[The Trout]

Are you excited?

[Shiveena Saw]

I'm so excited to go I'm so excited to you know I'm just gonna like take every opportunity I can join all the different music bands they have because and get like every chance I can to perform because I just love I love performing aspect of it so I'm so excited for that and to learn so many different genres and because there are so many different cultures coming in learning all that as well it's going to be really interesting.

[The Trout]

So when you were playing in school and you got the scholarship to the one school I looked them all up it was interesting to me and you won a couple awards two years in a row what did you do? I mean did you get up and play electric guitar or what did what did how did you perform is basically I want to know.

[Shiveena Saw]

Yeah so.

[The Trout]

How did that happen?

[Shiveena Saw]

My school which one is it the one for my school?

[The Trout]

So you said you got two years in a row the 24th and 25th.

[Shiveena Saw]

Oh yeah yeah that one.

[The Trout]

Musician of the year.

[Shiveena Saw]

Yeah so that one is like my school basically does a competition for all musicians to enter and then you have to sort of do an audition to get into the main thing where you perform and then that's recorded and so I did an audition and then I did House of the Rising Sun actually I did sort of an electric guitar cover version of it and then I got a backing track and I edited it a bit on like you know Logic Pro.

[The Trout]

Yes I don't use that but I know what it is.

[Shiveena Saw]

Yeah and then I edited it a bit and then I have like this mini Blackstar amp that has like reverb delay all of that sort of thing and then I you know put all the effects in and I performed it and yeah.

[The Trout]

So you took House of the Rising Sun which is interesting to me because I was thinking how do you sit there and play I mean you can play electric guitar but then you put the backing track of course and then yeah you know then you do your thing and you obviously did well because you won what was it so you did one year did you do both the same song every year did you do different so that year I did the most previous

[Shiveena Saw]

one I did House of the Rising Sun and then before that I did like a UK schools music festival competition that was for like everyone in the UK entering and so then I played I don't know I think I played Anastasia by Slash and I added like wah pedal and then I performed that and I got like the gold medal for that as well.

[The Trout]

What do you what do your parents say about this and your friends I mean I mean here you are you leave your city in the UK where you grew up come to the big United States of America yeah and you know you you have this is a this is a I'm not telling you don't already know this is a big step in your life.

[Shiveena Saw]

Yeah it's definitely huge.

[The Trout]

I mean you're not going to you're not going to London for a concert or you're going across the ocean to put a place together to people that you don't even know and and that put I think that the thing about that takes guts too but that takes the drive and I will tell you the one thing that I there's two things I know from talking to hundreds of musicians they are everybody has in common. Number one they start young. I had I think the youngest one I had was she started at four now there was piano at first and went to whatever.

Number two they always take a chance and some and I or a risk and I always tell people it's not a risk like driving 120 miles an hour on a highway it's a risk with your life yeah and a lot of people I don't believe will understand that because as a musician myself they don't know what drives us you know and yeah you said okay and in Berkeley is so well known in the business yeah once you get out of there if you say if you have his name says your name in Berkeley graduate that's pretty good okay so you got this school thing going you're going good you're coming to Berkeley but along in that way somewhere you decided you wanted to help support non-profits and then go out and play at hard rock cafes

[Shiveena Saw]

so tell me about both of them so they go together yeah so I started playing my very first hard rock cafe that I played in was in Las Vegas and the reason we actually went there that was the the last world cup not the one that just went the last one and my brother and my dad they were going to see um the world cup in Qatar so then me and my mom were like well we don't want to go to Qatar so and but we want to go on a holiday so where can we go and we saw that Aerosmith were actually playing in Las Vegas so we booked tickets to go and see them and then we saw that there was a hard rock cafe there and I was just thinking you know there's no there's no harm in asking the worst they can say is no you can't play so I decided just to just ask could I possibly perform a few songs there and they actually said yes which I was so excited about and so I decided to do it for a charity and I chose Centrepoint which is this charity for homelessness in youth so I chose that charity and I performed a few songs there and it was really amazing and the guy performing there actually we got to know him quite well his name is Patrick he was doing like some music there and he actually knew um Joe Perry's guitar tech so then um unfortunately Aerosmith cancelled their shows but this guy then we got to know him his name's Darren he's an amazing guitarist and guitar tech and so he you know he brought like some of the set lists the picks or but yeah and then after that um after performing in Las Vegas I loved it so anytime we went anywhere I would look at the hard rock see what if there was a hard rock then ask them if I could perform and yeah so far I've performed in Las Vegas, London, India, in Delhi and then Singapore, Malaysia um so yeah that's sort of how that so when you say you you support

[The Trout]

do they do you ask for donations or do they pay you and you give your donation through you or how

[Shiveena Saw]

does that work I'm just curious so I also don't so dip for donations like when I perform um and then because I have like a link and then also um we also donate as well and then we send them so yeah and then in 2023 we went to see um the crossroads fest the crossroads show um in I think it was in LA yeah I think it was yeah and that was I was blown away by how many it was it was the first sort of like proper guitar festival that I'd ever gone to and it was honestly incredible and seeing all those guitarists like um Gary Clark Jr he's a Texan he's from my state he's so good and then obviously Eric Clapton and seeing all those amazing guitarists play and for this charity I was I was so inspired and I thought it was really amazing and I wanted to do sort of a mini version back where back at home so in my school then I organized my own crossroads show with around 20 musicians and I had um a link and QR codes um and sent it to everyone I knew and there were obviously the audience had it there and I did some songs and I asked each artist performing if they could do a song from an artist who maybe struggled with drug and alcohol oh well as well so that's yeah it was honestly really it was really fun to do and I'm actually hoping I can do another one soon maybe in Berkeley so how did how did they find you

[The Trout]

and put you up on their Instagram site how did that were you surprised did you already know

[Shiveena Saw]

I was I was very surprised um I had previously been in contact with Nico because of the donations and things but I had done this show um probably two years ago or a year and a bit ago so I honestly did not expect this to happen and they asked me um could I play a song for them to put on their Instagram and then obviously I wanted to do an Eric Clapton song and so I looked through all his songs and yeah it was honestly a crazy experience and I was so shocked that they asked

[The Trout]

me but very very excited because I looked up your last name yeah I thought okay where is she from you know where you're culturally from of course a lot of it's Indian based and all that but

[Shiveena Saw]

Malaysia that makes sense yeah I'm actually I'm half Indian half Chinese which no one ever guesses it when I when I say yes no no one can ever guess that combination I know no they wouldn't

[The Trout]

so what if if you could if you got a call from Slash would you jump on stage and start playing

[Shiveena Saw]

yes 100 yes of course

[The Trout]

well are you going to Austin are you going to be at that are you not yeah they actually um offered me two tickets to go who do you look forward to seeing well when you look at the list you got to go okay uh I said uh Tedeschi trucks yeah oh my god I was blown away by their performance Derek Trump like with the slider he is sick I don't think he's not fair it's not fair how good he is I know he's insane he's so good I don't know how he does all that it's crazy when you think about it his guitars tuned to G you know he doesn't I think that's what he tunes to most the time he may tune to D or E but but you know it's not like you and I playing the scales where we're going to play where it is he's got to play it completely different yeah it's just like how do you do that um Billy Gibbons is going to be there I actually saw ZZ Top before they became famous really yeah that's how old I am my band was up to open for him but my friends got the gig so I saw him before the Beards uh before they were well known but I tell people up north I'm from Texas and I go you gotta wait for ZZ Top who ZZ what and I go you wait you come along which brings me to pedals how many what's your effects that you like to use or do you like using any you know

[Shiveena Saw]

I actually don't use that many pedals I only have a few but I'd say the main one I use probably the wah pedal and then distortion but that's about it I don't have any like some people have like so many sets and sets like crazy amount of pedals which I think is unnecessary but

[The Trout]

yeah I agree with you I'm a delay guy I like delay yeah I like I like just not distortion but you know boosting it up sometimes I use a compressor to do that but I don't have very many I don't I don't really like one but I go see people and some of the people I interview they have like you said they have like just things like I said how do you decide which one you're going to play yeah you know it's like well I use this I'm going like oh my god can you you know can you keep it since I'm a blues guy I grew up watching people that didn't have all that stuff yeah I did see that you did have a Les Paul of course that less slash you hope you play Les Paul

[Shiveena Saw]

yes it's my most prized possession I love that one but I always come back to it I love my Les

[The Trout]

Paul yeah I saw your two there that's an 80s that's my baby that's an 87 so let's talk amps then I mean you haven't obviously played big arenas or anything like that have you thought about what you want to play out of I mean you mentioned the one a while ago but that's a big

[Shiveena Saw]

small one yeah I really want I really want to try a Marshall amp yeah and like you I always wanted

[The Trout]

two things in my life as a musician Les Paul guitar and yeah yeah I've got one of two need to get the you'll get the other one you'll get the other one by the way how do you pronounce your name uh Shivina okay so it's the way it looks but I just want to make sure because I know and is that a where did that name come from I know your parents gave you the name yeah it's

[Shiveena Saw]

actually it's Sanskrit and it is basically like the name of like an Indian princess goddess

[The Trout]

they got you figured it figured you out yeah well you're gonna how long was it I guess Berkeley is it four years like a normal university or is it yeah you can go whatever you want I guess but yeah yeah so you'll be you'll be practicing a lot playing a lot yes I'm excited actually to learn

[Shiveena Saw]

all the theory because my theory isn't I want to really improve my theory so much so I'm excited I think the most actually to do that I get lost

[The Trout]

you know I get kind of like mixolodian delorean and yeah I know like not delorean as a car but I mean yeah I'm going like uh oh yeah I'm playing in this I'm going like okay I don't get it I'll just yeah I'm like you if I was your age and I was at where I am now I would probably go back and say okay that because I will tell you people that I know that learn how to read music or learn theory they're always really good at writing songs yeah and arrangements yeah and that's where it comes in and but you know you get out of school four years from now we'll keep hearing about you and you'll get out and then you'll get a contract are you going to try to do anything well it's kind of hard now anything to try to raise money for them this year or are you just so tied up you don't have time for that um if I do have time I definitely

[Shiveena Saw]

do want to do another show I think that is so for now as well because there are so many more musicians and so many more incredible musicians here definitely but if not this year definitely at the start of next year I will

[The Trout]

so all the people that are going to be at tross roads who do you want to meet

[Shiveena Saw]

meet um get a chance to meet anybody that is

[The Trout]

not see perform but actually have a conversation with them yeah that is so hard um I want to think

[Shiveena Saw]

about that that chance may come up you never know yeah yeah Derek trucks is a really good one and then maybe Gary Clark jr. I remember I saw him I think it was in Bristol I've been to Bristol it's been a long time ago but I was in Bristol and he was he was so good I just yeah he's really really he's one of my favorite guitarists I would say well and I think

[The Trout]

most of the people that I've met over the years they want to help younger performers they want

[Shiveena Saw]

to keep it alive yes definitely that's why I always think like when if I ever meet them or if I get the chance to I don't want to like meet them as a fan I want or like I don't want them to see me as a fan I want them to see me as like a really good musician you know I want to be like because there's a different like that musician relationship kind of not like fan to artist I guess

[The Trout]

well when you meet your fape fans I met Eric Johnson I had a nice conversation he was actually on my show really wow he's another Austin boy I wasn't born in Austin but I'm from Texas um you're 100 right you know you're you're in a and I told I was I was asked to speak at the university a couple years ago and I told all the kids up there you're a kid to me obviously you're in a club now you're in a great club because you're a musician and you could talk to other musicians you can talk to people that play different genres different instruments yeah you got your whole life in front of you the one thing I'm going to tell you this and you will hear this on your way this is a journey yeah you're now on the bus leaving the station and I tell everybody the same thing enjoy the ride yes definitely you're going to and I want to tell you I expect to see you up there sometime playing I'm never wrong about people when I say this to them I have big things I know thumb zinks aren't happening to you and I just think you got a wonderful career in front of you don't let it eat you up because it is it is can be tough yeah it's hard business to be in surround with people that you like play with people you like it's a gift and you know you have to work at it what you've done yeah and where you are now and where you're going to be in four years I'm just going to be amazed well I wish you all the luck in the world I know you got a great opportunity and thank you for taking time I know you're busy

[Shiveena Saw]

thank you for having me this has been really great 

 Thank you for listening www.TheTroutShow.com