“What I want my project to be is to overcome your fears. So, if you’re afraid of spiders, if I can be a little bit of an influence that makes you not afraid of them anymore and that bleeds into other aspects of your life, then I am here for my sole purpose and my path.”
Each artist has their own individual vision for their project and what message they want to spread to their fans through their sound. Grace Stockdale, better known as Sharlitz Web, has deeply rooted her message into each and everything she does with her music, preaching a message of balance and conquering fears through her use of dark imagery, particularly those of the eight legged variety.
From as early as she could remember, Stockdale was flung deep into the classic rock scene, being brought to numerous concerts from a very early age. She curated her love for music thanks to her father who gave her this exposure, granting her multiple backstage experiences from as early as 5 years old. This brought her the first sense of what it was like to totally surrender to the beat as she was drawn directly to the subwoofers from the very beginning.
From there, her and her younger sister furthered their love for all things musical, pursuing flute in school bands. Devoting a great deal of time to this throughout their childhood, the pair kept up with this passion until they attended their first school that did not have a band, putting a pause on this incessant pursuit of melodic knowledge.
Stopping band, however, did not stop her insatiable quest for all things music related. In finding herself and her personal identity in high school, she found a love for dubstep and begun creating mixed tapes for all of her friends. With the encouragement from those around her, this grew into her purchasing her own board and speakers to make actual mixes, along with finding a love for flow art, allowing her to dive even deeper into self expression through music.
There was no stopping Stockdale as she dove deeper and deeper into her craft, finding new and exciting ways to explore sound. Through all of this, her sister was not far behind her, following in her footsteps towards making music her life as well. The pair wove their own musical web together, learning and helping each other grow until tragically, Stockdale’s sister passed away. This life changing event, however, according to Stockdale, was what truly brought her into her own musical identity once and for all, making all she does a tribute.
“I’m in a ghost duo with the sixth sense of mind because now that she’s gone, she’s still with me. You know? I realize one thing about me as I do more spiritual work is there’s so much light inside of me, but I always am drawn to shadows and that’s why I like spiders.”
Building her name off of Charlotte’s Web, a favorite movie her sister and her would frequently watch together as children, Stockdale struggled with being able to continue on with something her sister was so heavily involved with. “I was so lost”, Stockdale confessed at our interview with her at WMF2022, “I didn’t want to do music. I was afraid to open my computer because she was so heavily tied into it.” Though she struggled, after time she started receiving small signs that her sister was with her each and every day, pointing her in a clear direction in both life and in music.
“I just kind of was sitting there and just brainstorming some ideas and wanted to do spiders because we loved spiders.” Stockdale said, and from there that became the imagery that gave her the name of the black widow many know her by today.
Branding her message off of both her and her sister’s love for shadows, the Sharlitz Web project has become a beacon for challenging the unknown and facing fear as well as spreading love and light to the world around you. Being both light and dark, as Stockdale found she was, she made it her purpose to make sure those who listened to her message and followed her project had the opportunity to understand the same.
This message is clearly communicated to those who listen to her music, as fans brought their own spider webs to pull apart during her set at WAKAAN Festival 2022, paying homage to Stockdale and what her music means.
The Sharlitz Web project is clearly an inspiration to so many, as everyone is on their own individual journey to understanding their own conflict and resolutions between the known and the unknown. As she treads forward to the forefront of the scene, there is no doubt that Stockdale is destined for amazing things. With both a strong message, incredible talent and so much more, she continues on with the upcoming release of her Spider Lily EP on SSKWAN December 1st, further weaving her web in the bass music scene and reminding listeners that is always a way to find light in any darkness.
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