Q: Hey, can you tell us a bit about where you come from, and what made you want to start a career in music?
A: I was born and raised in Toronto but I spent a lot of time as a child in my dad’s hometown of Halifax, Nova Scotia. The east coast of Canada has a really unique and ridiculously talented music scene that I know heavily influenced me. I knew pretty early that music was going to be a lifelong passion for me. When I was eight years old my dad bought me my first Taylor Swift album for Christmas and I just remember listening to it and wishing I could make music like that. Ever since then I’ve been working towards making my difference in music and following my dreams.
Q: Did you have any formal training, or are you self-taught?
A: I started taking vocal lessons with Paula Griffith, an incredible vocal coach in Toronto, shortly after I turned eight. Around the same time I started taking piano lessons as well. It took me some time, but I was eventually able to combine the two and accompany myself. I played and sang for the first time at an annual recital when I was twelve years old. My dad helped me a lot. He’s always been a big musical influence for me, especially when it comes to songwriting and musical creativity.
Q: Who were your first and strongest musical influences?
A: Definitely singer/songwriters like Joni Mitchell, James Taylor and Taylor Swift. Since I was a little girl I am also a huge fan of Canadian east coast singer/songwriters including Stan Rogers, The Rankin Family, Joel Plaskett and Matt Mayes.
Q: You have just released your debut EP, ‘Unbroken’. Is there a story behind it?
A: Because of the COVID-19 pandemic, a great deal of the EP was written and recorded at home in our small basement studio. It was a particularly tumultuous time in my life, not only because my high school years were suddenly spent isolated at home, but because of the sudden loss of my mother that triggered deep turmoil in my life. These songs spilled out onto notebook pages, screens and napkins. I would wake up in the middle of the night to jot down ideas that eventually wove their way into songs. I worked with my dad to workshop the lyrics, structures and musical production ideas. We moved the raw tracks to a couple of studios for vocals, added musicians and mixing. These songs went through many iterations to get them where they ended up. And some continue to morph. One of the joys of songwriting is seeing the work constantly shift and reveal itself anew.
Q: Can we expect an album from you in the near future?
A: I’m really excited to start playing around with new material in the near future. There’s a bunch of songs I wrote before and during the creation of Unbroken that didn’t end up making the final cut, but I’d still love to record and release them. And I’ve been writing a new crop of original material that is really taking shape. We’re in the process of preparing to start recording soon. My dream is to eventually get signed and create an album. Until then I’m excited to continue exploring my writing and sound and releasing new songs regularly.
Q: What do you feel are the key elements in your music that should resonate with listeners, and how would you personally describe your sound?
A: I’d say one thing that sets me apart from other artists is my ability to write my own music. I place a lot of importance on lyricism and the quality of the visual images and scenes I write. All of my influences and the artists I grew up listening to are all well known for their incredible songwriting craftsmanship, so I think that definitely shaped the way I write songs today and who I’ve grown to be as an artist.
Q: Do you feel that your music is giving you back just as much fulfillment as the amount of work you are putting into it, or are you expecting something more?
A: I’d definitely say it has been very fulfilling watching my music inspire my own friends and family, and that’s all I can really ask for. One thing I’ve always thought to myself is that if I’m able to make music that somehow inspires just one person, or if I am able to create that one song that someone clings to during periods of adversity or hardship or joy, then I’m doing what I set out to do.
Q: Could you describe your creative processes? How do usually start, and go about shaping ideas into a completed song?
A: One reason I love songwriting so much is because the creative process unfolds differently every time. Sometimes I start with music. I’ll stumble upon a chord progression I love or strum my guitar until a melody pops into my head that I really love. Other times, a lyric will pop into my head and I’ll immediately grab a napkin and a pen and write it down. I have a list of lyrics on my phone that’ll come to me in the middle of the day (most of the time when I’m in class). It’s so funny how the creative process works. There are days I’ll clear an afternoon in the hopes of writing a song or finishing up a couple of rough drafts, but nothing will come. I’ll just be staring at the piano for hours, unable to think of anything at all. And then there are days I’ll be sitting in the classroom, writing a test, and an idea I love will pop into my head and I know I need to write it down immediately or I’ll forget it. No two songs are written the exact same way, and you never know when creativity is going to strike. My dad is a musician with whom I would practice and play music growing up. I think in many ways, he influenced the way I write songs today and the attention I pay to detail in lyricism.
Q: What has been the most difficult thing you’ve had to endure in your life or music career so far?
A: Writing and recording a 7-track EP is definitely a lot of work. It’s taken a lot of patience, especially considering the face that it was all done during a global pandemic, and we had to learn how to adapt to an at-home setting and use it to the best of our advantage. Looking back, I’m really proud of everything I’ve been able to do over the past two years of craziness. Even throughout unexpected hardship and adversity, I’ve managed to never stop creating music, which I view as an accomplishment.
Q: On the contrary, what would you consider a successful, proud or significant point in your life or music career so far?
A: I remember vividly the night Unbroken was released. I stayed up till midnight, feeling incredibly nervous and excited all at the same time, and seeing it on Spotify for the first time. That was one of the proudest moments of my life, because suddenly this thing that had spent so long only existing as files on my laptop was now out in the world.
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