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: Hello my name is Ammoye aka Lightworker/Soul Rebel! I’m originally from Clarendon, Jamaica. I was raised in a little ghetto town called Halse Hall by my grandparents Lloyd and Hazel Russell. My two siblings, a sister and brother of which I’m the eldest were all raised in a strict church environment. My grandmother had us singing in the church choir where I got my musical start. She noticed I had a talent for singing so she then pushed me to do more in the choir where I started to sing more solos. Even though at the time I was very shy, so much so that I would literally be trembling with fear when I sang and my lips shuttering all over the place. However the more I sang the more confident I got and the more I fell in love with music and singing. She got my younger sister Nicky into singing lessons with a vocal coach named Mrs Bygrave at the time, and that experience made me become even more comfortable and confident when it comes to music. I was known to be more expressive as a dancer then as I was a part of a dance group in high school called “Princess 5” even though there were six of us in the dance group..don’t ask me why we thought that was a great group name at the time… Most people who knew me then assumed and thought I would become a professional dancer because I was so good at dancing and was nicknamed “no bones”. However, secretly even though I was scared of music, it got and took a hold of my heart. I started to move into songwriting around 8 years old and it developed more in my teenage years. I got into music because it was an outlet and channel for me to get out my thoughts, feelings, emotions, frustrations and anger at the time. Coming from a home where I witnessed physical abuse done to my mother by my father who at the time struggled with alcohol abuse made me a very angry, rebellious and frustrated child. When my mother decided to escape her situation and had to leave us, living with my grandparents while she migrated to Toronto, Canada also played a part in my development. My grandmother was a very strict, powerful, strong woman. She taught me most of everything I know about womanhood and how I should be treated and the relationship I should have with myself and the connections and people I interacted with in my world. She was a no nonsense woman, the cornerstone of the family. When she passed it affected me fundamentally and profoundly. My father wasn’t around for most of those years. My grandmother was my protector and when she was no longer around I experienced some sexual abuse and abandonment issues. My music was my saving grace as I poured my feelings into my writing. My siblings and a little later on migrated to Toronto to live with our Mom and it was a welcomed and exciting change and opportunity for a new start for us. I continued to sing in the choir at her church (Dundas Street Church Of God) where I eventually started a four girls singing group called “Sisters in Christ” which included my younger sister. I wanted to do more with my music however and I decided after a while to then leave the confines of the church to forge my own path and follow the call of my heart. My music was calling. My family was very disappointed in my choice to leave the church. They thought it was a very bad decision to leave and stop singing for God as they put it, and to start singing for the world… However something in me knew this was what I needed to do, so I stood my ground and ventured out on my own. I was attending Seneca College at the time studying Travel & Tourism because I always knew I wanted to travel the world. However I wasn’t stimulated in the way I needed to be to see that career path through. I knew then I was only doing that mostly to please the family and ultimately it would only be feeding my pocket but starving my soul. So I dropped out of the Seneca program and moved in the direction of pursuing a full time career in music. I was determined to listen to my heart and not the fear of the noise in my head. Music has always been a therapeutic and cathartic channel for me, the solace I needed whenever I was struggling in life. Always healing and relaxing, a releasing source of energy for me and I wanted to share this healing and activating experience through music with the people who resonate with the music I create.
Q: And what other artists have you found yourself listening to lately?
A: The other artists I find myself listening to today are artists that influenced me while I was growing up like Bob Marley and Sade. We were only allowed to listen to gospel music at the time. Anything outside of that was considered sinful music except Bob Marley. I sneaked and secretly listened to Sade and other musicians. These two are guaranteed to be played in my music therapy of who I choose to listen to. The one’s I have discovered throughout my journey in life and music that I listen to today are artists such as Chet Baker, Amy Winehouse, Lauryn Hill, Nina Simone, Ella Fitzgerald and Reggae legends like Third World, Beres Hammond, Gregory Isaacs and Dennis Brown to name a few… I’m an old soul and so I enjoy the older music and musicians. I also collect old vinyl records and play and discover artists from back in the day on my record player that needs fixing right now, it needs a new needle.
Q: Who were your first and strongest musical influences?
A: Bob Marley and Sade. I also loved Michael Jackson, Whitney Houston and Anita Baker.
Q: You are nominated for a 2023 JUNO Award for Reggae Recording of The Year for your album Water. Can you share how it feels to be nominated for this award and the story behind the album ‘Water’?
A: To be nominated for my album Water which gave me my sixth JUNO Award nomination feels gratifying, satisfying and rewarding! I’m over the moon excited and elated for Water to be recognized and acknowledged in this way! Water also got me my first The Academy Awards aka The Grammy consideration as well in 2022. So this 2023 Canadian JUNO Award nomination means everything to me! The story behind Water is one of rebirth, healing, cleansing, integration, acceptance, exploration, expansion and evolution. Water represents the marker if you will of where I am now in my spiritual evolution journey thus far. The Light, my previous album that was also nominated for a JUNOAward released in 2017 represented at the time my spiritual awakening that started in 2012 for me. That was the rediscovery of an intimate relationship with my soul, my higher self within…the light inside me. It changed me in every way. My music, my voice, my writing, my singing, my performances, my relationship with myself and everyone and everything I interact with. Water is the expression of the new me, born from that experience with the “light” within me at this point. It signifies the transformation and transition from the old me to the new me. Who I choose to be now is the truth of who I am and not who I was conditioned, taught or dictated to be. Water is an activator and a healing tool for not just myself but for my listeners to be inspired and motivated to make the shift from fear to love and become who we are all meant to be. It’s calling and nudging us to flow and become like Water To be open minded not judgemental. To become seekers and to not fear change. Change is how we learn and grow out of our comfort zones.
Q: What is the message of your music?
A: The message of my music is one of love and unity… unity consciousness. The intent is to heal, inspire, motivate and activate people through music, so they can then move, get up and get out and take action in figuring out what their gifts are without fear, and then mastering the unique gifts we all carry within. Then to share that with the world. It’s meant to unite and bring us together not separate us or tear us apart.
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: The key elements in my music that should resonate with the listeners are love, light, healing, empowerment, relatability and the subtle nudge to let go of fear in all its forms. Going with the flow of the energy of where your life takes you and to not resist the changes that the universe brings, but to learn to discern and embrace when to be in a place of peace, trust, surrender and allowance. A great way I have learned to do this is to get into a state of stillness. Stilling the mind and connecting with the heart, spirit and soul within. Then listening for that inner intuitive guidance to flow. One of my favourite ways to connect with my inner-net is going out into nature or being by the water, it works every time. How I would describe my sound is a multidimensional interconnected sound that encompasses the voice of my Highest Self and the elements of all that I am created from and of…The different and unique experiences and all that inspires and teaches me. You’ll find influences, attributes and nuances from all the different cultures and music genres that I resonate and relate to, fused into my sound to make it my unique Reggae. Hence why I call it Reggae/Fusion. You’ll find elements of soul, jazz, RNB,
electronic, hip hop and inspirational gospel within my unique ever evolving sound.
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: This is a great question. I do feel to be honest that music gives me more than what I put in. It heals me and allows me to be a healer as well. It teaches me more about myself all the time and it shows me how I can be better as a human in every way in all areas of my life and especially as a conscious creator of music. It gives me the space, grace and tools to grow, change, expand and evolve. It takes me around the world where I get opportunities to learn even more from life, new people, relationships, new cultures, new experiences, new music, sounds, all of it! It keeps me on my toes. I’m never bored. It teaches me and gives the gift of gratitude to be able to express myself in this creative way and to give back to my audience and humanity in profound ways I could have never imagined or thought of. It gives me the gift of purpose. I can’t begin to count the ways in which music fulfils me more than any and all the work I could ever put in.
Q: Could you describe your creative processes? How do usually start, and go about shaping ideas into a completed song?
A: My creative process manifests itself in several unique ways. Sometimes I’ll get inspiration and ideas in a dream while I’m sleeping and then I have to get up and either write the lyrical ideas down in my song book or sing the melody and lyric ideas into the voice note on my phone. Sometimes I’ll be watching something and an idea will come and then I write it down. Other times I’ll get inspiration or ideas from a story I hear or experiences myself or my friends have had or I’m inspired from life and the things I’m learning, seeing, observing happening in and around our world and I’ll choose to write about that. Another way the creative juices flow for me is when a producer I’m working with sends me a beat and I sit with it on my couch or in my bed and go into a meditative state as I listen and I’ll ask my Spirit guides or what you call Angels…for me I call that energy Spirit. I invite my Spirit guides to come in and guide me with the melodies and lyrical content appropriate for this time and energy. Then I go into a space of allowing and soon the lyrics and melodies just start to flow and then I write and sing along with what I’m hearing and feeling, and voila a song is born. The key for me is to stay open to my intuitive guidance when it comes to what I feel and hear to create. I always trust my intuitive guidance and nudges.
Q: What has been the most difficult thing you’ve had to endure in your life or music career so far?
A: The most difficult thing I have had to endure in life or music career is the experience of loss. Losing the ones you love who you thought would always be there to support and cheer you along in life, or in career… In all of it. Then one day you find they’re just not there with you anymore. It could be through death or what I call transition or it could be through the loss of relationships. It can be quite daunting and traumatic and so I’ve learned to develop a strong relationship with myself and my Spiritual team who watch over and guide me, and who I know now are not or have never ever been disconnected or separate from me. I know now I am not alone in life. I have never been alone. I know I’m always loved, supported, protected and guided in every way. I see it , I feel it and I know it. So I do not walk around in my skin through life feeling small anymore because I know now who I am and what and all, I carry within me. This awareness is powerful and has transformed and changed me completely.
Q: On the contrary, what would you consider a successful, proud or significant point in your life or music career so far?
A: A successful, proud or significant point in my life or music career so far is this new knowledge I have about myself since my spiritual awakening journey started in 2012. My views of validation and success don’t come from the outside world or someone else or people of power, corporations or the industry out there… it’s not any of that anymore. It comes from me. I’ve learned to be the safest place and best friend and family member for me to land on. I call it “energy management.” It’s where I mind my thoughts, my words, my actions and I make sure I’m always consistently choosing what makes me happy and what brings me joy and peace. That is power. That is owning and being in control of your power. This is true empowerment. This to me, is what it means to be successful and so this is how I show up every day in my life, being as positive as I possibly can be, in every moment. Choosing to stay in the driver’s seat of my life, from the place of being heart centered every day all day. I’m proud of this Re – remembering! Self love and self care.
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