Real Rad Magazine : Winter 2016

T he Beaut y T hat Never Sleeps
WORK ETHIC & BEING A WOMAN IN THE BUSINESS
What was it like being 19
years old and starting your own
band?
It was terrifying and
exciting. But in the very
beginning I made a promise to
myself to dive in and give 100%.
It was always my hope to turn
my dreams into a reality. I mean,
I had years of classical piano
training and vocal training but I
knew nothing about the actual
business side of the industry
when I was 19. I built everything
from the ground up. Nothing
was handed to me. I can’t tell
you how many times I have
played in front of no one, or
how much money I have wasted
or how many people have told
me “no”. Any musician reading
this knows what I am talking
about. It’s tough out there- but it
is worth it. You just have to take
charge and believe in yourself.
What are some specific
hardships that women go
through in the music industry?
Women are quickly
judged in this business. If
you’re a female musician with
a pretty face, people are quick
to attribute your success to
your good looks. Not only is
that frustrating- but it makes
you feel like people are being
lazy. Sure, a pretty face never
hurts. But people need to do
their homework and check
out an artist’s vibe before they
make assumptions. Everything
from songwriting, music
video concepts, photo shoot
concepts- unless otherwise
noted- they all come from me.
People think that because you
are a woman there must be a
man behind the curtain holding
your hand planning all your art
for you. Intelligence, sexuality
and power can all come from
the same person. One doesn’t
negate the other.
To what would you
attribute your strong work ethic
and entrepeneurial values to?
I live with this sense of
urgency. People tend to tell
me that I am a stressful person.
Which is true a lot of the time.
I have had to learn to chill out
a lot. But I refuse to just wait
for things to happen. I enjoy
being productive. I think my
mother and father influenced
me in these ways. My dad was
a motivational speaker for his
company and my mom is a very
fiercely driven woman. I can be a
little impatient, and my manager
(Brent Camp of Monocle, Inc)
coaches me to direct that
impatience to productivity by
making little things happen all
the time. Ask anyone that knows
me- I am super intense. I express
myself intensely, I love intensely,
I feel intensely, I work intensely.
I simply don’t know how else to
be!
You get a lot of praise for
your marketing skills, is that all
you? Where did you learn how to
market yourself?
It is all me! I think it is
really fun to market yourself
honestly by finding out how
your fans connect to you. I really
love that side of the business.
I have learned what works and
what doesn’t work by trial and
error. My social media is all
run by me. I decide what I post
and I respond to all my fans
comments. They mean the world
to me.
Tell us about your musical
training and background.
I started voice lessons
at 8 years old. Singing felt so
natural and so good to me. I
grew up listening to a lot of
Tori Amos. When I was 11 I felt
like taking piano lessons would
piece everything together. So
I took classical piano for about
8 years. I loved it- there was a
time when I considered going to
school for it. But honestly- I am
a bit of a rebel. It would have
never worked. I took lessons
from a brilliant Russian pianist
for several years. She changed
my life in many ways. I respect
the classical tradition and feel
very connected to it in many
ways. But at the end of the day,
I am a rock n’ roller. As far as
voice- I am most comfortable
singing pop/rock. That is what
I trained to do. But there are
other genres I would like to
experiment with one day.