One day or day one, you decide- Azalyne
Emerging modern jazz singer/songwriter, Azalyne, will host her inaugural all ages open mic event at Kops Records in Oshawa. The in-store will talk place Sunday Sep 8, 1-5 p.m.
Slowcity.ca asked Azalyne the whys, wheres and whats of her decision to introduce this stage to Oshawa.
“I wanted to start a platform for Durham artists because it’s something we definitely need. It feels like I always have to go out to Toronto but I know some of us can’t exactly do that 4 times a week. Every artists needs to perform in front of an audience. I’ve got 5 feature artists to fill time since it’s the first open mic and I don’t know how big of a turnout we’ll get. but I hope to grow this event into something that could maybe even do a festival,” she says.
I've been singing for a long time, through vocal and piano lessons, and doing musical theatre. I found that it really sparked something in me. So I decided to pursue it and really go 'into the music industry' from the age of 9. I started out in a girl group, we would play at gigs all across Ontario and play our own instruments as well as tracks, it made me really realize that I could do this as a career. After a year I decided to leave the group as I wasn't really allowed to control how I was being presented as an artist. At that point, I was already writing and composing songs, and I had taught myself to play the guitar. I started going to open mics and from that, I was getting booked for real gigs. From there, I started hearing where musicians and creatives were hanging out. Even at 10, I was going into different workshops and rooms, even if people didn't think I should've been in them, I was listening and learning. I started getting more booked gigs and becoming more confident, developing a personality on stage, and writing even more originals. This is where I realized that artists need to be in front of a live audience in order to grow. In 2018 I released my first single 'You Are Mighty' on all major streaming platforms, which currently has 35,000 streams on Spotify. I've recently started performing live with a band, Vaughan Singh is my drummer, Caleb Klager is my bassist, and Mario Posella is my guitarist, and I sing and play the piano. I much prefer playing with them than by myself with tracks or just with my piano.
Back to my statement on artists needing to have a live audience to perform at. I found myself going to Toronto for almost everything related to my music career, music lessons, most gigs, band practice, studios, etc. It feels normal at this point but I know that it can be a challenge to go out to Toronto, not everyone has that luxury. And It's not that the Durham music scene doesn't have a lot of artists. There is definitely a lot of musicians around here, but there are no platforms, I hope to not only let the artist showcase their artistry but also let themselves develop in front of a crowd, I've partnered with System Music Warehouse that will provide amps, monitors, and mics. I have provided a piano and drum kit for artists or bands that want to use those. Doing The Music is coming to act as a DJ and also to run the sound system. I want to create a comfortable place for artists to perform and learn from each other. It's open to all artists, from spoken word to visual artists, any musical artist, regardless of genre or style, and any other kind of art that could be showcased.”