June 1, 2005

Interview By Lucky (SugarBuzz Hollywood Reporter)

SugarBuzz Magazine

My home is Vancouver, Canada… and Los Angeles is my second home! I still live in Vancouver with my family, but over the past couple years I’ve spent a lot of my time in LA working on getting my rock n roll career off the ground. …and I really love that; traveling rocks… and I love both cities for different reasons so really, I get the best of both worlds.

2. What is your earliest rock and roll memory?

My first real ‘rock n roll memory’ has gotta be getting pulled up on stage with Bryan Adams at his show in Vancouver! I was 13 years old… at the show with my mom. We performed his duet “When You’re Gone” together! After that night, there was no going back. Once the performance made headlines in local newspapers and the radio stations started talkin’ about it, that was it! One thing led to another, and opportunities began to come about. I had already been working with other musicians in Vancouver, and the publicity just exposed me to more musicians… even in the US. As a result, I got to work with quite a few really talented people. It was really a magical time… and I was so young. I’m so lucky to have been able to learn so much so early in my life!

I began studying classical piano with the Royal Conservatory of Music when I was five. When I completed 10 grueling years of that, I started studying with a jazz piano teacher. That was something else!! I’d always been a creative person, but it felt sooooo different to go from learning classical pieces note by note EXACTLY how they were written in the books, to learning chord progressions and just being able to improvise my way through the songs!

It was such a new way of looking at music, despite the fact that I’d already been writing my own songs anyway. It was like, ya just finish your last practical piano and musical theory exam, and you think, “That’s it! I’m finished… and I know it all now! Finally!!” …and then you sit down with jazz musicians, they give you a chord chart and tell you, “Improvise in E minor.” …You’re like, “so… I can just play whatever?!” Hahaha… so although I had years of music theory under my belt, going from classical training to jazz training totally opened up a whole new world of music for me. I had great teachers, too.

I also play the guitar, bass and flute. When I play live, I always do a song or two with my guitar and, if the setup allows for a piano or keyboard, then I’ll include that as well. It really just depends on the stage situation at the venue.

Yes, I started working with vocal coaches when I was 11 years old. At 15, I found a truly amazing coach who’s been there for me since the day I started working with him. His name is Brennan Barrett. It’s actually scary how talented this guy is. I work with him all the time when I’m in Vancouver.

5. What events led to your collaboration with Todd Kerns?

Well, I was completing a highschool careers program to get extra grad credits. Anyways, since I already had a strong grasp on my career path (..Duh!?! –ROCK N ROLL, MOTHERTRUCKERS!), the next step was to find volunteer/job-shadowing gigs and rack up hours. So, I called up local radio stations and a well-known Vancouver recording studio and did some hangin’ out there with the owner… learning the ropes of the work environments, etc. (hint: –NETWORKING!!) At the recording studio, I was introduced to Todd Kerns and his band, producer, engineers, etc… and I got to sit in on some of Todd’s recording session. Soon, we were doing some writing and recording of our own and the result was a demo that included tracks like “In Your Face”, “Breakin’ All the Rules”, “And So It Goes” and many others.

I first came to LA during the summer of 2002 to meet with some musicians, managers and producers who were interested in potentially getting involved in my career. For a while, I was kinda juggling that whole thing and school at the same time. Then, I got in touch with a producer who I thought would be a great producer for my album. I met him here in LA and since then, he’s introduced me to some other people who have all been greatly involved in our current business plan, including some amazing songwriters. ASCAP has been very supportive as well.

We are still in the process of working out the particulars of the paperwork, but once it’s all finalized we will be able to elaborate more on that. Besides that end of things, writing new material for the album is the main focus right now. …and the songs are kicking a*s!

7. What is the best and worst thing that has happened during the recording process of the new album?

The BEST thing has gotta be becoming good friends with the people involved in the project. It’s inevitable when you spend so much time with the same people. All the inside jokes make for great entertainment!

The worst thing… well not too many bad things have happened while recording… one thing I can think of, though, is one time when our engineer got really sick to his stomach and had to get himself to a doctor. I was flying out of town really soon so we were pressed for time. Luckily the producer had someone really good he could call for back-up!!