Language plays a big role in shaping us as human beings. I was exposed to the art of reading and using my imagination at a very young age. In many forms, that has helped me see the world in very different dimensions, and probably live in a space of imagination when reality wasn’t as satisfying. My sister has helped me explore this imagination. She was always a big fan of reading novels and then using that inspiration to create her own work. I used to pick up those novels out of curiosity, just to find myself getting more and more into it. The more books that I read, the more my literacy skills improved; especially since most of them were in English, a new language. This improvement has played a big role in my life, especially after I moved to the U.S. That’s when I realized how significant language and literacy was for me; besides that it gave me knowledge and introduced me to a new language, it helped me grow as a person and it enhanced my creativity for music writing.
The novels that my sister was reading were for adults, because she is 4 years older than me. As a kid with adult novels my vocabulary started getting richer and richer. There was this one time that I decided to take a pen and a blank paper with the intention to write whatever comes to mind first—my sister was challenging me too. I believed I could do it but after a few hours passed, the paper was still blank. However, after recalling the knowledge I gained from reading, I remember writing until I got tired. From that moment forward, I started writing long essays every day, and my sister helped me correct my mistakes while writing. It was a turning point for me in improving my writing skills for the future.
A big influence was reading for sure, but when I moved to USA everything started to fall in place because I started code-switching. This for sure was a new experience because you must think in some other language and speak into another, which over time has switched considering that now English is being used almost full-time. I decided to move to USA and follow my dreams. I’m sure you heard that phrasing before, but living it, gives you a whole another perspective. Moving here I created even more space for creativity. Exploring new places and learning new stuff opened my brain just a little more. This experience helped me release my first song, called:
“Ain’t nobody (better than you)”
I have always been a big fan of music and writing my own lyrics that I truly felt. I used to always listen to English music and at the same time reading in that language helped me practice it way more. During that time, I started to see music in a different point of view, now that my writing skills were leveling up. This has helped my put every little piece together and bring my song to life. It is a real story and it’s connected with me in many ways. All I had learned throughout the years, music and life experience, kind of lead me to this song.
I’ve been taking piano classes since I was 6 years old. At the same time, I was also taking singing lessons, which used to be my favorite ones. Being in the music world I learned all the shapes ‘’Art’’ comes into. Some years went by, and it was time to add to the music space, another instrument I fell in love with is Saxophone. With Saxophone and Piano, I felt pretty completed but somehow there was something missing. To find the missing piece took me some time but it was right within me. Those humming I was doing around the house all day is called ‘singing’ but I didn’t know that the missing part was that simple thing I kept doing all day. I found what made me happy! Little did I know that the real happiness would come once I start doing all, at the same time. One day, I was feeling excited about something and writing at the same time, but this time with a different pattern. It just came naturally that I’d put together the puzzle. The puzzle being writing, piano and humming.
My form of writing was long essays in the shape of a journal where I’d put my ideas, the only place I was allowed to create my own world, my own rules, the way I see it. After I had the idea written on paper, I’d transform it into a poem. After that, the melody of that poem would already be born in my mind. If u ask me, I will say it’s very easy, we all have emotions and an idea of our perfect world with our own stories, of course adding some dramatic touch. Easier said than done! Once I discovered my deepest passion, I followed my heart and it led me to where I am today.
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