“Three Years Ago" by Victoria Barral (Release date May 15, 2020)

"Three Years Ago" is the latest single from blossoming singing sensation Victoria Barral! 

Victoria visited us about a couple of months ago, and we instantly took an interest in her music and style! What can you expect from this song? Here's the blurb:

Victoria's new single, "Three Years Ago" is an emotional ballad about unreciprocated love and the heartbreak of it! Victoria wrote her new single 6 months ago, and knew it was going to be one of her strongest songs the moment she started playing the first few bars of the intro. Victoria thinks that a lot of people can relate to the song because everybody deals with rejection at one point or another. 

This beautiful piece of music includes airy, beautiful vocals and background vocals with gorgeous string parts and a powerful piano sound! You won’t regret listening to this song! 

Her producer Annie Dickinson worked so hard on this project. She tracked piano, vocals, background vocals, whisper, and piano! She also recorded all string parts by herself, making amazing harmonies that fit the vision for the song! 

You can find “Three years Ago" just about everywhere you usually get your music like Spotify or Apple! So, there's no reason why you won't be able track it down…which I highly suggest you do.

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If you want to learn more about Victoria, check out her Section 36 Music profile page. There you can find links to her full interview with Section 36 Music, her social media accounts, as well as more samples of her incredible singing.

You can also hop directly to her recent interview right here on Section 36 Music. That will give you an opportunity to learn more about this amazing singer.

Be sure to give “Three Years Ago" a listen!

Jillian Ann Visits Section 36!

Section 36 Music has another visitor! Jillian Ann is a wonderful singer, and I was so excited when she agreed to visit with us and discuss her upcoming release, her past accomplishments and more. I’m sure you’ll enjoy everything she has to say.

So, let's see what happens when Jillian Ann visits Section 36!

I enjoyed your single “Riptide”. What can you tell me about it?

Riptide is a song about being a force in someone's life. I wanted it to give the female presence in the story a more strong and powerful quality to them. I co-wrote this song last year with George Woods, who was one of my songwriting professors at Berklee. He really helped me shape this song into what it is and gave me the idea to take the metaphor of being a riptide, which is a force of nature, and turn it into a story about being a presence in life that is in complete control of who they are. I composed the piano parts for this song, and I think the instrumentation gives off the feeling of an actual storm that is brewing, which my band absolutely nailed with their amazing playing. Riptide will be the first song you hear on my EP. 

Following that, you are about to release your debut EP “Truly, Madly, Deeply”. What was that like to put together?

Truly, Madly, Deeply is one of the songs on my EP and is also the title track. I was inspired to write this song after watching this old BBC film called "Truly, Madly, Deeply" which is a film Alan Rickman stars in. The film is about a woman who cannot cope with the sudden passing of her lover, and he (Rickman's character) then comes back as a ghost to visit her and eventually help her get over his death. I was so moved by this film that I had to write a song that encapsulates all the best elements. Alan Rickman's character in the film is also a cellist, so I made sure to compose some really emotional string parts on this song, particularly to add to the emotion of the story. The other songs on the EP are all romantically-themed songs about longing, love at first sight, loss, and heartbreak, and I felt that Truly, Madly, Deeply was a perfect title to summarize all those feelings into one. 

The recording process for this project was pretty quick, as I had been performing these songs with my band for a while at shows prior to this, so it was fairly simple to get things done. My band came up with amazing instrumentation on all of the songs, and my producer really put the finishing touches on everything to make it sound exactly how I hoped it would, especially with a lot of the vocal effects on a few of the songs, like the title track and another ballad on there called "The Man That I Love". I am really proud of this music and am so happy I can finally share it with everyone!

You recently graduated from Berklee College of Music. What’s the most important thing that experience has done for your career?

Berklee really helped me network with many gifted musicians, songwriters, producers, and composers, and I am so grateful I was given the opportunity to attend a school like that. A lot of my classes there taught me the important business side of the music industry, which is essential to helping artists thrive in the business by marketing themselves and engaging an audience in order to be seen and heard by the right people. It helped me push myself to my highest potential as a songwriter especially, because now I know that I have the skills to write in any style, co-write with other artists, and write for others as well. Songwriting was my major at Berklee and I had the opportunity to study with some of the best songwriting professors there and got to workshop my songs with them. Now that I have graduated, I can use the tools I learned from them on my journey through music and as a songwriter. 

What is your favorite part about performing in front of an audience?

Playing live shows is one of my favorite things about being a musician. I am a bit of a nervous performer, but I feel like the nerves actually help me in a way, and build up a lot of adrenaline when I go on stage. It also shows that I am a very genuine performer. When I'm onstage I act exactly how I do in person. Nothing I say in between songs is rehearsed and it's different every time. I just say what pops into my head, which is usually something silly, and I think that resonates with my audience because they can see that I am a very down to earth performer. When I get into my songs, I love watching people vibe to my music and the covers I like to play as well. It helps get rid of the nerves completely and enhances the adrenaline even more. I really miss playing live. I can't wait to get the chance to play my EP release shows in person when the world gets back on track.

Who/what would you consider to be your biggest musical influences?

Many of my musical influences are singer/songwriters and bands from the 70s. I grew up listening to artists like Carly Simon, Linda Ronstadt, Ann and Nancy Wilson of Heart, and Kate Bush, so I like to incorporate that 70s sound into my music with a more contemporary twist to it. These female artists of that decade in my opinion are some of the most powerful and gifted performers to ever do it, and they really gave me the confidence to do what they do. 

Right now, what would you say is your biggest career challenge?

I think the obvious challenge right now is the toll this virus outbreak is taking on artists like myself. I had plans to release my EP and play a lot of shows for it, so I obviously can't do that right now. That also means there is no income coming in because of that. But the most important thing to me is to just get my music heard and enjoyed by my audience, so I am hoping to play some livestream shows on my social media accounts and play the songs off my EP solo. It's not the same as playing with my band for people in person, but it's still great to get the chance to share what I have with people that way. 

What are your immediate career goals?

My goals are definitely to record more music, and hopefully release an album by sometime next year. I have so many unreleased songs to share, and I can't wait to be able to get back in a studio and work with more amazing musicians. I hope to become more involved in the songwriting industry and co-write with artists and write for other artists. This is what I was meant to do in my life, and I am so excited to see what the future holds.

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It would be wonderful is she could get that album released!

As always, I want to thank Jillian for visiting, and for allowing me to use so many amazing pictures to accompany the interview.

Since I know you’ll also want to follow along with her to see what she's up to, I suggest check out her Instagram and Facebook account and give it a follow. Also be sure to visit her website often! It’s a great way to make sure you don't miss a thing she has going on.

You should also check out her Section 36 Music page. There you'll find more links, pictures, and samples of her music. It's a great way to enjoy everything Jillian has to offer all in one place.

Thanks again Jillian, and good luck in reaching your goals! 

“Throw Me a Rope" by Stephanie James (Release date May 8, 2020)

"Throw Me a Rope" is the first single off the debut album "Unbreakable" from budding singing superstar Stephanie James! 

You're going to want to hear it for yourself!

What can you expect from "Throw Me a Rope"? Here's the blurb from Stephanie herself!

Songwriters Leaf Weigel and Stephanie James are not only co-writers, but friends, past roommates, colleagues, and deep feelers. “Throw Me a Rope” was born in a painful, yet beautiful moment of synchronicity between the two. They both describe the song as representing a turning point in their personal lives. 

Weigel and James, both graduates of Berklee College of Music, moved to different parts of  Southern California around the same time. They kept in touch as their lives unfolded, bringing steep learning curves, hardships, and challenges. The first lyric of the song “treading water since I got here” pays homage to the difficulties they faced during that transition. 

Weigel describes the feeling “like being in the middle of the ocean with no reprieve. Like you're just out there, exhausted, and you don’t know if anybody can see you struggling.” They don’t recall laboring over the lyrics but say “they just came out like they were already there. I just had to get out of the way and say the truth about how I was feeling.”

There is a raw bluntness to the lyrics. The feeling of distress is not sugar coated, but there is still an element of hope. James sings, “in this ocean, I’m still hoping things ain’t always gonna be this way.” The groove and production of the song carries this same element of hope. There is a forward movement that keeps the listener waiting for the reprieve. 

James describes the pre-chorus: “Like your higher self can see the shore, and knows the hard times will pass, but you are not quite there. The universe has more lessons.” 

Weigel and James describe the chorus as the ultimate plea. Weigel says, “The line ‘take me upstairs’ and ‘put me to bed’ was inspired by the times I fell asleep in the car after a long road trip with my family. I would be fast asleep when we arrived home, but my dad would carry me up the stairs and put me to bed. I felt so cared for in that moment. I was craving that level of TLC when I wrote these lyrics.” 

The second verse speaks to resilience. James and Weigel bond over the lyrics in the second verse that say “feeling all this like I wanted.” They laugh about thriving on life’s intensity, and wanting to experience everything, knowing that includes pain. 

Weigel and James lean into life by being honest about their emotions and claiming them. “Throw Me A Rope” has a clear ‘turn’ in it. The lyrics shift from raw despair to what Weigel calls “picking yourself up by the bootstraps.” James sings of a hope that comes only from within “nothing's gonna change until I do.”

James reflects, “This song was a way for us to process our emotions together. We were going through the same things and we needed a song to pull us out. It is so meaningful to both of us. It has been therapeutic and made us closer friends.” 

You can find “Throw Me a Rope" just about everywhere you usually get your music like Spotify or Apple! So, there's no reason why you won't be able track it down…which I highly suggest you do.

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If you want to learn more about Stephanie, check out her Section 36 Music profile page. There you can find links to her full interview with Section 36 Music, her social media accounts, as well as more samples of her incredible singing.

You can also hop directly to her interview right here on Section 36 Music. That will give you an opportunity to learn more about this amazing singer.

Be sure to give “Throw Me a Rope" a listen!

“Happy Place" by Alyssa Dodge (Release date May 8, 2020)

"Happy Place" is the latest single from singing sensation Alyssa Dodge! 

And you're going to want to listen to it again and again!

You can find “Happy Place" just about everywhere you usually get your music like Spotify or Apple! So, there's no reason why you won't be able track it down…which I highly suggest you do.

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If you want to learn more about Alyssa, check out her Section 36 Music profile page. There you can find links to her full interview with Section 36 Music, her social media accounts, as well as more samples of her incredible singing.

You can also hop directly to her recent interview right here on Section 36 Music. That will give you an opportunity to learn more about this amazing singer.

Be sure to give “Happy Place" a listen!

“Places Never to Return To" by Moni Grace (Release date May 6, 2020)

"Places Never to Return To" is the latest album from talented artist Moni Grace! 

And I know you want it!

You can find “Places Never to Return To" just about everywhere you usually get your music! Whether that's Spotify, apple, or anywhere else!  So, there's no reason why you won't be able track it down…which I highly suggest you do.

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If you want to learn more about Moni, check out her Section 36 Music profile page. There you can find links to her full interview with Section 36 Music, her social media accounts, as well as more samples of her incredible singing.

You can also hop directly to her recent interview right here on Section 36 Music. That will give you an opportunity to learn more about this amazing singer.

Be sure to give “Places Never to Return To" a listen!

Maya La Maya Visits Section 36!

Section 36 Music has another visitor! Maya La Maya is a talented singer, and I was thrilled when she agreed to visit with us and discuss her releases, her musical accomplishments and more. I’m sure you’ll enjoy everything she has to say.

So, let's see what happens when Maya La Maya visits Section 36!

I enjoyed your album “Pain, Panic, & Perfection”. What can you tell me about it?

I’m so glad you liked the album! This album took me three years to finish, and showcases five years of my musical growth. The name Pain, Panic, and Perfection comes from my love of alliteration, because first and foremost I will always be a songwriter. But the album describes my first few years at Berklee and some of the hardships I had to go through, how I overcame those obstacles and how they ultimately made me stronger. I had a rough relationship that caused me a lot of self-doubt and trust issues, I came face to face with a lot of discrimination (I am a bisexual, bilingual latine/hispanic woman, it was gonna happen), and my struggle with choosing music as a career path (even though my family supports me, they sometimes project doubts in my success which definitely causes me some pain). But the album is also about how I overcame these, hence “perfection”. I’m a very strong advocate for LGBTQ+, POC, and immigrant rights (my mother immigrated here from Spain around 27 years ago). The album is rooted in collaboration as well. I have over 30 people on this album, never once had the same band in a session, and it even has different producers on some songs. This was probably the reason it took 3 years to do, but I’m glad I did it, because I was able to share my music with some absolutely incredible musicians who truly turned it into something special. 

That was released on the heels of your single with Danny Corbo, “Know You”. What was that like to put together?

Danny Corbo is a friend and incredible musician/songwriter. It was really fun writing Know You with him. I remember us being in the practice room at Berklee and he came up with this guitar part and I looked at him like OMG and immediately started singing, and Know You is what came out! The single was released at the same time as my music video! The video was super fun to make, we used a bunch of locations around Boston, and the actors in the production did amazingly. Fun fact: it was the first time I had ever truly danced after my knee injury which took place a few months before in a Hip-Hop dance class. All choreo was done by my roommate at the time and best friend, Zinzi Carolissen (the curly haired dancer in the video), shot by Peter Xiong. We all came together to make something memorable and I think we accomplished that. 

You’re a student at Berklee College of Music. What’s the most important thing that experience has done for your career?

I think that being a student at Berklee College of Music comes with a lot of privileges, one of them being the amazing musicians that you meet. The connections I’ve made here have been instrumental in shaping my career. If it weren’t for Berklee, I would not be signed to Creative Code Music and Management, nor have had the means to even create my music as professionally as I did. My professors have become my colleagues, and my peers have become my friends. Berklee is truly community driven, and having their name attached to your bio opens a lot of doors for you in the music industry. Internships, job opportunities, and gigs have all been gotten using the Berklee name on your resume. I truly enjoyed my time there. 

What is your favorite part about performing in front of an audience?

Photo By Kelly Scky

When I perform, I always get nervous speaking in between songs because it’s what’s expected and I never find the right thing to say, but when I’m in the song and I just look out into the audience and lock eyes with one person, and I see that what I’m singing is resonating with them and they’re singing with me, I get chills. When any person comes up to me after the show and says “Where can I find this song, I need to feel this way again” it brings me profound joy that I didn’t know I could feel. And that only comes from speaking with people. I’m a huge people person, I need people to survive. This quarantine is doing a bit of a number on me, but the only way I’m staying sane is by writing music in the hopes of one day soon having that connection again with someone who says “yes, I feel the same way” or “your song healed me”. That’s all I ever want out of my music, is for it to sync with other people’s lives. 

Who/what would you consider to be your biggest musical influences?

Photo by Annie Elise

My biggest influences have to be Stevie Wonder, Michael Jackson, Nora Jones, Chicago, Billy Joel, and Alicia Keys. I grew up listening to my dads records, always 80s and always very piano based. I’d also have to say that one of my other influences is Claude Debussy, because I was born to two classical pianists and grew up being trained to be just that. I started going in a different direction after I was 11 and wrote my first song. 

Right now, what would you say is your biggest career challenge?

At the very moment my biggest career challenge is not being able to perform in front of a live audience because this pandemic has definitely narrowed my possibilities for income, but I’m currently working on a solution by starting my own live-streaming concert series dedicated to helping musicians generate revenue. We’re called TribeLive (you can find us on instagram @tribelivemusic) and our first concert will be held on the 25th of this month, Saturday at 7pm! 

What are your immediate career goals?

My immediate career goals are to release my upcoming single called Don’t Say It Back (release date June 6!), continue to develop a community with TribeLive, and keep afloat until it’s safe to go outside! I truly miss being able to sit outside with the hustle and bustle of the city and just write a song on my ukulele. Now that I’m in the countryside (staying with my mother in Maine) it’s a bit eerie not hearing the rumble of the T or the argument someone is having a few doors down.

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I can’t wait for that single to be released!

As always, I want to thank Maya for visiting, and for allowing me to use so many fantastic pictures to accompany the interview.

I highly recommend you check her out on Spotify so you can hear her wonderful music firsthand! 

Since I know you’ll also want to follow along with her to see what she's up to, I suggest check out her Instagram account and give it a follow. It’s a great way to make sure you don't miss a thing she has going on.

You should also check out her Section 36 Music page. There you'll find more links, pictures, and samples of her music. It's a great way to enjoy everything Maya has to offer all in one place.

Thanks again Maya La Maya, and good luck in reaching your goals! 

“Wreck It" by Lauren Lizabeth (Release date May 1, 2020)!

If you're anything like me, you've been waiting for the next release from singing superstar Lauren Lizabeth. Well, wait no longer..."Wreck It" is here! 

You won't want to miss this, so be sure to check it out any way you can!

What can you expect, besides awesomeness? Well, here's the blurb:

Lauren Lizabeth’s newest single, “Wreck It” is a soulful scorcher about the highs and lows of an off and on again relationship. “It was bittersweet writing this because it forced me to come to terms with the inevitable end. With every line I wrote, it helped me realize that sometimes you can love someone so deeply, but ultimately they aren’t the person you’re meant to be with,” says Lauren. “I wanted to capture the love I felt for the relationship, but also the pain of having to let it go.” 

You can find “Wreck It" just about everywhere you usually get your music, whether it's apple, amazon, spotify, or iTunes. So, there's no reason why you won't be able track it down…which I highly suggest you do. Really. Now.

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If you want to learn more about Lauren, check out her Section 36 Music profile page. There you can find links to her full interview with Section 36 Music, her social media accounts, as well as more samples of her incredible singing.

You can also hop directly to her recent interview right here on Section 36 Music. That will give you an opportunity to learn more about this amazing singer.

Be sure to give “Wreck It" a listen!