Hey My Blasttor readers, I had a phone chat recently with a Canadian up and coming musical influencers, Alissa Faratro. She called me from her home in Los Angeles to talk about her journey from High School Dreamer to Vocalist to Vocal Producer and Sound Engineer in a short period of time.
Near the end of our conversation she let me know the way the Americans work in the music business and the Canadian way is very different. We Canadians take our time and nurture artists to provide great material, while the Americans move at a much faster pace and squeeze as much creativity out in a short period of time.
Alissa’s journey began back in High school, were she was dreaming about being a singer. A dream most people have when they are young. She decided to move on to a higher education and really give this idea a shot. In the meantime she met a gentleman in line while wearing a jazz T-shirt. The conversation picked up her pace for the future, because she was talking to the Dean of Berklee College. A little while later and she would be wandering the halls and getting that great education to move forward in the music field.
Alissa’s hard work and luck paid out big when she was chosen to be a resident for the Spotify Equal Studio Residency Program that just started in 2018. There were 10,000 applicants vying for this spot and only 2 Canadians and one other were chosen. Hooray for Canada, a big win for music!
Alissa went to Los Angeles and began working with a lot of people in the industry. She has worked with many different aspects of the business, learning about as much as possible and figuring out where she would like to go. Right now she is getting a lot of studio time to work with other artists and crafting her hand at being a vocal producer. I was wondering what the difference between a vocal coach and producer was. A vocal coach teaches different methods to accentuate different techniques to develop the best vocals you naturally have. A vocal producer takes that knowledge and pushes it emotionally to give music it height of spiritual power.
Alissa would also love to get into the business side of the music and look into management ideas and resources to expand her growing proficiency. She really is into music as a business venture. This is good for all the Canadian talent out there; you may want her on your team one day.
I asked Alissa, Spotify is a huge company, how would an artist get more involved. As you know, getting your music on Spotify is not too difficult, but how do you help nurture your band and make it grow requires more effort. Alissa’s answer seemed very simple and straight forward. Simply contact them in person. These people are always looking, and if you approach them, they may take you more seriously. Start by having a virtual coffee meeting together. Alissa says she is doing this all the time. So go and schedule a meeting as soon as possible and get some advice from the industry. It can’t hurt; you may just learn something that you have not thought about yet. Unless you have a degree in Business, go talk to these people and pick their brain for a while.
The other cool thing is, some artists can even apply for up to 8 hours of studio time. I don’t know where you can book that, but I urge you artists to start the process of educating yourselves now that we have some time on our hands.
Thank You Alissa for taking time out to talk to me. I did learn something, and I hope you begin to start fulfilling your goals in the music industry. I know you will do well.
Here are a few images of Alissa Faratro: