Taryn Scali – Alive

By starrymag | December 30, 2020

By: Jamie Steinberg

 

 

Q) How would you describe your sound? 

A) I would describe my sound as soulful pop dance music.

 

Q) Who are some of your musical influences? 

A) There are so many! I love all kinds of music from old school funk to R&B to Reggae to Electronic. My influences range from Prince to Jamiroquai.

 

Q) Talk about the story behind your new song “Alive.”  

A) I actually wrote the song a few years back with my friend Mauli B and it’s just the story of my struggles as a music artist and everyday life.  When you’re working towards a dream or a goal, sometimes it feels like it will take forever to achieve it.  Everyday can feel like it’s on repeat and that nothing is changing or happening and even though things are not going the way you planned at the moment, at least we can stop and celebrate the fact we are still alive! Being alive means there is another day to give it a shot! A lot of people think I wrote it for the pandemic and, although I wrote it previously, I feel like it’s a very timely message for our current situation.  Let’s celebrate the fact that we are alive because as long as we are alive, we can work towards changing our circumstances for the better and for others.

 

Q) What do you think it is about the song that fans connect to?  

A) I think everyone has unique challenging circumstances to deal with at one point or another and even though those issues may be individualized, the resulting feelings of disappointment, boredom, longing, frustration and sadness is felt by all and the song brings hope and celebration to those difficult times.

 

Q) How does the video for the track play into the message behind it?  

A) I had planned in November 2019 to shoot a music video in March 2020 and due to the pandemic, I couldn’t do that so I had to find a way to overcome that obstacle.  I decided to reach out to fans and ask them to send in videos of them dancing and celebrating life from wherever and with whomever they were quarantined with and that’s what they did.  Videos were sent to us from Bali to Afghanistan.  It was so amazing to see people celebrating life when they didn’t feel like it due to the depressing nature of the pandemic because some of those people in the video were going really serious challenges.  It was made me cry with joy to see that! I am truly grateful for everyone that participated and I am glad that it turned out to be a video with the fans because the music is for all of us to share in any way!

 

Q) What is your song writing process? Do you need music before you can create lyrics? 

A) I write lyrics and melodies so my phone’s voice notes is my best friend! Sometimes music is built around the lyrics and melody ideas and sometimes the lyrics and melodies are written to already made music tracks. I work both ways. “Alive” was written to a track a producer created for my project.

 

Q) How much of hand do you have in the production of your music? 

A) As I mentioned before, I am really a lyrics and melody person but I feel like I know what sounds good for my style so I do ask for things to be adjusted from time to time when I am sent a track.  However, when a producer is building a track for a melody/lyric I have created then I am more hands on in the production process because we are building the track from scratch around the idea.

 

Q) Will there be a full album or EP coming in the near future? 

A) Yes!! My timeline was greatly impacted by the events of this year but I have just finished a music video for my second single and will be on track to release four more after that.  I am not exactly sure of the date of the full EP at this point.

 

Q) With concerts on pause, will you be doing any live streaming performances? 

A) That is definitely in the works.

 

Q) Where are some of your favorite places to perform and what makes those locations so significant to you?  

A) I enjoy performing at large and small venues, but I do appreciate the smaller venues in that it provides an opportunity to connect with people in a more intimate way being closer together.

 

Q) Who would you most like to collaborate with on a song in the future?  

A) I would love to work with Major Lazer, Clean Bandit, The Weeknd, Calvin Harris… My, oh, my there are so many.  I absolutely LOVE collaborating! I really enjoy joining creative forces to create music magic.

 

Q) What album/band are you currently listening to and why do you dig them? 

A) I have actually going through RAC’s catalog this week and enjoying that and I’m really happy MIA has returned to the scene with her song Control and looking forward to more from her.  But really I am listening to many different artists on a weekly basis and one day you might catch me listening to Maluma or J Balvin and the next I’m listening to 80’s music and then playing out a new song from The Weeknd and the next minute listening to The Cure.  I feel like different styles of music represent an array of emotions that I am feeling or want to feel so I just go with whatever I am feeling which can even translate to Classical or Celtic music! I love it all!

 

Q) You are a part of social media. Why is that such an important way for you to connect with your fans? 

A) Social media or digital communication is the only way to connect with fans right now due to the pandemic, so it’s super important! I have to admit I love connecting in person so much more at shows and events, but I am getting better at connecting through social media.

 

Q) What would you like to say to everyone who is a fan and supporter of you and your work? 

A) I would just like to say thank you so much for the support and I hope I can continue to write songs that represent what we are all going through or have gone through and that somehow it will make a difference in your life.  Music has kept and continues to keep me alive and I am so appreciative of all the artists/musicians out there that share their heart and stories through music for us all to be a part of.  I just look forward to sharing musically in that collective energy that keeps the world turning!  I also want to say to those struggling during this time to keep your head up, better times are ahead!!