Our house was filled with music when I was growing up. My mother was and still is a brilliant singer, my father was a jazz musician and my siblings and I all learned to play an instrument. When we were upset, my mother would sing, when we were happy, we’d play and sing together.

I was quite shy as a child and yet, I remember singing on my own in front our family and friends without any hesitation. Perhaps music and singing were my way of shining. My parents took note of my strong and beautiful singing voice before I even went to school. They would try to get me to sing as often as possible and I soon became aware of the power of my voice.

My mother could easily have made it in the music business, however, she just never got the right opportunities. For that reason, she made sure to get me a vocal coach at a very young age. The hour I spent at my singing lesson each week, became my haven, particularly during my teenage years. I realized how music can transport you into an entirely different space and take away any feelings of hurt or confusion. To this day, I am at my best when I’m singing and it’s as if though whenever I’m singing, I’m doing the right thing at precisely the right time.

Singing got me through my first heartbreak, singing helped me to grow more confident and come out of my shell a little, and singing is still the core of who I really am.

Trying Out Different Instruments and Suddenly Falling in Love With a Drum Kit

In my childhood, I tried to learn a lot of different instruments, including piano, saxophone, violin, guitar and a plethora of others. None of them really captured me, and for a long time, I was convinced my voice was to be my instrument. I was quite happy like that and never felt I was missing out on playing an instrument.

In my late teens, my friends and I formed a band and started playing small venues. It was fun and to me, that was it. I had found my calling. One night, after one of our little concerts, I decided to sit down on the drummer’s chair and picked up his drumsticks. I started imitating him, he came over and taught me some very basic beats and that’s how I instantly fell in love with drumming. While singing had always been my essence, it was as if though drumming was my heartbeat. I was captured at once and that night, my friend patiently taught me as much as he could, late into the night.

The rest is pretty much history. Naturally, I took drumming lesson straight away, bought myself a drum kit, looked up tons of drumming solos online, and completely immersed myself in various drumming beats.

My drumming friend pushed and encouraged me to take his place during one particular concert, and I jumped at the chance. Ever since then, I’ve grabbed every single drumming opportunity with both hands.

I’ve since become a good drummer and still love it as much as the very first day.

A Musician’s Life

My music career is like the thread running through my life, bringing me places and allowing me to meet lots of great people. During the day, I attend college and do some freelance writing and at night, I pursue my passion for music. I’ve got it all and I am very grateful for all of my gifts.

The internet has opened up the entire music industry and musicians are no longer dependent on labels to recognize their talent. Instead, musicians can upload their music onto the internet, build a following and release songs very easily. Youtube and social media are also great promotional tools.

If you love music like I do, you need to live and breathe it and go with the flow of your life’s melody. To me, life is like a song, sometimes happy other times sad, the instruments are all the people you encounter and all you can do is live, play and listen to the beautiful tune that is your life.