“The music business is very complex and intricate. It’s a lot of hard work, and you have to patient to make it. Being an indie artist is the hardest, because you have to be the writer, singer, manager, and marketer all at once, so it could be a disadvantage if you’re not good at multi-tasking. The plus side is that you are in total control of what happens, and yes, you’ll make 100 mistakes in the beginning, but I find that what helps me overcome my failures is taking a day or two off, looking through the failure to find a silver lining, and that way I’m able to accept and appreciate it without letting it kill my ambition.” -@karen_monie
Listen to the interview: http://www.blogtalkradio.com/avaliveradio/2015/09/10/episode-256-ava-live-radio-behind-the-music-with-jacqueline-jax
GETTING TO KNOW KAREN MONIE
by Jacqueline Jax host of A.V.A Live Radio
The future of her music…
Music is who I am, it’s my voice, and being able to share it is the best way to connect with people and for them to get to know me. So you’ll have to listen to all my tunes to get the full picture because each song represents a key aspect of my person, and through my lyrics you’ll discover the 7 things in life that are important to me: God, love, freedom (in all aspects), honesty, humility, peace, and creativity. As far as marketing goes, When you’re an indie artist, you have to wear all the shoes, you know, so I learned how to market and promote, and how equally important social media, live performances and interacting with the fans are. I hope to one day have a team that is dedicated to the marketing side of things, because i’m like a fish out of water playing that role *laughs*
I am most afraid of…
not finishing my album and not being in touch with my feelings. Over the years, things have happened that have made me build this emotional wall to protect myself from getting hurt, and It’s ironic because, as a musician, I’m able to dig deep down and pull out these deep thoughts and feelings, but in real life they’re tucked far away from reach. I didn’t realize this until someone close to me mentioned it, and it hit me hard, because in my head I have feelings and emotions, but I didn’t realize I had to vocalize them for people to know that I was human and felt things.
My personal definition of success is…
Doing this. I had so many projects I wanted to come true, but they kept failing, so for me having released a song, and getting known for it IS a huge success to me. Like they say, you’ll get many no’s before you get your first yes, and all those other projects were big no’s to me, and music was my yes.
16. My over all goal for my life & career is…
to be involved in the music and art industry as much as possible. I have so many projects in mind that I feel very strongly about, and even if they may not hit success, the last thing I want to do is regret when I’m old and weak, and wonder “what if i tried?” So while I’m young and able, I’ll try every dream I have.
3 ways of achieving my goals…
1) Meeting new people. You learn and grow a tremendous lot when you meet people, and sometimes they have answers to the most challenging questions you’ve been trying to answer
2) Trying new things. New challenges unlock abilities and things about you that you didn’t know before, including thoughts and emotions that are channelled to your creative side. I tried bootcamp, kickboxing, and acting (which I love), and they’ve shown me how strong I am, and likeable too, which is good as a musician.
3) Facing your fears. It’s the worst feeling ever, but when you do, you realize how is wasn’t terrible and you feel so much better, lighter, and happier. Negative things like fear, anger and worry hold you back, so you have to resolve and get rid of them to grow and move on.
In the beginning…
I started writing when I was about 8 and then I joined the choir at my secondary school, which is middle school here, and when I went to high school I picked up the guitar, did some more writing and choir singing, and then I finally joined the local music scene in Ottawa when I felt like I had written enough, and eventually I got to record my first tune, more for the experience at first until I saw how awesome the final product was. For me, it was a way to express myself without fear of being judged or misunderstood, so it’s a very important aspect of my voice and opinion of things.
What are you waiting for (make you mine)…
“Make you mine” is your boy-next-door story. It’s about the dilemma that we sometimes face, trying to convey a message to someone special without being direct, perhaps because of fear of the response one will get, so we see this dilemma through a girl who has her eyes on this guy, but he doesn’t seem to notice her, and the song is her way of telling him she exists and would like to be his center of attention.
This song in particular was a bit different from others I’ve written because normally I’ll sit down in a quiet place and paint a scenario in my head to describe and write about, but the story for this song took shape as I wrote it out, it was like putting together puzzle pieces to get the scenario. The initial plan was for me to sound sexy and seductive in a way but my voice kept coming off as too sweet, and it was a bit frustrating because what woman doesn’t want to be sexy, you know, so we kept trying different ways to get my sexy side out, but it just never came so we had to accept my sweetness and work with it. *laughs*
Living in St. Johns…
I just moved from Ottawa, which in Canada’s capital city, to St. Johns, Newfoundland which is just off the Atlantic ocean, so it’s a bit early to compare, but I’m in love with Ottawa’s music scene. I mean, every day of the week you’ll find a different genre of music depending where you go. From reggae, funk, country, rock, folk, jazz etc, every style is present with different popularity levels. But also, I find many of the young artists are being really organic and experimental in their approach to creating music, where it’s more about the spirituality and realness in the creating than the delivery or performance. I hear St. John’s has a strong seafaring influence in its music, and Im looking forward to exploring the music scene.
Other hobbies…
I’m a huge fan of anime, and love to draw, and write children’s stories. I look at children’s stories and characters that have become classics, and there’s this yearning to be part of that world too, so when I’m not working on music, I’m either working on my children’s book or doing something else creative.
The music business…
is very complex and intricate. It’s a lot of hard work, and you have to patient to make it. There are days you’ll feel like nothing great is happening, but then some days you’ll get a surprise email or message extending an opportunity to perform or be interviewed, and those days make all the other ones insignificant. Being an indie artist is the hardest, because you have to be the writer, singer, manager, and marketer all at once, so it could be a disadvantage if you’re not good at multi-tasking. The plus side is that you are in total control of what happens, and yes, you’ll make 100 mistakes in the beginning, but I find that what helps me overcome my failures is taking a day or two off, looking through the failure to find a silver lining, and that way I’m able to accept and appreciate it without letting it kill my ambition.
Social Media…
I think the biggest thing about social media is that you have to be involved just enough to make yourself known, and I like how you can reach people all around the world. I used to be uncomfortable and uninterested in sharing things about me for various reasons. It felt too revealing, and I felt like I didn’t have the right look for the social media to be a part of it. So I had to overcome that fear of putting myself out there, and music helped me do that because it has to do with you being transparent and visible to the whole world.
I would love to have 5 minutes alone with…
Maya Angelou. I’ve always felt like my words needed to be big and complex for people to listen, but Maya’s impact on people is proof that it’s not about impressing with big words that will get you heard, but about simplicity, heart, relating and understanding.
Music trends…
It’s important to feel right with every decision you take, and focus on completing the product first, before finding a name or term for it, because personally, focusing on being “pop” enough or trendy creates a creative block for me. So I usually first focus on the creative aspect of the record, and then once we have the foundation and structure down, we break it apart and start to add and change bits and pieces, and work on the marketing aspect.
Social Media:
Website: http://karenmonie.com/
Instagram: https://instagram.com/karenmoniemusic/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/karen_monie
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Karen-Monie/151612705049121?ref=hl
Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC0L3tRp-VxnuoB9m_SloQoA
Itunes: https://itunes.apple.com/np/album/what-are-you-waiting-for-make/id1025050784?i=1025052556&app=itunes&ign-mpt=uo%3D4
Soundcloud: https://soundcloud.com/karen-monie-1/karen-monie-make-you-minenew-mix3