Photo courtesy of Robert Georgeff

I came from a very athletic family on my mom’s side. My grandpa played in the Canadian Football League and my uncle played professional hockey. My mom was also a natural athlete and I was too; I did inherit that from them. When I was in elementary school, I would win the city championships for track and field every year. I won the athletic award at my graduation. Even with all that athletic ability, music has always been my true passion. I grew up loving Michael Jackson and I would dance like him, wear one glove and I even had the red “Thriller” jacket. My dad was a drummer - not a professional one - but he was a good player.

My dad got me my first real drum kit for Christmas when I was 8 years old but his kits were always around before that. When I got good enough to play along to songs, I would put headphones on and play to Led Zeppelin, Jimi Hendrix and eventually Nirvana and Rage. I was never into super technical music. I always loved catchy songs or music with a certain swagger and attitude.

Music has always been in the forefront of my thoughts. From a young age I was drawn to musicians for their fashion and attitudes. I got obsessed with Beastie Boys when I was young and they still have a huge influence on my style; their music never gets old to me. It always puts me in a good mood.

I guess what I’m trying to say is there was a lot of push for me to become an athlete, and until I won my first Juno with my band July Talk, I’m pretty sure my whole family thought I was wasting my time and messing up my life. But music has always been in me and it’s definitely my passion.

I am more hungry than ever to make music. I sometimes have to stop myself from working on songs because it’s honestly all I want to do other than hang out with my daughter. I love it!!!!