WEBVTT - Melanie Fiona 0:00:01.720 --> 0:00:04.760 R and B Money. 0:00:05.320 --> 0:00:05.880 We are. 0:00:07.440 --> 0:00:16.960 Than take Valanti. We are the authority and ladies and gentlemen, 0:00:16.960 --> 0:00:20.880 my name is Tank, I'm Valentine and this it's the 0:00:21.000 --> 0:00:27.280 Army Money Podcast, the a thort on all things R 0:00:27.320 --> 0:00:31.160 and B. Stays of this ship. 0:00:32.960 --> 0:00:37.920 Because it's probably for It's probably sh if you stay 0:00:37.960 --> 0:00:38.159 up too. 0:00:38.200 --> 0:00:42.160 Ladies. Came right up at the strip club. You're damn right, 0:00:43.240 --> 0:00:48.479 and I know it kills you. Ladies and gentlemen. Nothing 0:00:48.520 --> 0:00:52.520 but talent, beauty and grace on the pot today. Give 0:00:52.560 --> 0:00:53.400 it up, melody. 0:00:58.200 --> 0:00:58.400 Yeah. 0:00:59.720 --> 0:01:02.240 Last we've been saying we're gonna do this. 0:01:02.320 --> 0:01:03.600 Listen, I've been at your house. 0:01:05.520 --> 0:01:07.759 I just randomly walk up to her, like, how. 0:01:07.680 --> 0:01:10.039 Come you have been on the podcast? I was like, 0:01:10.040 --> 0:01:10.440 we're coming. 0:01:10.520 --> 0:01:14.920 You have the nigga house man chilling, drinking, kids playing. 0:01:15.040 --> 0:01:21.399 I'm like, I agree, it's harder to get like our 0:01:21.480 --> 0:01:23.000 personal friends on the podcast. 0:01:23.000 --> 0:01:25.160 What is that about? I don't I don't know, I 0:01:25.160 --> 0:01:26.880 don't know you know what I think, But I think 0:01:26.920 --> 0:01:27.880 I know you were waiting. 0:01:27.959 --> 0:01:28.919 It was I was waiting. 0:01:29.520 --> 0:01:33.160 You wanted to connect it to to some cool ship. 0:01:33.720 --> 0:01:35.039 You know what. Let me, let me, let me, let 0:01:35.080 --> 0:01:38.160 me roll out. Come on, because because I give out 0:01:38.200 --> 0:01:39.440 because I want to. I want to roll. 0:01:39.720 --> 0:01:41.640 We don't usually follow no rules, but he gonna go 0:01:41.640 --> 0:01:42.080 ahead and get it. 0:01:42.160 --> 0:01:44.320 No, no, no, because because because this is this is the 0:01:44.360 --> 0:01:47.520 beginning of the pod. They're tuned in right now, right now, 0:01:47.840 --> 0:01:49.600 right now, right now. You know what I'm saying. If 0:01:49.600 --> 0:01:51.559 they don't stay on for the next hour and a half, 0:01:51.560 --> 0:01:56.120 two hours, we got them right now. Okay, singles Say 0:01:56.200 --> 0:01:57.560 Yes and I Choose. 0:01:57.320 --> 0:01:59.840 You Yes new singles. 0:02:00.320 --> 0:02:02.160 Just give me a little bit about those two records. 0:02:02.120 --> 0:02:06.400 Oh Say Yes is like my artful offering. It is 0:02:06.440 --> 0:02:10.680 a completely live song produced by Dre Harris ThunderCats playing bass, 0:02:10.840 --> 0:02:17.080 Charlie Barrell guitar, Chris Dave on drums. Sir Co wrote 0:02:17.080 --> 0:02:20.520 this song singing backgrounds. I mean this is like I 0:02:20.560 --> 0:02:23.800 feel music lovers like gonna be their favorite song, Like 0:02:23.800 --> 0:02:26.400 they just can appreciate what it is. And the truth 0:02:26.440 --> 0:02:28.560 is the song is a seven minute song, but what 0:02:28.600 --> 0:02:32.160 we released is only four minutes. Oh yeah, we want. 0:02:32.240 --> 0:02:34.160 I wanted to give. First of all, the song is 0:02:34.280 --> 0:02:37.880 about saying yes to love. It's about stepping over fear. 0:02:38.400 --> 0:02:41.400 It's about being really vulnerable, hard in hand. But the 0:02:41.440 --> 0:02:43.480 mood and the energy of the vibe because it was 0:02:43.520 --> 0:02:46.760 a live session. It's just so sexy that it was like, 0:02:47.040 --> 0:02:49.280 you want to you want to do something in seven minutes, 0:02:50.080 --> 0:02:53.440 keep going going, So whatever anybody wants to do in 0:02:53.480 --> 0:02:55.519 seven minutes when they listen to say yes, get it done. 0:02:56.560 --> 0:03:06.360 I love that you count listen, you can Okay, you 0:03:06.440 --> 0:03:10.000 got to say yes in seven minutes, So I really 0:03:10.040 --> 0:03:12.360 love say yes. It's such a vibe. It's such a 0:03:12.440 --> 0:03:16.480 just a beautiful, I think, vulnerable story. And I wrote 0:03:16.520 --> 0:03:17.960 it about, you know, being in the space of when 0:03:18.000 --> 0:03:20.480 I first started dating my husband and we were we 0:03:20.480 --> 0:03:23.120 were doing this dance of we love each other, but 0:03:23.160 --> 0:03:25.280 we're scared, we're both out of relationships and what do 0:03:25.280 --> 0:03:26.919 we want to do and so we have to say yes. 0:03:26.919 --> 0:03:29.000 And so I also feel like it's a manifestation song 0:03:29.480 --> 0:03:32.120 because we had to get to our life by saying 0:03:32.160 --> 0:03:35.240 yes that we are now and then I choose you 0:03:35.640 --> 0:03:39.640 is just fun. It's just that it's for the lovers. Again. 0:03:39.760 --> 0:03:42.320 I wanted to make a song that people could play 0:03:42.320 --> 0:03:45.000 at their weddings. But it's like Lover's Rock Waiting in 0:03:45.040 --> 0:03:48.280 Vain by Bob Marley vibe and it's about the empowerment 0:03:48.320 --> 0:03:50.280 of choice and what it is and what it means 0:03:50.320 --> 0:03:55.080 to choose someone you know, to make the choice, to 0:03:55.200 --> 0:03:57.880 choose love, to choose yourself, to choose to show up 0:03:57.880 --> 0:04:01.200 how you need to in that relationship through all the 0:04:01.480 --> 0:04:06.000 whatever it is. So you know, it's like, I choose 0:04:06.040 --> 0:04:08.600 you to me is just such a powerful statement every 0:04:08.680 --> 0:04:10.760 time I've ever heard that. When I think about it. 0:04:10.840 --> 0:04:13.040 Ryan Leslie wrote a song called I Choose You, and 0:04:13.080 --> 0:04:14.520 it was always one of my favorite things, and I 0:04:14.560 --> 0:04:17.160 actually said it in my wedding vows. So I turned 0:04:17.160 --> 0:04:20.200 it into a song and it's something that people could 0:04:20.279 --> 0:04:23.040 dance to and rock to and smoke to or whatever. 0:04:23.080 --> 0:04:24.279 It's just a vibe. 0:04:24.480 --> 0:04:27.159 Just look at you out here making real life music memory. Yes, 0:04:28.560 --> 0:04:29.200 that's what it should be. 0:04:29.240 --> 0:04:30.440 But that's what it should be. But you know what 0:04:30.480 --> 0:04:32.960 the thing is is that I think that it would 0:04:32.960 --> 0:04:35.200 be a travesty if I just came out after all 0:04:35.200 --> 0:04:37.360 this time, not putting on music and was singing about 0:04:37.400 --> 0:04:40.240 some shit that people were like, that's not her life. 0:04:40.640 --> 0:04:43.560 People know my life, you know, people have seen, they've asked, 0:04:43.560 --> 0:04:46.560 they've wondered, they've supported me through different these different iterations 0:04:46.560 --> 0:04:49.599 of myself from podcasting to motherhood, to being a woman, 0:04:49.720 --> 0:04:52.240 to transitioning into motherhood, all the things, like people have 0:04:52.279 --> 0:04:54.080 been with me on that I'm now a wife, I'm 0:04:54.360 --> 0:04:57.159 a business woman, I'm an entrepreneur and still an artist 0:04:57.160 --> 0:05:00.599 and a musician. So I think it's only honest for 0:05:00.680 --> 0:05:05.039 people to get insight, true authentic insight into the feelings 0:05:05.040 --> 0:05:08.760 and the experiences that have been happening all this time. 0:05:09.080 --> 0:05:12.640 And I think there's a there is an entertainment part 0:05:12.680 --> 0:05:16.359 of what this is, but I think the movie of 0:05:16.400 --> 0:05:19.360 it all is your life, you know what I mean, 0:05:19.520 --> 0:05:22.320 the sitcom of it all, it is your life, which, ultimately, 0:05:22.800 --> 0:05:24.680 if we think about the things that have entertained us 0:05:24.680 --> 0:05:27.120 the most, it it's always been family based for us. 0:05:27.440 --> 0:05:30.280 It always been the Huxables, It's always been Fresh Prince 0:05:30.320 --> 0:05:33.320 of bel Air, It's always been Martin, It's always where 0:05:33.320 --> 0:05:34.360 It's like, it's life. 0:05:34.680 --> 0:05:36.840 It's life, you know what I mean. See Like, I'm 0:05:36.880 --> 0:05:39.040 also just in a very positive space in my life, 0:05:39.520 --> 0:05:44.039 and love is to me just the ultimate connector. It 0:05:44.160 --> 0:05:47.400 is the ultimate energy, It's the ultimate feeling, and so 0:05:47.680 --> 0:05:50.719 I just want to inject more of that into the 0:05:50.720 --> 0:05:53.719 world right now, you know, Like that's that I feel. 0:05:53.720 --> 0:05:56.159 I have a responsibility to do and I feel like 0:05:56.160 --> 0:05:58.560 I've done that in different ways with other songs. They've 0:05:58.560 --> 0:06:02.360 been heartbreak songs or you know, like really like pleading ballads, 0:06:02.960 --> 0:06:05.599 and that helps people understand love in a different way. 0:06:05.800 --> 0:06:08.839 But this project and these songs particularly, I really wanted 0:06:08.880 --> 0:06:12.960 to inject love and high vibration and have people smile 0:06:13.040 --> 0:06:15.000 when they hear it and send it to people when 0:06:15.000 --> 0:06:19.400 they hear it. So that's sound bath Oh yeah, okay, 0:06:19.720 --> 0:06:20.560 we be sound bathing. 0:06:21.800 --> 0:06:23.960 One time they invited me to the sound Bad. 0:06:25.480 --> 0:06:28.560 That's actually good. You know you know what people say 0:06:28.560 --> 0:06:30.960 that like no, because I'm telling you, when I first started. 0:06:32.120 --> 0:06:34.800 They left me though everybody left. 0:06:35.920 --> 0:06:37.880 They're respecting, they're respecting the grounding. 0:06:38.000 --> 0:06:41.479 They said, you know what cooked, because you know what. 0:06:41.320 --> 0:06:45.279 The thing is is that that's how you wake up 0:06:45.320 --> 0:06:50.440 on a place. But you know what, there is something 0:06:50.480 --> 0:06:53.359 really beautiful about that because your body is just telling 0:06:53.360 --> 0:06:56.080 you like you've actually released and relaxed. 0:06:56.680 --> 0:06:57.120 I don't. 0:06:58.880 --> 0:07:03.760 Canepa listen if we stop talking right now for five minutes. 0:07:04.440 --> 0:07:09.279 You know, I'm not narcalyptic, but I get comfortable, like 0:07:09.320 --> 0:07:11.480 I'm I'm I live in comfort. 0:07:11.560 --> 0:07:13.320 Don't go to the movies, movies. 0:07:13.440 --> 0:07:15.679 Do you dream Gone? Do you dream? 0:07:15.800 --> 0:07:19.040 Yeah? Okay, he goes straight to R E. M Fast. 0:07:19.680 --> 0:07:22.120 I love He's gone. You don't got to worry about 0:07:22.120 --> 0:07:25.520 it about melon. 0:07:26.720 --> 0:07:28.480 I'm from the hood. I think everybody that do sh 0:07:28.680 --> 0:07:31.760 is a dophie. I don't funk with nothing. 0:07:32.840 --> 0:07:33.600 I'm like, you do what? 0:07:33.640 --> 0:07:34.200 Oh nigga? You? 0:07:35.400 --> 0:07:37.960 Oh my god? No, I mean I love that for you. 0:07:38.040 --> 0:07:41.840 Sleeping is It's really tough for a lot of people. Yes, yeah, 0:07:41.880 --> 0:07:44.600 so now it is absolutely again. Today is is today? 0:07:44.640 --> 0:07:46.440 The release date of No. 0:07:46.480 --> 0:07:49.440 The two songs are already out. Okay, two songs are out, Yes, 0:07:49.560 --> 0:07:51.680 but there are two songs ahead of a six song 0:07:51.720 --> 0:07:53.440 EP that's coming out at the top of the year, 0:07:54.040 --> 0:07:56.840 Beautiful Yes. And the AP is also called say Yes. 0:07:58.160 --> 0:08:02.280 I think like I mean, and we've had this conversation before. 0:08:02.800 --> 0:08:08.280 I think, like what you do, how you articulate it, 0:08:08.400 --> 0:08:12.200 like the energy of it all is is so needed. 0:08:12.760 --> 0:08:17.040 And I say this a lot because I got this 0:08:17.040 --> 0:08:20.720 from from one of one of my friends, Jason. He 0:08:20.840 --> 0:08:24.760 was just like, when when the really talented people, when 0:08:24.800 --> 0:08:30.640 the really great and amazing people take breaks, that's that's 0:08:30.680 --> 0:08:36.120 when the imbalance happens. And for the people for the 0:08:36.160 --> 0:08:39.400 young people who are growing up with these gifts and 0:08:39.480 --> 0:08:43.280 these talents and need something or someone to hang on to, 0:08:44.320 --> 0:08:48.560 someone to help inspire and guide their way. When we're 0:08:48.640 --> 0:08:53.160 not present, they fall victim to the other side. And 0:08:53.679 --> 0:08:57.040 nothing wrong with whatever that is over there. I respect it. 0:08:57.080 --> 0:08:59.120 You know, whatever you gotta do to get off the 0:08:59.120 --> 0:09:01.840 shelf and get out the good or live whatever dream 0:09:01.840 --> 0:09:04.240 you're trying to live, I respect it. But there's something 0:09:04.600 --> 0:09:07.600 about our calling that is different to people who are 0:09:07.720 --> 0:09:12.280 like us. And just hearing you talk knowing your talent, 0:09:12.960 --> 0:09:15.320 you know what I mean, Like, there's a there's a 0:09:15.360 --> 0:09:20.280 fucking difference like your your your vibration and your energy 0:09:20.360 --> 0:09:26.440 is connected to something so amazing that we just we 0:09:26.679 --> 0:09:29.199 just don't need no Melanie Fiona breaks. 0:09:30.520 --> 0:09:34.079 Melanie Fiona needed some breaks. 0:09:34.120 --> 0:09:38.360 And I respect it and I respect it on you know. 0:09:38.320 --> 0:09:40.760 What it is is that I think and I appreciate 0:09:40.840 --> 0:09:43.120 you for those kind words, Thank you so much, because 0:09:43.160 --> 0:09:49.280 I feel that in order for me to truly live 0:09:49.440 --> 0:09:53.760 in my greatest purpose, I needed to protect myself and 0:09:53.800 --> 0:09:57.840 I needed to refocus, and I needed to ask myself 0:09:57.880 --> 0:10:00.880 what do I want my life to look like? And 0:10:00.920 --> 0:10:03.360 I think that that's something that as artists we don't 0:10:03.360 --> 0:10:06.120 sometimes give ourselves permission to do because we're so focused 0:10:06.120 --> 0:10:09.080 on making a living, so we forget that like our 0:10:09.200 --> 0:10:12.800 life is actually the thing. Our life's purpose and our 0:10:12.840 --> 0:10:16.680 life's work is to take our whole life. So sometimes 0:10:16.720 --> 0:10:19.120 we take time. And I've been saying this a lot 0:10:19.200 --> 0:10:21.600 of people because like i've been now that I'm back 0:10:21.640 --> 0:10:24.000 in like the promo run circle, a lot of artists 0:10:24.040 --> 0:10:26.120 are coming to me, like new artists, younger artists, and 0:10:26.120 --> 0:10:28.600 they're like, so happy you're back putting out music and 0:10:28.720 --> 0:10:30.360 you know, and I'll be like, how are things going 0:10:30.360 --> 0:10:32.320 for you? And they're like, yeah, you know, I just 0:10:32.360 --> 0:10:33.880 I'm trying to find I got to work on this 0:10:33.920 --> 0:10:35.920 next project. And I'll say, you know, I was like, 0:10:36.160 --> 0:10:38.800 take you time. It's yours to take, you know, it's 0:10:38.840 --> 0:10:40.920 yours to take. And too often we just feel like 0:10:40.920 --> 0:10:44.880 we're on this demand of time and if we're not 0:10:44.920 --> 0:10:47.000 in it, then we're out of it. And it's like 0:10:48.040 --> 0:10:50.600 there's a I think for me, and I'll speak for myself, 0:10:51.280 --> 0:10:55.160 it's that I've always felt timeless. I've never felt trendy 0:10:55.760 --> 0:10:59.360 or current or like you know, too old or too young. 0:11:00.320 --> 0:11:02.480 My spirit has always felt like I've always just been 0:11:02.480 --> 0:11:04.440 in my right time, and just as long as I'm 0:11:04.480 --> 0:11:06.079 being true to who I am and what I want 0:11:06.120 --> 0:11:09.200 to do, then there'll always be a place for it, 0:11:09.520 --> 0:11:13.400 you know. And I think the expectations of starting and 0:11:13.520 --> 0:11:18.400 having a really strong foundation, you know, having a success 0:11:18.640 --> 0:11:21.520 as far as what it is, numbers wise or accolades, 0:11:21.920 --> 0:11:24.040 and I've experienced that and I recognized that that's a 0:11:24.040 --> 0:11:27.640 blessing as well, Like it's also afforded me the choice 0:11:28.040 --> 0:11:29.959 to decide how I want to shape my life. 0:11:30.200 --> 0:11:30.400 You know. 0:11:30.559 --> 0:11:33.680 So maybe if I didn't achieve some of the things 0:11:33.679 --> 0:11:35.600 that I had, I might still be like I gotta, 0:11:35.800 --> 0:11:38.240 I gotta. But when I got there and I realized 0:11:38.280 --> 0:11:41.000 there was more to my well being and more that 0:11:41.080 --> 0:11:43.840 I had to offer than I had to really ask myself, 0:11:43.840 --> 0:11:45.160 like what do I want my life to look like? 0:11:45.200 --> 0:11:45.400 You know? 0:11:45.480 --> 0:11:49.240 So I won't be taking any more breaks as. 0:11:49.120 --> 0:11:53.640 Far as take your time just the tickets. I just 0:11:53.880 --> 0:11:56.520 know the people are watching it, you know what. 0:11:56.640 --> 0:11:58.439 And that's why I wanted to put out two singles 0:11:58.480 --> 0:12:01.280 out the gate, because it had been a while and 0:12:01.360 --> 0:12:03.920 I wanted to give you know, just not just And 0:12:03.920 --> 0:12:06.040 that's the beautiful thing about music and just the landscape 0:12:06.040 --> 0:12:08.480 of music right now, like there's no rules and I'm 0:12:08.480 --> 0:12:14.440 independent and I can and I can do that. You know, 0:12:14.559 --> 0:12:19.320 so so of your company love Link Link, Love Link Music. 0:12:19.400 --> 0:12:25.439 It's my my children's middle names, Hi Love and Cameron Lincoln. 0:12:25.520 --> 0:12:26.760 So love Link music. 0:12:27.280 --> 0:12:30.280 That sounds like that sounds like a piece of jewelry 0:12:30.679 --> 0:12:32.199 for sure. That is it. 0:12:32.320 --> 0:12:33.760 Do you know what? 0:12:33.880 --> 0:12:38.680 You better manifest it because because jewelry is in my 0:12:39.520 --> 0:12:45.240 creative wheelhouse, love Link it is. It is. Oh my gosh, 0:12:45.400 --> 0:12:48.240 listen you guys. This is just I love it. I'm 0:12:48.280 --> 0:12:51.839 so happy. And by the way, like I've just been 0:12:51.880 --> 0:12:55.440 in a very powerful, energetic season of my life. So 0:12:55.520 --> 0:12:58.800 I receive everything as affirmations. I receive everything is confirmation 0:12:59.280 --> 0:13:02.199 and divine. So the fact that you're saying that when 0:13:02.240 --> 0:13:04.840 I'm in this season of already in creation and ideation 0:13:04.920 --> 0:13:10.560 of that is just like yeah, yeah, here we are. 0:13:10.600 --> 0:13:12.520 We are Yeah, so. 0:13:14.720 --> 0:13:20.439 Oh we get comfortable, Hannah, let me adjust. 0:13:18.679 --> 0:13:28.360 Okay, when did when did someone say or when did 0:13:28.400 --> 0:13:32.600 you realize that you had something different? 0:13:33.280 --> 0:13:39.680 Mm hmmm. I think I realized it when I was 0:13:39.679 --> 0:13:40.360 four years old. 0:13:41.240 --> 0:13:45.120 You realized it when you were for explain that. 0:13:45.320 --> 0:13:47.280 So when I said, they asked me what I wanted 0:13:47.320 --> 0:13:49.040 to be when I grew up, I said I wanted 0:13:49.080 --> 0:13:53.640 to be a singing nurse. And I have carried that 0:13:54.280 --> 0:13:58.080 very cute title for the majority of my life, thinking 0:13:58.120 --> 0:14:01.600 what a cute idea. And it was only until I 0:14:01.640 --> 0:14:05.040 really started to recognize how I was impacting people through 0:14:05.080 --> 0:14:08.760 healing when I was putting out music, that I realized, Oh, 0:14:08.800 --> 0:14:11.400 my four year old self, she already knew what I 0:14:11.440 --> 0:14:14.199 was supposed to be. She already knew that I was 0:14:14.240 --> 0:14:18.480 supposed to be this blend of music and healing in 0:14:18.520 --> 0:14:21.360 this person. She said it, and I've written it in 0:14:21.400 --> 0:14:24.040 books as a child, my parents told me, family members 0:14:24.400 --> 0:14:25.920 and every time I used to say that growing up, 0:14:25.960 --> 0:14:27.280 like what did you want to be? Did you always 0:14:27.320 --> 0:14:28.800 know you want to be a singer? And I was like, yeah, 0:14:28.800 --> 0:14:29.880 when I was little, I used to say I want 0:14:29.920 --> 0:14:32.840 to be a singing nurse. But then I realized it 0:14:33.880 --> 0:14:35.880 when I first started putting out music, and it kills 0:14:35.920 --> 0:14:42.560 me came out, and that to me was like, oh, 0:14:43.440 --> 0:14:45.960 this has already been written for you, and your four 0:14:46.000 --> 0:14:48.520 year old self knew this about you. 0:14:48.640 --> 0:14:51.880 Had you already been singing like in church or just so. 0:14:52.800 --> 0:14:57.840 So I grew up immigrant parents, Guyanese household. My parents 0:14:57.840 --> 0:15:00.760 are from the Caribbean. My dad played guitar. He used 0:15:00.760 --> 0:15:02.840 to sing in a band on the weekends and evenings 0:15:02.840 --> 0:15:04.120 like this was a thing. So I grew up with 0:15:04.200 --> 0:15:05.720 music in the house. But my dad also worked the 0:15:05.800 --> 0:15:09.400 day job. My dad and my mom worked full time jobs. 0:15:09.800 --> 0:15:13.480 And I didn't grow up in the industry or even 0:15:13.480 --> 0:15:15.640 grow up singing in church like I didn't. 0:15:16.920 --> 0:15:17.720 But the music was in that. 0:15:17.840 --> 0:15:19.480 But the music was in the house, you know. But 0:15:19.560 --> 0:15:23.760 the idea of becoming a professional singer, especially coming from Toronto, 0:15:24.200 --> 0:15:27.600 like that wasn't a thing that we saw, you know, 0:15:27.680 --> 0:15:30.120 we knew about it, but we didn't see it from 0:15:30.120 --> 0:15:32.720 where we were. We knew America and we knew the world. 0:15:33.080 --> 0:15:35.720 But in Canada, like as a kid growing up, like 0:15:35.760 --> 0:15:38.320 we knew Celine Dion and then eventually we would go 0:15:38.360 --> 0:15:39.680 on and then in R and B you would see 0:15:39.680 --> 0:15:42.680 Glenn Lewis and you'd see Deborah Cox and Tamia and 0:15:42.720 --> 0:15:45.440 then you're like, oh, wait a second. But growing up 0:15:45.480 --> 0:15:47.960 as a little girl, like I knew I wanted to sing, 0:15:48.000 --> 0:15:49.960 but I didn't know how I was going to get there, 0:15:50.160 --> 0:15:51.680 you know. I didn't know how I was going to 0:15:51.680 --> 0:15:53.360 get there. But I was also really active in a 0:15:53.360 --> 0:15:57.120 lot of things. I played sports. I loved school. Oh 0:15:57.160 --> 0:15:59.760 I played basketball, I played volleyball, track and field, cross 0:15:59.760 --> 0:16:04.080 county free. I kept myself busy. My mom and dad 0:16:04.080 --> 0:16:08.280 called me Dion Diannis. I would just come home and 0:16:08.320 --> 0:16:10.040 don't ask for permission. I just be like I joined 0:16:10.040 --> 0:16:11.640 the volleyball team, and mom would be like, well, how 0:16:11.640 --> 0:16:13.720 are you gonna like who's going to take you? 0:16:14.720 --> 0:16:14.960 Like who? 0:16:16.160 --> 0:16:18.960 I joined every team I could. I was a very 0:16:19.080 --> 0:16:22.800 very active child as far as like wanting to try things, 0:16:22.880 --> 0:16:26.480 very precocious, very outgoing, you know. But when it came 0:16:26.520 --> 0:16:29.840 to singing, I was so shy. Like I knew I 0:16:29.840 --> 0:16:32.080 could sing, and everybody knew I could sing. But when 0:16:32.200 --> 0:16:34.600 you have the family function, melody come sick. I would 0:16:34.600 --> 0:16:36.200 make everyone turn around. 0:16:36.920 --> 0:16:41.880 That that direct something about that direct contest just not cool? 0:16:42.360 --> 0:16:43.440 Look away, yeah, look. 0:16:43.440 --> 0:16:45.080 Don't look at me. Don't look at me, and I 0:16:45.120 --> 0:16:47.800 would look up and I didn't want to be looked at. 0:16:47.880 --> 0:16:50.840 It was really interesting to think about that because now 0:16:50.840 --> 0:16:53.480 performing is like my favorite thing, like give put me 0:16:53.520 --> 0:16:57.320 on stage, please, But I didn't want to be looked at, 0:16:57.360 --> 0:17:00.960 which is really interesting. So you know, going through the 0:17:01.760 --> 0:17:04.359 process of like teenage years. And then even when I 0:17:04.400 --> 0:17:07.560 was a teenager, I'd gone through some like really hard things. 0:17:07.680 --> 0:17:11.480 Around twelve thirteen, I'd lost like my best friend to 0:17:11.520 --> 0:17:14.800 a car accident, we moved, my grandmother passed away, like 0:17:14.840 --> 0:17:17.000 there was a lot of life changes, and I felt 0:17:17.080 --> 0:17:21.040 like at that time, my light went like this, and 0:17:21.080 --> 0:17:23.720 I kind of became a different shell of myself. And 0:17:23.800 --> 0:17:25.359 so when I started high school and you had the 0:17:25.400 --> 0:17:28.159 opportunity to choose music or art, I chose art, and 0:17:28.200 --> 0:17:30.880 I didn't do music. And it's almost like this thing 0:17:30.920 --> 0:17:34.560 that I didn't I wasn't sharing anymore. I wasn't singing. 0:17:35.560 --> 0:17:37.600 No one really knew when I first started high school 0:17:37.600 --> 0:17:38.960 that I could sing like I did the play, and 0:17:39.000 --> 0:17:42.359 it was kind of like, eh, like maybe maybe. And 0:17:42.400 --> 0:17:44.040 then it was only until like my senior year when 0:17:44.080 --> 0:17:45.560 I started to ask myself what do I want to 0:17:45.600 --> 0:17:50.480 do with my life? And then I was like, you're 0:17:50.480 --> 0:17:54.000 a singer, Melanie, Like you're good at sports, you're smart, 0:17:54.080 --> 0:17:56.359 you could do all the but you're a singer, Like 0:17:56.400 --> 0:18:00.399 that's the thing you do better than anything, So why 0:18:00.920 --> 0:18:04.080 not why hide that? Like, why not bring that into 0:18:04.280 --> 0:18:06.399 actually who you are? And why not that be the 0:18:06.440 --> 0:18:08.880 thing that everybody really knows about you, because that's who 0:18:08.880 --> 0:18:12.360 you are, like the singing nurse. You know, you've known 0:18:12.359 --> 0:18:14.960 this about yourself. Why hide this part of yourself? So 0:18:15.000 --> 0:18:16.399 then I started to sing that I was in the 0:18:16.440 --> 0:18:18.639 talent show, and then I started showing more publicly that 0:18:18.680 --> 0:18:19.919 I can sing, and then that led me to kind 0:18:19.960 --> 0:18:21.200 of getting into the music industry. 0:18:21.680 --> 0:18:26.720 But and then in Toronto, are not just Toronto, but in. 0:18:26.640 --> 0:18:29.879 Canada, isn't there something set up for the arts as 0:18:29.960 --> 0:18:30.600 far as like the. 0:18:30.560 --> 0:18:34.160 Government, so there is, there's funding that you can get. 0:18:34.160 --> 0:18:36.399 There's grants, like but you have to apply and you 0:18:36.400 --> 0:18:37.960 have to get chosen, and you have to you know, 0:18:38.000 --> 0:18:39.959 you have to do that. And like I was at 0:18:40.000 --> 0:18:42.159 that time as a teenager, like I wasn't even thinking 0:18:42.200 --> 0:18:46.000 about pursuing a career. Okay, you know, I really wasn't. 0:18:46.040 --> 0:18:48.960 Like I was just like, okay, like I'm gonna I'm 0:18:48.960 --> 0:18:52.160 gonna own that I that I can sing. So when 0:18:52.200 --> 0:18:54.080 I say that, like I kind of stepped away from it. 0:18:54.600 --> 0:18:57.639 I it wasn't my whole identity where you know, some 0:18:57.640 --> 0:18:59.680 people are like Oh she was singing her whole life, 0:19:00.200 --> 0:19:04.359 church and in all things. You know. So so when 0:19:04.520 --> 0:19:08.679 I actually got into the music industry, I was just 0:19:08.920 --> 0:19:11.680 out of high school and I had joined the Gold 0:19:11.680 --> 0:19:13.080 Group in Toronto, and. 0:19:13.240 --> 0:19:15.280 You got to get in a group started. 0:19:16.040 --> 0:19:18.720 Did it really happened if hit us with the name us, 0:19:18.760 --> 0:19:23.639 with the name Exquisite? Yeah, yeah, just xx come on, 0:19:24.200 --> 0:19:25.720 come on dash to you. 0:19:26.040 --> 0:19:30.120 Yeah, quiz quiz like that. 0:19:31.000 --> 0:19:32.920 So that's how we got started. And it's fun. 0:19:33.200 --> 0:19:35.080 Did it come along with a bankhead bounce? 0:19:35.080 --> 0:19:37.359 You know? Did it kind of came along with like 0:19:37.359 --> 0:19:39.480 a little bogel. We were like a little pop army group. 0:19:39.680 --> 0:19:41.960 But it was funny because that introduction for me too 0:19:42.200 --> 0:19:44.080 was like I never saw myself being in a group, 0:19:44.080 --> 0:19:45.960 but I had the opportunity to get into a studio 0:19:46.520 --> 0:19:47.760 and I was I was like, I've never been in 0:19:47.760 --> 0:19:51.720 a studio, like eighteen years old. Yeah, let's go. 0:19:51.760 --> 0:19:52.920 I want to go into this point. 0:19:52.920 --> 0:19:57.639 You had never sang never in the never never And 0:19:57.960 --> 0:20:02.480 Okay for the people that don't understand what that is, yeah, 0:20:02.920 --> 0:20:06.000 give them the difference from like you know, you singing 0:20:06.040 --> 0:20:08.240 at school, you singing around the house, this, this, that 0:20:08.280 --> 0:20:11.800 and the other to the moment you're getting that studio, 0:20:12.320 --> 0:20:15.080 you get that playback and you get to hear yourself. 0:20:15.119 --> 0:20:17.560 Oh yeah, you get to hear yourself. And then also 0:20:18.119 --> 0:20:22.240 you sing it over and over and over and over 0:20:22.280 --> 0:20:23.280 again because you didn't. 0:20:23.160 --> 0:20:23.960 I mean in the old days. 0:20:24.000 --> 0:20:25.800 Yeah, no, I don't know. 0:20:25.920 --> 0:20:29.480 Now they just be yeah, whatever whatever come out, we 0:20:29.560 --> 0:20:29.959 keep it. 0:20:30.000 --> 0:20:30.240 You know. 0:20:30.280 --> 0:20:30.840 It's so funny. 0:20:31.240 --> 0:20:33.280