TBA/News
Sarah Melody Shows Her Musical
And Humanitarian Sides
By Steve McLean
Sarah Melody
Sarah Melody's talent, ambition and humanity make her special. The fact that she's still only 18 makes her truly exceptional.
Melody grew up in Barrie, Ont. and now lives in Toronto, where she attends the Harris Institute For The Arts. But she's not your average student. Melody recently self-released her first album, Side Two. She also supports a number of charitable causes and campaigns for human rights.
"I've always been involved in volunteering and being active in my community, so my charity work allowed me to do my music," she says while explaining how she started down this road. "'Song Of Peace' was written after the 9/11 attacks in New York."
"I was pretty young and even though I was a smalltown girl in Barrie, I saw this on the news and I was so shocked that we were basically experiencing a war. That inspired me to write an uplifting song about what I felt from it. I've been using it in connection with anti-bullying programs in schools."
This led to what Melody says was a surprise appointment as the national spokesperson for Youth For Human Rights Canada.
"I didn't know my rights at the time they chose me to be the spokesperson, but since I was so involved with so many other organizations, they thought that I could be a great advocate to help them out. Now my task is to visit schools across Canada and educate the youth on their rights. We also do an annual event in December where we celebrate the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. I perform and speak."
"I went to the United Nations in 2006 to represent Canada. That was a great experience walking into that building. I'm so passionate about trying to help the youth and being involved in other charities."
Musically, Melody has worked with a number of top producers, including Marcus Kane (Esthero, Maestro), Boomtang Boys, Luke McMaster (McMaster And James) and the Perry Alexander team of Chris Perry and Adam Alexander (Shawn Desman, Kalan Porter).
"I'm really into exploring different genres," she explains. "Right now, my music is actually what I call urban rock. It has my R&B vocals, but my rock band to back me up.
Melody calls herself "a huge Led Zeppelin fan," and she covers the band's reggae-based "D'yer Maker" on Side Two. While her version started off as a rock song, Boomtang Boys took it in a more dance-oriented direction, which she was fine with as it led to more of the musical diversification she's after.
Melody just re-recorded "Stand Back" and released a video for the single. The song features Canadian reggae/hip-hop/pop star Snow (who's best known for his hit "Informer"), who asked to be on the track when he heard it via Kane.
"I've had a lot of compliments from a male audience that they liked that song," says Melody. "Even my 15-year-old brother would put that song on repeat, and before he didn't like my music. That was a sign to me that this song is a lot different and can appeal to a different audience."
While Melody wants to increase her fan base, she'd prefer to do it on her own terms. "I'm taking recording arts management and learning the business end of it all," she says of her enrollment at Harris.
"I educate myself constantly on how the industry is changing. I've just been learning that there are different types of deals, and right now I'm more interested in licensing my pre-existing songs to television or movies or whatever. I think that would help a lot in boosting my career. Doing everything yourself is a harder route, but I'm really enjoying learning how to do it myself."
Side Two can be purchased through Melody's web site, while you can hear and see more of her music on her MySpace page.