Anastasia A
Anastasia A
Genres: Canadian, pop, singer-songwriter, 10s, under 100 listeners
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About Anastasia A
Singer|songwriter, Anastasia A, has come a long way since she first set out to create the career of her dreams only a year and a half ago. While growing up, Anastasia recalls tuning in to a variety of radio stations that she enjoyed listening to in her room. Not one to just sit back and listen, she would call in and request her favorite pop songs and record herself onto her karaoke machine. Her mom still has this metal box with a couple dozen cassette tapes filled with hours of her interacting with radio personalities and singing along. These early beginnings helped formulate a passion for being connected to an industry she would later dedicate her life’s work to. Diving into an industry where millions fight to get recognized and remembered, this rising young star refused to allow limitations like not having a major label slow her down.In October of 2010, she collaborated with Juno nominated pop band Stereos (Universal) after appearing on Much Music’s original series, Disband. Singer, Pat K, and Anastasia performed a duet titled “Barely Breathing” which can be found on their iTunes version of “Uncontrollable”. That year, Anastasia also wrote an original song titled “Try” which she recorded and mixed with engineer Michael Jack(Bono, Nelly Furtado, Hillary duff, The Trews, Rush, Kardinal Official, Ludacris). It was her first time recording original material and the entire process further fueled her passion. She later began to collaborate with Producer Jazz Feezy (Devon Tracey, JRDN, and JOJO) of Boi-1da Productions (Drake, Kanye West, Nicki Minaj, Eminem, K-OS, Nas, Saukrates, Tyga, Rick Ross, Chris Brown, Busta Rymes, The Game, T-Pain). Anastasia recalls the experience: “Jazzy and I worked on a few songs together. He is an incredibly talented producer and his mentorship and motivation helped me realize that I wanted to create “hooks” for other artists.” It was her dedication to not just perform, but to reach out and connect with her fans and those she collaborates with. As dedicated as Anastasia is to her music career, she has also remained well grounded on the importance of a formal education and has spent many years studying for her honours in Clinical Neuropsychology. After a devastating break up in the final year of her dissertation, she swallowed her pride and sense of independence and moved back home to get things sorted out. After coming home, she woke up one morning and decided she was ready to start a new life writing music. Not knowing where to begin, she started creating and writing demos. “I started a project titled 11:11. The name is very significant to me and I spent a few months writing songs about my break up, my new life and a future love.” Initially, she wanted to release the EP, then later decided to explore her options and continue writing. In the summer of 2011, Ana – as she is known by her friends – flew to British Columbia, Canada, to showcase her songs and network .She knocked on the doors of Universal Music Reps, Thailand TV and various music blogs. Regarding her experience: “It was insane. I had no money, no idea where I would play or who I would meet. I just knew I had to do it.” Proving her commitment, she eventually found the opportunity she had been working hard for and opened with Canadian Top 40 artist Scotty James at Hockey Fest with bands like Three Days Grace, Finger Eleven, The Trews, SUBLIME and Tokyo Police Club.This led to a collaboration where SJ and Anastasia co-wrote a pop-folk song titled “I Got You.” Shortly after she returned home, she wrote her first ever released single. Later that year in the fall, Anastasia attended the Juno train along with other artists, labels and nominees where she was introduced to new projects. Her natural charisma got her invited back to the MMVA’s where she attended the official Perez Hilton MMVA after party and mingled with the likes of Katy Perry, Carly Rae, Mia Martina, Danny Fernandez, and Nelly Furtado. “It was my first time at the JUNOS,” Ana recalls “And being a song writer, this was an incredible opportunity to connect with artists and managers and showcase my work, not to mention enter the carpet right after Nelly Furtado!” In February of 2012, Anastasia independently released her single, “Kiss & Tell”, on iTunes through BMMG/Universal. The pop song created buzz among publishers, labels, A&R’s and the media. Her promotional music video captured over 100,000 views on YouTube and was aired on Family Channel/ Disney where it was on high rotation alongside other artists such as Selena Gomez, Cody Simpson, Victoria Duffield and Carly Rae Jepson. Earning an outpouring of positive feedback, the video was also featured at the Much Fact screening at the Reel World Film Festival, hosted by Kardinal Official, where she performed next to A-GAME. Later that year, Ana was asked to perform her single in association with the Toronto Fashion Incubator, who had celebrated 25 years of supporting and nurturing Canadian fashion designers and entrepreneurs. The TFI model has been adopted by 33 global cities including New York, London, Milan, Chicago, Melbourne, Auckland, Amsterdam, Los Angeles, Washington D.C., Atlanta and Dublin. Anastasia performed her single “Kiss and Tell” at the Royal Ontario Museum which landed her onto the radar of various local music industry professionals. Earlier last year, Fraser Hill (Head A&R at EMI) was searching for new Canadian talent through a contest called MOArtist. The contest was held through an online community where they searched profiles of thousands of aspiring artists. After a few months of viewer’s votes, Anastasia made the top 10 in Canada. She was invited to meet all the top executives and gained much valuable advice. According to Ana, “ I was most grateful to have time to speak to specific departments and really get an idea of what the Industry looks for when signing an artist.” Ana’s talent for writing pop songs that caught on fast with fans led her to multi-platinum award winning producer, Derek Brin(Massari, Keshia, Chante, Ne-Yo, Dan Hill). The two started writing and working on songs together in his private Toronto studio and, most recently, he and Ana collaborated with accomplished songwriter Vince Degiorgio(former VP of A&R at RCA Records in New York (BMG)). She worked with cutting edge pop writer/ producer Francesco De Santi of Gabesco Publishing in Tuscany, Italy. Writing with Franceso, who had literally just flown in from Italy to work with the young star, was an unforgettable cultural experience. “It makes the writing camp session much more memorable when your co-writer literally fly’s in from Italy to work on one song. The culture and language barrier was so intense and inspiring.” Ana continues her musical journey by writing songs for artists, film & television placements. Shortly after her exposure with the MOArtist contest, she was selected to perform her very first showcase during Canadian Music week, 2012, where she performed six songs off her unreleased EP titled, “Eleven Eleven.” She explains, “It was exhilarating to put those six songs to life with a full band. Holding band auditions and working with the guys made it all seem so real.” The showcase also got her noticed by a major publisher who attended and connected with the talented pop singer afterward. Meeting with international publishers and labels who approached her after seeing her creative talents first hand helped open even more windows of opportunity. In May of 2012, Anastasia applied to a contest on Reverbnation and, out of 3000 contestants, was nominated best pop act. This victory led her to showcase a performance at the Hard Rock Café during the 2012 Toronto International Music Summit. Ana currently collaborates with producers and writers from World Wide Talent Search In LA. She finds most of her songs to be about love and loss and believes there are people who will somehow share that point of view. She feels that a true love song or break up song has the ability to take over your entire soul. To think that her pain or happiness can affect someone to the core is very special to her as both an artist and as a young ambassador for positive change. In fact, her entire career is dedicated to encouraging others to take action and inspire change. Ana has made a commitment to constantly grow and, sharing her experiences with others, has given her opportunities that helped her realize there are loving people out there just as committed to making a difference as she is. In Nov, 2012, she teamed up with Family channel’s anti bullying campaign where she recorded a song and music video to stand up to bullies with artists such as Victoria Duffield, Tyler Medeiros and other artists and Disney stars. She also shared this message in partnership with the Free the Children Organization by performing an original song called “Believe,” at We Day. The event is designed to bring together a generation of youth engaging in changing the world through a year-long educational initiative. There is no doubt there are advantages to being a singer and model, but Ana understands the importance and responsibility her influence might have on fans who have come to look up to her. Her most recent collaborations have given her the opportunity to introduce herself and speak with Artists such as DIPLO, Skrillix, Steve Aoki, Deadmau5, IVICII, Steve Angelo,andNicky Romero.Meeting some of the best DJ’s in the industry and being backstage went a long way to give Ana even more experience to apply to her trade of making music with an impact. Currently, Rising star, Anastasia A, is working on submissions for Selena Gomez, X-Factor , Worldwide Talent Search and recording vocal demos for Various DJ’s and producers not to mention for her co-produced Strong Songs Inc.. She is also working on an EDM project for Ultra Records. Ana states, “I have a serious love affair with electronic dance music so I am going to have to make something happen there,” she says. “A career in music means more to me than just singing, recording and performing, it means creating opportunities and testing my strength. I want to do something meaningful.”
Taken from Last.fm
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