Today we’d like to introduce you to Annick Blaize.
So, before we jump into specific questions about what you do, why don’t you give us some details about you and your story.
I’m a singer-songwriter. I was born in Grenada and I now live in Miami, FL. I’ve always been in love with music of all different genres and I always wanted to create my own music. When I was in middle school, I was very inspired by Taylor Swift. She taught herself how to play guitar and started writing songs at a very young age, I decided that I would do the same. I started learning to play guitar on my brothers old electric and shortly after I somehow convinced my parents to get me an acoustic. After learning some chords, I began writing songs of my own and once I gained some more confidence, I began to play at some open mics around Miami. My love for creating and songwriting has only grown with time, I just recently attended a songwriting program at NYU where I was given the opportunity to collaborate with other songwriters from different ages and backgrounds. Being in a creative environment like that was extremely beneficial and I was so lucky to meet such amazing collaborators. My friends Sasha Campbell, Natalie Brown, Steven Gudino, Alex Kessler, and I met at the program and started a band called Dream Kid and we’re currently working on releasing our first EP.
Has it been a smooth road?
I think that my biggest obstacle a lot of the time is myself. It’s very easy to get into your own head and bring yourself down when you’re constantly comparing yourself to others, but I’ve found that it’s okay to recognize that there will be people out there who you think are so much better than you and so you feel down but they may think the same thing about you. Sometimes, your strength is someone else’s weakness and vise versa. Life doesn’t have to be a competition, we can learn a lot from each other if we allow ourselves to.
Please tell us more about your work, what you are currently focused on and most proud of.
I am a 21-year-old singer-songwriter. I started writing music at a very young age (probably around 5th grade) it wasn’t any good when I first started but it was the best way that I could express myself. As I got older, my love for writing only grew and so did my love for music. I’m currently working on releasing an EP with my band, ‘Dream Kid’. Its been a very exciting project to work on especially because our band is made up of five people and we’re all very different. We come from different backgrounds, listen to different types of music, and we each have a different perspective when it comes to how we write. We’ve been able to learn so much from each other because of our differences and it’s helped us all grow as songwriters and musicians.
Do you have any advice for finding a mentor or networking in general? What has worked well for you?
What I find best for networking is just to be friendly, open, and fearless. Often time first impressions of people really do stick so even if you’re not in the best mood, try to always be friendly and approachable because people will remember what it was like speaking to you and it could affect whether or not they speak to you again. It’s also important to be open to speaking to everyone. You may think that someone is apart of an industry that you’re not interested in but you never really know who that person could put you in contact with. I think being a good person all around will do more for you than being selective. Lastly, I believe being fearless is the most important part of networking. It’s extremely nerve-racking to be vulnerable and put yourself out there, rejection is something I try to avoid at all costs. With that being said, I’ve found that anytime I’ve walked away from something because I was afraid, I always regret it. If I put my fears aside and silence my doubts, even if it doesn’t go as well as I hoped, I’m still happy I did it and I can rest easy knowing that there’s no “what if.”
Contact Info:
- Email: annick.blaize@gmail.com , biz@dreamkidmusic.com
- Instagram: annick_blaize , dreamkidtheband
- Twitter: annick_blaize
Image Credit:
Artistic Vibes Studio
Getting in touch: VoyageMIA is built on recommendations from the community; it’s how we uncover hidden gems, so if you know someone who deserves recognition please let us know here.
