Today we’d like to introduce you to Tess Grey.
Hi Tess, thanks for joining us today. We’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
Hey! I’m Tess Grey and I’m a singer/songwriter born and raised in Miami, Florida. I currently have 3 songs on Spotify and I’m excited to put a lot more out in the future. I’ve accomplished a whole lot, but I would have never been able to do any of that if it weren’t for the hardships I endured.
On April 12, 2018, I had attempted suicide for the first time. I ended up being baker acted and sent to a children’s hospital. I remember it being a very slow process. My parents were torn apart and I was completely numb. I didn’t really know what was going on nor did I want to understand where I even was. After many hours of waiting, I was finally admitted into the psychiatric unit and it all clicked. The moment I walked into the common room with the rest of the kids, I realized that I wasn’t as alone as I claimed to be. During those 72 hours, I learned a lot. A lot about myself and about how life works, but that wasn’t the only thing I did throughout those three days. I wrote a song. I had never seriously written lyrics before, just poems, but I knew that this was a song I was going to put out into the world. That song is named “Downhill”. I released it on July 29 of that same year. Although the song is quite literally a looped classical guitar and harmonies, I feel like it gets the message out there. Ever since I released the track, I decided that making music was something I wanted to do forever.
I got into Miami’s local music scene in 2020. I feel like my true introduction to the scene was when I met a lot of different people and a group of those people decided to start a mini-festival to fundraise money for different sorts of causes. I performed for the very first time on September 18, 2020. It wasn’t the best performance, I’ll admit, but it was definitely one for the books.
Moving forward, I’d say that I owe it all to the people I’ve made genuine connections with here in Miami. Ever since that gig, I’ve played the Youth Fair and even hosted my own music festival. I know I’ve come a long way, and I thank myself for that. If I had succeeded at taking my life in 2018, I wouldn’t have accomplished many of the things I have today.
We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
I would want to say yes, but absolutely not. One struggle I’ve dealt with and am dealing with is the lack of motivation. Some days I’ll be excited to wake up, start a new day and write a song, but most days I can’t even find the drive to do anything. I end up wasting that day. It’s not easy to tell yourself that you can do it. I learned that your success depends on how you approach failure. God knows how many times I failed various ways with my music career, but that never stopped me. I feel that if you learn to accept that you will fall down and be in a dark room for a bit while trying to accomplish something, you won’t really be scared to hit the ground. You’ll dust yourself up and get back up.
Appreciate you sharing that. What else should we know about what you do?
I’m a musician, an artist but most of all, I am human. I make songs for others to relate to, dance to and even cry to. Not only do I create for others, but I create for myself.
I specialize in singing, producing and performing. I produce all of my tracks and even play guitar for them. Whenever I do have a show, I always play a few songs on guitar by myself. The rest of the songs are played by the band backing me up.
I wouldn’t consider myself to be “known” just yet, but if I had to choose something to be known for, it would be for making music that people haven’t really explored yet (regarding lyrics).
I’m most proud of where I am in life and my career. I never could have done it without those I’ve met and those I’ve lost.
What sets me apart from others is my growth. Everybody grows at different speeds in different ways, but I feel that I’ve come a long way from where I was in 2018 to now.
We love surprises, fun facts and unexpected stories. Is there something you can share that might surprise us?
A very surprising thing about me is that I may put in a lot of work into my brand/music, but I procrastinate A LOT. I have a lot of bad days where I have everything I need to get started in front of me, but I just put it off. I think I’ve been better about it however. Watching other musicians grow at their own speed really inspires me.
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Image Credits
Franco Chamorro Matheus Cameron Gonzalez Sal Rispoli
