Please introduce yourself, what you do, why you do it, and what you want people to know about you.
My name is ELEV8. I am a producer, singer, songwriter based in Toronto. I got into music at a very young age. I was gifted a keyboard from my father and began to teach myself how to play the piano by ear. Since then I’ve learned how to produce, write for myself, other artists, and for TV & Film.
What qualities make you different and unique from everyone else in the industry?
I can produce, engineer, write, sing, mix, master my own music and create simple graphics if needed for myself.
Describe THAT moment when you realized you wanted to do what you do now. Who did you tell first? What has it been like since that moment?
I knew this was what I was meant to do since I was about 7 or 8. My father gifted me a keyboard that I still have to this day and I started to teach myself to play the piano by ear. I then started to sing and play at the same time. I was inspired to do so by Alicia Keys. My family at the time didn’t know that I sang, I kept that a secret. But during that time I started to learn, I knew this is what I am meant to be doing. I didn’t tell anyone at first to be honest, but my family knew that I fell in love with music. I was always on the keyboard teaching myself new songs.
What has been the biggest challenge you’ve had to face and how did you overcome it?
The biggest challenge I had to face was people around me telling me I should do something else when I know deep inside this is what I’m meant to do. I’ve always believed in myself that I can accomplish whatever I put my mind to. At first, hearing this from so many people can be challenging and frustrating. There have been times where I thought of stopping, but every time I did for a period of time, I didn’t feel like myself. Throughout my journey of progression, I lost a lot of friends along the way which was challenging as well. It’s a challenging journey but also extremely fulfilling because every year you get better and closer to your goals and dreams but along the way, a lot of changes are happening and testing you to see if this is what you truly want.
I overcame all of this by my belief in myself that I always had. Always continuing to learn and get the information I need to progress forward has kept me going. Not to mention getting better at my craft keeps me motivated. I’ve come so far, why would I stop now.
If you had to pick the TOP 3 people you’d want to meet that could take your career (or business) to the next level…who would those 3 people be?
Timberland
Major Lazer
Kanye West