For those of us who have been feeling rather lost in these difficult times, we must find a way back to ourselves. Being in toxic relationships, or being self-conscious your appearances, especially if you are specially-abled, people look at you in a certain way, and all of this ends leaving you feeling worthless. At a point, you find yourself losing your head over this whole thing.
To address this issue, differently-abled LGBTQ Pop artist, Victoria Canal unveils her brand new single ‘Victoria’. In this song, she goes on to explore the lines of self -worth and exploration. Previously, the “Second” hitmaker, was also featured in the Nike Fearless One campaign with the feature of her recent single, “Drama” to promote Jordan Flyease, a shoe exclusively designed for specially-abled athletes.
It is time to break free from the shackles of dejected, rejected feeling and fall in love with yourself all over again.
The Hollywood Tribune got in touch with Victoria and she was just the sweetest person to talk to! We look forward to doing this again, soon. You can read the full interview below followed by a detailed review of her new video ‘Victoria’.
Interview With Victoria Canal
Tell us how you started your musical journey and how you got into music!
Tell us how you started your musical journey and how you got into music!When I was 14 or 15, my mum and I travelled to the United States for the first time to be there for a long period of time for me to do an open-mic tour. We went on this long road trip of the East Coast when I was 14 and doing online high school. Every night I was performing at an open-mic, sort of trying to get my chops up and see if I wanted to perform for a living and it’s actually what I’ve always wanted to do ever since I was a little kid!
My grandma played the piano for a living and she also gave lessons on the piano and played for church. I would visit her in the summers and sit on her lap and watch as she played and I just loved the effect that she had on people when she played music and I wanted to do the same thing! So I started playing when I was really young, like 5 or 6 and it just kinda grew from there! Every day, it’s been a love affair ever since!
We would love to hear about your latest track ‘Victoria’ and how you were inspired to write it!
Victoria came about in a bit of a convoluted way. Originally, I called it ‘Magnolia’ and it had all the same lyrics except for the hook, the first word of the chorus ‘Magnolia’! It was because that word kept coming up in my life. I saw a street called Magnolia Street, I met a dog and her name was Magnolia and then j had this idea of like, you know how people say that dogs are better than people?
I thought it might be cool to put into a song like, confessing to a dog that they’re the only one you trust. But, obviously, I don’t know if you can make a single out of a song about a dog, so we were discussing and it just so happened that we saw that ‘Victoria’ fit in that hook, and we changed it and all the lyrics stayed the same!
So, that’s a little nugget for the people who’ll listen to the song: it could be about yourself, or about a dog, who knows!
Do you have any new music coming up that you’d like to talk about?
So, I just released an EP called Victoria and that was last week and I’m super stoked about it! I’m so excited that it’s out finally, because it’s my baby that I’ve been working on for a year now and originally I wrote it on retreat in Texas with a friend, Martin Luke Brown, and then we ended up going to Barcelona to record it at my uncle’s house on the beach!
It’s just really a collection of songs about what it was like to be 20, this hyper-self analysis and self-evaluation and sometimes how your self worth functions like an on and off switch. You either feel like you’re on top of the world or you feel like absolute shit.
I have been writing so much music in quarantine and this EP that just came out is definitely a time capsule from pre-corona, so it’s nice for people to listen and escape to this, sort of, hopeful, slightly ethereal, a little bedroom poppy record!
But, the stuff that’s coming now, I’m actually completely self-producing which is really exciting and the next project would definitely be a turn, so I’m very excited about that!
What genres do you prefer listening to? Who are your favourite artists?
What genres do you prefer listening to? Who are your favourite artists? It’s a great question! I mostly stick to two. One is, however you describe the Bon Ivers, the James Blakes, the Angelo De Augustines of the world, you know, like, super-delicate, soft vocals, some really mellow softly strummed acoustic guitar and there’s no rhythm section, you know, it’s just like acoustic-y stuff.
I guess it’s kind of like Indie-folk but sometimes they have this electronic, dark twinge to them that really brings me into my emotional creative state, so I love that kind of music and the other kind, more so, for keeping things light, are Jazz Pianists like Oscar Peterson and Bill Evans. I love listening to jazz when I wanna feel good.
I guess there’s always the days for Beyonce and you know, Dua Lipa *chuckles* yeah, j have those days too!
What would you like to say to artists who have just started out in the music industry or are looking forward to?
I think if there’s anything I’d advice or suggestion is to stay away from comparison by any means that you have to. Every artist is doing their own thing, every artist has something unique to say and it’s worth dedicating yourself to the craft without looking around in envy or in jealousy towards others who you feel are further along than you.
The fact is, making art is fun, it’s just this beautiful thing that we get to pass our time doing in life, and to make it any heavier than that I feel like is just going to take away from the art’s potential itself.
The other thing that I’d like to say is don’t be afraid to say ‘No.’ Follow your instincts. Nobody knows your music or artistry better than you do, so take the criticism and the feedback with an open mind, but don’t let those things shrink you. I’ve been in plenty of meetings with Music industry Mega-minds and some have told me I’m great and some have told me I have no potential.
But, if I listened to anybody, I’d probably stop making music the same way! Lastly, if anybody ever tried to tell you that you’re not gonna make it or that you don’t belong in a room, just use it as fuel to push harder and to be better and always, always do your best.
You are a huge inspiration to the differently-abled artists and we’d love to know what keeps YOU inspired!
Thank you so much for saying that, first of all. Hmm, so, what keeps me inspired? Something I love to do is, discover other artists of different mediums online and I love this art magazine called Wepresent and just opening my mind to all the different kinds of art and all the different modes of expression.
People are so amazing and it’s really amazing to see what Visual artists and filmmakers and dancers and spoken word artists and graphic designers and interior designers create! There are so many ways to be beautifully creative and there are no limits to the amount of originality; there’s no limit to it.
There’s also this refreshing realisation that we’re all interconnected and everything is just like this continuous flow of energy we’re just borrowing and channelling and re-channelling and reconfiguring and it’s just so, so lovely to be surrounded by art.
Another thing that I do to keep inspired to really take time with myself without technology, preferably in nature, but sometimes I just go with a pencil and paper and I’ll just write random stream of consciousness things for hours and that’s super therapeutic! I’ve been keeping a journal since before I could write, actually!
I have a collection of journals over here in the corner of my room. I used to have my mum and dad transcribe whatever I wanted to say before I could write, and I’ve been journaling every day since 2005 and it’s a major tool in my creative mind and it’s super necessary!
‘Victoria’ Review
Victoria released this latest single on September 09, which is a self-titled music video as an ode to her life before 2020. Here’s what we at The Hollywood Tribune think about this song:
1. Visuals
The visuals are mesmerising, and it imparts such a powerful message. There are intricate details which haven’t been missed out at all— from her style, personality, emotions and her disability. The emotions exhibited here are too powerful.
For instance, she is losing her mind and is desperate to find a way to love herself all over again. In the video, she is headless and is trying to fix the head to her body to feel complete.
There is an incredible colour play with warm and cold colours. That little pupper in the video is beyond adorable. Truly a dog is humanity’s best friend, and that too was well portrayed. It is incredibly beautiful the way the team has conceptualised the whole video.
2. Lyrics
The lyrics are equally powerful with this one, as she is imparting a message to empower and motivate people to embrace themselves even on the days when people make you feel worthless.
She is so bold to talk about her life in this song through a series of instances that happened to her in her real life. This song is inspiring for all of us and pushes us to love and value ourselves no matter what.
3. Vocals
3. VocalsThe combination of the audio-visual element makes this song all the more impactful. Victoria has an amazing voice filled with power and grace with which she highlights her life as a differently-abled individual.
4. Instrumentation
It has a typical pop style of music and it is very catchy too. It is a lot like one of the old Rihanna’s or Taylor Swift’s music, but a redefined version of it.
General Impressions
Overall, this song is one of those songs that will bring sunshine and rainbows on a gloomy day. Victoria’s positivity is infectious and it will definitely brighten up your day. We love this song and you will love this song too.
That’s all for this Friday’s Feature and we hope to have you back next week! See you then.
Don’t forget to share this because everyone should listen to “Victoria” at least once. We bet, they’ll put it on repeat. And as always, stay tuned to The Hollywood Tribune for more awesome song recommendations, music videos, and Exclusive Interviews of super-talented musicians and artists! For more exclusive content, head over to THT EXCLUSIVES and subscribe to updates!
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The Review
'Victoria' by Victoria Canal
Overall, this song is one of those songs that will bring sunshine and rainbows on a gloomy day. Victoria’s positivity is infectious and it will definitely brighten up your day. We love this song and you will love this song too.
