Interview – Callia Bara

By: Jenna Melanson

Callia Bara is a synth pop/ dance artist from Montreal.  She released her debut EP, “Lovers Revue” on January 28, 2014 and can be downloaded for free on her website:http://www.calliabara.com/download-lovers-revue/

If you would like to know what we thought of the EP, you can check out the review here: http://canadianbeats.wordpress.com/2014/02/27/review-callia-bara/ 

Do you want to know more about this great Canadian artist? Keep reading, because I had the chance to conduct an email interview with her a while back.

When did you decide you wanted to pursue music as a career?

CB:  I always considered it a dream.  Things like a career in music usually stay that way for most people.  But I woke up one day and asked myself why I was suppressing the creative drives I had for a more conventional life, and that’s when I really threw myself into pursuing music.

What inspires you when writing songs?

CB:  I have many muses, many of them real people, and they inspire me.  Other than that, great art inspires great art.  It can be a photograph, a novel, a film, a painting, a dress, down to the most trivial of things like the way someone smokes their cigarette or the way somebody laughs.

You have immersed yourself in music through school, choir, band, and performing in the city’s underground performance art scene, do you feel this is important for an artist to do? Do you find it has helped you grow as an artist?

CB:  Absolutely.  I believe in paying your dues as an artist, a songwriter and a most of all a performer.  All of my experience has helped me cultivate a kind of palette for understanding an audience, knowing what they want, knowing how to keep them entertained, and above all, knowing how to relate to my fans.  That’s the most important part.

You are an illustrative artist, in what ways do you find that helps you in the music industry?

CB:  Being a cinephile, a creative director, a lover of image and aesthetic, I feel like I already know who I am as an artist.  I don’t need anyone to mold me or tell me how to dress or what kind of pose to strike.  I know myself, my visual influences and my stage persona, and I think that’s given me the ability to be really independent.  It’s also led me to other great artists – photographers, directors – who I collaborate with often.

Who has been your biggest musical influence in your career up until now?

CB:  It’s so hard to pick just one.  The pop stars of the 90’s for sure – Madonna, Janet, Jennifer, Britney, Mariah.  I grew up on those girls.  Sinatra, Ella Fitzgerald, Chet Baker are my biggest jazz influences.  And then there’s rock – The Rolling Stones, Led Zeppelin (!!!), Aerosmith, The Red Hot Chili Peppers.  I think listening to volumes and volumes of classic rock is what ultimately taught me how to write and, more than that, how to perform, and how to feel onstage.

Your EP, “Lover’s Revue” is available for free download, what is the reasoning behind offering the EP for free?

CB:  I put this EP together in under three months over the summer, as a gift to my fans, who have been so incredibly supportive of my career.  I wanted to make an EP that they would love.  The ballad “IT’S YOU” is dedicated to all of them, for growing with me and slowly making me into the artist I am, and for inspiring the artist I’ll become.

How has the response been so far with your EP?

CB:  It’s been incredible.  I’m so, so proud, and so appreciative of all the great features and reviews online.

You have released a video for the first single off of the EP, “The Love”, what was the highlight of making a music video?

CB:  The highlight of making this particular music video was shooting on location, outside a club downtown with my co-star.  A friend of mine brought his Midnight Pearl Harley to the set, and we used it for the shoot.  We shot in freezing cold weather, but the visuals we got were worth it.

What can fans expect from you in the future?

CB:  I’m in the middle of recording a little passion project, an EP of jazz & big band covers – Sinatra, Marilyn, Ella records – and then I’ll be putting together my next original EP called HOLLYWOOD BABYLON – THE EP.  It’s going to be on a whole other level, sonically and visually.  I think the fans are going to love it.

We always like to include a “fun” portion in our interviews, so let’s do some “this or that” questions!

Television or Movies?

CB:  Movies!

Text or Call?

CB:  Always a phone call.

Chocolate or Peanut Butter?

CB:  Chocolate

Indoors or Outdoors?

CB:  Both… but outdoors, especially if by outdoors you mean lying on a beach.

Cook or Get take out?

CB:  Take out!

Cats or Dogs?

CB:  Dogs

Coffee or Tea?

CB:  Tea, but I’m slowly crossing over to the dark side…

Last but not least, is there anything you’d like to say to your fans?

CB:  Just that they mean the world to me.  It’s them who have made me into the artist I am – they make me feel like a star.  I hope I make them proud.