15-year old, Priyana launches her first original EP, Out of Place, to share her vision for children and teens to feel heard, validated, and understood through her music. Her mission is to make sure kids have a safe place to seek the support they need through Kids Help Phone by providing a digital download of her EP when anyone donates to her fundraiser.
She has released a lyric video for “Fade Away”, which is one of the tracks from her EP about mental health and emotional well-being in which she wrote, composed, and performed.
Priyana’s fundraising campaign runs until October 10th, World Mental Health Day. Her goal is to raise $5,000 or more! Please go to https://priyana.ca/fundraiser/ to help Priyana share her vision and achieve her goal.
Check out the video below and find out more about Priyana in our Five Questions With segment.
Care to introduce yourself to our readers?
Hi! I’m Priyana. I’m a 15-year-old singer-songwriter from Toronto, Canada with a South Asian, Australian and French-Canadian background. I’m really excited to let you know I have just released my debut EP, Out of Place, to raise money for Kids Help Phone, a charity that provides free access to counseling for children and youth. I love hanging out with my friends, and during the summer I try to get to Canada’s Wonderland to hit the biggest new rides as much as I can! I have been playing the piano since I was three and singing since I was eight years old. My parents always thought it was crazy how I wanted to practice the piano every day! I love music and how powerful it is.
I hope, through my lyrics and melodies, that people feel heard, understood and know that they are not alone. I am passionate about reducing the stigma of getting professional help, so people feel and know that it’s a strength, not a weakness to seek support.
Tell us a bit about your music and writing style.
My music is typically pop and I’m inspired by Billie Eilish and Shawn Mendes. I write about the emotions people experience in life. So far, my songs have been focussed on mental health but I have started to write about other areas of life as well.
Do you have any upcoming shows? For someone who has yet to see you live, how would you explain your live performance?
I will be performing at various schools over the next school year, dates to be announced! I am focussed, centered, and passionate during my performances. I’ve been told that my audience feels engaged when I am on stage.
If you were asked to suggest only one of your songs for someone to hear, which would it be?
I would suggest Fade Away because I feel it speaks to both sides of the mental health experience and reflects both the sad and optimistic aspects of emotion.
Canadian Beats is all about Canadian music, so who are your current favourite Canadian bands/ artists?
My favourite Canadian artist is Shawn Mendes. I also really enjoy listening to Alessia Cara. I love that they are both really down to earth and genuine people. They are extremely talented and their songs are relatable and meaningful.