U.S. based singer Zachary Ray and Mumbai singer Shreya Bhattacharya have been writing and producing electro pop songs for the past two years.

Before they release their EP later this year, the duo have released a single, Chasing The Sun. The song is infused with a cyberpunk aesthetic, blending electronic sounds and pop elements to create a unique and futuristic vibe. The song is a joyful and collaborative process.

For Zachary and Shreya, creating Chasing The Sun was a joyful and collaborative process. They enjoyed combining their ideas and talents to create something special. Together, they fine-tuned the lyrics and melody, creating a cohesive and captivating song.

The post Chasing the Sun appeared first on The Teenager Today.

At just 18 years, singer-songwriter Shriya (Rao), has already released 5 singles, and has more than 50 live performances to her credit at prestigious venues across Mumbai.

Shriya’s music blends contemporary R&B/soul and pop, and is inspired by the music of Daniel Caesar, Summer Walker, Erykah Badu, Mac Miller and Tate McRae. When Shriya isn’t producing original music or performing live, she has lent her voice to doing TV commercials for leading brands such as Nykaa Fashion, Tang, and Lenskart.

Some time ago, Sony Music India’s sub label, DayOne, released two of her songs Ride For Me and On My Mind. Both tracks were viewed over 180,000 times on YouTube, with On My Mind alone crossing 50,000 streams on Spotify.

VERUS FERREIRA spoke with the Mumbai-based artist to learn about her musical journey.

How did music get to be a part of your life?
I have been singing as far back as I can remember. Disney movies and my dad singing to me as a toddler were definitely my biggest inspirations. My family was super supportive and started my formal vocal training when I was 9-10 years old. From then on, there was no looking back.

Do you recall your first-ever performance and the first track you ever sang? Were you nervous?
I did sing at many school assemblies, but my first performance on stage outside of school was at an event at the Royal Western Turf Club for my vocal teacher Stephen Fernandes. I still remember that I sang a super intricate jazz song by Nikki Yanoufsky called Something New. Interestingly, my first ever studio recording was also with my teacher of Something New when I was 12 years old.

Did you take up any vocal training to polish your singing skills?
Yes, I trained extensively with Stephen Fernandes (Sobo House of Music), and also did the Pro-junior course at the True School of Music. Then when I was 16 years old, I started training with Stacie Dunlop, a Toronto-based vocal technique coach.

Subscribe to The Teenager Today digital edition to read the full article.

The post Shriya: Music’s On Her Mind appeared first on The Teenager Today.

Mumbai-based singer-songwriter Yohan Marshall says his latest single, Jo Tu Mere Paas Hai, is more than just a song. “It’s a celebration of the enduring bond between myself and my wife,” says Marshall, who has traversed the globe as a musician since the age of fifteen and brings his rich musical experience to the forefront in this composition. With its dynamic production, the track seamlessly fuses elements of pop and alternative rock, creating a sonic experience that resonates deeply with the listener. Marshall’s vocals carry the emotion of the lyrics, conveying the sincerity and depth of his feelings. Written in collaboration with Neeraj Patil, the song reflects Marshall’s journey of growth, love, and friendship.

The post Jo Tu Mere Paas Hai appeared first on The Teenager Today.

If you’re looking for new young male pop singers, there’s a good chance you’ve heard Jamie Miller as one of the newest additions to the list. In addition to his incredible talent, Jamie is a young pop artist with a warm, friendly feel to his music, coming into his own in the modern era.

In the course of a few short years, Jamie made a seemingly impossible dream a reality, going from a humble yet loving childhood in Cardiff, Wales, England, to the doorstep of stardom in Los Angeles and rising to prominence as a singer-songwriter in 2017. He found viral success buoyed by social media love from Khloe Kardashian, Sam Smith and P!nk, while he achieved global renown with his breakthrough single Here’s Your Perfect. He has generated over 1 billion streams, performed on The Kelly Clarkson Show, toured across the country, and incited the applause of People, American Songwriter, and many more.

Before he moved to the U.S., he was featured on The Voice UK in 2017, where he came in third place. In 2020, he signed a record deal with Atlantic Records and released an EP called Broken Memories in April 2022 along with a handful of singles.

In 2021, his single, Here’s Your Perfect, pushed him even further into the limelight earning over 300M streams and charting at No. 100 on the Spotify Top 200 and No. 2 on Spotify’s Global Viral Chart.

Embracing independence, focusing on the integrity of his vision, and delivering a soulful pop sound like no other, Jamie introduces himself on his own terms with his 2023 The Things I Left Unsaid EP which releases this month on 4 October via BMG.

On the six-song EP, Jamie fearlessly invites listeners to experience his most authentic music to date. “This is an introduction to the real me,” he affirms while speaking on a telephone call from Los Angeles.

Subscribe to The Teenager Today print / digital editions to read the full article.

The post Jamming with Jamie Miller appeared first on The Teenager Today.

Tate McRae can pass off as any small-town girl-next-door, except that she is a rising star with talent and a goal in mind to make it big. At just 18, she’s worked with the likes of Khalid and Troye Sivan, now playing at major festivals as pandemic restrictions are lifted. 

Tate is one of the first generation of pop stars who have grown up completely online. From her beginnings as a dancer, to a reality TV contestant, vlogger, singer and now pop star, she is on a roll and all set to steal the world stage.

Tate Rosner McRae was born in Calgary, Alberta, Canada on 1 July 2003 to a Canadian father of Scottish descent and a German mother. Due to her father’s work, the family moved to the Gulf state of Oman where her mother taught dance. The young Tate attended The American International School in Muscat (TAISM), and began recreational dance training at age six. The family moved back to Calgary when she was eight, where she began to train more intensively in dance, competing with Drewitz Dance Productions. From age 11, she began training in all styles of dance at YYC Dance Project, a dance company owned by her mother, and underwent ballet training at the School of Alberta Ballet, the training school for the Alberta Ballet Company.

Subscribe to The Teenager Today print / digital editions to read the full article.

The post Tate McRae appeared first on The Teenager Today.

New York-based indie-retro pop and visual collective duo Fly By Midnight is made up of songwriter Justin Bryte and songwriter/producer Justin Slavo. Following a sold out album show in NYC and performances at U.S. colleges, the Firefly and Panorama Festival, the duo have continued to generate a strong, independent buzz by releasing catchy, original pop anthems and reimagined cover songs.

With over 250,000 subscribers on their YouTube channel, Fly By Midnight’s consistently strong releases have been praised by Billboard, Buzzfeed, NYLON, Huffington Post and Ones To Watch, and have been placed on numerous Spotify New Music Fridays. The band members met through a studio based in Staten Island and following a co-writing session, they decided to form the duo.

The duo have been releasing original pop anthems like Vibe and Just Say It along with catchy covers for a few years now and been gaining serious traction. They also collaborated with many artistes; one of them being MOTi, a Dutch electro house DJ and producer. Known to family and friends as Timotheus “Timo” Romme, this DJ can be recognized by some of his most popular tracks including Hooked and Up All Night with R3hab.

The sounds of Fly By Midnight and MOTi blend together perfectly on Spark. Kicking off with Bryte’s vocals that will have listeners reminiscing of retro-pop, the track slowly fills with light percussion and soft guitar elements. As the tempo picks up during the chorus, the track gains more and more depth through the addition of synths and more percussion. A funky electro-house drop follows before slowing down for the verse and starting all over again. This is a must-hear.

After the release of their compilation New York Nostalgia, the boys released their first project, featuring old and new tracks, on the album Rerunning (November 2018), and since then they have had quite the buzz-worthy year, and they’re showing no signs of slowing down.

Exactly a year later, they brought out an eight-track album of songs titled Happy About Everything Else that extends the pair’s run of flawless, no-frills pop, which seems to be their sweet spot, working with each other and a limited circle of collaborators.

With two solid albums, the boys recently pushed a new single LA Lonely in May this year. The song became an instant hit with their fans worldwide.

VERUS FERREIRA spoke with Justin and Slavo on the phone, a few weeks ago. Excerpts from the interview:

Hi guys, hope all is well with you and you’re taking care of yourselves in these trying times. So let’s start with the usual question… How did the two of you meet and how did you decide on Fly By Midnight?
Justin: We met in a studio in New York. It started with the two of us writing, and we quickly evolved into the duo.
Slavo: We had our first single ready to release before deciding on our name.

What’s it like to perform at the Firefly and Panorama music festivals?
Justin: Both were really different. What I loved about Firefly was, even though it was scorching hot out, we and the fans just sweat it out together. Tons of energy and love.
Slavo: Getting to meet fans after both performances was a great feeling, too.

Tell us something about your second album.
Salvo: Well, it’s an episodic experience of romance and repetition. It’s jam-packed with nostalgia, making it an engaging experience from start to finish.
Justin: The album is equal parts emotional and danceable. Flawlessly combining emotionally-charged lyricism, infectious pop beats, and stunning harmonies, the eight-track album features previous singles Waiting Tables, Waking Up and a separate single You Belong.
Salvo: You Belong takes you on a romantic and emotional journey. The track explores the moment when you realize you miss someone and want him/her back; when you realize that they literally belong to you. It’s a heart-wrenching and deeply relatable listen.
Justin: The cover art is like a shrink wrapped vinyl record… a throwback to the era of music (the 80’s) that has so inspired our work.

You’ve done a lot of collaborated work with many new artistes…
Salvo: We want to do that more, as working with other artistes is the best way to expand what you’re doing. There’s definitely an evolution that’s happening, and we can only hope that with everything we continue to put out people get more and more excited about. I’d like to specially mention our work with singer-songwriter Carly Paige in 2018 on the song I Feel It. It was a great track and had an equally jamming video, too.

Tell us about your latest single LA Lonely.
Justin: We began writing the track back in January when we moved from New York to LA. We were surrounded by lots of people, and yet felt this void and disconnect. The song reflects everyone’s emotions in that current situation.

What genre do you cater to and how has your music evolved through the years?
Justin: We’ve always found ways to blend nostalgic elements into pop music, but it’s definitely evolved over the course of our career so far.
Slavo: What we love about creating for Fly By Midnight is that there’s really no rule set. Some songs will pull influence from the 90’s alternative era, while others have more electronic layers.

What are your thoughts on performing live on digital media? Do you feel virtual concerts are the next big thing to happen to music?
Justin: Virtual concerts and live sessions have been around for awhile, but I think amidst everything currently happening they’re needed to sustain and strengthen that connection.
Slavo: We’d be lying if we said we didn’t miss the face-to-face adrenaline of a show, but these sorts of performances allow us to reach everyone in the world.

Among your many covers produced over the years, which one would you say gained maximum traction?
Justin: It would have to be our cover of We Don’t Talk Anymore.
Slavo: I remember watching that go from 50,000 to over 10 million so quick.
Justin: We recently had the official video to our single Love Me Like A Friend (laughs) have a similar “overnight” spike and it continues to feel unreal. That feeling never stops being wild.

What has been the most difficult part of your journey?
Justin: I would say being like brothers, growing up and hitting these transitional points in our lives, there’s a lot of adjusting that takes place. It’s not always the easiest. From moving across coasts… to living together. Balancing writing for Fly By Midnight while writing for other artistes. There are a lot of changes needed to work together on to get through smoothly.
Slavo:  I don’t think we’ve ever had difficulty on the creative side. It’s always been just finding ways to continue supporting each other in these different chapters of our life.

What was the inspiration behind Fly By Midnight?
Justin: We’re night owls by nature. Always creating at odd hours.
Slavo: Calling something ‘fly’ is a very retro term that we thought resonates with the nostalgic vibes behind our music.

Any Indian artiste you would like to work with?
Justin: I think the Indian music culture in general is really intriguing to us.
Slavo: We love the idea of collaborating in a genre that’s outside of our comfort zone. We’ve been listening to Armaan Malik and we love his track Control.
Justin: Next time we speak to you we may be promoting a track we did with an Indian artiste, who knows? We hope to collaborate with MUNA and Charli XCX, as well.

The post Fly By Midnight appeared first on The Teenager Today.

“I thought that I’ve been hurt before, But no one’s ever left me quite this sore, Your words cut deeper than a knife, Now I need someone to breathe me back to life, Got a feeling that I’m going under, But I know that I’ll make it out alive, If I quit calling you my lover, Move on…”

The first time I heard Stitches playing, I was touched. Later when he released In My Blood I knew this young man had talent. Shawn has a terrific voice and seems to be the best at making pop music with great melodies.

Shawn was born Shawn Peter Raul Mendes on 8 August 1998 in Toronto, Canada, to an English mother and a Portuguese father. Raised in Pickering, he attended Pine Ridge Secondary School from which he graduated in 2016.

Shawn’s musical influences were John Mayer, Ed Sheeran and Justin Timberlake, and he grew up listening to Led Zeppelin, Garth Brooks and country music. He learnt to play guitar at the age of 13 from YouTube tutorial videos. Less than a year later, he began posting cover videos on YouTube. His cover of Justin Bieber’s Boyfriend posted on the now-defunct Vine in 2013 gained 10,000 followers the next day! By the time manager Andrew Gertler discovered Shawn on YouTube in early 2014, the young singer had racked up nearly a million Vine followers and around 400,000 Twitter followers.

With his parents’ support, Shawn teamed up with the then 25-year-old Gertler and A&R rep Ziggy Chareton. By August 2014, Shawn was the third most-followed musician on Vine. Many record labels were vying for him, but he signed to Island Records (Universal Music) in 2014. Shawn displayed quick thinking when he played a cover of the Oasis hit Wonderwall in his first meeting with Island CEO, David Massey, who had signed Oasis to Sony in the 1990’s.

Shawn released his first single Life Of The Party (2014) at the age of just 15 and became the youngest to debut in the Top 25 on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100. His debut EP peaked at No. 5 on the Billboard 200, selling 48,000 copies in its first week. He then collaborated with The Vamps on their cover single Oh Cecilia (Breaking My Heart). The year ended with Shawn releasing the single Something Big. Life Of The Party was also included on Shawn’s four-track debut, The Shawn Mendes EP. The EP reached No. 5 on the Billboard charts on its way towards sales of over 100,000, setting the stage for his full-length debut Handwritten (2015), which debuted at No. 1 in Canada and the U.S. Stitches became one of Shawn’s biggest hits, reaching the Top 10 in the U.S. and Canada and topping the charts in the U.K. and Germany. His single, Believe, landed on the soundtrack of the Disney musical Descendants. While opening for Taylor Swift on her 1989 World Tour, Shawn and Camila Cabello collaborated on the song I Know What You Did Last Summer, which appeared on the deluxe version of Handwritten Revisited.

In 2016, Shawn made his acting debut on The 100 season 3 premiere. He later announced his second world tour, the Shawn Mendes World Tour. He also began work on his next album, hoping to make it a big ticket album. His first single, Treat You Better, had teenage girls swooning over him all over the planet! Within no time Shawn penned a few more tracks and before you knew it, he was out with the album Illuminate (2016) which debuted at No. 1 in the U.S. and Canada, achieving platinum status. He also released a second single Mercy. It was followed by the digital-only Live At Madison Square Garden.

Read the full article by subscribing to the print magazine or the digital edition.

The post Shawn Mendes appeared first on The Teenager Today.

Harvey Leigh Cantwell, a.k.a. HRVY, is the guy of every teenage girl’s dream. With sky blue eyes and ruffled blonde hair, the 19-year-old lad is a fountain of talent.

Seated at the Bottomline Media office in a pair of torn jeans and a dark blue kurta, HRVY is like your boy-next-door, casual and down-to-earth. His first-ever live performance at Hard Rock Cafe in Mumbai was sold out with many claiming his performance was truly astounding.

HRVY is today one of the most searched for singers with his video Personal clocking about 50 million views to date. His songs Phobia, Holiday and the latest single Personal are hot favourites with teens for their lyrics, most stemming from HRVY’s personal life experiences. HRVY is a social media sensation on Instagram and Twitter. Before his fame on social media, HRVY was a presenter on BBC’s Friday Download. After that he took to social media and released his first EP Holiday in 2017.

While his name is on every teen’s lips, we can’t but wonder why the Londoner from Kent, chose HRVY and not his real name. We found out about this and lots more when VERUS FERREIRA got exclusive access to the dashing youngster.

Everyone wants to know the reason for the change in name. Where did the ‘a’ and ‘e’ disappear to?
My team thought we might take out the vowels ‘a’ and ‘e’, and see how it sounds and make my name sound a bit different. It just stuck.

What music did you listen to while growing up?
I listened to U2, songs that my dad used to play in the car. I also like Justin Timberlake; he’s great. Then there’s Craig David and a lot of people who were on the charts while I was growing up.

When did the real love for music light up in you?
Music got my fancy at a young age when I was like five or six when I first got to understand what music really was and really enjoyed listening to it. By the time I was 13, I decided that music was what I wanted to do. I posted a cover of a song on Facebook called Simply Amazing by American singer Trey Songz. I shared it around on Facebook and it got a lot of traction for me and it just reached a new high. Then my manager thought I should make a video of it with me singing in it and, yeah, that’s how it really clicked. So it was a Facebook video which appeared on YouTube.

Do songs like Phobia, Holiday or Personal have a message to all your fans?
Well, not really. We just write about how we feel which is a concept by which we all work. I like Holiday which is a bit of fun, while Phobia was like more of heartbreak song. I know people would like that kind of stuff, it’s just got that romantic side to it.

Do your songs stem from real-life experiences?
Some of it kind of influenced it a bit, while some of it isn’t, and some is just made up. Well going back in time I liked this girl and so it comes from there. Well, the songs are a little bit of my own experiences, like Personal has a line about my ex-girlfriend… “You used to flirt with your friends…”

Read the full article by subscribing to the print magazine or the digital edition.

The post HRVY appeared first on The Teenager Today.

We really don’t like to say it in this magazine, but let’s be honest; Niall Horan’s debut effort suffered a minor blunder when it was released on 20th October. Titled Flicker, whether it was Niall’s cheeky play at words or a typography gaffe, from a distance the album poster screamed a rude word. The social media world freaked out and gave Niall much-needed mileage for his album, and if his current singles are anything to go by, we can truly say that Niall has brought out an album that we must listen to.

Niall is the third One Direction member to release a solo record, following in the footsteps of Zayn Malik’s 2016 Mind Of Mine and Harry Styles’ self-titled album released in May 2017. He also became the third member of One Direction to score a No. 1 album in America as his solo debut Flicker debuted atop the Billboard 200.

Niall James Horan was born on 13 September 1993, in Mullingar, County Westmeath, Ireland. His parents divorced when he was five years old. He and his older brother, Greg, were shunted back and forth between their parents’ two households before settling in with their father.

Niall attended St Kenny’s National Primary School in Mullingar, where he performed in school plays and sang in the school choir. He attended secondary school at Coláiste Mhuire (Mary’s College), a Catholic boys school also in Mullingar. As a teenager, he performed at the Mullingar Arts Centre (in a fundraiser for the local football team, the Shamrocks) and at The Academy in Dublin. One Christmas, Niall’s brother Greg got a guitar, but when he failed to play it regularly, Niall took charge of the instrument and taught himself how to play it from YouTube videos. His aunt discovered his talent when she was in the car with Niall and he started singing. She thought the radio was on.

Niall’s talent mushroomed slowly not only while he was in school, but even after he finished his school years. At 16, he auditioned for the TV talent show The X Factor. He moved up through several rounds of preliminary auditions culminating in a performance for the show’s judges, including Simon Cowell and guest judge Katy Perry. He sang a version of Ne-Yo’s So Sick and received mixed comments from the judges. Niall was finally put through to bootcamp and sang Champagne Supernova but once again failed to qualify for the “Boys” category. Although he was eliminated as a solo contestant after the semi-finals, the judges combined Niall with Harry Styles, Liam Payne, Zayn Malik and Louis Tomlinson forming One Direction.

Read the full article by subscribing to the print magazine or the digital edition.

The post Niall Horan appeared first on The Teenager Today.

SONY MUSIC (3 CDs), Rs 399

Can’t stop gushing about your favourite love songs? OMG is definitely one of the best collections for you. 51 sentimental songs for the one you love… There’s the 60s, 70s, 80s, 90s and a bit of the new millennium, so take your pick and program your player accordingly.

Our picks from CD 1 include Savage Garden’s Truly Madly Deeply, Train with Drops Of Jupiter, balladeers Air Supply with All Out Of Love, Backstreet Boys with Quit Playing Games (With My Heart), Natalie Imbruglia on the heartbreaking Torn, and Toni Braxton’s soulful voice on Unbreak My Heart. The high-pitched vocals of Alicia Keys on Fallin’ are notably sharp and hit the right place…your heart. Other artistes that make a cut here include Christina Aguilera, Justin Timberlake and Kelly Clarkson among others.

CD 2 begins with an instrumental by smooth-as-silk saxophonist Kenny G on his spine-chilling You’re Beautiful, to the smooth voice of Sade on By Your Side. We can’t leave out John Mayer with his extremely lyrically satisfying Your Body Is A Wonderland. Darryl Hall and John Oates bring back the magic of the 80s with You’ve Lost That Loving Feeling (remastered version 2003); to pop goddess Whitney Houston’s anthemic Saving All My Love For You. We strongly recommend Cheap Tricks’ The Flame. Don’t miss out on a bit of country if you feel like it with John Denver’s golden super hit Annie’s Song. There’s also Gareth Gates with a cover of The Righteous Brothers’ Unchained Melody, to other artists like Outlandish, The Tony Rich Project and Ten Sharp.

On CD 3, we go back to the 60s with Where Do I Begin (the theme from Love Story) from Andy Williams who opens the 17-track playlist with this old favourite that is still played at many pre-dawn parties. Another hit-maker of the 70’s Shakin’ Stevens writes the words for you when you have none to say, with the very meaningful Because I Love You. INXS, a band that’s been around for over 30 years, and who lost their lead singer Michael Hutchence, bring their glow here with Afterglow. Boyband Westlife comes away with My Love, while the nasal-toned Willie Nelson picks on an Elvis classic Always On My Mind, with another oldie Neil Sedaka on Oh Carol. Don’t miss Gladys Knight and the Pips with Hero (Wind Beneath My Wings); true classic material in an age of EDM.

A collection you just cannot turn away from, music to remind you of your first love, to wind you up when you are down, to put you in the mood for dancing and songs even to say goodbye. Though no lyrics are included, you really don’t have to say the words.

The post OMG! I’m In Love: Various Artists appeared first on The Teenager Today.