We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Desarae Dee a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.
Desarae, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. When did you first know you wanted to pursue a creative/artistic path professionally?
I first knew that I wanted to pursue a creative path in high school. I knew deep down within myself that music was going to be a long last part of my life, but at the time, I didn’t know in what capacity or how that would look. I was passionate about music (playing and creating) and I also loved teaching and sharing my knowledge with others. I thought “why not combine all of these things together?” I had always wanted to have my own music school where I offered things like instrumental instruction, production and composition classes, as well as workshops for current and aspiring musicians. As I got older, my love for creating and composing became the forefront and I became an artist and released my own music, along with playing for many Canadian artists. At that point, I knew that I was born to do music whether as an Artist or as my own boss.
Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers.
My name is Desarae Dee and I am an Instrumental Fusion Artist, Producer, Composer, Educator, Content Creator and entrepreneur. I started my music journey at young age when parents discovered that I had a musical talent, but at the time, I wasn’t old enough for formal lessons. At the age of 6, I was enrolled in lessons and classically trained on the piano, started playing in church at the age of 13 and was a decorated and award winning musician throughout my elementary and secondary school career. After taking piano lessons for 13 years, I continued my Musical studies in University and obtained degrees in Music and Education. While I was in teacher’s college in 2013, I composed and produced a song, which lead me to launch my career as an artist the following year (in 2014) with that song being my first release. From there, I received my first radio play in the United States and released my first EP in 2016, where I affirmed the title of an “Instrumental Artist.” Being a black woman instrumental artist in Canada was unheard of and from there I knew that I would have quite the journey ahead of me. In 2018, I hit a brick wall due to lack of support, access to performance opportunities and even experienced writer’s block because I didn’t know what else to do. It was in that moment that I went into my computer program, Garage Band and made a discovery that would completely change my music career for the better. In making that discovery, I realized that I wasn’t utilizing all the skills that I had as a musician. I was super fixated on playing the piano, that I wasn’t using the vast amount of skills under my bet, such as playing 15 instruments and not using any of these to my advantage at the time. Once I made that discovery and made that realization, a new found burst of inspiration and creativity was birthed out of me and I went to work. Fast forward to 2020, we were hit with the COVID-19 pandemic that saw the world change before my eyes, but I also went through a “rebirth” just prior to this world changing event, but I was in the zone and used the pandemic as a way to build on my sound and my production skills. I went from being an “Instrumental Artist” to an “Instrumental Fusion Artist” with my love for fusing multiple genres together to create something totally brand new and outside the box. I went on that same year to release 4 singles and my first ever 2 part Christmas EP of Christmas music I composed from scratch (Part 2 due in late fall 2023). Not only that, my streaming numbers went up and more radio and performance opportunities came. Fast forward to present day, I now have a total of 23 singles and 4 EP releases over the last 9 years, in addition to recently winning my first major award as an Artist – the 2022 SiriusXM Black Canadian Music Award through the SOCAN Foundation, being featured on TV 2 times, being a recurring artist on NPR Music Jazz Night In America and being featured in over 50 music blogs and publications worldwide. I think about my journey and how far I have come and how important it was for me to make certain realizations, but also I had to finally take risks in my career, which was something I struggled with for a long time. In addition to being an artist, I am a Content Creator on TikTok (and instagram) with a loyal community of over 25,000 followers and almost 2 million views worldwide providing piano tutorials covering various musical concepts from my unique perspective. I also provide many musical services such as piano lessons – I currently run my own piano studio from my home with over 20 students, I provide piano production, I teach basic production skills using Logic Pro X, I offer my musical services for live events, celebratory events, tours and residencies, etc. I also have my own merchandise under my music name “Desarae Dee” that I launched in 2021. There are many facets to my entrepreneurial journey, but it’s everything that I ever could have imagined. The one thing that I am most proud of is my determination and tenacity because I was able to achieve so much, knowing that it took a lot to not only pioneer a new lane in the music industry, but to execute a vision as big as mine, while battling the environment that I grew up in and being a minority woman in a male dominated music industry. The most important thing for me is to be the representation that I needed growing up – I grew up during a time where the presence of the Black woman as a musician was unheard of in Canada. I also wanted to break the stigma of the Black woman in music only being seeing in the light of a “vocalist” and not being capable of doing other things in music but pick up a mic. Lastly, I wanted to let people know that it’s never too late to start/restart your passion. It doesn’t matter how old you are or where you are in your life journey – those passions that you’ve had that you never got to start, you can reignite them!
What do you find most rewarding about being a creative?
The most rewarding aspect of my career is the messages that I get from people who support what I do and how they are inspired by my journey and how I have been able to maneuver through the music industry. It shows me that what I do MATTERS and is desperately needed.
How can we best help foster a strong, supportive environment for artists and creatives?
I believe the society on a whole scale can do a lot to support artists and creatives by doing the following: Firstly, being open minded when it comes to music – not only is music subjective, it’s also growing at an exponential rate, with new styles of music coming to the surface. Music is not what it used to be and it’s important for society to make the effort to be open to the changes. Secondly, investing in independent artists by purchasing their music, their merchandise, being present at their shows, showing your support on social media, encouraging your local communities to invest more into the music programs to aid in the development of independent artists.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://beacons.ai/desaraedeemusic
- Instagram: https://instagram.com/desaraedeemusic
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/desaraedeemusic
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/desaraedeemusic
- Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/desaraedeemusic
- Youtube: https://youtube.com/@DesaraeDeeMusic
- Tiktok: https://www.tiktok.com/@desaraedeemusic
Image Credits
Accacia Krystal Photography