Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Adelide. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.

Adelide, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today We’d love to hear about when you first realized that you wanted to pursue a creative path professionally.

I always knew I wanted to sing, and I was lucky enough to have people in my life who encouraged my passion from a very young age. In first grade, my teacher would play music for us every class and one day she put on Louis Armstrong’s “What a Wonderful World”. I was absolutely enamored and begged my parents to buy me the album when I got home from school that day. They ended up getting me the Ella Fitzgerald and Louis Armstrong duets album instead by accident, but hearing Ella sing completely changed my life. I knew I was meant to make music. My parents got me in voice lessons and the rest is history!

Adelide, love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?

I started singing at a very young age, and folded in piano and guitar lessons throughout my early life as well. I began writing songs when I got my first guitar at age 12, and started playing jazz gigs when I was 15. I pursued an undergraduate degree in Jazz Voice at the University of Miami and a Master’s in Jazz Voice at New England Conservatory.

For most of my life, I was torn about which genre I belonged in. I always loved writing pop songs, but when I got to jazz school this wasn’t encouraged, or at least not writing outside of the Jazz idiom. I put my guitar down when I got to the University of Miami and didn’t pick it back up until 2020 during the pandemic. Jazz is such a social music, and since I was having to make a lot of music alone during that time, it prompted me to start writing original music again.

These days, I’m feeling really proud of what I’ve become. I’ve been able to infuse my knowledge of jazz with my love of pop, funk, disco, and RnB to create the art that helps me feel like my most authentic self, and I feel grounded in my creativity! It’s just a testament to trusting the process and knowing that you’ll end up exactly where you’re supposed to be.

How can we best help foster a strong, supportive environment for artists and creatives?

Don’t ask us to work for free, or to work for exposure. While we are exceedingly lucky to get to do what we love, please understand that being a musician or creative is a job like anything else and it needs to be treated as such. Our rates reflect the years of work that have gone into honing our craft, and while exposure can often be a useful tool for up-and-coming artists like myself, we have to pay bills just like anyone else!

And of course, go out and see live music! Find local spots near you and check out the bands that play there. There’s nothing better for a musician than finding connection in their local community, and just by showing up to our gig and bringing your best energy you’re supporting us more than you could ever know. Tipping the band never hurts of course, but truly we need you more than we need your money :)

If you find music you love by a small artist, share it with everyone! No more of this “gatekeeping” indie artists stuff – we need to find an audience in order to support ourselves and it’s so important for our music to be reaching new ears. It’s up to you to spread the word! AND if you are financially able, actually buy the album or song you love! You can keep streaming it afterward but we make close to nothing from streaming, so spending the $5 on our EP is likely more money than we’ll make on streaming for an entire year!

Is there something you think non-creatives will struggle to understand about your journey as a creative? Maybe you can provide some insight – you never know who might benefit from the enlightenment.

Like I said, It’s a job, except the reality of it is that it’s a job that takes a very long time to become profitable. I work a day job outside of music every day so I can fund my art and I do this so that hopefully one day I won’t need to work a day job anymore.

A typical day in my life looks like this: waking up in the morning around 7:30am, going to my part-time job at a pilates studio, grabbing lunch around 2pm quickly before heading to teach young music students until nighttime, and then at around 8 or 9pm I finally get to head to the studio to work on music. Most days I have to do 8-10 hours of “make-ends-meet” work before I ever get to make a note of music.

All this being said, I made this choice for myself and I’m so grateful I did. I love my life! However, this just stresses even more how important it is for non-creatives to understand why we charge what we charge for our services, why it’s important to check out local art, and why you should share your findings with others you think might enjoy it. We work hard to make art for you to consume, and we love you for consuming it!

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.itsadelide.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/its.adelide/
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@its.adelide
• Other: tik tok: https://www.tiktok.com/@adelideknits
  Bandcamp: https://adelide.bandcamp.com/

Image Credits

Baliey Lecat
Ambika Verma
Monica Pabelonio