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

Christine, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. Do you wish you had waited to pursue your creative career or do you wish you had started sooner?

I arrived on the music scene quite late in life. I first started really working on my voice and learning vocal technique in my mid-twenties. I found a singing teacher in an ad in my local paper, and I took the plunge so to speak. It was the most nerve wracking and exhilarating thing I have ever done. The pinnacle for me was when I was encouraged to start writing my own songs. 

It was suggested to me by my vocal coach, Maria Pellicano from SingOut Singing and Performance School as a possible next step for me, to challenge myself and develop my voice in a different way. I had played guitar off and on since I was 18 and once I made a start of throwing a few chords together and making up a melody I was off and running. It didn’t gel for me straight away. It took a while to feel confident in what I was creating. I was getting feedback from people I knew and trusted. The response was so positive I decided to seek out someone to help me record my first single. This was around 2013 and I was in my thirties by this stage. 

I do often think, what if I had studied music at a much younger age, I could have been so much further down the track. I don’t like to look back with regret, as I believe most things happen for a reason. I have had much life experience to build the lyrical content of my songs, being a bit older and maybe wiser. I do wonder what sort of songs would have been created if I had started sooner but I would rather look forward to the next project and throw all my creative energy in that.

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.

In the early 2000’s I started my formal vocal training. I realised I really wanted to learn this craft and get the best out of my voice. Towards the end of 2008 I was performing regularly around various venues in Melbourne in a Live Duo act. It was at this stage I was encouraged by my vocal coach to start training as a singing teacher. Not long after this, I was well and truly moving into a new domain of writing my own songs and finally released my first song ‘Didn’t Even Try’ in 2014.

What I am most proud of with my original music is my pursuit of finding a different sound, new ideas creatively, to try and be ever changing and to keep things interesting not only for me as an artist but also for my followers or those listeners who I am trying to reach. I feel so very lucky that I get to impart what I have learnt over 20 years as a singer and almost 15 years as a singing teacher with my students and other musicians who I enjoy collaborating with.

I find it the most gratifying to work with other singers/songwriters, producers, sound engineers who can always bring something to the project to elevate it to reach its full potential. By reviewing my back catalogue on Spotify and Apple Music you will see there is diversity in the style of music I have created.

I think that it is so important to be authentic but at the same time show all the different sides to my storytelling and create soundscapes that have impact on the listener.

We’d love to hear the story of how you built up your social media audience?

The biggest lesson of all that I have learnt is that in order to be seen and heard on social media you really need to have a marketing strategy. I never used to be entirely comfortable with this side of the music industry, as I had no idea where to start and it meant having to talk about myself and what I do and to encourage others to listen to my music. 

The game changer for me was when I hired someone to handle my public relations campaigns. It took all the stress away and it meant I could focus on what I love to do, and that is creating new music. My amazing PR agent at www.riseindie.com has created so many opportunities for me that I had never imagined. It does require you to think about setting a budget for marketing of your music but this is the landscape of the musical industry and if you get it right, you can get a great return on your investment.

What do you find most rewarding about being a creative?

The most rewarding aspect of being creative for me is seeing the amazing feedback I receive when I release new music and how it impacts people in a positive way. I have accepted that music is a very personal and individual choice for everyone, and I realise that not everyone will fully embrace my original material. The rewards come when I get to meet new people in the music world who I want to create music with, and that opportunity has only presented itself because of the circles I move in. 

I am always grateful for that. It is always exciting to see the number of streams going up for one of my new releases, however the real joy for me is always the process of creating a new song and seeing it go through the production process and coming out the other side as a beautiful piece I am excited to share with the world.

Contact Info:

• Website: http://christinetarquinio.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/christinetarquinio_singer/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ChrissTarquinio
• Twitter: https://twitter.com/ChristineTarqu1
• Youtube: www.youtube.com/@chrissytar1
• Other: Apple Artist Profile https://music.apple.com/us/artist/christine-tarquinio/848930477 Spotify Artist Profile https://open.spotify.com/artist/2RWg4DiSsFgtI5eMEY2nqR

Image Credits
Photography by Susan Bradfield.