We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Fermata Blaize a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Hi Blaize, thanks for joining us today. Can you talk to us about how you learned to do what you do?

Last week, I released my first single, Cleanse The Soul, under the musical alias, Fermata Blaize. I have several other tracks in the chute ready to go. I am beyond excited to have taken this first step as a musician and songwriter. I’ve been working towards this time for years, and I know, in many ways, I’m at the very beginning.

One could say that I have been preparing for this season all my life.
As a young child, I began singing in choir at church at the age of four. From that time on, I sought out every opportunity I could find to be on stage, to use my voice, to immerse in the arts. My mother was a piano teacher and taught myself and my three brothers classical piano for many years. I performed in musical theater plays, joined choral groups, sang in talent shows, town events, ball games, summer camps, even won the Miss VT Outstanding Teen ’08 pageant with piano as my talent.

In spite of my passion, love and talent in music, singing, and acting, I was persuaded to hedge my bets and take an alternative path for college. I studied broadcast journalism, but still joined every performing group I could find on campus.

I’ve always been a writer, too. I started writing poetry when I was about 6 or 7, getting outraged when my little brother showed his admiration by plagiarizing my poetry title. I clearly took myself very seriously even then!

However seriously I took my art, though, I knew the risks of life as an artist. I grew up in financial hardship all my life. I felt an immense pressure to create stability and safety for myself. I also received coaching to focus in on one art form, and got a lot of feedback that acting was my strongest talent. I moved to NYC to give acting everything, later moving to LA to continue on that track.

All the while, I was writing. I wrote screenplays, poetry, blogs, and in many journals I wrote songs. When I hiked with my dog, and eventually my daughter, I would hear whole songs almost download into my mind, with full lyrics and melodies.

In 2020, I co-wrote a feature film with Ian Mark. We decided to self produce, act and direct in our film. It was a chance to showcase everything we had to bring to this process as artists, entrepreneurs, brains. It was a wild ride and so much fun, although stressful and overwhelming at times. I wrote an original song to feature my character’s emotional turmoil near the climax of the film. I had completed other songs before but never had them produced, settling for sharing them on IG with my uke as the accompaniment. By committing the song into the script, I gave myself a hard deadline to completely produce a single. Ain’t nothin like a deadline, baby! In so doing, I created the structure for myself to see this all the way through. I definitely ran into bumps in the road. The song was passed around by a few different producers, but finally it got done and I am so proud of it. You can look for Perfect Storm out early 2024 as our film A More Perfect Union hits the film festival circuit.

By completing one song, I learned SO much about the process both in song-writing and producing. I was itching to do more. By now I had about 20 almost completed song ideas and about 40 more snippets circulating in a Google drive. I knew it couldn’t be a one and done.

In 2022 I was diagnosed with thyroid cancer. This was such a scary time as the cancer had progressed into my neck by the time we caught it. As someone on fire for life and creative expression, I felt I have so much more to do! As a single parent to one child I was gripped by fear of leaving my daughter alone. It was also a time of so much inspiration. All I could do to cope was write, and keep writing. I didn’t know if the surgery around my thyroid would permanently damage my voice, but I kept writing songs. A few months after my surgery, my voice was back and stronger than ever! I immediately called my producer friend, Jason Kutchma, and hired him to help me record a simple demo of another song idea, thinking I’d just shop it around and see if other producers wanted to use it for topline in the EDM world. Each step I took towards bringing my songs into the world, the further I wanted to go.

At the same time, I was leading New Moon Intention Circles, creating group discussion around speaking our intentions in community with accountability. I feel this practice really helped me to clarify how I wanted to grow as an artist, what action steps I would take. My producer friend at Speak Hip Records, asked me, “What can you let go of to make room for this dream?” I started to release other pulls for my attention and time, allowing more of my creative energy to go into music.

Last Christmas, I bought myself Ableton, and started learning. I procrastinated for so long because learning new technology is so overwhelming to me! But with Cleanse The Soul, I just had a simple concept, and I told myself it could become anything. I was very unattached to the results and really experimented my way into discovering what the track became. I knew concept-wise, I wanted it to be a mantra track with a New Age meditation sound, but the idea was very loose. I think both the structure of committing to completing it by myself (with a little help on the mix and master), and also the freedom for it to take shape however it did let it really flow freely.

I would say I’m definitely still in the early stages of learning the craft of songwriting and music production. I am still so slow moving around in Ableton, it’s so aggravating some days! And I totally get in my own way second guessing ideas sometimes or self-editing takes while singing. But I know I’m heading in a beautiful direction. The best feeling is doing something that the more you do, the more hooked you become, the more you learn, the more you want to learn! It’s less about slogging through something you don’t even enjoy to get to a result you want, and more about nerding out on the entire process. It’s really funny because I thought it was going to be more the former for me. I thought I would hate learning Ableton, Melodyn, mixing, but I actually love it! It’s one of the few times I don’t hate staring at a screen. That and writing, clearly haha!

I do think having a background in music from a young age was SO helpful. I think getting SUPER into the EDM scene and music festivals as a fan was also super motivating, to witness how many artists are helping each other, collabing and cross-promoting and taking over the industry. I think having a background in acting, performance, being in front of people constantly as a yoga teacher, somatic coach, dancer, public speaker and improv actor and more is all helpful. I honestly wish I had jumped in sooner, and I know that my own journey has flowed in the most amazing way for me. I am so grateful for every step that led me to here, even the really hard ones like becoming a single parent, battling cancer. They’ve all given me so much more to say, or to sing! They’ve made me strong and helped me know who I am and why I’m doing this.

Even in all the ways I get in my own way, it’s been a process of learning how to work with myself. I have to love myself SOOO fucking much to believe this is worth it! If I don’t believe in it, why should anyone else? I have struggled with mental health all my life. There’s been lots of different diagnostic words thrown around but at the end of the day, it was about accepting myself as I am, understanding there will be times when my body and mind don’t wanna do what I had set out to do that day and I need to pivot. Sometimes I’m planning to record vocals and I’m in an emotional collapse and my voice isn’t turning on. Sometimes I’m planning to work on a mix in Ableton and my mind is spinning on manic wanting to write lyrics. I gotta follow what needs to happen in that day and trust that it will all get done. And sometimes, I’ve booked studio time and recording needs to happen that day or I have a performance and need to crush it and so thank goddess for my arsenal of somatic self-healing practices to help get me where I need to be in that moment.

I’m so grateful for the way that all of my life experiences and skills flow together to create the place I’m at right now, and I’m SO excited to see what’s next. Keep an eye out for my Christmas track “Happy Christmas Breakup” dropping this Holiday season!

Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.

I feel like I went into a lot of detail in the last question haha. IG @fermatablaize
Spotify. https://open.spotify.com/artist/6QIyGa6jPGr27JHNn4GI6w

I release music, produce, do vocals and songwrite under the name Fermata Blaize

The name Fermata Blaize has lots of meaning for me. It stems from my roots in classical piano training from my Mom, honoring her for the gift of music she gave me.
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The fermata symbol means to “hold” if it’s over a note. My first name, Blaize, a gift from my Dad, means fire. So, together it’s “hold fire”. This is a nod to anti-violence.
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Holding fire, to me, can also mean asking the question, how long can you hold that which purifies or grows you? Sometimes growth can mean a burning away of past states and ways of being, habits, relationship patterns. This can be so difficult, and it is necessary to grow into the more evolved version of yourself!
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I also love the idea of the fermata meaning “hold”. You can’t let go of something you haven’t held. And you have the freedom to hold on until you are ready to let go. I have definitely lived through states of existence that perhaps weren’t for my highest good, but in that moment, they were how I needed to cope, how I needed to feel a sense of security or control, how I needed to protect myself. I held them and then I let go. I know there are probably things now that feel right that perhaps I will change my mind on when I am ready.
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The Fermata Blaize name is about finding your highest peace, your ever evolving growth, giving yourself grace throughout that process.
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Lastly, Fermata can also mean “pause” when it’s placed over a rest. This is a nod to my wellness journey both personally and with @weepingwillowwellness. Taking time to pause, reflect, integrate our experiences, and meditate allows us to self heal and to experience the most learning from our life. In a world that often tells you to hurry, catch up, work harder, do more, I hope we all remember to take time to pause, give thanks, reflect, breathe, be. Selah.

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

I recently read an article about the “new music industry”. It stated that outside the old model of signing with a huge label and working with the most expensive studios, indy artists could make a wonderful, sustainable living by creating a solid fanbase. The basic breakdown was that artists could have a 6 figure income if they just had one thousand loyal fans who would spend $100 a year on their music, merch and content. This doesn’t seem that unattainable, right? I personally have over eight thousand fans on only one of my social media accounts. But how many of them would actually spend money on my content, or consider sending a venmo of $20 a few times a year to support my art and show their appreciation, or, even consider hiring me to write a song for their own project! We are in an amazing time in which big business still controls so much and it’s hard to compete within algorithms when some people have thousands if not millions of dollars for marketing and PR. However, we should not count our own individual power lightly, especially here in the US with VERY LITTLE to NO censoring and considerable individual wealth comparably.
I would ask everyone reading this to consider how you can show support for independent and especially new artists. If you like someone’s song, send them $5 on paypal, or if you feel a deep connection to their message, by merch! Vote with your dollar, and especially help new artists who aren’t signed with a label. GO TO SHOWS! Support artists who are giving SO MUCH to tour, to create opportunities for connection in real current time and space. And if you’re at shows, clap, cheer, DANCE! Hype us up, we need it more than you know.

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.

First of all, I don’t believe in the creatives/non-creatives storyline. I believe all humans came here to create in some way. I believe our energy flows through creation. Sure, for some people that might look like creating the most detailed spreadsheet, organizing the infrastructure of an office communication system to flow better, redecorating a home or creating the most beautiful and balanced bag lunches for your kiddos. It’s all creation though. Don’t deny yourself the title of artist or creative simply because you think the hours committed to what you think of as creative don’t qualify you, or because you don’t have a lot of clout or a big audience for what you are creating. Once you start to think of all your life as a beautiful creative web, every action you take can be imbued with expression. The way you wash your hands can feel tender, you can pay attention to the sensory process of the water and the bubbles, you can notice the ways your hands have changed that day. Is there a scratch from a pet? Is a nail bitten due to stress? Maybe your veins are popping from a workout, or your hands feel cold because you haven’t moved your circulatory system much today. Every little part of your life can be a form of expression, a dialogue with yourself, a moment of present awareness. When this becomes your mode of operation, you may be surprised how much more expression may want to flow. Perhaps that Excell document could be color coded? Maybe the break room at work could use some inspiring wall art? See where you can take your artistic life into your own hands and let it flow.

All that said, I understand there are some who are living their life to build it around creativity, and some who are building their life around other priorities. I guess what I would say to that is just think about what means the very most to you? Is it implementing structural change in the school system, being deeply involved in your church community, creating the best circle of friends for marathon D&D games, influencing your representatives in Congress, volunteering at a charity, creating stability and peace within your family? Whatever means the most to you, understand that people who deeply commit their lives to the arts have to have the same level or maybe even more passion and dedication. All of the things I listed above can be done while also holding down a part time or full time job. In order to make the most happen with an artistic goal, many creators need to sacrifice financial stability, social connection, other fun hobbies, sometimes even healthy amounts of sleep or order to get their art made and out into the world in front of fans. Those of us committing on that level need support. If you don’t have a deep passion to create something large-scale, maybe consider lending your support to artists. If you meet someone incredibly talented, passionate and driven, invest in them! Offer to connect them to investors you know, or invest how you can. Lend a hand with fees for studio time, photo shoots, music video production, or any of the myriad of costs involved with launching art into the world.

Contact Info:

• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/fermatablaize/
• Twitter: https://twitter.com/BlaizeHall1
• Other: https://www.instagram.com/weepingwillowwellness/ https://www.instagram.com/emblaizon https://www.imdb.com/name/nm4832810/