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

Nolan, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today How did you learn to do what you do?

I started writing songs when I moved away for university. Up until that point, I had barely scratched the surface as an amateur guitar player. It was something I had always kept to myself. I used to feel like I needed to seem legitimate or “put together” before sharing anything I had been working on. Too scared to attend an open mic or show others my work, I began messing around with GarageBand in my dorm room. I knew what kind of music I liked, but didn’t know what I could do to sound like that. I started singing to myself and making demos for the sole purpose of keeping track of my ideas. About a month into my university program, I felt completely trapped. I wasn’t taking care of myself at all and I had sunk into a deep depression. Music was all that mattered to me. I began writing terribly sad songs as a way of dealing with my feelings. I started posting these ideas to a SoundCloud page with the idea that if I could get even 50 listens, it would mean I had some sort of potential as a songwriter. I didn’t get 50 listens. Nowhere close to it. But the idea that I could make something on my laptop with a guitar (and a really crappy reverb plugin) was really appealing to me. I decided to pursue music more seriously shortly thereafter and enrolled in a music program after university. During my time at music school, I took classes in songwriting, production and live performance. At the end of the program, I ended up with four songs that I was really proud of and released them independently in 2020. Since then, the project has grown substantially as I’ve had the opportunity to work on more material and perform with a band. The response to the project has been so much more than I’d ever hoped for.

Nolan, before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?

I’m Nolan McGillivray, a musician based out of Toronto – writing and performing music under the artist name Sno Daze.

During the pandemic, I took a new approach to songwriting. Looking to return to my roots as a folk listener and guitar player, I began writing new material alone, With just an acoustic guitar. Something I had strayed away from in other musical projects up until that point. This resulted in the completion of four songs at the end of 2020. Since the release of those four songs, I have focused on writing new material. With a small release under my belt, I started performing live. Alone at first, and later with a band. These past few months have been very rewarding as I’ve had the opportunity to perform in some very unique spaces with artist’s I absolutely admire. Taking this project on the road has been extremely rewarding as it has allowed me to connect with listeners and fellow artist’s in a way that just wouldn’t be possible from behind the screen. I am so excited to share the new music we have been working on. The newer material really excites me as it is finally starting to sound the way it does in my head when I first come up with the idea. I’ve had the opportunity to record in some top notch facilities lately. Tracking everything from drums to orchestral instruments, My producer, Mike and I have started to compile a batch of songs for the next project. Im Hoping the release the first single of this new project in the coming months. I’m still trying to figure out exactly what i want to do with this project in the future but I’m happy to take as many listeners with me on that journey.

What do you think is the goal or mission that drives your creative journey?

As far as goals go, I have a few. In the long term, I hope that this project can grow into something bigger than myself. I hope that someday somewhere people might connect to my songs in the way that I have with so many other artists as a music fan. I can remember feeling like the world had opened up when I first found the artists and genres I truly identify with. As a young person, It felt like certain artist’s songs had the ability to make me feel understood on a level that I hadn’t experienced through other artistic mediums. This feeling, to me is indescribable. Like when you hear a song and you relate to the lyrics so much that it feels like it was written especially for you. I really hope that one day I could write a song that does that for somebody. I also hope to do a real tour. Not just a weekend here or there, but actually experience that part of the industry. Playing in a different city every night, travelling for long periods of time, and doing it all with my friends seems like the adventure of a lifetime to me.

What’s the most rewarding aspect of being a creative in your experience?

For me, the most rewarding part of being a musical artist is the creative process. I love the feeling I get when I finally finish a song or come up with a chorus that I cant get out of my head. Getting to see these ideas transform from a demo into a fully produced song is very satisfying. We spend a lot of time in the studio trying to get things just right. We’ve had the pleasure of recording everything ourselves thus far. Though its taking longer than I expected, I cant wait for everyone to hear what we’ve been up to these past two years.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.whoissnodaze.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/snodazze/
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@snodaze3223
• Other: https://snodaze.bandcamp.com/

Image Credits
Ryan Hodson Thomas mcdaniel