We were lucky to catch up with Roy Vocals recently and have shared our conversation below.
Hi Roy , thanks for joining us today. We’d love to hear about when you first realized that you wanted to pursue a creative path professionally.
The first time I knew for sure I wanted to pursue my artistic path professionally was after my first surgery. I suffered from AVN (Avascular Necrosis) for years unchecked until it get too much to handle without thorough treatment. I had a lot of time to reflect over my life and the decisions and circumstances that led me to this point in life. My father always told me to use all of my talents and don’t hold back on the world because it won’t hold back on you. That kept replaying in my head as I laid in my bed in pain during those years of recovery from full hip replacement and knee surgery at 30 years old. I had worn my body down working multiple jobs and that’s when I knew that I had to use all of my talents and find my way back to my artistry. It was all I loved and I was a natural at piano, singing, and music production. I toured multiple states across the U.S. and even to Spain for 10 days with my high school choir. After high school I released 4 mixtapes and 4 albums and have reached over a million people across the world and hundreds of fans across multiple platforms (reverbnation, SoundCloud, ITunes,Spotify, etc. After my recovery from surgery earlier this year I bought myself some turntables grabbed my keyboard and took my talents to the professional level. Now in less than 6 months I have turned my passion into a reliable income, I have performed for DJS At The Polls event, Black History Celebrations, and birthday parties in my community during this past election. Also I have secured multiple bookings for performances and DJ gigs for the future. I never knew for sure I would find success with my passion for music but I did know for sure what my father told me. I have to use all my talents and I would only fail if I never tried.
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.
Everything started for me when I was seven years old in my family told me that I could sing, I didn’t realize the scope of my talent at that age. I was so overwhelmed and honestly, I didn’t want to sing or pursue anything in music at first, but within the church and with my sisters encouraging me, I decided to give it a try. I wrote my first poem at eight years old and my first song at nine years old, my father got me a karaoke machine for Christmas that same year and from then on I created music whether it was just a cappella or with a gospel song From church. I did choir in school from fifth grade all the way until I graduated high school along the way, I also learned piano by ear and soon after learned music theory, I joined my high school choir and my life changed from then on with the direction of Beth Patterson and Linda Jones I learned to control and hone my voice. I experienced many different struggles throughout my life and music became a healthy outlet for me to express myself so at age 17 I made my first album called The Restoration. It is still available on reverbnation.com. At the age of 15 -to rewind just a bit- I had joined a R&B/Hip Hop group with my friends at school Brianna and Trent and we became A&G Harmony. With them I experienced my first shows ever my first talent shows and so many different performances. Also we performed at the last Michigan State fair in Detroit, Michigan at the gazebo where we did a full concert of our very first album. we are no longer an active group, but our love for each other and bond that we built Will forever be a friendship that I appreciate and cherish for the rest of my life. I always kept writing songs in spite of that and around that time in my life I fell in love with hip-hop and started to rap as well and as a young kid, I remember taking tae kwon do classes and seeing how hip-hop and karate were complementing arts of each other I knew that that would be my brand, discipline, honor, and artistry combined with skill I knew with that I could accomplish anything and I wanted to put that message in my music and share it with the world. I represent raw talent and exercising every talent I have to entertain and bring joy and knowledge to people while expressing myself.
I provide singing, pianist, and DJ services at a fair rate where the customer is in control of the songs and theme they want for their events.
Can you tell us about a time you’ve had to pivot?
By the age of 18 I left home. During that time I became focused on different things in life, including becoming a trained EMT at Wayne County Community College I graduated the class but shortly after a professor working at the school provided me and my mother with a home to stay in after being evicted from our home and after receiving the money from my mother she double crossed us and long story short we had no choice but to move from Detroit abruptly. I never was able to find an EMT program that was covered by FAFSA so I never pursued emergency services after that. I also became a father the following year and navigating the child support system and raising my son became a serious challenge but also a driving factor to be a better man for myself, my son and those who love and care for me. From there I sought out mental health services and with the assistance of therapy and psychologists I’m able to manage my emotions in healthy ways. So, I definitely took a break from music for years to the point I almost forgot it was something I loved to do. Then as my son got older and my life got better I came back full circle and now I’m back and better than ever.
What do you think is the goal or mission that drives your creative journey?
Yes, my amazing son is the driving factor in my creative journey. I was 21 years old when he was born and things didn’t work out between me and his mother. So here I am as a single dad at 21 years old clueless on how I’m going to raise him. Well I had no choice but to figure it out and that was the greatest blessing of my life and it built character, patience and accountability in me. He’s 11 years old now and has a great spirit and is very passionate about music and gymnastics. I want to show him he can do anything and overcome anything. Our personal motto is “Never Give Up” and turn your passion into a business where you can earn money and do what you love. I also want to show the world nothing is impossible. There’s always a way out. I suffered homelessness when my son was first born due to housing instability and worked my way out of it and now I am stable and thriving and able to make a living performing music and DJing; something I never imagined possible until I tried it. So my main mission is to spread love and encouragement to the world through my music and to bring professional DJ services to amplify the greatest moments of our lives.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://open.spotify.com/album/7MzWRbUuZlg8JIhcPIM9qM?si=7ZuybYW_RK6sM3w6sqfReg
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/roybvocals/profilecard/?igsh=MW1oYnhodzZvZDhxbw==
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/share/15gWnaipnc/?mibextid=LQQJ4d
- Twitter: @dmastermusician
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@roybvocals
- Soundcloud: https://on.soundcloud.com/76XZYR1jvi5L7VWP7
