If putting out a new single for the summer as well as performing at Canadian Music Week and putting together a new band wasn’t enough, Montreal singer songwriter and creative genius Aliah Guerra goes and gets put on the cover of Guitar Girl magazine in the U.S. with an interview in the mag to booth
“This was a summer jam that was inspired by some events that I went to last year. There were some boat parties and some other parties that I went to with my family in Toronto.
There was a lot of music from the 70’s and 80’s. I wanted to create some funky music with a Prince sort of vibe. This was the sort of music I grew up with. I just wanted to create something upbeat. I just wanted to change the mood after the whole up or down situation.”
This was the way Aliah described her new summer single “Show Me What You Wanna Do” when I spoke to her from Toronto in June where she was networking and performing at the annual Canadian Music Week.
The 26-year-old musical dynamo whose parents were born in Trinidad, is a multi-instrumentalist who also writes, produces and arranges all of her material.
Her 2018 debut e.p. “Sounds Of A Seed” was named so because of the influence of her parents’ music and how it in turn influences her own material.
“I definitely have to give credit to my parents,” the 26-year old giggled when it was pointed out that she brings an air of authenticity when doing music influenced by an era that was before her time.
“I think it’s when you’re so genuinely inspired by music. This is the style of music that I’ve grown up around so it doesn’t really seem different to me. I think when our minds are inspired to create something we always draw a thing that is a reference point to anywhere or anything.”
Aliah also prides herself in her guitar playing which she picked up on her own after purchasing an app a few years ago and almost perfecting the instrument in weeks.
” Oh I do some serious shredding on this track (Show Me What You Wanna Do).”During the pandemic, I really wanted to work on my guitar skills since I had the time to do it. I did mention that Prince was a big influence on this new song so I’ve been working on my solos.”
Another thing that musical wunderkind worked on during the pandemic was an app that brought her career to another realm entirely.
“When covid hit in 2020, I was getting ready to go on my 1st European tour. I had some (booked) in London, Paris and Zurich so I was super excited. I had just gotten back from L.A. Just a few weeks after I had booked this shows and Air BNB’s and purchased plane tickets, that’s when the lockdown happened on Mar.13th.
I didn’t just want to sit around during that time because I find it hard for me to do that. I watched a lot of things go digital. I saw artists go from doing these venue shows to live stream shows. Everything became this fan based online thing. I thought that was really interesting so being the creative person that I am I decided that I would find my way to take my artist side and integrate with this new technological wave.
I developed my own mobile app and put in onto the app store. It’s called ‘The Aliah Guerra App’. I use it as a way to connect with my fans. It’s a V.I.P. platform where I can connect with them. I can show them(fans) some exclusives behind the scenes stuff like unreleased music and stuff like that. It’s a really good way for me to engage with my fans.
It also got me a very unique spotlight in the way that I could continue to connect with my fans right up until the release of this new song. I had people watching me at a time when there wasn’t very much going on in the music scene.”
Aliah Guerra’s latest
single “Show Me What You
Wanna Do” is now streaming on all major platforms. She plays the Optimista Film Festival’s closing night on Mar.4th 2023 at Quai 5160 in Verdun.
Aliah Guerra making moves
