Meet Desarae Dee

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

Desarae, appreciate you making time for us and sharing your wisdom with the community. So many of us go through similar pain points throughout our journeys and so hearing about how others overcame obstacles can be helpful. One of those struggles is keeping creativity alive despite all the stresses, challenges and problems we might be dealing with. How do you keep your creativity alive?
As an artist and a musician, I keep my creativity alive by always finding new ways to share my musical talents. I am a micro-influencer and I share all of my music on social media through education, creative covers, collaborations with other musicians and artists, sharing my own music in a creative way and taking advantage of the live features (TikTok, Instagram, Facebook) to share my music in real time. I’m always creating different things to keep my supporters interested and coming back for more. I am naturally a creative person but I also had to find my niche and work within it in order for the creativity to really shine through. As well, I had to really tap into all of my musical talents (playing 15 instruments), and learning/building on my current skills (video editing, production). I also grab a lot of inspiration from my musical influences (Alicia Keys, Robert Glasper, Oscar Peterson, Ryan Leslie, Frédéric Chopin) and music that I listen to on a regular basis as a source of inspiration for my creative ideas.

Thanks for sharing that. So, before we get any further into our conversation, can you tell our readers a bit about yourself and what you’re working on?
My name is Desarae Dee and I am an Instrumental Fusion Artist, Producer, Composer, Educator, Content Creator and entrepreneur. I started my music journey at a young age when my parents discovered that I had a musical talent, but at the time, I wasn’t old enough for formal lessons. At the age of 6, I was enrolled in lessons and was classically trained on the piano, started playing in church at the age of 13 and was a decorated and award winning musician throughout my elementary and secondary school career. After taking piano lessons for 13 years, I continued my Musical studies in University and obtained degrees in Music and Education. While I was in teacher’s college in 2013, I composed and produced a song, which lead me to launch my career as an artist the following year, in 2014 with that song being my first release. From there, I received my first radio play in the United States and released my first EP in 2016, where I affirmed the title of an “Instrumental Artist.” Being a black woman instrumental artist in Canada was unheard of and from there, I knew that I would have quite the journey ahead of me. In 2018, I hit a brick wall due to lack of support, access to performance opportunities and even experienced writer’s block because I didn’t know what else to do. It was in that moment that I went into my computer program, Garage Band and made a discovery that would completely change my music career for the better. In making that discovery, I realized that I wasn’t utilizing all the skills that I had as a musician. I was super fixated on playing the piano, that I wasn’t using the vast amount of skills under my belt, such as playing 15 instruments and not using any of these to my advantage at the time. Once I made that discovery and made that realization, a new found burst of inspiration and creativity was birthed out of me and I went straight to work. Fast forward to 2020, we were hit with the COVID-19 pandemic that saw the world change before my eyes, but I also went through a “rebirth” just prior to this world changing event, but I was in the zone and used the pandemic as a way to build on my sound and my production skills. I went from being an “Instrumental Artist” to an “Instrumental Fusion Artist” with my love for fusing multiple genres together to create something totally brand new and outside the box. I went on that same year to release 4 singles and my first ever 2 part Christmas EP of Christmas music I composed from scratch (Part 2 due in late fall 2023). Not only that, my streaming numbers went up and more radio and performance opportunities came. Fast forward to present day, I now have a total of 23 singles and 4 EP releases over the last 9 years, in addition to recently winning my first major award as an Artist – the 2022 SiriusXM Black Canadian Music Award through the SOCAN Foundation, being featured on 2 television programs, being a recurring artist on NPR Music Jazz Night In America and being featured in over 50 music blogs and publications worldwide. I think about my journey and how far I have come and how important it was for me to make certain realizations, but also I had to finally take risks in my career, which was something I struggled with for a long time. In addition to being an artist, I am a Micro-Influencer on TikTok (and instagram) with a loyal community of over 25,000 followers and almost 2 million views worldwide providing piano tutorials covering various musical concepts from my unique perspective. I also provide many musical services such as piano lessons – I currently run my own piano studio from my home with over 20 students, I provide piano production, I teach basic production skills using Logic Pro X, I offer my musical services for live events, celebratory events, tours and residencies, etc. I also have my own merchandise under my music name “Desarae Dee” that I launched in 2021. There are many facets to my entrepreneurial journey, but it’s everything that I ever could have imagined. The one thing that I am most proud of is my determination and tenacity because I was able to achieve so much, knowing that it took a lot to not only pioneer a new lane in the music industry, but to execute a vision as big as mine, while battling the environment that I grew up in and being a minority woman in a male dominated music industry. The most important thing for me is to be the representation that I needed growing up – I grew up during a time where the presence of the Black woman as a musician was unheard of in Canada. I also wanted to break the stigma of the Black woman in music only being seeing in the light of a “vocalist” and not being capable of doing other things in music but pick up a mic. Lastly, I wanted to let people know that it’s never too late to start/restart your passion. It doesn’t matter how old you are or where you are in your life journey – those passions that you’ve had that you never got to start, you can reignite them!

There is so much advice out there about all the different skills and qualities folks need to develop in order to succeed in today’s highly competitive environment and often it can feel overwhelming. So, if we had to break it down to just the three that matter most, which three skills or qualities would you focus on?
Three things that were impactful in my journey were the knowledge I had about music and piano, learning to produce for myself and being consistent. My advice to anyone out there is to learn as much as you can and continue to be a student of your area of expertise because you will always be learning new things – don’t put a timeline on your knowledge. Being consistent – finding something you’re good at and being consistent with it every day, every week or every month and don’t stop! Learning to produce my music and learning software from my DAW (Digital Audio Workstation) gave me an advantage – I could get my music out sooner and I didn’t have to rely on other people.

Before we go, maybe you can tell us a bit about your parents and what you feel was the most impactful thing they did for you?
The most impactful thing my parents did for me was recognize the musical gift that I had and made sure I honed in on it from an early age. That was the greatest gift they could have given me – early access to what would now become my purpose.

Contact Info:

Image Credits
Monography

Suggest a Story: BoldJourney is built on recommendations from the community; it’s how we uncover hidden gems, so if you or someone you know deserves recognition please let us know here.
Leadership Development
Empathy Unlocked: Understanding how to Develop Emotional Intelligence

“Empathy is the starting point for creating a community and taking action. It’s the impetus

Productivity
Where do you get your work ethic from?

We’ve all heard the phrase “work hard, play hard,” but where does our work ethic

Productivity
Boosting Productivity Through Self-Care

When you have a never-ending to-do list it can feel irresponsible to engage in self-care,