Imagine - you’re visiting the small city of Barrie ON, Canada. You’re walking downtown when you hear the sound of music coming from one of the local pubs - it’s an open mic. You decide to wander in and see a 17 year old girl on stage singing to crowd of people with several instruments surrounding her. It’s obvious that playing music is her dream by the smile on her face as she hears the crowd singing back at her. The feeling she gets inside her when she’s doing what she loves is incomparable and unlike anything she’s ever done.
That girl is me - Madison Mueller, or as some like to call me, MaddieMakesMusic. I was born and raised not only in southern Ontario, but with music constantly surrounding me. Whether it was the radio blasting in the car, my parents off-tune singing or my sister’s guitar playing, music has been something that I have consistently been exposed to all my life. My first experience with playing music came when I was young. At the age of 6, I got my first piano - a 61 key Yamaha keyboard that had all the funny sounds that my siblings and I would always laugh about. It was perfect, and as soon as the lessons started, there was no stopping me. I had a few different teachers that all taught different ways, but it wasn’t until my love for songwriting developed that I really knew that making music is what I wanted to do with my life.
I remember the night that I felt like I had written my very first ‘real’ song. I was 12 years old and I had been playing chords on the piano and then all the sudden the lyrics and melody started to form. I ran upstairs to show my parents and it never ended after that. I continued to write and every song I wrote became my new favourite because I could feel myself getting better. It’s a great feeling to be able to express yourself through the beauty of music.
Like I said, I continued to write, and at this point I was already performing live around my city and for anyone who would listen. I started posting videos online and signing up for websites like ReverbNation and Fandalism where I was astounded by the amazing comments I was getting about my music - specifically my songs. This made me want to go even further with my craft, and this was possible after I had a producer approach me at an event the studio I work at was hosting. He heard my song “Who Am I?” performed live with just the piano and I and he offered me a free recording session with him. We recorded the song, made it into the pop-rock song it is today and released it November 17th, 2016. The song has gotten plenty of airplay, but to its roots, it’s a song about being afraid about making choices and not being ready to make changes. I feel like everyone can relate to that feeling at some point in their life. For me at the age of 15 when I wrote it, it was all about not wanting to make career choices at such a young age. I think writing a song about it helped me make a few decisions on that topic.
This lead to my second single that was released earlier this year on my birthday, June 7th. “Breath of Air” follows the idea of just wanting to be free and happy with what you choose to do. I love the sound of this song due to its rock/funk sound. One of my favourite lines in the song is: “I don’t know why I like to pull the leaves off of the tree when I’m walking down the empty street”. This line is something that I love to do, I don’t know why I enjoy it, but it makes me happier and I’d like to think that this song encourages anyone who’s listening to own what makes them happy and continue to pursue it.
I am currently getting ready to release my newest single in the new year, and hopefully putting together an EP this upcoming year. Making music is what I plan to do with my life in one way or another. I can’t wait to finally dedicate my time entirely to my craft after I graduate high school.
This past November I got to travel to Nashville to take part in a Songwriting Retreat with Judy Stakee and almost 30 other extremely talented musicians and writers. Being able to completely immerse myself in music for five days, surrounded by so much talent was one of the happiest times of my life and I couldn’t imagine doing something else. Music is a part of me, and I just want to share that with the world as best I can.
So while I’m still in school, I am always writing, always looking for places to perform, and of course continuing to learn. If you’re interested in looking into some of my tunes, here are some links to places you can listen and find me.
Imagine - you’re in your car driving. You turn on the radio and you hear a melody you’ve never heard before. It’s not too shabby. The girl isn’t half bad.
Hopefully that will be me, hopefully you’ll be listening.
Links
WEBSITE: www.maddiemakesmusic.com
TWITTER: https://twitter.com/_maddiemueller_
