Amanda Shekarchi: Music, Media, and Making Space

In this episode of A Chat with Heart, host Christina Martin engages in a heartfelt conversation with Amanda Shekarchi, a Toronto-based musician and media producer. They explore Amanda's journey as a blind artist, her early musical memories, the unwavering support from her family, and her experiences in the music industry. The discussion explores the significance of disability representation in the arts, the creative process behind songwriting, and the challenges Amanda has encountered in her career. They also discuss their interests, hobbies, and the importance of community and collaboration in their lives.

• Amanda's Instagram
• Amanda's Articles at MET Radio
• Amanda's Music Website
• Amanda's YouTube Channel

Chapters

• 0:00 Introduction to A Chat with Heart
• 2:50 The Journey of a Musician
• 5:27 Early Musical Memories and Family Support
• 11:50 The Impact of Family and Sibling Dynamics
• 17:31 The Creative Process and Songwriting
• 23:28 Career Development in Music and Media
• 29:30 Disability Representation in the Arts
• 35:28 Challenges and Pivotal Experiences
• 41:37 The Importance of Community and Collaboration
• 47:42 Personal Interests and Hobbies
• 53:30 Conclusion and Future Endeavors

Transcript

Christina (00:00.206)
Hey, you're listening to A Chat with Heart. I'm your host, Christina Martin. I'm a singer-songwriter, curious human. I live on a dirt road in rural Nova Scotia with my partner in crime, Dale, and our Calico cat, Olivia. This podcast is basically just me chatting with people I admire. I like to ask questions that feed my curiosity, and my guests have all taught me something. They either crack me up or they punch me right in the feel.

If you've got questions, comments, or a burning desire to join the conversation, please call my heartbeat hotline, day or night. It's 1902-669-4769. You can also email me at christinamartinmusicatgmail.com. And if you want to throw a little love my way and help keep this thing going, visit my Patreon page. That's how artists like me get paid. Thanks for showing up. Warning, heartfelt content ahead.

Just talk about

could shine, we could break a dark day If we just talk about it

Christina (01:23.618)
Hey friends, welcome back to A Chat With Heart, the place where we get real about the beautiful, pivotal moments, the sometimes messy, sometimes magical stuff that makes us human. Before I dive in, a little teaser, I am working on an upcoming solo episode of A Chat With Heart where I finally answer the question for myself and other people. I get this question a lot.

wait, you actually make a living doing music? The answer is yes. Kind of. It's complicated. It's amazing. And it's totally possible. I, I am far from wealthy. In fact, I do carry debt because of my music, but I will talk more about that. and how I've managed and.

Maybe I can convince Dale to share his experience with it as well. Like sometimes we're like in awe of like, how have we done this? How did we get here? How are we so lucky? Some of it is luck. We've also had a lot of support over the years. We've also worked our asses off and we still are. We still are. Things look a little different now than they did even like five years ago in terms of, you know,

survival financially. But it's interesting, I think, to look at your life and especially if you're able to do something that you really love and go and just kind of, how do we do that? And I know people are curious because they are wondering for themselves sometimes, or they're just really concerned, which is fair. But if you've ever wondered how the heck I've made it work, stay tuned.

go.

Christina (03:21.006)
I will work on that episode, it might be a month or so. I want to make sure it's helpful to people listening, people who are not just musicians, but people who are thinking of starting their own business or taking a leap of faith and investing more time and money into something that they're just really passionate about. But today, I'm sharing a conversation with someone who understands the creative grind on a deep level.

Yes, Amanda Shekarchi is a Toronto-based musician, songwriter, journalist, and media producer with perfect pitch and a powerful story. She was born blind, but Amanda has never let her disability limit her. Instead, she's carved out her own path in both music and media with a whole lot of talent, passion, and heart. She's a graduate of Toronto Metropolitan University's Media Production Program and

She currently co-hosts a one-hour music show on Met Radio where she curates playlists, highlights top indie and mainstream albums, and builds relationships with emerging artists. Amanda's knowledge of music spans everything from classical to jazz, pop, folk, R &B, and alternative rock. She's a true music curator with an ear for mood and flow. She also recently produced and hosted a CBC project called

Playing by Ear, where she interviewed blind and low vision musicians about access in the industry and creative resilience. She's deeply committed to disability representation in the arts and her work blends technical skills with heart-led advocacy. So in this episode we talk about Amanda's early musical memories. I love that we get to know, I get to know her more because we've only known each other on more of a professional level before this.

And yeah, so she touches on her early musical memories, the unshakable support of her incredible family, her passion for storytelling, her experiences at Canada Music Week, and how boxing and good food keep her grounded. We talk about a lot more. So this one's got brains, fire, and heart, all wrapped up in one powerhouse.

Christina (05:49.038)
I'm just so excited that you're here and I love this. story behind us is, that we met because you, you so graciously interviewed me for like AMI and CBC and met radio and we're going to get to know more about that. But now I get to flip, flip the mic and, and, focus more on you. How do you do a lot of these podcasts?

It's always funny because I do like lots of time I'm the one being the interviewer so it's kind of fun to like be on the interviewee seat for like a change and I've done a couple like you know these past few months and stuff so it's always fun when I got to kind of you know share a bit more about myself because when I'm interviewing it's like you know obviously you want to focus on time and focus on

what the guest has to say and now I can kind of share a bit more about me and my experiences.

Yeah, I know. And I don't know that much about you. I just know that you're super awesome, really friendly, kind, and you do great work and you're a very talented musician. All of which I will have blabbed about as well in the introduction that I'll do. okay, so I'm gonna let you talk. you originally from Toronto? Like what was growing up there like for you? Tell me more.

really amazing experience. come from a family where I'm one of four siblings and I'm the oldest of four girls and I have really incredible supportive parents. I was born blind but I never let disability be something that held me back. I was always, you know, a go-getter.

Amanda (07:36.268)
wanting to do everything that my peers are doing but in a way that is fine and accessible to me and luckily you know i was very grateful in the place that i was and to be able to go to school both you know childhood elementary and high school as well as university that will support these passions so i didn't actually go to

school for the blind that i just went to eight public school at private school and everyone there you know really wanted to make it the best experiences if it for this you know my teachers and peers when i was younger making you know art in gym class accessible or older in university getting into media and figuring out how i can do some of these you know more live tb or visual

assignments or audio recordings in a way that i can have the same requirements as my peers but using creative work arounds for visual elements

Yeah. How old are you now?

I'm 26 now. birthday was in April. Thank you.

Christina (08:49.294)
Happy belated birthday! this makes sense because, I mean, my impression of you, you know, since I first kind of was introduced to you, was that you were very well-rounded, you had a lot of interests and talents, that you're... Correct me if I'm wrong, but you seem like a very happy, happy person. Not that you don't have unhappy moments and struggles like everybody, but like, you just seem to be really grounded and that you...

I got the impression that you had a lot of support around you from family and I didn't know that you were the oldest of four. Do you feel any pressure like as the older sibling like to take care of everybody or are they coming to you for advice? Like what's that like being the oldest sibling?

I love it because I feel like I get to learn from them, know, them giving me makeup tips or my sister's being able to drive, getting able to like, you know, go places with them. But then I also get to instill a lot of my knowledge and experiences with them. So like my sister, Kaylyn, she is graduating university soon. you know, I was just...

you're talking with her about what the next step may look like as a recent rad and how often times there's this pressure of we need to find a job right away university job because that's kind of the path you know we always told me a little you're gonna go to school and you're gonna find a job and i was gonna tell you know i'm here to tell it that yes a job is important and you will find one but it's okay if you don't find one

in the instant, like the month after you graduate. Like, take time for yourself, explore your passions, and dive deep into what that thing is that makes you happy. And network, put yourself out there, and find the job that represents you.

Christina (10:46.638)
You sound like the best big sister ever. I'm not like, wow, I should come to you for advice. they're so lucky. Like, yeah, that's really something. I just was reunited with... Actually, I say reunited. I didn't grow up with my older sisters. I only met them later in life. And I'm benefiting from that now. They've made such an effort to get to know me and I've realized...

Thank you.

Christina (11:15.862)
I recognize that now and I'm like, holy geez. So it's just every time we get to talk or spend time together, which isn't, it's not often enough, but I really relish having like the big sisters now. And, and I miss that I didn't, I really do feel like I missed out. Like I didn't have them when I was younger in my life. So that's so cool. I'm so happy for your sisters. And I'm sure you also love having them as little sisters.

Thank you so much. And yeah, that's so beautiful about what you just shared there. I think family really, I know it sounds cliche, but they are really such a special and such a stone and such an integral part of your life. And I don't know what I would do without them because they're there all the time to listen, to, you know, hype you up when you need that. just to be like, I like to say I have four best friends because

you me my sisters are always doing stuff together and you know me my parents are also really super close and you know we we all gel together which is really nice

What are your parents like? Like I think I saw a quick clip of your mom speaking really lovely, saying lovely things about you. And she so, she looked like a young, very young mom.

This was like back in 2013 when I first started putting out music. So that would have been for the global news interview I did, which I can get more into later on when we talk about that. But she is truly the best. She is the most supportive person I know. is, you know, we always say that she is like the person that keeps on giving. She always puts us and like, you know, she always do things for us.

Amanda (13:04.376)
putting us first and you know she's our biggest cheerleader if it's you know listening to a radio piece i did or taking my sister to niagara falls for her dance competitions like she will be there for you no matter what time of day it is and no matter what you're doing and you know it just feels great that you like both my parents are that way that you know they're there for the good times and they're also there when you just need

someone to listen and be your support person.

Hi, mom and dad. Hi, Amanda's mom and dad. Thank you for being awesome humans and raising very cool citizens. my gosh. Okay. I wanted to ask you, I like to ask my guests about early memories, particularly when they're musicians. Do you have any memories of your first spark with

with music like.

my gosh, yes. I remember, I think I was like two or three and I have some relatives who live in LA and they have a piano in their house and I remember not even really knowing anything about music theory. just was that little kid humming around the house and singing and just knowing that like, okay, I do this all the time. I love it. And then they had a piano and I used to spend hours.

Amanda (14:34.264)
just playing and I think it was at that point that I realized I have perfect pitch because I remember vividly my cousin trying to teach me how to play Mary Had a Little Lamb but I kind of seemed to catch on to it quickly as she was teaching it to me I was like yeah this note combination in my head like it sounded right to me and then you know taking more formal lessons like a year after that

I like that really solidified for me at a young age that, you know, playing piano and being able to sit down and like hear songs and be able to figure them out. Like at the time I didn't know it was perfect pitch, but it was just something that I sat down and did because I can. And so yeah, that's definitely a vivid memory, but also my first piano recital, I was playing to Joy by Beethoven. And I just remember.

the feeling of like getting up there playing it and then you know the feeling of having people clap and enjoy the performance because that was like my first time I really you know went up on stage and performed to people yeah I was a smaller audience but you know when you're five it felt big you know

Yeah. I can't believe you didn't crap your pants. Like I was terrible with recitals when I took piano. I mean, and I certainly didn't have perfect pitch, but that's remarkable that you went up. Like, you scared?

No! It was more, I think it was excitement, like the nerves of excitement, but I was like, I wanna do this, I can't wait for my turn to do it. I think it's more, as I'm getting older, I'm definitely more focused of like, okay, when I step up on the piano, these are the things I need to think about. When I was younger, I would just kinda go up, do my thing, and not really have the jitters before, it was more, I'm excited, let's do-

Amanda (16:34.286)
Let's do this, like bringing in that type of energy. Nice. Yeah.

That's so remarkable. I mean, it's something that you can, you know, just what you just described, like, like I'm gonna, I'm gonna tap into that sort of, actually for me, it was the opposite, right? I was terrified. And now, now, now I'm sort of like, now I'm older and I'm like, well, I don't care. I'm just gonna, I'm gonna, I'm here for fun. I'm, I mean, I care, but I'm like not stressing about messing up so much. It's just like, I've done my work and it is gonna be what it's gonna be. But...

I love that you could tap into that, you know, like always that memory and that joy and that's really cool. And that's something that is very, I think it's rare. think it's something a lot of people struggle with, myself included, like the stage fright and the nerves and the concern about messing up and stuff. So kudos to you. I think that's remarkable. I think it...

speaks that you have this gift and you were also supported with it and you obviously also worked really hard and found joy in it too. I don't think the joy, I found the joy in it till later, so that's really special too about you.

Thank you so much. And something that I do now to ease that is I go back into that space of where I was when I wrote the song, because lots of my music is inspired by books or TV shows that I watch. if it's me channeling the characters or channeling a specific theme or scene that sparked the song, my head usually goes there and I'm like, what are the characters feeling? And I bring that.

Amanda (18:22.284)
to my performances.

Oh, that's the best. Okay, well, I want to carry that into the song that you wrote that is on your website and on your YouTube channel. It's called Without No Doubt. It's got over 300,000 streams on YouTube. And can you tell me more about the story behind writing that song and then putting that music video together, which is also a great video?

And I just, I was really blown away. And I also, I want my little heartbeat listeners to go visit your YouTube channel. We'll share a link in the show notes so that people can really experience how talented you are.

Thank you so much. So that was, was back in middle school and at the time I was listening to a lot of Taylor Swift, specifically her Red album, which had a lot of breakup songs on there. And as Taylor Swift does, I was sitting in class and, all right, I will say this. I am a keener. I do study hard. I do pay attention to everything that goes on in class, but

That day, I zoned out for like five seconds because people were talking around me and... But I kind of blacked that out and in my head I had this melody. And I just knew like the lyrics just kept coming to me throughout the day where I was like, I know this has to be something. So I literally like the first thing I did, I got home.

Christina (19:52.747)
You

Amanda (20:05.006)
and i recorded a voice note on my phone and essentially the theme for this song is like you know a relationship coming to an end but at the same time wanting to give this person another chance because you know in your heart that you still do feel something for them um... and yeah it's a fictional relationship because yeah i would say that i have but that one i have not i still haven't been in a relationship yet

you

you have plenty of time.

Anyways, so I channeled those emotions of like what I thought it would be like and the turning point for that song was I performed it, we had like a talent show that I performed it at and one of the teachers there, her son used to be a manager for a record label or as part of a record label and so she said, know, no promises.

send me a demo i can send it to him and we'll see where it goes so i went to a recording studio of a producer connection that we had and we did just like a piano vocals demo we send it to him he really liked it and then he suggested we go with another producer to record the more professional version that's posted so we did that and then the song released

Amanda (21:35.342)
in 2014 and around that we did some publicity for it. So I flew out to LA with my mom and we did a whole bunch of interviews and which was really lovely because I also have family there. So I to spend time with them when I wasn't working and I performed at a couple like events here in Toronto. I did a Sick Kids Gala performance and there was this magazine called Faze Magazine here and they did like

a back to school event so I got to like perform with like people like Victoria Duffield who was on the show The Next Star. like she was like one of the other performers there so I got to meet her and like that was a really cool experience and then the global TV interview that we talked about earlier that was really fun we went into the recording studio we did an interview there and yeah so without no doubt really showed me that

you know, music is something that I could do and that I love doing.

Yeah, geez. the global news at... You were 14 years old? Like, that's a big deal. Did it make you feel good? Did it make you feel more nervous? Like, what was it?

Yes!

Amanda (22:48.374)
So wild.

Amanda (22:53.402)
no i was definitely a natural near the camera like they put the lab mic on me and they're like okay perform one of your songs so i did and it was really good the crew were super nice and supportive and you know they treated me with so much respect and you know even at thirteen they really wanted to get my story out there which i think was at fourteen

They really wanted to get my story out there, which I think was really incredible to see. And yeah, it was a really good experience, the global TV interview.

Where are you at with writing music, playing music? I know you have some incredible covers on your YouTube channel that I, again, like I was listening to Alicia Keys, Girls on Fire. Oh my God! Your voice and your piano playing, like it's just, you're spot on. was just like, holy... It would take me years to learn.

First cover! What?!

Amanda (23:46.734)
Hmm

Amanda (23:51.358)
Yeah, that was my first cover I ever put up. I love that song. just really, at the time, and I still can relate to the message that like, you know, we can do it. We can put ourselves out there and, you know, we're on fire. We put it out in that way. But yeah, where I'm at now with music, I, so since then I have been writing, especially during the pandemic, it's definitely been

something that kept me going. You know, reading books like the Divergence Series by Veronica Roth and writing a song about that and you know, just getting inspired from other, you know, TV shows. Like I have a song based off of the song, the show, the mystery show called The Mentalist, which I wrote last year. And I really would love to, you know, put like my goal is to

put these out and record them in a way that's professional. Teaming up with a producer and trying maybe three, four, or five songs. So that's a bucket list item of mine. I like music is still a part of me and I do want to continue that. And I also have a passion for film scoring. I just want to find a team that can help bring that to life.

I'm excited about that for you. Yes. That's awesome. Let's talk about your work at Met Radio in Toronto. But I would love to hear a little bit more about what point in your life you transitioned into an interest in journalism and how that all came about. Just tell us about your journey, for lack of better words.

Yeah

Amanda (25:41.674)
I always loved listening to radio. I used to wake up early and listen to Ryan Seacrest's American Top 40 because I just loved knowing what songs are big and charting. I never realized that this was something that I fully was interested in doing as a career until I got to university. I studied at Toronto Metropolitan University.

formerly known as Ryerson University. I started off as a psychology major because I didn't know about the media production program and someone was like, I was talking to one of the advisors and she's like, how was your summer? was like, well, I've been writing a lot. And I showed her like a demo, cause at the time I had a voice coach who was showing me how to use some production program. And so I played her this demo and she's like, my gosh.

Like at the time we didn't have our professional music program that currently launched, but she was like, you need to be in our media production program. So I went, I applied, got waitlisted and I got in the 2019 to 2020 year and had, despite COVID and having to do some years online, I had such a fantastic experience with amazing professors who really just wanted me to succeed if it was.

putting braille on the mixing console so I can take a crack at getting the audio levels for recording radio or podcasts or things like live TV recording and digital media where I got to make a really cool audio trailer. It was just such a fun experience. And in my final year, I got an opportunity to intern at

Day six, the CBC show. Yup. And I got to produce a tape piece for them. So essentially I had this guest, name's Amanda Mall and she works for the Atlantic. right. The time she did, she probably still does. But anyway, I did a piece on why eye cream is more expensive than facial moisturizer. So you don't hear my voice in there, but I got to write out like all, like I got to put to like all the music and

Amanda (28:06.85)
you know, added the clips of the interview that kind of made the piece and all that fun stuff. And from there, I was working at AMI where we met. I was doing content development. So I like created an idea for their like a TV show that could work for their channel. And then I was also the entertainment reporter on the

show that they used to have calls now with dave brown which talks about different topics in the disability community but like you know we talk about like sports and entertainment everything like that but through a disability perspectives that was really really fine and then i went back to cvc produced playing by ear which was the documentary that spotlights

blind and low vision musicians and how to find success in music, which you were a part of telling us how to, you know, the business side of the industry in in Christina's conversation. So go check that out. and from there I was like trying to figure out my next steps and decided to get involved with Met Radio, which is a community radio station. And I, every Monday at noon, I

host a collective show called Net 30, highlights some of the top albums played both on our station and community stations across Canada. We also do a lot of like artist features and I play a bunch of artist interviews that I do. So I interviewed Christina for that one as well for, and so that was really fun. And I recently got to cover Departure Festival, which was Canadian Music Week.

Lots of cool opportunities with amazing staff, as you know. And I also have been helping with making the space more accessible. Like we put Braille labels on every, like on all the doorways and on all the equipment so that anyone can access it easily. So it's been such a great experience working with them.

Christina (30:13.678)
Okay, this is all incredible, but I don't mean to go off topic, but you did mention eye cream versus facial moisturizer. I was just thinking about this the other day because I love the Sephora line. It's affordable, it's clean.

So I have their eye cream and their facial moisturizer, which look really similar. And I am just putting the rest of my facial moisturizer in with my eye cream. And I was like, I'm just going to use this up over my whole.

Literally, because it's like essentially, it's basically a very similar formula, but they're just like, okay, they charge more because of a marketing tactic.

Yeah, like, I mean his-

I'm honestly, I have a lot of eye creams that I just use on my whole face. I'm like, if this is good for my eyes and my eyes, then I'm just going to put it everywhere. And then if I want to really use it up, I just use it all over my body.

Amanda (31:15.586)
I love it! Yeah, I can definitely send you the link to that.

please do. that's that's amazing. I will share that link as well on my stories on my Instagram because I do love getting into facial like I'm kind of obsessed with the skincare stuff. I'm not an expert, but I love skin health.

I mean, it's our biggest organ.

I I love honestly, like if you ever wanted me to come on and do a whole skincare routine, I can.

I think we should! I think we should do one with video.

Amanda (31:53.244)
my gosh, yes. And then I'm also into makeup as well because people think it's such a visual thing but there's actually such a tactile element to it like the feeling of you know, feeling putting the products, you know, if it's you know, a fluffy blush brush that you like the feeling of it on your face or my favorite is doing lips because then I can really feel how much is on my lips and

playing around with different lipsticks and lip glosses. I think it'd be cool to do a fashion tutorial showing how I do it as a blind woman.

Yeah, what would be the media platform to do that on for you? Do you do Instagram Lives or would this Riverside FM be the best place to do it? And then YouTube. Because I would love to do both where you teach me to do your routine.

And I try to do it and so people are seeing us both and then I teach you to do my routine and we could even, I would...

We need to talk about this online because I am so down to do this. I feel like if we did, I have to see how I've joined, I've watched Instagram lives, I haven't actually done it with like, yeah, so I would have to figure how that works. So I'm more than happy to try the test that or we record on Riverside like we're doing today.

Amanda (33:30.006)
You would just make sure that my camera is like in frame and everything and I can bring all my products. That could be really fun. And even if you wanted, can, when I show you my routine, you could try doing it with your eyes closed to kind of see what it's like for me and how I do it.

Yes, and you heard it here, little heartbeat listeners. We're gonna do this, we're gonna schedule it. So I'm gonna propose that when you teach me to do your routine, right, I can record it, but you can use that video on your YouTube channel. And then when I do mine and try to teach you mine, I'll use it on my YouTube channel and we'll tag each other.

Yes, what if we do it like as like Instagram reels or something too. Yes, that's pretty big and then you can invite me to collab on like we can just do like the real collab thing. Yeah.

I'm big on reusing content. Like I'm sure you are as well, but like the YouTube channel is kind of like the place where we all want to, where everything lives. I like it because it, I do find, and you tell me if you feel the same way or not, but YouTube is probably one of the more accessible platforms, like across the bar that everyone can access.

I do love YouTube. I used to be that doom, that scroll, would scroll, like I would doom scroll on YouTube way too much. Yeah, it's a very accessible platform. Yes, I'm, this is, I'm very hyped about this. Like I want to get more content out there. But yeah, YouTube's great. I love, I love YouTube.

Christina (35:05.077)
Me too.

Amanda (35:12.992)
Yeah, I've recently been getting like, I've always had Instagram, but I haven't really been using it as much to like this year when I'd like, like when we put up our interviews, I would like be part of the real collabs that I find myself not just working on there and that I just be scrolling way longer than I should be. Cause now the app is like much more accessible Instagram, like stories will read properly.

Like I can know what like the text of the stories are, which is nice. And you can add like the all text descriptions so that you can like describe, like there's a setting on Instagram where you can like manually describe, like we can put in the description so that I can see what your pictures are. Yep. Yeah.

Yeah, we love Instagram for that. I think the trick for someone like me is to remember to do that. Do the alt text. You know what mean? You make it a habit. I'm trying to post less. So when you post less, it's kind of more if you just kind of make it make a little checklist and don't forget your alt text. But I certainly have been guilty of like forgetting to do the alt text.

But I think it's really cool and more more people I do see either putting it right in the text of the post or they don't know that you can have that option too to put in the alt text separately. But you don't need to do both is what is my understanding.

Exactly, like either put it in the text or put it in the description as long as you can follow what's in the picture or even I say if you have like a detailed caption something like sometimes that suffices if it's not like you know something like girls night out like that's a bit vague it's like where are they who are they with who are the other girls but something like Taylor Swift concert

Amanda (37:07.95)
2025, you can assume, I mean, it'd be nice there to have a context if you're posing a picture of Taylor, like she's on stage, she is wearing this to represent this era, like stuff like that could be fun. But sometimes, you know, if it's a detailed enough caption, like, you know, Taylor Swift in her rocking out her red era, something like that, then that's good. But I'm a big believer.

in alt text if you have time to do in alt text I think that's always nice but you know sometimes even if you just do a descriptive caption I would appreciate that as well because it's like okay at least I know what's going on in that picture.

We could do a whole... I gotta have you back on here to do a whole... I know, like I don't want to eat up your... I'm gonna have to hire you as like a special guest. You'll be my only paid guest. Literally.

There's so much content, and I just, you I really appreciate you, Christina, because you really want to, you know, get this type of content out there, which I think is amazing. Just, you know, really giving a platform for, you know, people like myself to really, you know, in a fun way, educate what it's like to live with a disability and how disability isn't everything. Like, there's more to us than just that that we have.

you know a bigger personality like makeup and music and i love shows and yes i said i got very like a positive one person so i love having the place to be able to share that with your listeners to

Christina (38:49.934)
Oh, well, I would love to hear because you also do such great work with disability in the arts and I know that's a passion of yours that you want to do more of in the future. But I was curious if you have an example of a story of disability in the arts or it doesn't have to necessarily be in the arts that you helped share through radio that really made an impact on your life.

Through the CBC documentary Playing by Ear, I got to talk about this amazing organization called RAMPED, Recording Artists and Music Professionals with Disabilities. I talked to Lachi, who is the co-founder of this organization, and they do things that range from making the Grammys more accessible from the performance side of things like...

putting a ramp on the stage so that people in wheelchairs can access it but then also people who don't need a wheelchair but are wearing long dresses don't have to worry about you know manning's managing that dress on the stage but then they also do things for the viewers as well so having someone doing closed captions for those who are deaf or hard of hearing during like the red carpet and having someone do audio descriptions that

people who are blind can get into the actions well because you know lots of the appeal of the award shows is what is this so-and-so celebrity wearing what are they doing you know so it's nice to be included in that way i recently got to talk to a musician it's really cool so she goes by heather feather and she is

a musician who primarily does music for kids, because she's also a kid's music teacher and she has multiple sclerosis and just hearing her story of how, you know, her music really talks about inclusion and disability and awareness so that from a young age, you know, music speaks language. I feel like you can learn so much from music. So through her music.

Amanda (41:10.37)
you know kids and adults can relate to her music but she's kind of showing kids from a young age that you know we you know just because someone made the different than you you know it doesn't mean that they are you know that they did you know they they deserve to be loved as well and they deserve to be treated as an equal so that video should be up and of may so i think by the time this goes up the interview will go up so feel free to

Check that out on the Met Radio YouTube page when that's available. It was great to just be able to chat with someone who also is in the disability community and to relate to each other in that way of what our lives are like. Yeah, we have different experiences, but as a whole, I think any time that someone with a disability gets to be

represented in media and get the chance to share their story. It's always really exciting. So yeah, I can't wait for that to drop.

Amazing. well, and please do, if you think of something like that that I can share, you can either send me a message and let me know and I can share, find where you've posted and share it on my stories.

Yeah, my that would be amazing if you can share that. will let you know the interview is out and we do the same thing as we did with your interview where we post a reel, like a highlight reel of the interview on social media. So I can totally let you know when that, we post that too on our end.

Christina (42:52.184)
Fantastic. Can you share a challenge in your life that felt like a big shift, like a pivotal thing? Either it can be professional creatively speaking or personally that you're comfortable sharing. I do love to talk about pivotal experiences in our lives.

Yeah, well, CBC working on Playing By Ear was a big one for me because it was my first time I was able to, you know, take the role of both host and producer on live radio. I was working with another wonderful producer, Eric Van, who really helped bring my passion to life. And early on, we knew that we wanted to talk about, like, incorporate my experience with music.

And it was a lot about figuring out how can we do that while also being able to give the guests that I'm focusing on really gets a spotlight on them. I think creatively the way we decided to do it is, you know, kind of as little segues between the interviews have me demonstrate in a fun way about what my experience like showing, recreating different memories. So, you know, if was the clip of me.

singing on the ukulele or the clip of me showing off my perfect pitch and having him pick songs that I didn't know beforehand which ones he was going to pick and trying to learn them on the spot. So I think those are really fun ways to get my story out there. then, you know, I am a big concept person, but sometimes titles don't come easily to me. So we're like, what should we call this thing? And then Eric was like,

Wait, the whole theme is this, is the idea of playing by ear. And I'm like, wait, I love that. So that's how playing by ear came about, as playing by ear.

Christina (44:56.318)
Awesome, that's really cool. Tell us about your experience at Canada Music Week. It was a big week for you. You almost lost your voice.

Yeah, as you could tell, I'm still recovering.

You sound great, but like, it's a lot of talking, I bet.

my gosh, it was so much fun and I discovered so many new amazing artists. They rebranded to Departure Festival now. But all the venues that I went to, I went to Reed's Distillery, Supermarket, and the Blue Moon Brewery and all the volunteers and staff there were so helpful and

Made me feel so welcome from the get-go, finding me a good spot and, you know, just being very supportive and yeah, so just want to shout out the Departure volunteers and venue staff for being so helpful. And I also discovered so many amazing musicians like Kaya Gamble, Dana Reid, Paige Penny, got to see some of my favorites from last year, Chloe Caroline and Josh.

Amanda (46:11.906)
Bogart and I I always tell people like I'm not a big clubbing person like I an hour of clubbing life and I'm ready to crash but when it comes to music I can stay up way late and just listen because Like there's just something so captivating about listening to live music and especially in venues that really enhance the mood so

i saw an all country show at the reeds distillery and it was a very intimate space with very cozy furniture which helped enhance them this space and you know i was literally i went to four concerts that weekend it was it was amazing i really enjoyed every moment of it and tip for anyone going to the blue moon brewery and stock market they have one of my favorite spring rolls

nice. don't want to wrap this up, we're getting close to wrap up time. is already been... know, right? already like one of my favorite episodes ever, my chat with you. it really is refreshing to get to know more of you. And so I wanted to ask more about like outside of music and media.

No!

Christina (47:34.902)
Are there other like that I wouldn't have heard about already? Like are there other activities or hobbies that like bring you joy? That are weird? Is there anything weird you want to share about yourself?

Thanks.

Amanda (47:46.094)
Oh my god. might not know. Okay, I love running on the treadmill while listening to 2000 throwbacks because that's the only way because it gets you up and moving. Yes. Oh my god. I'm learning how to do boxing. I'm pretty good at it. So I may look short, but you don't want to mess with me because I know my boxing moves.

Amanda, you're not going to believe this. on the same wavelength. I was in the boxing club in high school and we didn't actually ever get to the point where we were in matches and I didn't want to. I was afraid to have my teeth knocked out. But the training is awesome, isn't it?

No

Amanda (48:27.093)
Yeah

Amanda (48:30.84)
Yeah, like I go to the gym and I have someone who teaches me, shout out Claudio, if you are listening. Claudio. is the best. He like is so motivating and he always like, you know, whatever workout routine he has for my sister, he has me up and doing the same thing. He's really good at like challenging me and like we do a lot of boxing together and we do a lot of different like exercises and

it's really fun because I feel like I feel very satisfied after like practicing these boxing moves because feel like self-defense is really important these days especially as a woman like it's good to know how to defend yourself but then you know it's just also just really rewarding when you can get a routine down

Totes, yeah. I have a punching bag on my front porch.

Love it. Well, I do have to come over there and get some punches in.

Exactly. Yeah, that's so awesome. What about weird things that you like to eat? Is there anything? Like I used to eat, I haven't in a long time, but pickles and mustard sandwiches.

Amanda (49:42.592)
Interesting. Let me think of different combos. I honestly, I love potatoes. So anything potatoes give me those chips, those fries, those hash browns. Yeah. Yes. I love it. If I think of it, I'm going to send you a message because I'm a huge foodie.

Yeah, that's cool. I'll make a separate post dedicated just to the weird things that you might. favorite chips. I think I'm I think I'm still like an alt like a lazy.

Lay's always hits. Lay's always hits. There's a thing, I'm very classic when it comes to chips. I like to actually taste the chips flavor. So I usually just go for regular Lay's or Miss Vicky's or Cape Cod's when we have them in the house. I love a good crunch, you know?

I can't have them in the house unless it's treat night. I will... If there's a bag of chips in the house, like if there was a bag of chips every night, I would eat them every night. They're so... They are... I think they're definitely designed to be addictive.

Exactly.

Amanda (50:52.563)
they are. They are indeed.

So, okay, so where do want folks to check out what you do? Let's go over the websites. I'm going to drop them all in the episode show notes and then I can share some too in the stories.

Yes, so...

Amanda (51:14.094)
Sure. Well, I also love to shout out a live performance I did last summer. We have a show called Live Off the Floor at Met Radio and I got to record three of my newest, like new songs, like one that I wrote during the pandemic and the other ones I was telling you about, like the mystery song that I wrote. And we got to just do like a acoustic versions of them. So.

I can already send you the archive to that. But yeah, that was really fun and we got to do an interview chat similar to this. So I really enjoyed that. But where you can find me so Amanda Raya, r-a-y-a official on Instagram, Amanda Raya, r-a-y-a official. And then on Twitter, I'm Amanda r-a-y-a music. And then feel free to check out the Met Radio YouTube page as well as

the met radio website met radio dot c a cuz i do post a lot of like and that reviews like the departure stuff already have an article out there about the reads distillery showcase and i'm working on the top five right now to showcase them other contents i also do a lot of like album reviews on their look like you know reviewing a lot of emerging artists so i reviewed on

Eliza Niemie's album, Progress Bakery when it came out or Jennifer Castle's album, Camelot. So feel free to like check out the site for content there. yeah, those are kind of the main places right now.

It's a lot. You are busy. You are busy. I love it Amanda. Thank you so much for being here.

Amanda (52:56.472)
Thank having me, this was so fun!

I know we're gonna do it again. We're gonna do makeup and I have some other ideas, but I'm not gonna just, I'm not gonna throw them all in your face right now. Hey, little heartbeat listeners, we're stopping and I know you're sad, but aren't we all glad that we know a manish? Shekarchi, am I saying that right? Okay, good. Thank you so much! Thank you, Amanda!

This was so fun!

Christina (53:28.846)
I say goodbye to you

Christina (53:35.712)
I don't wanna say goodbye to you

Christina (53:44.398)
Welcome to the Heartbeat Hotline, 1902-669-4769. I'm the host of a Chat with Heart podcast, Christina Martin, and I'm so excited you called. Leave me your question, a suggestion for the podcast, or a comment about this episode. Please be aware your message may be used on the podcast and social media. Tell me your name, where you're calling from, and it's also fine if you want to remain anonymous. Thanks for listening.

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