(Photo by Malachi Lee)
Congrats to Ay MusiK, our August artist of the month! This four-piece group, led by AY himself, is making waves in Kansas City and around the country. Often performing on street corners and venues across the country, Ay MusiK has made a name for itself, now opening up for national acts like T-Pain and Aaron Carter. AY tells us more about the band in this Q&A.
The Deli: Down and dirty: 1 sentence to describe your music. What is it?
AY: Music that keeps dreaming alive.
The Deli: Give us some background on the band.
AY: I’ve been doing music for over 4 years now. I was on The X-Factor back in 2012 and got 4 yeses from celebrity judges LA Reid, Britney Spears, Demi Lovato, and Louis Walsh. Although my audition never aired, I learned a lot from the experience and publicity.
We are a four-piece band. Our lineup is Daniel Cole (D Cole), Hailey Canalas, Ralph Jackson, and myself!
D Cole has been doing professional music for awhile and drums for national recording artist XV. He has also toured behind B.O.B, T.I., Big Sean and more. Hailey Canalas, our lead vocalist, has been singing for over 10 years, and Ralph has over 10 years of experience as well.
We’ve been together as a group for over a year now. The story of how we starting doing music together isn’t that exciting. I never got booked much around Kansas City and I felt my music didn’t reach enough people. I wanted to really get out there and #SayHey to the world with my music. Hailey was already singing with me at the time so I messaged D Cole about an idea I had for a self-made tour called #BatteryTour. I wanted to set up on street corners all over America (starting in KC) and perform my music right to the people. That’s how we started. Ralph came shortly after seeing us performing on the Country Club Plaza!
The Deli: So, you do shows on the Plaza?
AY: Everyone is welcome to see our FREE #BatteryTour shows we do WEEKLY at the Country Club Plaza or in Lawrence on Massachusetts Street. If we’re not performing at a venue, we’re on the street performing for the people!
The Deli: What have been your biggest accomplishments as a band?
AY: I think our greatest accomplishment so far would be this #BatteryTour. Without any backing, label or outside investors we’ve toured and performed in Atlanta, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, Iowa and more! It’s been amazing to accomplish national touring so early in our careers. Landing on the upcoming MTV show Made once they spotted us on the corner last year was pretty awesome as well. We can’t wait to see the episode when it’s finally released to the public.
The Deli: Tell us about your latest EP, Above and Beyond.
AY: After 3 years of hard work our first EP just released a few months ago. It’s called the Above and Beyond, and includes our singles "Say Hey" (over 20,000 Youtube views) and "Creep Creep (The Anthem).”
The Deli: What does supporting local music mean to you?
AY: Supporting local music means the world to me because I’m a local artist. Honestly I would be nothing without LOCAL support. The only reason I’m able to travel the country is because of tips/donations when we street perform. I understand that support can help boost you through to your dreams and goals. Therefore I try my best to support others.
The Deli: Who are your favorite local musicians right now?
AY: I love Captiva! One of the best local bands in Kansas City, hands down!
The Deli: Who are your favorite not-so-local musicians right now?
AY: Twenty One Pilots. High-energy, heartfelt performances and perfection in every lyric.
The Deli: What is your ultimate fantasy concert bill to play on?
AY: This will change day by day. But right NOW…I’d say AY MusiK would open, Ed Sheeran would take the stage after, Twenty One Pilots would rock out after Ed, Justin Timberlake with a legendary performance after, and Coldplay would close out the night! My #DREAMSHOW.
The Deli: A music-themed Mount Rushmore. What four faces are you putting up there and why?
AY: Michael Jackson has to be my first face. Michael plainly WAS the essence of music itself. It wouldn’t be a Rushmore without Michael.
Honestly, one of the faces would be the many faces of past and present backup singers. I watched a movie called 20 Feet From Stardom recently. Millions of people know their voices, but no one knows their names. Many of these backup singers are behind some of the greatest musical legends of the 21st century.
The third face for me would be Prince because, well, Prince is freaking amazing.
The last face wouldn’t be a face at all! It would be a computer screen! And on the screen would be chiseled images of hundreds of musicians and artists. I’d do this to symbolize how the Internet has changed music and has made it possible for anyone to have a successful musical career. The global shift in labels, music and the independent artist must be documented as a huge notch in time.
The Deli: What other goals does Ay MusiK have for 2014?
AY: I want to ink a national booking deal with a major booking agency. That would be awesome. I dream of the possibility to #SayHey to the world while opening up for a major artist on a major tour. We work very hard to position ourselves for this to be a possibility; it’d be amazing if it happened. Lastly, I plan on working on my album and developing more of my own ideas. I also work with friend and partner Thomas Jackson (Tomajack), one of the best producers in the world, and he’ll assist on the album.
The Deli: Where can we find you on the web?
AY: We try to be everywhere! You can hear or buy our music anywhere digital music is sold. (iTunes, Amazon, Google Play, Soundcloud, etc). You can also visit us at AYmusiK.com, Twitter/Instagram @AYmusiK, and facebook.com/AYmusiK.
The Deli: Always go out on a high note. Any last words of wisdom for the Deli audience?
AY: You can do anything you set your mind to. Never let anybody or anything stop you from whatever your dreams or goals may be. I started street performing because I felt like I had to go #AboveandBeyond to #SayHey to the world with my music. Now I’m being interviewed by a magazine I’ve always looked up to and discussing a self-made national tour. Music was my dream. Find yours and do whatever it takes grab hold of yours.
Ay MusiK is:
Hailey Canalas: lead vocals
Daniel Cole: drums
Ralph Jackson: keys
AY: vocals, keys
Ay MusiK’s next show will be next Thursday, August 21, at recordBar, with special guests Grooms & Katie. They have big things coming up; they’ll be opening up for T-Pain the next night at CrossroadsKC, also playing Crossroads Music Festival on September 6 at The Brick, and opening up for Aaron Carter at The Granada on October 10. Ticket link.