Conversations with Holly Channell

Today we’d like to introduce you to Holly Channell.

Hi Holly, we’d love for you to start by introducing yourself
I started playing music around the age of ten. I started on the drum set, as a toddler banging on pots and pans, and then moved to the drums once I got my first drum set at 10 years old. I learned how to play guitar around the same time, and started writing my own music. I was very interested at an early age in recording, songwriting, and pop music.
Around my middle school aged years (Around 2006), I started teaching myself how to sing. I would steal my dad’s phone and record myself singing, and I would fix what sounded horrible and go from there. Believe it or not, as a middle school aged girl in 2007 I was a pretty big fan of the Jonas Brothers and played and sang to their music a lot. I tried to copy my voice after Nick’s! It was my dream to be up on stage with them. Haha, I did what most kids did and joined band in middle school, playing tenor saxophone in concert band, and drums in jazz band.

Once I got to high school, I focused mostly on drums and percussion. Once I was a junior in high school I was playing drum set in the jazz band, orchestral percussion in a professional youth orchestra, and participating in the Regional and All State music festivals in Arizona. I was named within the top 13 youth percussionists in the state! Which of course now I realize as an adult it’s really not as cool as it sounds! Haha.

I started college in 2012 at the University of Arizona as a music education major, but soon realized that wasn’t for me. I then went on a personal journey to find what type of music I really wanted to explore. In 2014 I released an EP titled Holly Marie – Save Me EP with three original songs and a “popped up” arrangement of the hymn Be Still My Soul. This project really showed me where my heart was in music. I wanted to create, and record.

This project created a personal fulfillment for me in music that I didn’t think possible. I left college and went to live in Georgia for a little bit, working with a music management company who represented me and played shows throughout Atlanta. I found some fulfillment there, but something was still missing. After a few years of traveling living in Alabama, Georgia, Arizona, New Hampshire, Massachusetts and Maine and finding myself a little bit more, I decided to go back to school. in 2016 I took some classes at Brigham Young University in Provo Utah and at the time thought I was done pursuing music. I decided to take private drum lessons for fun and realized a huge hole in my heart – MUSIC. But this time it was a different style of music, one I hadn’t fully embarked upon. It was jazz music!

So in January of 2017, I went to Brigham Young University-Idaho in middle of nowhere Idaho to study Jazz music, and figure out what this deep feeling I was experiencing was. Throughout my time there I studied with some incredible musicians, and learned so much about what this music really means. I learned how to compose music on a deeper level, and I learned how to play music on a deeper level. I knew that this music was the key to finding a deeper meaning throughout all music, and in my life. I also realized that I needed a balance between different musics of composing, drumming, and singer/songwriting. In 2017 I recorded a song I wrote for my sister’s wedding. It’s just been sitting on a shelf pretty much, but I hope to release it on all streaming platforms before the end of this year or the beginning of next year. It is called Come Away With Me.

In July of this year, I moved to Tempe, AZ to study at ASU for my Master’s Degree in Jazz Performance. I have also just started a brand new recording project where I will be releasing a contemporary Worship Album! My hope is to have that album finished sometime next year. Throughout my time of musical discovery, I have also recently had a lot of self discovery and have come out to my family as Bi Sexual. My husband has been nothing but supportive, and throughout this process encouraged me to find my whole true self. So my purpose with this Album is to hopefully help the members of the LGBTQ+ family who have a belief in God or a higher power, but don’t feel included within different Christian communities.

My hope is that this music can give them a safe place to be who they are and worship without judgment. Throughout my life so far I have discovered a God who loves all no matter who they are, the color of their skin or how they identify. And I think that this type of safe place for all people is really needed in a world that is so filled with judgment. I definitely want to cultivate this place of inclusion for all around me, but especially for my daughter.

She is 18 months old, and I want her to feel safe and loved no matter who she is in this world. And I want her to know that not only does her family love her for exactly who she is, but God does too. My hope is to get other artists together and perform unity concerts for all walks of life where we can sing, play music, and be our true most authentic selves without the fear of judgment for who we are. Because there shouldn’t be any judgment from anyone to anyone. We are all made uniquely, and we are all made for a special unique individual purpose in this life.

So that is my big musical project at the moment other than working towards my master’s degree.

I do have a goal to release my first jazz album with all of my original compositions within the next 2 years! With this future project, I hope to play this music at different jazz festivals in the future. I am excited for that future as well. I am grateful music is a part of me, and even more grateful that there is so much to explore!

We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
Oh man, definitely not a smooth road, as stated before. Lots of bumps and bruises, but it is all coming together now for a bigger musical purpose! The journey was well worth it.

Appreciate you sharing that. What else should we know about what you do?
I would say I am a musician of all types! From singer-songwriter, to composer, to a drum set player. I think I am mostly known for my drum set playing since that has been my bigger focus for so long. I am definitely most proud of my ability to keep going through difficult times. I am grateful that somehow I have the ability to push through obstacles. That’s how I got to where I am now! I think this really sets me apart from others.

We’d love to hear about how you think about risk taking?
I definitely view myself as a risk taker in some aspects of my life. I think, without a little risk life wouldn’t be as exciting! I think just me deciding to go to graduate school full time while having a baby at home and all during a pandemic is a risk in itself. But life always has to keep moving! I think even me making this album specifically for the demographic of the LGBTQ+ community is a huge risk as well. I believe life comes with risks because most of them are worth taking.

Pricing:

• Private Drum Lessons $40/hr or $25/half hour
• Private Beginner Guitar Lessons $30/hr or $20/half hour

Contact Info:

• Email: [email protected]
• Instagram: www.instagram.com/hollychannell    www.hollychannellmusic.com
• Facebook: www.facebook.com/hollychannellmusic