WHAT IS PULSE?
Pulse Music Journal is Saskatchewan’s hub for music indulgers. We ‘eat/sleep/breathe’ the music and entertainment industry – plug into our outlet while we highlight new music, recap live performances, and interview the biggest names, local legends, and the newest initiatives surrounding our local music scene. We are honoured to be a leading cultural staple in the Saskatchewan music and entertainment scene.
WE SUPPORT SASKATCHEWAN’S ENTERTAINMENT & MUSIC SCENE
Whether it’s reaching out to a newly released project, musician or creating a spotlight for local talent to be heard on any of our stages, as well as opportunities to be heard opening for larger acts on our full-venue stage. We look forward to reopen and launch our newest concepts that strongly support the local music in our city. The local music scene is super important to us – we are a small city, but we have big dreams. Let’s grow and support each other – putting Saskatchewan on the map for premium music and entertainment experience.
TELLING A STORY ON HIS OWN, THROUGH MUSIC AND VISUALS
Calling Regina home, Zayd is making noise in the hard rock scene around the world – with two singles released in 2020 that combine together to elaborate a continuous story. He released these songs without fear, while walking into self-isolation during the pandemic. Not only is Zayd bringing awareness for mental health, but his songs also rock super hard. “Father” sits at 69K Spotify Streams, and both music videos combined share 248K views on Youtube. He has a brilliant future, with a well thought out approach to releasing rock music. Songwriting with meaning accompanied by visuals to help tell the story. Zayd’s story is just getting started, and we are more than stoked to have him represent Saskatchewan worldwide.
Zayd joins us to chat about what made him decide to start releasing music, what inspires his songwriting, the success of the debut singles “Father” and “Nevertheless”, releasing music as a new artist during the pandemic, working with Sean He, future music career goals, and so much more.
WHY DID YOU FEEL IT WAS THE RIGHT TIME TO START RELEASING MUSIC?
PRIOR TO RELEASING MUSIC TO THE PUBLIC, WAS YOUR MUSIC KEPT PRIVATE? DID YOU RELEASE MUSIC AS A PERSONAL OUTLET?
ZAYD: I have been doing music for over 10 years now and have been with a few bands as a guitarist/songwriter in the past. I’ve found it very difficult to write songs for a band only to find that the band is breaking up after a year. Which means the songs that I wrote are now going to waste and no one will even have the chance to hear it. That frustration pushed me to overcome my fear of singing. I took a break from working on any project for 2-3 years and focused on singing lessons and my own singing style. Also, during that time, I was working on my sound. I knew I just didn’t want to write a song. I wanted to tell a story. So, I took my time to revisit my personal experiences and write about that. During my break, I set 2020 as the year to launch my music. I wanted to make sure I had enough songs written and had enough time to strategize a proper launch.
AS AN UP AND COMING ARTIST, WHAT WOULD YOU LIKE NEW LISTENERS TO KNOW?
ZAYD: Each of my songs are telling stories that I’ve personally experienced throughout my life. I believe that there are others out there that might have felt the same or have gone through a similar experience. With my music, I want to connect with them. I want to let my listeners know that they are not alone. I want to help them to overcome their pain, give them meaning to fight and help them to move on. I want to give them the courage to reach out for help and not to shy away before its too late.
YOU CAN FEEL THE EMOTIONS WHILE LISTENING TO YOUR MUSIC. WHAT INSPIRES YOUR SONGWRITING?
ZAYD: When I write my lyrics, it’s more of a conversation than a traditional style lyric. Each of my lyrics are conversation with your inner self and that is what drives my music. When I write my music, I try to remind myself of my experiences or put myself into the story that I’m writing about. I ask myself how I would have felt and what would’ve gone through my mind during that time. Emotionally, it is hard for me to write these songs but knowing that I’m helping someone else inspires me and gives me peace. Since my first release, many of my fans have reached out to me telling me how my songs connect with them and how it helps them to keep on fighting. That gives me the inspiration to keep on writing more music.
*click photos to stream Zayd’s music
“FATHER” & “NEVERTHELESS” TELL A CONNECTED STORY, WHAT CAN WE EXPECT FROM FUTURE RELEASES?
ZAYD: Definitely, there are plans with my future releases to be connected with each other. There is actually one more song that is connected with “Father” and “Nevertheless”. The release date is still TBD because of the production and budget of the music video. As that song will be the last of the trilogy, I want to focus more time and energy to build this music video up. Currently, I am working with Versa Films to produce this music video. All I can say for now is that there are other songs in the works that are based on two different stories. One of the stories will be introduced in 2021. As for an album, I do not have any specific plan for one yet! But you never know.
YOUR DEBUT SINGLES “FATHER” & “NEVERTHELESS” REACHED IMPRESSIVE WORLD WIDE SUCCESS. WHAT CAN YOU CREDIT THIS POPULARITY TO?
ZAYD: I have to give the full credit to my fans. The moment “Father” came out, they took that song and shared non-stop with their friends and family. I’m forever thankful to them for everything they have done for me and how they are continuing to support me. That is what is driving me to keep my music journey going.Behind the scenes credit goes to my team and the industry specialists that I’ve heavily relied on before launching my career. I am especially thankful to SaskMusic, Jared Robinson (Nebulus Entertainment), Susan Busse (Susan Busse PR) and Sara Franczyk (ZYK Marketing) who have given me countless pieces of advice and shown me the industry path.
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YOU’RE AN INDEPENDENT ARTIST, DO YOU HAVE HOPES TO SIGN TO A RECORD LABEL?
ZAYD: I love being in control of my music and what I do but being an independent artist comes with various challenges. I’d love to sign with a record label but I want to work with them as a partner instead of under them and without giving up any rights to my music.
DEBUTING YOUR FIRST SINGLE DURING THE PANDEMIC, DO YOU FEEL THAT YOU HAVE HAD AN UPPER HAND BEING A NEW ARTIST WITH MORE PEOPLE ACCESSING ONLINE TO ENJOY MUSIC?
ZAYD: “Father” was released in March when the world was getting ready to shutdown and as more people were spending more time online that really helped my music to organically reach my audience. I believe very strongly that your fanbase is where you go. So I took the advantage of being locked down at home and streamed worldwide, which resulted in the fanbase that I have now. Luckily, I have done streaming in the past so I already had the setup at home. During that time, I focused on the quality of the streams. I wanted to give my audience a great interactive experience which pushed me to learn different things. Eventually, that helped me to create an amazing fan base around the world. Also, it gave rise to my show called Zayd Saturday Live on Facebook and Youtube where I was inviting different artists from all over Canada to be guests.
SEAN HE CREATED THE “NEVERTHELESS” MUSIC VIDEO AND APPEARED IN THE “FATHER” MUSIC VIDEO.
HOW DOES IT FEEL TO INVOLVE A FELLOW CREATIVE? HOW DID YOU GUYS CONNECT?
ZAYD: We met at the university when I was studying in business and he was in film. We knew each other through a university club. He found out that I was making YouTube guitar covers during that time and he was interested to help me out with my video production. He wanted to put into practice the skills that he had learned. That’s how our partnership started. We worked on multiple projects together and grew close as friends over the years. We helped each other to grow and challenged ourselves creatively. I am so lucky that I can call him my best friend and one of the key members of my team. This is a great partnership that I’m looking forward to continue.
YOUR 2020 WAS SUPER SUCCESSFUL. WHAT ARE YOUR FUTURE PLANS?
ZAYD: My success in 2020 has pushed me to challenge myself creatively and also as a singer. As such, I’m looking to finish 2020 with another song. Even though this is a cover of Backstreet Boys, I wanted to give my audience a sneak peak of what to expect in 2021.In 2021, I’m looking to introduce different styles and different sounds to my audience. I’m happy to announce that I have many singles set for releasing in 2021, all recorded at the Nebulus Entertainment. We are now focusing on the music videos. This upcoming year, I’m planning to give my audience triple the amount of new music with a blend of originals, acoustic versions and covers.Additionally, I’m planning to bring back my Zayd Saturday Live on Facebook and YouTube in the new year. As well, I’m happy to announce that currently I am working with some wonderful people and getting prepared to hit the stage. In 2021, I aim to have more live presence on stage and streaming.
TO LEARN MORE ABOUT ZAYD – VISIT WWW.THISIZZAYD.COM, OR SEE BELOW
UPCOMING EVENTS
WHAT EVENTS WE ARE LOOKING FORWARD TO…
LEARN MORE ABOUT WHAT’S TO COME…
