SCayos And Annie Elise On Individual Music Careers And New Collabortation Single “Walkaway”

The perfect music duo!

This isn’t the first time these two artists have come together for a single; And we hope it’s not the last! Scayos and Annie Elise are back with a brand-new collaborative single entitled ‘Walkaway’; which was just released today!

We had the amazing honor to talk with both SCayos and Annie about their music journeys and what’s to come.

When did you first realize that you wanted to go into music?

S: “I started taking piano lessons when I was around 5, however, I hated them and I didn’t even think I’d go into music! Music wasn’t something that was always part of my life as neither of my parents really even listened to music. I had my first real exposure to different kinds of music in middle school. at every recess, my friends and I used to share the music they’d been listening to that week. This was around 2012-2013 and electronic music was the coolest thing back then so I used to listen to a lot of Skrillex, Hardwell, Zedd, and Avicii which I’d spend hours downloading from YouTube to mp3 websites. in a funny attempt to be cool, I wanted to be a DJ, which led me down the path of making and producing my own music. once I made music from scratch, in my bedroom on my parents’ computer with a cracked version of Logic Pro 9, I knew I wanted to get better at it. I ended up starting to love piano a lot more as that helped me produce music better. I went to an Arts High School on the other side of the globe to learn piano, composition, and production better. That’s where I really fell in love with music and started developing my own sound!”

What sparked your music transition from traditional violin to electronic music?

A: “I wish I could say that it was a decision made out of inspiration, but unfortunately it was made out of necessity. When I was 18 and in my first semester of a violin performance major, my left index finger just stopped working one day. After seeing many specialists, I was diagnosed with Focal Dystonia, which usually affects much older musicians. I was heartbroken and needed to either leave music school or pivot to a new musical discipline. That is when I made the decision to start taking my interest in electronic music production a little more seriously, and I haven’t looked back. Focal Dystonia means that I have to modify how I play the violin, but I’ve been fortunate to find a way to make it work with my electronic music.”

Tell us about your amazing new collaboration single ‘Walkaway’?

S: “Walkaway is the first and oldest song from my upcoming project. I started the beat right before the pandemic hit and it was shelved for a bit because of the whole “world about to end” part of the pandemic, haha. But after a little, Annie and I connected and I played it to her in a zoom session. The time I spent under lockdown ended up being the most productive few months for me as a musician! The song took about 2 years to come to fruition and is really unique to me as it talks about grief and uncertainty about the future. I’m really thankful to be working with Annie on this song, her vocals, and amazing string arrangement really tied the whole song together!”

Tell us about your amazing new collaborative single ‘Walkaway’?

A: “This is the second time that SCayos and I have released something together officially, but we have worked on many more projects together for various other artists. One thing that I love about working with Shaan is how fast things get done – we finished this song up in two sessions, it just came together so naturally. Shaan sent me the beat, and I put down some melody ideas, and then we met for a writing session and wrote a chorus. Then I added strings and additional vocals, and Shaan mixed and mastered it, and it was done. It just came together so naturally and easily, which is an incredible and rare feeling.”

How do you balance your incredible music career and being a student in college?

S: “It’s been a challenge for sure! I was an international student which meant that I was not allowed to release the music I made while I was in the States. This was quite a struggle because that made it so I had to make all the music I was planning to release that year in the few months or weeks I was home each year. This really helped me speed up my workflow and be more efficient with my time. Though Walkaway is a song I spent quite some time on, this was an anomaly as I finish most tracks in just a couple of days, sometimes hours! As of this summer, I’m no longer a student at Berklee College of Music! Dropping out has already helped me as I don’t worry about homework anymore and I’ve been even more determined to make more music! Most tracks I’ve put out this year have been songs I’ve worked on at the start of the pandemic, in early 2020. I’m really excited to share with everyone the new sound I’ve been working on for the past 2 years :)!“

What has been your reaction to receiving over 100K+ streams on your music?

A: “100K+ is a lot! It’s far more people than I ever thought would listen to my music. I started my artist project as a vehicle for myself as a producer, because it can be very difficult to break into the industry as a female producer. We make up about 3% of the credited producers on the charts, which is insanely low. It makes me really happy to see that music I produced and worked on is getting heard, especially when I get messages from girls that are also wanting to get into learning production and producing their own music. There’s just so much passion in what my music stands for, and having 100K+ people listen to it sure is a good feeling.”

How important do you think diversity is in the music industry?

S: “Diversity is one of the most important things in any art form, including music. Music is simply an expression of our emotions and the way we feel which transcends words. Diversity makes it easier to understand and appreciate our differences and be more empathetic towards one another. Every person who makes music shares a part of themselves with us and I think that’s a beautiful thing.”

What artist would you love to collaborate with next?

A: “I would collaborate on more tracks with SCayos in a heartbeat, for sure. I’m also a huge fan of other female producer/artists like Bad Snacks, Abel, and SoWylie. Getting to collaborate with any one of them would be a dream.”

Where can we follow your amazing journey?

S: “You can follow my journey on Instagram (@scayos) and TikTok (@scayosmusic)!!”

Where can we follow your amazing journey?

A: “You can find me on Spotify or on any social platform (Instagram, Twitter, TikTok, etc.) at @annieelisemusic ☺”

Stream ‘Walkaway’ now!

https://scayos.ffm.to/walkaway

Je’Kayla Crawford– Founder and Director– Je’Kayla has been a journalist for years and decided to start a publication of her own, New Scene. When not helping her team and working on the monthly issues, you can find her watching a movie on Netflix or baking using a viral Tasty recipe.