Hi! 👋🏾 My name is Julia Ambre and I have 9 lives…🐯

As a music lover: I love going to concerts, watching live performances on YouTube, listening to various artists on a daily basis.

As a singer songwriter / performer: I write and compose original songs on a regular basis. I am currently in the process of recording a new album, and I truly hope you will enjoy it and come celebrate it LIVE with me!

As a food lover: one of my favorite activities is trying out new food from different cultures, new restaurants and (sometimes) new recipes! I have a very long list of places to try out in Toronto, that grows exponentially as I cross addresses off it!

As an executive assistant/operations manager: this is my “day job” I work full time for an architecture studio in the city. This takes up a lot of my time and mental capacity, but I really enjoy most of the tasks that I have to fulfill for this.

As a social butterfly: I love my friends, I love to spend time with them, and I love to party! It’s important for me to be surrounded by people from different horizons and get to experience life with them. I am lucky enough (and super grateful) to have found many people here in Toronto that I can call my friends.

As a hermit: I know this fully contradicts with the previous point, but I do enjoy solitary time. I love to watch true crime shows on Netflix or YouTube (any Bailey Sarian fans?). It has been a little hard to dedicate some time to myself this summer but I am committed to get back on track!

As a Yoga and fitness aficionado: I really enjoy working out and exploring ways my body and mind can connect in strength, flexibility and expansion. I try to consistently apply healthy discipline to my physical and mental activities.

As a professional napper: naps are sacred. I very often need a nap to reset after my day. From 10min to 4 hours, depending on my level of tiredness. I started napping when I moved to Toronto and was working in hospitality, I kept the habit as a way of clearing my mind in between different parts of my day, because I cannot meditate.

As a writer: this is an aspect of my life that I do not often talk about, but I LOVE writing fiction pieces. I have an important gallery of written work that I continue to fill, and that I may or may not share with a broad audience at some point. From essays to novels, I dive into creative writing very frequently; it helps me think. And I also write these little blog posts from time to time, to keep you updated!

It’s hard to believe that there are only 24 hours in a day sometimes & it’s hard to capitalize on time… so this coming year, starting now, I am prioritizing *balance* !!

How? By taking simple steps to create an equilibrium between my 7 lives to avoid excess of stress, exhaustion, illnesses, etc.:

1 / Syncing my calendars (one for work, one for music, one for social media, one for personal/social activities);
2 / Planning tasks ahead of the month;
3 / Scheduling down time.

I know it seems obvious for a lot of you, readers, but trust me, it is not as easy as it seems for someone like me.

Now… onto a well deserved nap! 😴🥱

love, always.

“What do you think of the music scene in Toronto?”, “Do you go to music networking events?”, “Have you ever collaborated with someone in this city?” are three of the questions I get the most when it comes to the Toronto Music Community…

I always found networking to be hard and a waste of time (I always end up helping out others, but never get to find what I am looking for). But these past two years, after the pandemic, networking has been an easy way to reconnect with people in a professional context, especially in terms of music. The Toronto music community is a beautiful circle that I find inspiring and uplifting. You can always find someone to hype you up, help you out, collaborate or share a stage with.

If I had to add one critique, I would say that the community could be more open to different genres. I found that a lot of people doing are sticking to their own styles when they could benefit from mingling with singers, songwriters and musicians from other genres.

It was something I realized when I first collaborated with Kromatix (Matthew Isaacs – RnB singer, songwriter) and BeatsbyJustin (Justin Guanio – hiphop beatsmaker) on a short EP project. Their approach to songwriting and music production was different from mine, but I benefited from learning their ways and seeing how they worked. It is always inspiring for me to meet artists and be transported into their process, because it helps me envision music through a different lens.

Usually, when I write a song alone, I will have some lyrics pop in my head, maybe a quick melody that keeps on swinging between my ears, and then I will – at some point – decide to put pen to paper, and notes on a sheet. Finishing a song can take me anywhere from 30 minutes to 3 weeks, and everything in between!

Having a collaborative process helped me tighten my own. Deadlines to be met, a clear schedule, lyrical expectations… it was a really fun time. From this happy encounter, came out my EP ‘Secret’, available here.

So long story short: I think the music scene in Toronto is pretty dope! I try to go to music networking events whenever I can, and I have collaborated with some very talented artists, and I am hoping to meet many more!

love, always.