Cinzia, 23, placed the sunflowers she bought at Marché Jean Talon—to brighten her Mile End apartment—on the table between us. She picked a cute Italian café in her neighbourhood to sit down and talk, suggesting we order café crema. It’s been a week since her first single, “I Don’t Know You Anymore”, was released on different media such as Spotify and iTunes, and the prospect of a music career shines brightly.
“How and when did your passion for music start?” I asked, tasting the delicious dessert coffee for the first time.
Music became part of her life from an early age when her father played Elvis Presley albums. It was a pinnacle moment for her. It amazes her how people can write a piece and everyone has the chance to be touched by their work.
During her teenage years she’d spend her time writing and playing guitar, but when 18 hit, she stopped entirely. The thought of starting a music career seemed too improbable. Feeling overwhelmed, and losing her confidence, she convinced herself she’d become a promoter or publicist instead. She’d still be part of the industry, but behind the scenes. Her confidence went down, as well as her motivation and passion for what she once believed in.
She started working more and more with bands as a promoter, until one day friend, Pat Rossi from The Falling, reached out to work with her. He heard her song, thought it was great, and asked if they could work together. Unconvinced at first, she hesitated, but eventually agreed. Once she was back into her music, she saw her confidence rise. “I strongly, strongly believe that it was because I wasn’t doing music,” she says about her lack of motivation in her music career. Within six months, she completed her single, releasing it Sept. 15, 2017.
Rossi acted as her producer. He made her song bigger, turning the acoustic song into a more commercialized one. The song hasn’t changed much from the original, Cinzia explains, it came out how she envisioned it in her mind. “I think this means a whole new beginning,” she says. “It’s a whole different era that I’m getting into.”
The single, “I Don’t Know You Anymore”, still makes her cry. The emotional piece talks about heartbreak and people changing in a relationship. The meaning changes each time she listens or performs it. What first meant sad closure, means something new and somewhat positive for a breakup song. At times her song can represent herself. “When I listen to it now, sometimes, I’m kind of that person that I don’t know anymore.” It describes change in a person, and that can relate to anyone, because everyone changes in life.
Her genre, despite trying to avert it in the past, is similar to indie pop rock—a genre she once looked down on as something for sell-outs. “But it really isn’t,” she continues, “because basically what it is, is whatever is popular at the time.” Pop wasn’t what she wanted, it wasn’t rock or even country, but pop has become her niche. She took the aspects of her that once made her self-conscious and turned them into positives. Adding her raspy voice to an upbeat song, transforms the tune completely. She also has a knack for writing catchy songs, getting compliments along the lines of “I can’t get this out of my head.”
It’s definitely not the last we’ll hear of Cinzia. Her future projects include an EP planned to come out in the next few months, and a performance at the Mend Our Mind promotes the Mental Health Mission charity show at the Le Ritz Bar on Nov. 4. It’s truly the beginning of an era.
Check out her Facebook page here