These students’ musical creativity is burgeoning in a dorm room

Getting out there and doing what you love is how one local artist describes her passion for making music.

Grace Spidell, 18, is an aspiring musician from Red Deer, Alta., and comes from a musical family. Her parents were in a band when they were younger.

“I grew up in a musical family. My mom, she’s a singing teacher. My dad, he plays a bunch of instruments,” Spidell told Kelowna10.

Spidell’s music focuses on the things she’s experienced in her life.

“I just came out with a pop song, but I do want to make R&B soul music, that’s where my music stems from.”

Her recently released single, Got Me Good, is about a girl having boy troubles, who keeps going back to the same guy even though things aren’t working out.

“For some reason, he just has such a hold on her,” she explained.

Spidell moved to Kelowna in September to study audio engineering and music production at Okanagan College, where she met Hayden Burton and Nesta Malcolm. They wrote, recorded, and produced the single together.

“We set up our mic in this small little dorm area and we’re all writing lyrics and singing,” Spidell said.

“That’s super cool being in that environment, that small group of friends. Even if it’s not some big studio… it’s about just getting together and doing what you love.”

Malcolm, who produced the song, has made music for the past six years. He mainly creates electronic dance music, but meeting new people helped him expand his horizons.

“Coming here, meeting all these people, I’ve gotten into pop and R&B, and yeah, I like producing everything,” he said. “And helping people find their sound and making good music.”

Spidell encourages other young artists to get out in the community and share their music with everyone.

“Even if you think you’re not going to make it, who cares, just do it anyways. At least you’re doing something you love,” she explained.

Spidell and her friends are busy working on new music, which they hope to release in the coming months. They hope to keep learning more about the music industry while homing in on their craft with the hope of performing live soon.

Got Me Good is available on several streaming platforms.