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Canadian singer-songwriter Soles Mojo has been writing songs for 13 years and has no intention of stopping anytime soon. Her beautiful voice and smart lyrics combine to create a unique style all her own.

I'm an independent Canadian singer-songwriter. With a catalogue of over 150 songs in various genres, I play regularly at many venues around Toronto. My music has been featured in local commercials, as well as in an independent film. I am also currently in the studio recording my new CD, Love a Little Less, and I have aspirations for it's completion to be sometime before the new year arrives.

What has been the biggest challenge in trying to maintain the lifestyle of a solo musician?

It's hard to get an audience, and hard to get venues to pay enough. And there's the threshold between getting people to come out and see you, and having people come out because they want to see you.

Being a musician is like having your own business. For me, managing the workload of marketing, managing, booking, and being an independent artist has been the most difficult challenge, but it's also what I love most and if I work hard at it, I see the results!

How important is support from peers and family?

Honestly, there is an extent to which you can rely on your family and friends for support...and a point at which you exhaust those resources. But I do rely on my fans to read blogs, and invites, and updates, and to come out to shows to show their support. I also rely on my fellow musicians to come out to open mic nights, work with, etc.. and I rely on fans and the public in general to review my songs and tell me what they think, to constructively criticize my music so i can continually improve my songwriting and my performance skills.

My family and friends have always been supportive of my choice to become a musician. Though, they've occasionally advised me to establish a firmer support or back up plan, but they are rooting for me 100%.

Which essential to you during the creation process?

A pen and paper, because I have a weird writing style where I jot things down and it can't be transcribed, because I remember the song in the way that I wrote it down, and not so much by the words.

How much time do you spend on career development?

I spend countless hours working! I hardly have time for a life outside of music. I spend at least 3-4 hours online daily, marketing, updating, networking, booking, interacting with fans, and trying to manage my career as it grows. It's a very time consuming thing to manage when you have at least 15 different websites to maintain, and messages to reply to, gigs to hunt for, and so much more... Not to forget practicing and writing, and having time to be inspired by life!

LOL... It's necessary to multi-task almost all the time. I find some days I'll have my students, then band practice, then a few hours to do online work, and then a show, or an open mic, or some event to perform at, and afterwards, more online work, and then a few thoughts jotted down before bed to remember to elaborate on in the morning... *and breathe*

Where do you get your inspiration?

Inspiration, for me, comes from the people in my life -friends and loved ones. It often also come from things that happen, and things I hear about, or experience in some direct or indirect way... That's the long way of saying "life"... LOL. And, of course, the man in the white hat is a great source of inspiration.

Do you have any advice for new artists who are considering making a living doing what they love?

If you know that music is what you want to do, do it. Give it 100%, but make sure it's really what you want, because this business can and will eat you alive! It's a constant uphill battle until you get noticed, and then it's just more work! But if you truly love it, and are willing to work your butt off to get somewhere, it's worth it.

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