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Every Monday we will be bringing you interviews with unsigned UK or Ireland artists for Independent Music Monday. Recently we caught up with unsigned London singer Melica to find out more…

Where are you from and how did you first get into music?
I’m originally from Saint Lucia, it’s a small island in the Caribbean with a population of 180,000 people. Growing up there for the first six years of my life I remember it being very vibrant and music being part of everyone’s day to day life. So just on my way to the market with my Mum or even going to school there would be Soca or Calypso playing from someone’s car or radio. I grew up with music playing in my household every day. I lived with my Great Grandmother so she would always play Gospel, my Mum would always be playing R&B amongst all the other popular tracks from the 90’s/early 2000’s. My Dad’s a huge reggae fan so I was brought up listening to a lot of Reggae, Dancehall and Lover’s Rock. All those sounds merged together was how I initially fell in love with music.

Who were your musical influences when you were growing up and who are your influences now?
A lot of my musical influences growing up are still apart of the influences I look up to now. As a kid and still to this day Beyonce, Destiny’s Child and Whitney Houston influenced me a lot. As a child I always wanted to sing the power ballads from these women. Rihanna was also an influence for me when I hit the age around 9/10 and upwards because it was a big deal seeing someone from the Caribbean blowing up in the mainstream doing R&B and pop music. That’s wasn’t a regular thing to see from a Caribbean artist. As I progressed into my mid/late teens I started diving into the world of YouTube, music downloads and writing my own songs. I began to be influenced by the likes of Aaliyah, Lauryn Hill and Amy Winehouse. I would say all these women have a strong influence over the type of Artist I am now, I draw influence from all of them for different reasons.
Some for their vocal delivery, some for their writing styles and some for their stage presence and performances.

How would you describe your sound?
I would describe my sound as R&B/Pop/Reggae. As much in love bouncing between those genres I also enjoy fusing them where possible. Ultimately I would say my sound reflects my personality and style which is very vibrant, quirky and bold. When I walk into a room or grace a stage I always want to stand out and be memorable.

What is your latest release called and what was the influence behind it?
My latest release is called Calling. I wanted to make a song for the girls, something with attitude behind it. I wanted that ‘It Girl’ song to encourage girls to be/feel more confident and sassy. Something they could singalong to with their girls. Even though the song does speak on females knowing their self worth and letting it be known that they’re in no competition with anyone else I love that the whole vibe is still playful.

What’s your local music scene like?
My local music scene is doing bits right now! I’m from South London where the talent is crazy. I feel like we’re (South Londoner’s) super gritty, unapologetic and we’re just mad confident.

Is there anyone you’d love to collaborate with?
I would love to collaborate with Dave (a fellow South Londoner). I love his music, his style of rap and I appreciate the fact that he has substance to a lot of his songs. He’s waving the UK flag so well when it comes to music, not even just rap. He’s definitely one of the best in my opinion. I think we’d compliment each other really well on a track.

Any funny stories surrounding your live performances?
I have a bad habit of closing my eyes a lot during my performances (I’m working on it) especially when I’m trying to convey emotion. So a lot of times I sing super close to the mic, and because my eyes are closed there’s been times when I’ve accidentally hit my teeth on the microphone or left it covered in my lipstick. So hopefully nobody’s noticed but sometimes the teeth hitting can throw me off a little bit.

What is the one thing that you want readers to know about you?
So as long as I could remember I always wanted to do music… but as a kid another dream of mine was to be an Olympic gold sprinter (I was a super sporty kid). That dream has long sailed away. But it’s a reminder that I’ve always wanted to be great, push boundaries and inspire others. Thats something I intend to do with my music as I progress in my journey.

You can find out more about Melica via Instagram, SoundCloud, Spotify, Twitter or YouTube.