Exposed Vocals Interviews award-nominated singer/ songwriter Billy Grima

Billy Grima is an award-nominated singer/ songwriter living in the Caledon Hills of Ontario, Canada.

Born in Blacktown, NSW Australia, Billy started writing at a very young age and was singing in a church choir by the age of 8 years old. At 15, Billy moved to Canada and settled in Toronto.   Like classic singer/songwriters, Billy Joel, Jim Croce, James Taylor and Bob Dylan, life’s daily realities and everyday events are a source of Billy’s inspiration.  His smooth and soulful sound has earned him comparisons to contemporaries Jason Mraz, Ed Sheeran, Jack Johnson and even Bruno Mars.

Billy has 3 albums to his credit: I’m Just Standing , A Little Piece Of Heaven and his latest, titled Sugar & Cream, produced and engineered by Pete Swann (Glass Tiger’s Alan Connely, Adrian and Justin Lifeson, sons of Rush’s Alex Lifeson.)  Sugar & Cream features a tasty blend of pop, rock, soul and Americana, including the first single, “Pleasure To Have Met You.”  The album received airplay on more than 100 AM/FM stations across North America and more than 500 stations around the world.  Billy is a Josie Show Awards nominee, an Akademia Awards Winner, and a three-time 2015 International Music and Entertainment (IMEA) Award nominee, winning for Best AC Artist.

“Writing a hook or humming a melody is medicine,” Grima says.  Let Sugar & Cream be the prescription for your perfect playlist.

EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW

Exposed Vocals: So tell us your story. Where did you grow up? What made you decide to become an artist?

Billy: I was born in Blacktown, NSW, Australia and moved to Canada at the age of 15 years old. I started singing when I was 8 years old and never looked back. I love creating music.

 

Exposed Vocals: How did you come up with that name? What was your inspiration behind it?

Billy: I am a tea drinker and my its my favourite beverage. I find myself running out of SUGAR & CREAM often and I have heard myself ” I NEED SUGAR AND CREAM” many times over. As I was writing the title track ‘SUGAR & CREAM ” I found it very fitting to name the album after that track because it seemed to blend well with the writing of this album.

Exposed Vocals: What do you think about online music sharing? Do you ever give your music away for free? Why?

Billy: Well, I do believe that online music sharing is good because it is about having your music heard and getting new fan. Also this could hurt an artist in a way because sales of the album help cover the cost.

Exposed Vocals: Since everyone was a start-up once, can you give any smaller or local bands or artists looking to get gigs and airplay some tips?

Billy: My first and most important advice I would give any artist is that ,you do this because you love it first and believe in yourself because there will be many obstacles coming your way from keeping a band together and keeping up with new talent out there.

 

Exposed Vocals: Do you ever make mistakes during performances? How do you handle that?

Billy: LAUGHING… Yes but the idea is to stay calm and focused on fixing the mistake. Laugh about it later and maybe create a new song!!!!!!!

 

Exposed Vocals: Do you tour? Anything interesting happen on tour that you think our readers would enjoy hearing about?

Billy: We have toured in the past. At the moment we are doing shows in Ontario and planning to venture out to other Canadian provinces and head to the USA  soon after as are fan base has grown very fast.

 

Exposed Vocals: Where do you usually gather songwriting inspiration? What is your usual songwriting process?

Billy:  Daily events , some personal experiences is where I get most of my inspirations as it makes it easier to write. I find that when I write songs most of the time I come up with a lyric and add the melody

Exposed Vocals: Do you have a band website? What online platforms do you use to share your music?

Billy: Yes, www.billygrima .com also Facebook iTunes , Amazon,cdbaby, reverbnation, twitter, sound cloud

Exposed Vocals: What are some really embarrassing songs that we might find on your mp3 player?

Billy: Bits and pieces of ideas that i put down too early in the morning…..lol

Exposed Vocals: If you were given half a million dollars and a year off, what would you do? How would you spend it?

Billy: I would have to say…make more music and learn the saxophone

Exposed Vocals: Any planned studio upgrades? What are you working with now?

Billy: I am working on my fourth album and I got tracks done

Exposed Vocals: How do you find ways to promote your music? What works best for you?

Billy: I think that the social media is great.I promote my music on Facebook , reverberation, twitter iTunes amazon and sound cloud

Exposed Vocals: If you could perform anywhere and with any artists (Dead or Alive) where and who would it be with? Why?

Billy: I would have to say for an artist I would pick SHERYL CROW as for a venue….MASSEY HALL

I think SHERYL CROW is a great artist and I think our music styles would blend well together.

Exposed Vocals: So, what’s next? Any new upcoming projects that you want to talk about?

Billy: At the moment I’m working on my fourth album. I love my new material and got 3 tracks down .

Exposed Vocals: If you weren’t making music, what would you be doing?

Billy: Well I do like nature and peace, so probably farming … maybe a bon fire and some fishing

 

Exposed Do you remember buying your first album? Who was it? What was going through your head?

Billy: First album was Frontiers by Journey.as I think they are a great band. Steve Perry is a great vocalist.

Exposed Vocals: How do you juggle the rest of your responsibilities while trying to stay ahead in your music life?

Billy: It’ gets overwhelming at times, but having someone like Michael Stover on your side is a great thing as he gets things done and always answers the phone 24/7

Exposed Vocals: What should fans look forward to in 2015?

Billy: Live performances would be top of the list