Tyler Shaw is ready to show the world what he’s made of.
Since winning a cover contest held by MuchMusic and Coca-Cola back in 2012, Shaw has established himself as a talented singer-songwriter. His debut single “Kiss Goodnight” was certified gold, and his latest single “House of Cards” has been heating up on the charts. This October, Shaw has secured an opener slot on Kelly Clarkson’s Piece By Piece Tour with Nick Jonas.
I had the opportunity to chat with Tyler about the upcoming tour and the fans.
asapmusicblog.ca: What was the first song in your memory that inspired you to pursue music?
Tyler Shaw: What a first question! Well, it’s kind of weird… growing up I went through a bunch of music stages, so the first kind of stage was punk-rock, I was really into Rage Against The Machine, Sum 41, Green Day, and all that stuff. Then something happened, don’t know what, and all of the sudden I was listening to John Mayer and Michael Buble and Jack Johnson. So I think collectively, all of those artists were kind of inspirations.
A: To rewind a little bit, you won the MuchMusic & Coca-Cola cover contest a few years ago, and you’ve since established yourself as singer-songwriter. It feels like you’ve come full circle – how does it feel when you see other people covering your songs on YouTube?
TS: It’s incredible, honestly. I remember when “Kiss Goodnight” came out in 2012 – since I won from a covers contest, it kind of came full circle and here’s my song being played on the radio and now people are like, ‘Oh here, I did a cover of Tyler Shaw’s “Kiss Goodnight”!” I was like, really? That’s so ironic and weird! It’s a great feeling.
A: You’re currently based in Toronto, but you’re originally from Coquitlam. Is there anything that you miss about the West Coast while you’re living in Toronto?
TS: I miss so much of the West Coast! Mountains, ocean, fresh breeze – the air is so much more fresh out there. Of course, my friends, my family – it’s the hometown, the hometown vibe.
A: We’ve reached the midway point of 2015. What has been one of the highlights of the year for you so far?
TS: “House of Cards”, my latest single, has gone Top 10 and I got on the Kelly Clarkson and Nick Jonas tour that’s coming up in the fall – that was huge news that I got back in February or March. Those two things have been quite the highlight.
A: Like you’ve mentioned, October’s going to be a big month for you, as you are supporting Kelly Clarkson and Nick Jonas on the Piece By Piece tour, which will also going to bring you back home to Vancouver on October 17th. What are the preparations like in getting ready for a tour like that?
TS: Rehearse, rehearse, rehearse, rehearse! I started rehearsing already for the tour, I’m playing for like 25 minutes so it’s four or five songs, but still, you need to nail it. They’re going to have musicians that have been playing so much longer and they have so much experience and so much talent that we have to be on their level. It’s better to just make the show as best as possible, because we don’t want to go out there, start the show off really crappy – that makes us look really bad. Kelly will completely blow us away, which is fine because she’s talented anyways and probably will, but we want to be on their level too.
A: I think the Vancouver date is the last show of the tour, and you’ve probably been to a show at Rogers Arena before?
TS: Actually, I haven’t!
A: Oh, that’s even cooler though. Your first show at Rogers Arena will be the one that you play!
TS: Exactly, yeah! That would actually be my first show in Vancouver. No, that’s a lie. I’m going to be at the PNE on August 27th.
A: You post Tuesdays with Tyler on a weekly basis, which is really cool to see. How important is it to you to stay connected with your fans on social media?
TS: It is number one as an artist, especially nowadays. Fans want to be involved 24/7, they want to see into the artist’s life, what you’re doing and what you’re going to be doing. I love doing that too; I love sharing adventures with fans because the fans keep you alive. They keep your passion going and it’s a sweet thing to see how much support you get from fans like that.
A: If you could narrow down a single message that you would want your music to convey, what might that be?
TS: I have songs about breakups, I have songs about falling in love. It depends on the song, but I guess in short-story form, it goes something like… there’s just too many songs on the album that are completely different – they’re all about love. There’s falling in love, there’s falling out of love, there’s forgetting about love – it’s all love based, obviously. I don’t really have a message, but if it feels good… if it speaks to you, I’ve done my job.
For more information on Tyler Shaw, head over to: http://tylershawmusic.com.
