It didn’t take a pandemic for Kailee McGuire to realize that she should follow her lifelong passion for music. With her heart set on writing and releasing original music, Kailee decided to shadow an Audio Engineering and Music Production class at Okanagan College to get a feel for what the program was all about.
After connecting with OC instructor Corey Bell and his students, Kailee was hooked. She was inspired by the energy of the class, sharing the same passion for music and desire to express themselves artistically.
Kailee began the program during the pandemic, which meant the class was separated into two smaller groups.
“It was unfortunate that the entire class couldn’t be together every day; however, our class became very close,” she says. “The program brought me a lot of inspiration, great connections with the other students and it pushed me out of my comfort zone. I grew so much in a short period of time.”
While they were unable to put on a show for a live audience, Kailee and her classmates were still able to perform at the Rotary Centre for the Arts together. Through this, she gained the confidence to begin working on her extended play (EP) as part of her final capstone project.
“All the songs are originals and I recorded, mixed and mastered them all myself. It was really challenging and I learned so much, not only about studio recording, but also about myself on a personal level,” she shared. “I learned that you can never really be finished working on your EP, as there’s always another direction you can take. But at some point, I had to commit to the direction I was taking it and let it go.”
Kailee’s EP was released in July 23 on Spotify, Apple Music and more. The album chronicles McGuire’s time living in Ireland and the experiences she had abroad, where she encountered many mental health challenges. She hopes that by sharing her struggles in her music, she can help others not feel alone and help provide hope and healing.
