Today we’d like to introduce you to Megan Winsor.
Megan, let’s start with your story. We’d love to hear how you got started and how the journey has been so far.
Growing up, I could recite every word to songs like Don’t Stop Believing, Jesse’s Girl, and other 80’s pop and rock hits that my parents loved. It wasn’t until I begged my parents for piano lessons at the age of 11 that I learned that there was more genres out in the world that could move people in different ways. I was lucky enough to take these lessons from a piano teacher who was also a singer/songwriter and saw the songwriter in me. Instead of teaching me classical piano, she taught me music theory, song structure, harmony, and lyric writing. (Shout out to you Noelle) That’s when I fell in love with songwriters like Brandi Carlile, Ed Sheeran, Ben Howard, and Nick Drake who inspired me to write to make people feel something.
As a kid, I was more interested in staying inside and writing songs than hanging out with friends and going to the beach like the rest of my peers. This leads me to write and record a five song EP at the age of 13. Now, I’m not saying that this EP was any good, but it showed me that I could really do this music thing for the rest of my life and I would feel incomplete without it.
By the age of 15, I knew that I wanted to go to college for music and needed some performance experience to do so. Like most up and coming musicians in Orange County, my first gigs were at local venues including Chain Reaction and House of Blues Anaheim. The crowd consisted of my family and friends. Even though the crowd was small, they were mighty, and those cheers after each song formed a dream of playing to a crowd of thousands one day.
Somehow, I landed myself at Berklee College of Music after high school. I’m pretty sure I’m the only one from my high school ever to go there. Again, a whole new world opened up for me. I was never involved with the music community in Orange County and never had musician friends. So, going from that to living with thousands of musicians taught me new genres, new perspectives, new friends who were amazing musicians, and how to be competitive and proud of my music. After a year there and lots of growing up done, I decided it was time to open up my opportunities by moving to LA and transferring to USC Thornton School of Music.
We’re always bombarded by how great it is to pursue your passion, etc – but we’ve spoken with enough people to know that it’s not always easy. Overall, would you say things have been easy for you?
Whoever said “do what you love and you’ll never work a day in your life” was not a musician. Getting anywhere with music requires every ounce of motivation, love, and curiosity in a person. I remember building my own website when I was 12 and spending hours and hours practicing the Star Spangled Banner because that was the only gig I could get and I needed to nail it. The frustration I have experienced from learning Logic X, Photoshop, and Protools to listening back to a voice memo and wondering why I don’t sound the way I want to sound is all worth the moment when I do finally get it. It’s never going to be a smooth road for my career. But, it’s all worth it when people are singing along to my songs or feel something with my music. Being a musician is more than writing songs and singing. It’s being your own promoter, manager, brand designer, producer, sound engineer, and entrepreneur. It’s been a bumpy road figuring out how to do all of those things.
We’d love to hear more about your work and what you are currently focused on. What else should we know?
Almost like a pale morning sunrise or a refreshing breath of air, my music is known for creating a nostalgia, relatability, and realness through grounding lyrics and melodies.
I want to create community through music. Whether that means writing your favorite song or bringing people together through live music, I believe music has power and I want to show that.
My album, CLWNS, comes out August 20th. I’ve been working on this project for the past two years and I’m super excited for people to hear it. You can find my recent singles off the album on all streaming platforms, such as Black Dog, Lose Myself, and Someone Else’s Car.
What were you like growing up?
I was super shy, observant, and creative as a kid. My first sentence was, “If God made us, who made God,” in my preschool class to my teacher. You can imagine the phone call to my parents. Now that I’m in my 20s and talkative as heck, my family and childhood friends tell me how odd I was as a kid and how music I have come out of my shell. Like, I was that kid in a classroom that would make the biggest mess by cutting a bunch of paper up with scissors.
Contact Info:
- Website: meganwinsormusic.com
- Email: [email protected]
- Instagram: instagram.com/meganwinsormusic
- Facebook: facebook.com/meganwinsormusic
- Twitter: twitter.com/mwinsormusic
- Other: https://open.spotify.com/artist/5DsjKFlEDdkjFSS3L2LTMl?si=aD5I2VvmS164Id20vvpKHA
Getting in touch: VoyageLA is built on recommendations from the community; it’s how we uncover hidden gems, so if you know someone who deserves recognition please let us know here.
