Today we’d like to introduce you to Chianne Ozgur.
Hi Chianne, it’s an honor to have you on the platform. Thanks for taking the time to share your story with us – to start maybe you can share some of your backstory with our readers?
Some people are lucky to find their path and passions on an early age. I haven’t been one of them- I’m quite a late bloomer when it comes to discovering my path that feels the truest for me up until this point of my life.
Even though I was born in a family with musical talents galore- with plenty of accomplished and well-known musicians and even if this was my childhood dream; I’ve buried and hid it so deep inside that I’ve forgotten it for a long time. I did not believe it could be an option and I was quite a shy girl growing up. The society I was born into didn’t teach me that the dreams are meant to be pursued and that they are breadcrumbs that carries us into our highest destiny and purpose; once we follow them with faith, courage, resilience, love and commitment.
Instead; we’ve been encouraged and conditioned into taking rather predictable, stable and secure paths; but I’ve always sensed there must be something more to this life and to who I am and was filled with desire and curiosity to uncover. The education system encourages little children to dream abundantly when they are young but then the same system and society tell them to forget about those dreams, “be realistic” and choose a predictable stable career; conform to society’s rules and expectations and succumb to the system. The system works to deaden the creativity and natural talents of a child. It truly saddens me to witness so many wasted talents and unrealized potentials and my wish for future generations is that they live in a world where the environment supports them to find and cultivate their passions and natural gifts, supports them to go after their dreams, follow their hearts and can fully authentically express themselves in the world with confidence and ease.
So my background is that I graduated from “International Relations” in college then deciding it ain’t really my passion that I couldn’t see myself spending my life in that direction and therefore deciding to change gears and follow my other passion to become a fashion designer. I’ve studied, worked and lived in Italy for several years and worked in the fashion industry for some time in some of the main fashion capitals; Milan, New York and Istanbul. The life’s weaved its destiny for me in a way that I’ve lived in four continents and in nine different cities around the world up until now, all during my adult life. And during those years, I’ve gradually uncovered and stepped into exploring my inner calling, that is music. I started out as a hobby, and it quickly made itself clear to me that I needed to dedicate myself onto this path as it felt so clicking inside. So there, I’ve slowly stepped onto the path and never really looked back.
Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way. Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
Oh, absolutely not! First of all; the learning curve (which is never-ending) has been a pretty long one for me- in terms of figuring out what the music industry is, how that works here, teaching myself new musical skills, working on my craft, discovering my musical identity, my unique voice and message as an artist, making connections and figuring out ways for how I can support myself financially by doing so. I have jumped into an industry that I am completely oblivious to; unequipped and all by myself. At the same time, there was this added challenge of moving into a new country and starting from ground zero, adapting to the culture and the language here.
This journey has revealed and brought to the surface all my fears, limiting beliefs and insecurities that were buried within and I had to do a lot of inner work on uncovering and healing the root of the resistance, the fears, the doubts, the worries, the anxiety, and the limiting beliefs that have unconsciously put me in the loop of self-sabotage, procrastination and perfectionism. I was scared to be seen, afraid of failure and success all at the same time. Imagine the dilemma of an artist who is literally scared to be seen- whose job is to be seen! It was scary to be in front of camera and being on stage. The first few years, I’ve struggled from severe stage fright even though I’m pretty good at covering that up and giving off pretty confident vibes. 🙂 The nerves were getting the best of me and I wasn’t able to sing the way I know I can while I am alone! It quickly turned into a path filled with so much frustration, tears, sweat and heartbreak. But the love and the pull on my heartstrings in pursuing this direction was stronger which then kept me going in this path.
I am though grateful for every obstacle that has been put on my way that have built self-awareness, self-love, strength, resilience and perseverance in me. I don’t get to share this side of me a lot in public even though I always choose to be authentic and vulnerable – however there’re a million tears and sweat behind the scenes to say the least. Being an independent artist can be a challenging journey, and I’ve brought myself to the level of experiencing burnouts and deciding to quit music all together countless of times out of frustration and feeling like the amount of work and value that has been put into it goes unnoticed and to waste. But then, I remember why I started and always go back to “my why”; as that’s what truly feeds and fulfills my soul. The secret is to act on your passion to the best of your ability, with no insistence on the outcome. Thanks to this journey, I’ve built a lot of spiritual muscle and discovered more of who I really am deep within.
Having said all of that, I am so grateful that I have found the courage to step into the unknown and choose this path. I am so grateful. This has been my dream and passion at the end and I feel blessed and privileged for pursuing something that truly fulfills my heart and soul.
Alright, so let’s switch gears a bit and talk business. What should we know about your work?
I am kind of an artist who has turned her struggles and challenges into her art, story and message.
In my lyrics; I mostly explore themes such as self-love, empowerment, authenticity, freedom of expression, self-realization, unconditional love, believing in ourselves and our dreams with intention to positively impact the listener: to have them feel inspired, empowered, motivated, touched and moved, feel connected, seen and understood.
When they ask what genre my music is; I like to call it “Conscious Pop”. I’ve written an article about what that means to me on medium.com – if you are interested to read more about it you can find it on my bio on Instagram! (@chianneozgur)
I am also a certified Reiki and NLP practitioner and soon to be certified as a Kundalini Yoga and Meditation practitioner. I do sound healing and Reiki sessions besides my own music and infuse those into my sound.
You’ve asked what I am most proud of. I haven’t been very good at acknowledging myself and my achievements along the way-but I am learning. It helps me to keep my focus on the full side of the glass, keep filling my own cup and stay in gratitude. 🙂 So to name a few of my accomplishments that I am proud of so far:
My music has been covered in over 65 music publications such as Cliché Magazine, Imperfect Fifth, MusicOTFuture, Melodic Net, Le Future Wave, Urban Craft Magazine, Ceasar Live N Loud, and Airplay Access, among others. I am so humbled and grateful to be invited to be covered by VoyageLA for the third time. 🙂
I ranked as a finalists at the Opening Act music contest, which there were 14,000 applications. The winner of this contest became the Opening Act for the 2019 “We Can Survive” Concert, which was held at the Hollywood Bowl and featured performances by Billie Eilish, Taylor Swift, Camilla Cabello, The Jonas Brothers, Lizzo and other major artists. While I did not win, being one of the Top 16 Finalists was amazing.
“New Me” was charted #1 on the Top 10 Charts by WVYC Radio Station in York. It’s also been placed in Christmas movie “A holiday Homecoming” as part of the movie soundtrack. The film is directed by Telly Award winner Candice Cain and is distributed by Pure Flix Entertainment.
My song Flames charted on the ReverbNationLA Top 10 Chart, and the music video enjoyed a viewership of over 180,000 times on YouTube.
I’ve been singing Turkish National Anthem for about seven years in a row at the Republic Day of Turkey formal reception with around 500 distinguished guests, amongst them some important politicians and businessmen. Moreover, I’ve performed at some of the most well-known and influential music venues such as The Viper Room (previously co-owned by Johnny Depp), State Social House, Molly Malone and The Mint just to name a few.
And most recently, my song “Truly Free” has been picked out to be amongst the Top 50 Semifinalists out of over 20,000 entries at “The Road To Nashville” music and songwriting competition. I feel so honored to be amongst the semifinalists- talented singer and songwriters from around the globe. It’s a global historic project linking Nashville and Liverpool to support musicians advancing mental health awareness while promoting diversity and understanding. It’s presented by The Unity of Faiths Foundation (TUFF), Visit Music City and Liverpool City Council.
Where do you see things going in the next 5-10 years?
I’ve stepped into this industry right in the beginning of its biggest transformation of all times. It’s moved from being an industry in which artists would need a “middle man” such as music labels in order to reach their audience- into a new era of DYI and having a choice to stay independent and not necessarily need a middle man to reach their audience- all thanks to the internet and social media. By saying that, please note that I am not degrading the benefits and the important role those agencies and labels play and the value they bring to the table; but I’m solely saying that being part of a label is now a choice and not a must for an artist to partake in the music industry and to reach their audience. Being an independent artist was not an option before but nowadays it is, and it is definitely an empowering factor for the artist.
I believe this empowers the artist because it helps them to find their own most authentic unique voice without needing a label to shape and mold them and their music into something that they may not authentically be and sound like. The artists today can have more say on their art and be their own boss unless their primary motivation is fame and money.
I think this new era has also initiated purification of a music industry that has been quite corrupt due to those imbalanced power dynamics between managers, labels and artists- in which a lot of artists has been taken advantage of and exploited in the past.
So I think this trend will continue to move upwards and onwards and we will start hearing more unique, authentic meaningful music and that this new era will inspire more creativity and development of new sounds in my humble opinion.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.chianne.com
- Instagram: @chianneozgur
- Facebook: @chiannemusic
- Twitter: @chiannemusic
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCB1NXKC-fdcgWyMTRruQJNg
- SoundCloud: https://soundcloud.com/chiannemusic
- Other: https://www.tiktok.com/@chiannemusic
Image Credits
Galen Oakes
