Meet Heather Fay

Today we’d like to introduce you to Heather Fay.

Hi Heather, can you start by introducing yourself? We’d love to learn more about how you got to where you are today?
Born in Pekin, Illinois and raised in Kansas City, Missouri, I loved all things music at a young age. I taught myself to play the piano at the age of nine and began to write music by the third grade where I turned my love for writing poetry into skillful songwriting. As I grew, I discovered my passion for performing as I competed in gymnastics and joined my middle school choir, band, and step team. I continued in the following years joining my high school varsity cheer team, marching band, and show choir.

Straight out of high school, I channeled those same natural instincts and transformed them into a professional entertainment career where I started out as a model in my hometown, being featured in many print ad campaigns and branching out from there as I relocated to Los Angeles, California in 2013. While taking on Los Angeles, I shot and released my first music video for my pop single, “Killin Me” and booked my first string of shows both as a solo artist and as an opening act for Chanel West Coast in 2014, where I performed the songs I had independently written for my demo to pitch to record labels.

In 2015, I released my first R&B single, “Let’s Get Close” which quickly proved to be a more suitable lane for me as it garnered the attention of fans and industry executives I was initially after. After working with multiple A&R’s and negotiating multiple offers from 2015-2017, I eventually inked a deal under Bungalo Records, Universal Music Group Dist. in the fall of 2017.

After being paired with Grammy Award-winning writers and producers in 2018, they put my four-octave vocal range to work as I expanded my catalog where I stored my single, “The One”. With millions of radio spins each week, “The One” charted internationally at #1 for five consecutive weeks on the Euro Indie Music Charts, putting me in the Top 10 (#7) Independent Artists of the Year on the 2019 annual chart and the music video racked in a whopping 1.8 million views on youtube. That was quickly followed by my 2020 album, “Sensual” that gave my next chart-topping radio hit, “Finally Free” which charted at #3 on the Euro Indie Music Charts, all while studying to receive my A.S. in Music Production at the Los Angeles Film School (2018-2020).

In the spring of 2021, I was casted as a female lead in the independent feature film “Rebel//Rebel” and flew out to Cincinnati, OH to begin filming that summer at over 39 locations in Cincinnati and Northern Kentucky. In the fall of 2021, my R&B single, “Let’s Get Close” was published in the CBS soap opera, “The Young and Restless” in August and won an HMMA (Hollywood Music in Media Award) for Best R&B/Soul in November. In 2022 Rebel//Rebel was officially selected to screen at over 14 film festivals, and in 2023 the film was picked up to be globally distributed, theatrically and digitally, by four-time Emmy Award winner Jared Safier of Safier Entertainment, all while studying to receive my B.S. in Entertainment Business at the Los Angeles Film School (2020-2022).

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?
Being an independent artist has never been easy, and I can definitely attest to that with my experience. One of the biggest challenges of being an entrepreneur along with being an independent artist is having to wear a lot of the hats yourself while properly delegating and outsourcing when needed and understanding when each of the two is necessary. There are times when the projects simply will not get done or your business will not succeed if you don’t pick up the slack yourself, which can wear on you over time and be somewhat exhausting, but the passion and instincts that you have for what you do usually take over and help you push through to the end. Outsourcing can help, but can also be equally stressful in itself because not everyone understands your vision and not everyone is bearing the same weight or taking on the same risk as you are. You have to find the right people who are equally passionate about what they do and how that can contribute to your business endeavors so everyone can succeed.

These are two things that become easier with time and with learning what works and what doesn’t work through experience. You have to really love what you do and with that will come the patience necessary to figure it all out along the way.

Thanks for sharing that. So, maybe next you can tell us a bit more about your work?
I am an internationally charted, award-winning singer, songwriter, and record producer from my hometown Kansas City, MO, who is best known for my #1 single, “The One” and being casted as Cali in the independent feature film, “Rebel//Rebel” (now available on amazon prime video). I frequently travel to Los Angeles, CA, and have worked with Grammy award-winning songwriters and producers to expand my music catalog. With millions of radio spins each week my single, “The One” charted internationally at #1 (for 5 consecutive weeks), and “Finally Free” charted at #3, both on the Euro Indie Music Charts. I have had my music published in the CBS soap opera, “The Young and Restless” along with winning an HMMA (Hollywood Music in Media Award) for my R&B single, “Let’s Get Close.” While studying to receive my A.S. in Music Production and B.S. in Entertainment Business at the Los Angeles Film School in Hollywood, I was also casted as a female lead in the independent feature film, “Rebel//Rebel” directed by Drew Harwood and distributed by 4X Emmy Award winner Jared Safier, of Safier Entertainment.

Out of all that I’ve accomplished, the one accomplishment that surprised me the most was being in the Top 10 Artists of the Year on the annual charts (I was number 7). I was new to this and didn’t understand how charts worked, and that it didn’t stop at weekly rankings I also received an annual ranking as well. That was a pinch me moment that I was incredibly proud of. The thing that sets me apart from others is having a polished, mainstream sound while maintaining an underground hip-hop approach to the music scene. I study the game and play the game accordingly while staying true to my roots and what got me started in the first place.

What would you say have been one of the most important lessons you’ve learned?
It doesn’t matter what everybody else thinks you should do and be as a creative. The industry, and the world for that matter, will try to put you in a box and tell you what you are, but as a creative spirit you know better, and you have to respectfully and professionally maintain your authenticity while still playing to win and win big in doing so. It’s something that does come naturally when you are truly an artist and with time and experience becomes easier to balance.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.iamheatherfay.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/iamheatherfay
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/iamheatherfay
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/iamheatherfay
• Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/iamheatherfay
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/iamheatherfay
• SoundCloud: https://www.soundcloud.com/iamheatherfay
• IMDb link: https://www.imdb.com/name/nm12551609/
• Tiktok: https://www.tiktok.com/@iamheatherfay