After taking a ten-year hiatus from the music industry, Ayanna Mackay is back with a new tour, new songs, and a new album. We discuss her departure and return to the music industry in this exclusive interview.
By Susanna Carol
It's been a busy day for Ayanna Mackay. It's 9pm, and she's just walked off-stage in .... The performance wasn't a sold out show like it would've been 10 years ago, but Ayanna is unfazed. She wraps a towel around her neck as she waves to a small group of fans in the corridor, and shouts, "I'll be back to meet you!" before heading into her dressing room.
"I've been up since 4 am!" She tells me breathlessly, finally taking a seat at the vanity, while her personal assistant helps her change out of her stage costume.
"My tour bus got into town early this morning, I went to the recording studio at 8am, worked on some songs for the new album, then the show. I'm beat." She says all this with an unmistakable twinkle in her eye, however. The delight on her face tells me that she wouldn't want to have it any other way.
Ayanna has had both success and obscurity in her career.
She started out at age 16, busking on the streets of Seattle, before embarking on a self-funded solo tour. It was in Los Angeles that she caught the eye of Sun Whoops record producer and was signed before she'd even had a chance to write a hit song.
"I'm so grateful that I was discovered so quickly," Ayanna reminisces now. "I really had no skills at the time: could barely play guitar, couldn't really write a good song, couldn't sing that well...the label took a big chance on me."
The chance paid off. Within two years, Ayanna went from being unknown, to a worldwide talent, selling out stadium shows, releasing a gold-certified album, and penning hit song after hit song.
And then, at the pinnacle of her career, she suddenly stopped.
"I was in a dark place. I started missing my gigs, just didn't know what to do. I went back home to Seattle, to be with my mom and my family. My plan was to stay a few months, I stayed a decade."
But why? Was there any truth to the gossip surrounding her depature? Rumors of a pregnancy, drug use, even death- followed her in the first few months of her disappearance.
"It wasn't anything that the tabloids said," she answers definitively. "I needed a break- two years of non-stop writing, recording, performing, TV appearances, touring...it was so much, especially at such a young age. I was barely 19 when I 'retired'. I needed to live a normal life, so I did."
Ayanna used her earnings to buy a modest home for herself in Seattle. She took up a normal job, working for a small artisan Cafe. But as time passed she found herself longing to get back on stage.
"I'm calling this era my 'Rebirth.' Though that probably doesn't help with the pregnancy rumors," she says with a laugh.
"I'm ready to start fresh and I really have no choice but to...the music industry has changed in the last 10 years and people have forgotten me. I've got a new label. I have to start from scratch. But there's beauty in a new beginning."
And what of her personal life? Will she be able to find a better balance this time around?
"I worked so much and so hard when I was starting out. I never made time for dating. I was seeing two guys casually- not at the same time," she adds, laughing again. "But I couldn't settle down with either of them. Now they've both passed away. Life is so short."
(Editors note: Though Ayanna didn't name either men during our interview, she was rumoured to be dating rapper/"Every Good Girl Wants a Bad Boy" collaborator, Tomasz. She was also rumored to be in a relationship with financier, Elliot Brinkley. Both men passed away, in Y.. and Y..., respectively).
The personal assistant has left. Ayanna and I are alone in the dressing room together; Ayanna's sitting crossed-legged in her chair, sipping tea. She's staring absent-mindedly at a show flyer; after a few quiet moments, she speaks again.
"I want to have it all. I want to be number 1 in the charts. I want to go Platinum. I want to fall in love, get married, have babies. I don't know if I can have it all, but I'm gonna try." She turns to me with a warm smile. "I'm really gonna try, this time."
The determination on her face and in her voice tells me I'd be a fool not to believe her. Whether Ayanna can make all her dreams come true is yet to be seen, but I'm positive we'll have a spectacular time watching her try.
Ayanna Mackay is currently touring worldwide in support of her upcoming studio album, "Rebirth."
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