In the colorful world of Therez, the savvy and hardworking Calgary pop singer

In a video for her song Hot Mess, Calgary artist Terez woke up and mistook her for a blonde model in bed.

She’s got a hangover just from vague memories of reconciling with a man who happily explains that she is “delicious as a cupcake” and “a delicious mistake”.

She continues to describe herself as “tired vixen,” “the cutest disaster I’ve ever encountered,” and certainly “searing turmoil,” but she “takes the heat out and confuses three.” Double it. ”

“Then if you’re having fun, that’s all that matters,” she concludes with a catchy chorus of the song.

“I love humor,” Terez said on the phone to Postmedia while on vacation with his family in Kelowna. “It’s calming and fun, and I think that’s something I want to see more of in mainstream music. It’s just uplifting. It makes people feel good and gives the song a different side. ”

Combining a masochistic yet sexy vibe and cheek tongue tone with Terez’s long neon pink hairstyle and plenty of outfit changes, the video certainly gives the performer a distinctive personality that matches her refreshing pop style. He suggests that it was developed. But make no mistake about it. Therez, 24, is actually a seasoned veteran who understands the importance of developing a ‘brand’. Her EP, Sad Girl Summer Songs, can be interesting and irreverent. For example, cake is a sneaky revenge song about a romantic partner. The EP includes both a clean, unspoken version adapted for radio and a less clean version filled with f-bombs.

However, it didn’t take long to speak to Therez, and she realized that she had a serious and sincere work ethic when it came to the business side of the music industry. She has released four flashy and colorful videos in the past year. Her website is full of non-musical items such as t-shirts, sweatshirts, and hoodies that mirror the character mentioned above (ie. “Hot Woman” T-shirt.)

When her tour plans with Canadian synth-pop artist RALPH failed in 2020 thanks to COVID-19, she decided to change gears, spending a year studying songwriting, music production and finally Sad. I worked on the production of 8 songs that make up Girl Summer. Frequently traveling to Nashville before COVID and spending time between Calgary and Toronto, Terez can stay home during the pandemic and focus on his gear in his small home studio. I did.

“I had a lot of time to build and hone my skills,” she says. “I actually think it took me a long time to focus on this project, not to be busy with performances and shows. It was great, but who is in Toronto or Nashville? It was great because we were able to virtually accept the collaboration. ”

Terez believes he wrote over 100 songs for this project in 6 months. This indicates that we are not relying on COVID downtime. But she has always been prolific. His first ambition was, in fact, to be a songwriter. Given the Calgary environment, she was naturally obsessed with country music. His career claims to have written over 500 songs, including a number of artists from different genres. His co-writers range from expatriate Nashville-based Australian hit-maker Phil Burton to Edmonton-born country singer-songwriter Ally and Dylan Brady, half of the 100gecs American hyperpop sensation. , Includes everyone.

In Calgary, Therez began her career as an early 18-year-old country singer-songwriter who performed under her full name, Therez Grett. She still writes country songs, usually intended for other artists, but says she didn’t think country music was perfect. His subsequent trips to Nashville tended to focus on the rising pop scene. It’s vibrant when it’s a little under the radar compared to the city’s vast country music machines. Further proof of her vision for the world of music, she is currently exploding for K-pop artists, a sub-genre that is exploding thanks to the success of Korean boy groups such as BTS and SuperM. Writing connections.

“In most cases, I can keep it separate,” Therez explains of writing songs for himself and for other artists. “There are songs that are secretly included. I love this song. I don’t want to give it to another artist.

As she scaled down Sad Girl Summer songs, she began to recognize some repetitive themes.

“Revenge is great,” she laughs. “Another theme is my experience in the music industry. Sad girls and loneliness really pull him out.

Sad Girl is all about social media and Terez is also an active and familiar arena. He explores “the characters and the facades that people wear on social networks”.

Ballard Lonely, the only EP song written by Therez without a co-author, looks “behind the curtain” in the music industry and shows how lonely and isolated a business can be.

“The main lyrics of this song actually say, ‘They say the top is lonely, but I’m pretty lonely along the way. ”

Needless to say, the actual lyrics don’t include the word “beep”. But while Therez may swear in her song, she doesn’t swear in a media interview with cheerful politeness.

Whether it’s a hot, unrepentant party girl or a vengeful cake storyteller, Terez himself, given that some of his songs seem to be spoken from several unusual angles. It may seem like you are walking away from a character. But she nourishes the character so much that she provides a snapshot of “how I was feeling at that point” and “chosen to emphasize part of the full range of emotions.” I do not think so.

Still, she recognizes that pop music can be both a musical and a visual medium, and she certainly has a distinctive look that seems to be centered around her striking pink hairstyle. I have.

“I would definitely say it’s part of the brand,” she says. “Meaning I’m pretty short so it really helps to stand out in the crowd. It started out as fun, and it really became part of my brand, and I did, I really enjoy it. It’s a lot of fun for me and a great way to express myself. Now my audience is seeing something on social media, is it me? You can find out who you are. I think this has been a recurring theme in my career so far. ”

Sad Girl Summer comes out on August 4th.

Copyright Postmedia Network Inc., 2021