Lydia Stephen, a recent Brock graduate, is trying to make a name for herself in the local music scene. Her recent performance at Cicada Music Festival suggests that she’s on the right track.
The 23-year-old says she has always lived and breathed music. “I grew up in a household where my mother was a very talented musician, and so the piano was a big part of my everyday life,” said Stephen. While she only decided to pursue her passion for writing music in her teenage years, she says she has “always been obsessed with the idea of performance as a songwriter.”
She thinks this fascination started when she was introduced to Demi Lovato in the early 2000s. “She was a star, and all I ever did in my free time was pretend to perform like her,” said Stephen. “Of course, my style has taken an entirely different shape than that of Demi Lovato in Camp Rock, but it remains a foundational part of my love for music and performance.”
Even when she outgrew Disney Channel originals like Camp Rock, Stephen still found herself longing to play onstage. When she moved from her hometown of Markham to St. Catharines to attend Brock University, that urge grew even more. “Moving for school had a major impact on my exposure to local live music and playing gigs, witnessing how special that community of artists is,” said Stephen. “I saw this, particularly at Mahtay Café where I worked, and that was what drew me in and kept me wanting more.”
From there, Stephen expanded her horizons, performing wherever and whenever she could.
Throughout the last two years of performances, Stephen says her most memorable gig was at the Warehouse in downtown St. Catharines.
“I remember it was so silent in there that you could hear a pin drop. The sound technician had found the sweetest spot for reverb in my voice and I could see the silhouettes of everyone swaying as they listened,” said Stephen.
“I couldn’t believe so many people were resonating so deeply with my songs, and I recall several people approaching me afterwards telling me they had cried. Who knew the music I had written could make people feel so much?”
Since then, Stephen and her work have only grown. Last month, the Brock graduate had the opportunity to play at Cicada Musical Festival, a well-known local music festival that toted big names like Serena Ryder and Andy Shauf on this year’s line-up.
Last year, Katey Gatta, a folk singer and songwriter, messaged Stephen about playing at Cicada with Keaton Tye. Tye, a fellow musician, would often join Stephen on stage for a few songs when she played, but Gatta wanted them to play an entire set together. “A couple of weeks before the festival, we got together and wrote a list of songs we would often play with one another. We worked through a lot of different ideas around harmony and finally landed on a solid setlist,” said Stephen.
While Stephen and Tye found their set to be a little underwhelming, it was special all the same. “The acorns from the oak tree above were pelting the tin roof of the bandstand we were playing in, the music from one of the other stages was blaring — but we were all smiling.”
Still, just like many recent university graduates, Stephen doesn’t know where the next day will take her.
“I flip back and forth between hoping I can be the next Lizzy McAlpine or just hoping I can be a teacher with a stable income, a place to stay, people to love and still be someone who still picks up her guitar sometimes.”
Even then, she hopes people will still be listening to her music 10 years from now.
“I hope I never stop learning about myself through my music. I look forward to seeing the way my lyricism will develop, and the most exciting part is that I won’t know until I get there.”