I have a great spotlight (and a lot more on the way, slowly but surely!). As always, if you are or know of an upcoming artist, designer, producer, etc, please email me at brittanyshawnte@gmail.com.Today on The Spotlight, we have upcoming singer Montrey Slayton! Born in Springfield, IL and moving to Marianna, Arkansas for most of his childhood. Montrey grew up in a musical family, so his singing talent was always evident. “We didn’t have a lot growing up but we ALWAYS had music. If our lights was out, we put batteries in the boom box and it’s like all of our problems faded away,” he said. He and his family eventually moved to Milwaukee, WI, in 2004, which Montrey calls a “gem” in terms of music. “We try to be different than other cities like Atlanta or Houston. You could hear in certain people music where they from. But it’s such a mix of originality in Milwaukee that you would always hear something new and unheard of,” the singer said of the city. Once he graduated from high school, Montrey recognized that he had a gift of writing music. That’s when he decided to record his first demo and take his music seriously.
Montrey eventually auditioned for the hit singing competition, The Voice, which he called an amazing experience “I didn’t make it to the celebrity judges but I beat out many other talented vocalists in the first 2 rounds,” he said. “I think the experience motivated me a lot to keep striving! I was honestly on the verge of quitting music but after making it as far as I did, it gave me the confidence I needed to keep going.”
Montrey’s latest single “Cake” was inspired by a situation in his own life, and believes that so many men go through the same thing every day. “I always try to be as real as possible in my music and give the audience something they can relate to,” he said of the song. “Once I heard the beat to this song, the melody came to me right away. And seeing that I don’t put words to paper when I went to the studio to record it, the situation came to my head and the words just came to me.”
Montrey recently just signed a distribution deal to release his upcoming EP, Melody Within. “This EP [is] kind of mellow and soft. Something for the ladies to put on when they coming home from a long day of work and just want to relax in a hot bubble bath with a glass of wine.” he said. The singer thought of at least 10 titles for this project, but this one stuck out to him. “It explains my passion for music. Melodies are always in my head and I’m always singing wherever I am so I stuck with that title.”
Though his EP is his main focus right now, Montrey plans on releasing a mixtape sometime in the winter. The singer will also be re-releasing his first album, Love At First Sight, with a few new tracks and new artwork. In terms of his music standing out in the R&B industry today, the singer is focused on creating substance in his music. “Everyone is so focused on sex, drugs and strip clubs,’ he admitted truthfully. There’s a handful of artists who actually makes music about life, relationships, and love. That’s what I bring to the table. People, especially young people don’t know any of the good music we grew up on. I’m trying to bring back the soul and storytelling to music.” In terms of his career, his focus isn’t fame or fortune, but merely only working on music full-time. “I do have a goal of performing at a sold out show in Madison Square Garden, though! That would be a dream come true!” he exclaimed.
You can check out more from Montrey on SoundCloud, as well as connect with him on Twitter, Facebook, and YouTube!
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