At times, we need to prioritize our responsibilities and relationships over our creative dreams, and it may feel as if a light has gone out and a part of us is missing. Then, come other times when we are ready to replace, remake, restart, and go after our biggest passions with all we have. Creative Soul, Christina, has walked the artist road, sacrificing her desires to nurture other parts of her life, but ultimately, being reunited with her dreams, filling the world with creative love.
Christina Thomas Taylor is an artist, music producer, songwriter, and composer from Boston, under the pen name Octoberture. Her love for music began when she was just a child, begging her mom for piano lessons and instantaneously becoming best friends with this majestic instrument. “It heard all of my sad stories,” Christina shares how she became intimate with the piano, learning classical music in the process. She was also part of her school’s chorus and vocal jazz ensemble, and at the age of 22 after learning the guitar the songwriter in her was born.
Christina is also now in an acoustic duo band, North Woods, with her friend Sherry Aviles, playing at local venues with several tracks available to stream everywhere.
Music stretched her senses as a songwriter and she knew it would be an important part of her life’s journey, but love and family awaited her and after meeting her husband, Christina explains with a soft smile that she became too happy to write any songs, although she continued to play on her own. 20 years passed, kids, different jobs, and other life changes put her music career on pause. Christina took on painting and fixing up old houses, theater, poetry, photography, and dancing, and she even started a few businesses along the way. Christina loves doing anything that allows her to express her creativity freely.
After starting to play music again with friends in a band called Blue Amber she started writing songs again. This group eventually whittled down to North Woods. When the pandemic hit and her plans to open a business seemed unfeasible, she learned that there may be a career in music after all, joining a music academy and learning about the music business and music production. “Music feeds my soul more than anything else. It has taken over my life now”. Christina shares that even though she ventured on different paths, she has now solidified her career as a musician and she’s working arduously to make her dreams come true.
As a Music Producer, Christina’s potential has expanded greatly. “My goal in life was always to make the world a more beautiful place in everything I do, but now with music production I have upped my game. I want to create magic!” She describes how music production allows her to bring music to life the way she has always heard in her head, making listeners feel as if they are part of the journey with her unique sounds. ”I want to take listeners to a different place, a different immersive world that we can travel through together”. She finds her writing inspiration in the natural world, in psychology and the mind, the nature of reality, and relationships.
In just 2 ½ years, Christina has released over 23 songs solo and with talented collaborators from all over the world, all produced by her in her tiny home studio. Her genre is hard to define but tends to fall into the categories of chamber pop and indie pop being haunting and atmospheric as well as some songs that are fun and quirky. Among the many beautiful songs in her catalog are the spooky “You Can’t Hide” featuring rapper TY Avery, “Secrets,” one of her favorites in which she uses samples of her vocals to create instruments, and “Snow & Fire,” written during the lowest point of the pandemic, with a twist of optimism, finding a spark in the fire within us all.
Christina’s main focus is the world of music synchronization (T.V. and film), focusing the first two years post-COVID on building her catalog, learning production and honing in on her sound, and in the last year, she’s been pitching music for briefs for film, T.V., commercials, video games, and more. She’s also studying to become a Master Engineer, and she has been collaborating with other musicians, digging deep into songwriting, and creating new sounds that people haven’t heard before.
Bewitching anyone with her curious and allegoric melodies, Christina is an example that even if we steer away from our true passions, in due time, we get reconnected with our life force. Once we do, the rays of light appear and we can start creating real magic, as Christina has been doing hand in hand with her greatest love, music.
“Dig deep within yourself to find that creativity you know you have .. we can use it for everything. Think outside the box and go back to the openness you had when you were a child. Be as bold as you can dare to be… allowing that creativity – to go even further.” – Christina Taylor