Today’s guest is a truly remarkable young woman. An example of resilience, perseverance, unapologetic optimism and relentless hard work, all in service of her lifelong pursuit to live and breathe her passion and purpose.

I felt truly blessed to have had the chance to meet the mega talented and warm-hearted Toya K, during her short visit to Amsterdam, from her current residence in Paris. In this episode, we discuss her roots, her values, stemmed from a unique upbringing in the the serene village of Grashoek, Namibia, her inspiring mindset, which we can all learn from and her selfless dedication to a greater purpose beyond her music success.

Toya K’s musical journey began at a young age when she actively participated in school choirs and talent shows. This passion for music was further fueled by the vibrant musical culture of the predominantly Ju/hoansi San community in her village, where singing and dancing were integral parts of life.

She particularly resonates with artists like Nina Simone, whose impactful song"Black Bird" left a profound mark on her, shaping her identity as a black woman in the most empowering way.

Toya made her debut in the music scene with the release of her song "On Time" in February 2022. She recently released her debut EP ‘Divine Intervention’ - a fusion of Afropop, Amapiano, and R&B/Soul elements, reflecting her diverse musical talents and her ability to evoke deep emotions through her music. She gives more details on her music process and the meanings of some of her most successful songs to date during our conversation. Please enjoy and don’t forget to follow Toya on Instagram @toyurrr and Spotify @Toya K.

For exclusive video content from this episode, check out the ATQ Instagram page @addtoqueue_ .

Back in April I sat down with the multi-talented Kody Chambers, learning about jazz, instrument harmonies, advertising and film music production. All while getting a shot of inspiration for how to live your best life by following your dreams.

Kody is an American composer, music producer, award-winning multi-instrumentalist, vocalist and songwriter. He started off as a jazz trumpet player and composer in Toronto and New York City, then made his way to Amsterdam where he initially was a music supervisor at MassiveMusic.

Currently he continues to grow in his craft and infuse every project he works on with his unique approach, informed by his knowledge of musical harmony and production techniques, as well as his experience in collaborating with international directors and creatives across both film and advertising.

It was truly fascinating speaking to him and learning how his mind operates when it comes to music production, composing, but also how music helps him process certain life experiences and emotions, so please enjoy our conversation.

So excited to share this new conversation with Lamsi, Amsterdam-based DJ, producer, teacher and community leader. He's worked with Bambi, Unknown T, Jarreau Vandal, produced a score for hit TV series Top Boy and rocked a set at Boiler Room London, among many other accomplishments in his young career. Lamsi has also gained overall international recognition in Paris, London, Brussels & Moscow, yet remained humble and rooted in his local community and Surinamese culture.

In this episode, we speak about how he got into the music industry after a brief stint as a dentist (yep you heard that right), his unique approach to music production, what inspires him outside music, how he stays fit as a DJ or why giving back to his community is such an imortant focus in his career.

He also teases an upcoming project rooted in his Surinamese background that is bound to make you sweat on the dancefloor. In case you’ve missed it, there’s a snippet of that already on the Add To Queue Instagram channel, which if you don’t follow by now, please make sure you do, to not miss exclusive video content from each interview and much more.

For now, please enjoy my conversation with Lamsi & let me know what you think!

Today’s interview takes us into the business world of music, through a very honest and open conversation with the highly respected and equally mysterious Nigel van Ommeren, co-founder of the artist development company based in Amsterdam - Headfirst Music.

Nigel started in artist development roughly 10 years ago. The first success was Amsterdam art collective called “Vage Gasten” . This collective evolved from street art painters into a pioneering group of designers, dj’s and event organizers. Four years and over 100 national and international gigs later Nigel decided to focus on the music side of the entertainment business.

Nowadays his roster includes Sevdaliza (who went on to become one of the most anticipated fully independent artists in today’s entertainment business), FS Green, Full Crate and Mariposa. Together with business partner Lijne Kreupeling, Nigel is specialized in paving the way for artists to build independent business structures and strong artist stories. Over the last 10 years Headfirst Music developed artist careers, produced events and worked on numerous brand consultancy projects.

Headfirst Music is not only focused on artist management, but on capturing a cultural movement and amplifying this to a bigger audience.

In this episode, I talk to Nigel about what it actually means to be an artist manager, when should an artist consider getting one, how he discovered this path (without having a clear plan initially) or how an artist manager makes a living. Nigel also tells us why he wants to keep Headfirst Music focused on a small and carefully curated number of artists instead of expanding. We then touch on the evolution of the music industry throughout the years, the cultural differences in music business across different countries, the advice he would give to his son if he were to enter the music business and much more, including behind-the-scenes stories about how Sevdaliza got to work with Madonna or Full Crate with Jungle.

Please enjoy and let me know what you found most interesting from Nigel’s advice and stories. You can always reach out with your feedback via Instagram @addtoqueue_

Also check out Headfirst Music’s artists:

https://www.instagram.com/fsgreen/

https://www.instagram.com/fullcrate/

https://www.instagram.com/sevdaliza_/

https://www.instagram.com/dondestamariposa/

For more on Headfirst Music: https://headfirst.am/

Welcome to the very first interview episode on Add to Queue, featuring my talented friend and absolute fierce baddie, producer & DJ Sabrina.

In this (almost) one-hour chat in my living room, we discuss Sabrina's journey towards her self-taught DJ career, why she took a leap of faith to follow her passion, her approach to music production, what it’s like working in the industry as a woman (disclaimer: not easy), the importance of making the right connections by not using people for your own interest (but through generosity and good intentions) or how to set boundaries and stand up for yourself (among many other things). Whether you feel stuck in your career/life, want to start your own music gig or you're looking out for the next hot DJ to book, this episode is for you. Take a listen and get inspired from Sabrina's resilience, patience, hard work, generosity and overall coolness. You can find her on Soundcloud here: https://soundcloud.com/user-849025446-244146487 and Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/sabrinamadethebeat/ . She's preparing for world domination with some really cool projects, which she's revealing towards the end of the episode, so you don't want to miss out!

Thanks for joining the Add To Queue community and check out some exclusive video snippets from my conversation with Sabrina here: https://www.instagram.com/addtoqueue_/

In this episode, I'm introducing my motivation behind Add to Queue as well as my personal story with music, ever since growing up in Romania. This is the first and only solo episode. ATQ is meant to be an interview type of podcast with smarter and more interesting guests than me, I promise.