Musicians Featured: whenthecitysleeps
September 2nd, 2022
Toronto Songwriter & Producer whenthecitysleeps on Drawing Inspiration from Her Life
August 19, 2022
Our latest interview is with Toronto-based singer-songwriter and producer, Isabella Fong (aka whenthecitysleeps), whose dreamy, late-night vibe music will fit seamlessly into your life. She first ventured into music in 2020 and has since amassed nearly 40 000 monthly Spotify listeners.
Their music is the perfect backdrop for summer nights in Toronto – if you’ve ever needed the perfect song to play as you’re riding the GO Train after a tough breakup, then whenthecitysleeps is the artist for you.
Keep reading to learn more about Isabella’s thoughts on the importance of music in our communities, how she creates her music, and the authentic inspiration she draws from her own life.
Emily Weatherhead, Founder
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EW: How did you get started with music and how did that lead you to where you are today?
IF: I was not a musically inclined kid at all – the only thing I really liked was watching American Idol! So it actually wasn’t until the pandemic hit, and everyone was kind of scrolling through TikTok, finding their hobbies. One day, I sat myself down and said, “Okay, you’re gonna have a couple of years to work on your hobbies, so what do you want to do? Well, let’s just start music.”
I grabbed my laptop, started learning how to produce, and that’s how it got started! My music has definitely changed my life a lot – I wouldn’t have the career I do without it. So it was quite an important day, that day in the pandemic.
“Music is meant to be taken and made your own.”
EW: What moments in life is your music made for?
IF: Whenever I sit down to write a song, I always imagine whether I could be driving past the CN Tower, late at night, windows down, on a cool summer night, listening to this song. That’s the vibe I personally like to go for.
But I always push the fact that music is meant to be taken and made your own. I push my music to be a blank canvas, and however people want to take it and use it in their lives, that’s going to be perfect for them. Take it and make it the background music to your life.
EW: You can definitely see the Toronto influence in your music! You really create these landscapes of sound through your music – sometimes with lyrics and sometimes without. What’s your musical creation process like?
IF: My instrumentals were really where I challenged myself to tell a story without lyrics. Songwriting was what I was really good at, but getting the music down was something else completely. But now, I think I’m a little bit more inclined to incorporate my songwriting and my lyrics into them. I love breakup songs – that’s my main thing. But maybe someday I’ll branch out into something new.
“Music really equals community to me. It’s a language that everyone can share and bond over, no matter where they are.”
EW: Is there something about music that allows you to express yourself in a way that you might not otherwise?
IF: I wish I could say yes, but no! Music is just my canvas. That’s the direction I went in, because it incorporates the things I’m good at – I’m good at songwriting, I can play guitar, I can use a computer to produce.
But if I weren’t in music, likely I’d be a novelist or a poet or something. So everyone would still get all the same stories, just in a different format. Music’s just what I went to, but it could definitely happen another way.
EW: How do you think music can build community and connect us?
IF: Well, let’s imagine it on a smaller scale for a second. Imagine two people, living in completely different countries, living completely opposite lives. Maybe they’re listening to the same breakup song for the same reason. Suddenly, these two people, who have no idea who the other is, are the start of their own little community. If you scale that to the population of the world, suddenly everyone’s in the same boat when they hear the same song.
I think about my TikTok videos – everyone in the comments says, “I’m gonna go listen, I love this song!” These are complete strangers, both to each other and to myself. But all of a sudden they’re here for the same reasons and for the same content. That’s the start of a tiny little community, even if they may not be aware of it.
Music really equals community to me. It’s a language that everyone can share and bond over, no matter where they are.
“Music can open up a lot of opportunities…so I’m all for incorporating music into more communities.”
EW: What’s your favourite part of sharing your music? Is there a sense of connection that comes from knowing people are listening to it?
IF: For sure. I started music for me – I would never think of anyone else, or of the money. Nothing about the industry. I released those songs for my personal investment. They’re really intimate for me.
So seeing how people have reacted to them, and that people are constantly streaming them, just makes me really happy. They’re taking these ideas that I had, that I translated into music, and incorporating them into their own lives. It’s really cool to see.
EW: Do you have any final thoughts on why it’s important to make music more accessible to communities?
IF: Music can open up a lot of opportunities. If I were younger, and someone introduced me to this creative side of music and showed me you can do it yourself, I would have started my career a lot earlier. I love it so much.
I think for other people out there, especially in Toronto, there are lots of people who would probably be doing the same thing I am, with just as much talent. All they really need is that opportunity to be introduced to it. So I’m all for incorporating music into more communities.
EW: Is there anything else you’d like to share about your music?
IF: I tend to be very genuine and honest with my music. everything really comes from my personal experiences. Everything is one hundred percent me. I write it, I produce it, the guitar is all me. Everything you see is pure whenthecitysleeps.
