This week, we had the honor of interviewing Michelle Leclercq, a multi talented singer songwriter and producer whose story and heart felt songs have brought tears of hope to her fans.
Michelle moved to L.A. on her 21st birthday, with the dream of becoming a star. The Argentinean singer left everything behind, friends, family, home, and moved to the city of Pasadena were she studied Vocal Performance at Los Angeles College of Music.
With her short but fascinating career Michelle has already performed in several venues throughout California, Argentina, Paraguay and Australia. In addition, her debut single “The Mission” charted #1 on iTunes Argentina.
Who Is She?
Name: Michelle Leclercq
Age: 23
Birthplace: Buenos Aires, Argentina
Styles and Genres: Pop, soul, latin
Social Media Links: Instagram: @michelle.leclercq
Notable Media and Publications: INFluential Magazine, La Nación Paraguay, Revista ABC color, Infobae, Radio Aspen, FM aire 97.7, HEi Radio, Radio en Casa.
When did you know you wanted to be a musician? All my life. I’ve been singing before I could even talk. When I was five I used to write songs about how much I disliked school, I wanted to be a grown up so I could stop going to class lol… I guess I never liked people telling me what to do, I’ve always been a free soul who has found meaning in music
Where do you find inspiration for your songs? A lot of times I get writer’s blocks. I don’t like anything I do, I think its boring. When that happens I usually go out and have fun. As artists and musicians we tend to lock ourselves up and practice all day, or work in our artistry.
But good songs come from experiences and from living life. So I think it’s important to live beyond the four walls we call home. I sometimes fall in love and get my heart broken and then I realize it had to happen so I could write a great song lol…
As a songwriter, what where your biggest challenges? I’m not usually open about a lot of things. I’m the kind of person who keeps emotions to herself. I’m strong, and I never show weakness or sadness around friends or family. Songwriting has definitely helped me to open up accepting and understanding my reality. I think being honest to myself and my listeners has been the hardest part.
A lot of times we turn our backs to pain and we run away from it, we pretend like it’s not there. Performing has definitely taught me not to lie to myself.
Who are your biggest inspirations and who would you like to collaborate with? I’m always looking out for new music, so I tend to shift from one artist to the other. But some of my favorite artists are Hozier, NAO, Lianne La Havas, James Bay, Shawn Mendes, Alicia Keys.
I would definitely love to work with Hozier or James bay, from listening to their lyrics I can tell that they are more than just musicians… They seem to know a lot about life and I find that really interesting… Also their music is so beautifully crafted it would be a dream come true to be able to write or perform with them.
Tell us about your future projects: Right now I’m working on a 4 four song EP called #SelfLove. This album has been really important to me because it represents a period of healing and growth in my life. I’ve come to the realization that I wasn’t living life to its full potential, I was hiding behind my insecurities and lying to myself about it.
In September 2017, someone I really cared about passed away, and it was an eye opening event in my life, and of course, a big part of my album was inspired by him. Although I was really sad he inspired me to change my point of view about a lot of things and through this album I want to inspire my listeners to learn how to love themselves. As humans we tend to look for love and approval in outside sources and that can lead to constant disappointment. We need to learn to love ourselves and to love others in order to reach happiness.
Going back to your question, I have #SelfLove being released one song a month, starting on the end of September, music videos, and a tour coming up.
Special thanks to Ms. Michelle LeClercq, Marisa Sanchez and SGG Public Relations for their assistance in this interview.