Victoria Lye, Her Song and EP “Child In Me” with Bruce Hilliard

Hi, I’m Victoria Lye. This is how you pronounce my name: |laɪ|. Coming from Novosibirsk, Siberia, I live in Germany since the age of 18.

As a child I had no interest in singing at all. I even hated it. Besides I was very bad at it in a music school choir and wasn’t allowed to sing at concerts.

Later on I noticed this: when I sing, it’s a magical moment for me. I’m like in a wonderland. My body rejoices because it can produce these voice sounds. I feel like I’m in in the right place and that I do what I’m meant to do.

Inspiration

In 2000, when I was 15, there was a hit by Whitney Houston and Enrique Iglesias – “Could I have this kiss forever”. My mom liked this song very much. So for her I bought a Whitney Houston CD with this song on it.

I listened to the CD a lot more often than my mom. Whitney’s distinctive voice, it’s flow and spectacular power fascinated me. The music was so enchanting, and I sang along!!! My favourites were “The greatest love of all”, “One moment in time” and “Saving all my love for you”. It was clear to me: I want to sing this kind of music.

At the age of 16 I sang in a choir at the university in Novosibirsk where I studied economics. I volunteered as an alto voice. At that time I didn’t believe that I could ever produce high notes as I do now.

After that I took classical singing lessons for several years, and they helped me a lot to develop a good singing technique. Still it’s the soul music that makes my heart sing and my body vibrate and where I feel myself in a right place.

In 2006, when I had a business internship in Toulouse, France, I got acquainted with the jazz and soul music – thanks to Carine, my singing teacher there. There was a CD library there, and I was its frequent visitor. I got to know music of Nina Simone, Ella Fitzgerald, Frank Sinatra, Billy Holiday, Nat King Kole, Lisa Ekdahl, Diana Krall.

But the singer who delighted me most of all was Aretha Franklin. She is still the best role model for me and whose music I listen regularly. She has songs that I heard thousands of times and I still can’t get enough of them. I also sing some of them.

What I’m doing now

Until recently, I only sang cover songs. I performed at concerts, sang at jazz jam sessions and recorded songs. Some of my favourites are “Angel” and “Never let me go” by Aretha Franklin, “Imagine”, “You make me feel brand new”, “My way”, “Moon River”.

Although I like these songs very much, I always wanted to sing something of my own. But I didn’t dare to write. I didn’t even try because I was sure I wouldn’t be able to do it.

Two years ago, after the birth of my third child, I suddenly had a sequence of two chords in my head, then a melody. Thus, I already had two bars. And step by step I wrote three songs. “My Path” and “Child in me” are written in English, “Я как цветок (I’m like a flower)” – in Russian.

These three songs together with two covers are part of my EP (mini album) “Child in Me” that was released on streaming platforms on May 15th 2020. In all the recordings I also play the piano, the bass on a midi keyboard and the flute.

Besides the music I’m interested in personal development, psychology and child education (I have three children of eight, five and two years old). The knowledge in these areas helps me immensely in my development as a singer.

Through online courses I also learn how to run a business. I use these skills in my work as a musician and help my husband Christian Lye to build up his beekeeping business.

For the last eleven years I’ve been working in sales at the software company Adobe.

Thanks for reading this until the end. I’d be happy to stay in touch with you. The best way to do it is via Email. You’ll get my new music and live dates and will learn more about my work on the EP (mini album). And: you’ll have an opportunity to tell me more about you and give me your feedback.

Plus, you’ll get

• a 5-minutes audio “5 tips for improving your skill with little time“ where I share tools that helped me become a singer along with having another job and a family

and

• a video of me singing the song “Evergreen” from the film “A Star is Born” (1976). The video is not available anywhere else.

Thank you so much for your interest!

With love,

Victoria Lye