When you’re from a big city like Toronto, Vancouver, New York or Los Angeles there is such a variety of music around you that it tends to mould the style of new artists trying to come up for their shot at fame and fortune.
That’s probably why a lot of new bands sound so similar, making it difficult for music lovers to tell one group from another.
For Adam Castelli, 26, coming from a smaller city like Hamilton, Ont., has given him a chance to develop his only musical style.
“I think a thing about being from a smaller city is that you are less inclined to get influenced by other artists and genres because there just isn’t as much going on,” Castelli tells Metro. “But because of that you truly develop your own style and way of doing things.”
Castelli says in a big city you can sort of get lost in the whirlwind with everything that’s going on, it just doesn’t give you the opportunity to show people what you can do because there’s so many people vying for the spotlight.
“You’re kind of a small fish in a big pond, and in a smaller city it’s opposite — (you’re) a big fish in a small pond,” he says.
Yet not everyone feels that being from a small town or a big city makes a difference on what or who you become.
“I don’t believe that where you grow up can shape anything,” says fellow Top 24 competitor Drew Wright, 28, from Collingwood, Ont. “I think what shapes an individual is what they choose to draw inspiration from. Be it good or bad. That is what defines who you are.”
The only difference being from a big city or a small city is how people support you, and being from somewhere that doesn’t have a population of couple million makes a difference.
“A small community is more tightly knit and may be more inclined to stand behind someone from it,” says Wright. “I don’t plan on using it as an advantage. It’s just a good feeling to know that I can count on the support of my hometown.”
>> For more on Canadian Idol, go to www.metronews.ca/idol.
