Indie Music Women’s Featured Artist of the Day is…
Dova (@dovalewis)
Dova Lewis is an up-and-coming Canadian indie-pop alternative singer-songwriter and vocalist. She grew up in the suburbs of Montreal listening to her classical pianist mom play Bach on the piano while her dad grooved the bass and composed pop on the keys. Her childhood was filled with music, inspiring her passion and natural gift for melodies from a young age. Family road trips turned into singalongs where she would belt out songs from the back seat. At 14 her dad gave her her first guitar and she formed a loud rock-alternative duo with a drummer, writing songs and performing.
Obsessed with old grunge music videos she collected on VHS, Dova turned to filmmaking and directed short movies. In her early twenties, she studied Jazz singing and composition in college as well as French chanson writing while performing piano solo shows of her original songs inspired by early 2000’s indie bands.
She lost her beloved father to cancer shortly after appearing on television for the first time. Determined to find light in the darkness, she moved to the Hawaiian rainforest where she joined an international community of like-minded artists and free spirits—a life-changing experience that would confirm that she was born to be a singer-songwriter.
Finding inspiration and a true sense of belonging in West Coast culture, Dova made her way to Los Angeles and moved into a creative housing community where she focused on writing. Access to a small garage studio in Hollywood provided her with the space she needed to compose her debut EP.
Dova co-produced the 4 track EP titled DOVA LEWIS at Clearlake Studio with Darryl Swan (Macy Gray, Erykah Badu) who helped her really tap into the intensity of her voice and the power of the drums arrangements. The focus track for “Dreamer” won the first prize of the “Women’s Freedom Song” contest which was looking for a feminine anthem that celebrates the strength and power of women!
The accompanying video fittingly, a hymn to unconventional women who define themselves beyond social expectations and who dare to pursue their dreams with strength, courage, and independence. The cinematic video that accompanies the release of “Dreamer” strikes with its bold technology punctuated by the intensity and strength of its musical score and the flamboyant performance of a dancer (waking) in a fluctuating nature beautifully illustrates this inner journey towards emancipation.
Currently residing in Montreal, Dova recently joined the Montreal Gospel Choir, the perfect outlet for her love of soul.
Bio courtesy of Dova Lewis.
Dova shared with me what it means to her personally to be an indie music woman artist:
“It is an ongoing learning curb and an opportunity for growth and creativity! It is also to be independent and free to choose my own artistic vision. It is also doing a lot of different jobs, some that I am good at it which are singing, producing and writing and others that I do no like, such as administrative tasks, marketing, etc.”
