Basia Lyjak

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Basia Lyjak is a first generation Polish-Canadian singer-songwriter from Toronto, Ontario, who just released her second EP, Writings on the Wall.

1 Biography
2 Discography
3 Interviews
4 Sources

[edit] Biography

[edit] The Early Days

Born and raised in Toronto, Canada, Basia has said she was singing before she could speak. Music was always a passion for her throughout her childhood and teens, and she was always active in in the art in whatever capacity she could be, in and out of school.

After graduating from secondary school, Basia auditioned for an all-girl group called "Aphrodisia," put together by Sky (Canadian band) founders, James Renald and Antoine Sicotte. She and three other girls were picked out of thousands of applicants, and went on to be briefly managed by the duo in Montreal, until management changed hands. The group were then flown to New York to record a 5-song demo, produced by The Berman Bros. of EuroSyndicate Productions. and it was around this time that Basia branched out on her own and began to pursue a career as a solo artist.

[edit] "Basia Lyjak"

After leaving Aphrodisia, Basia began to apply what she had learned from the experience to her songwriting and began collaboration and pre-production on her self-titled first album. The 6-song EP was released in 2002.

Despite being proud of the milestone of her first album, Basia still wasn't certain that the songs represented where she wanted to be as an artist and songwriter. At this time she took a break from her solo project and joined a cover band called Wednesday Adams, where she continued to hone her voice by performing songs by artists like No Doubt, Veruca Salt (band), Tracy Bonham, Pat Benatar and even Guns N' Roses.

[edit] Writings on the Wall

In 2005, Basia began jamming and collaborating with just about anyone who was up for it, and the seeds for Writings on the Wall were planted. Pre-production began at Studio8 in Toronto, with longtime friend Jeff Iantorno, and eventually moved to DC Music, where the songs were recorded and produced by Bombay Doors bassist Andrew Lauzon.

The EP was released on February 2nd, 2007, at Toronto's ElMocambo Tavern, at Basia's first headlining show since her Wednesday Adams days. Backed by Ron Bechard (formerly of Edwin (musician) and Edwin & the Pressure, briefly of Three Days Grace) on guitars, Dave Carreiro (of Nigel's 11 with Chris Kirkpatrick) on bass and Glenn Nash (Q107 house drummer and of Led Zeppelin tribute, Ozonebaby) on drums.

In addition to performing live to support Writings on the Wall, Basia has written with Kyle Riabko and is just finishing the recording of her new single, Don't Talk, with producer Brian Moncarz (Pilot Speed, The Junction).