From Learning Guitar From Youtube to Performing on Concerts and Festivals

Being a young girl, I believe a child needs a dream and desire to guide them with their goals in life. I believe God has given me a desire for music, and I have never stopped believing in my dream ever since the day I started dreaming of it.

I was born  in San Jose, California. My parents granted me the name Liezl, (pronounced Li-zel). I am currently about to turn 18 years old and will be graduating from Irvington High School in Fremont, and will be continuing on pursuing my dreams as a singer/songwriter and musician.

As a little girl, I’ve always had a passion for music. Starting from singing on the karaoke, my love for singing grew. At the age of six I became curious of the piano, so my mom put me in lessons. Moving from different teachers, I studied the piano for five years and by the time I was 11 I didn’t feel the passion in piano any longer. My mom wasn’t content with me quitting, but she supported me anyway.

Being the curious girl I am, I wanted to learn how to play the guitar next. My mom put me through lessons again for a few months until my teacher had to leave for college. When he left, a part of me gave up leaving my guitar untouched for three years. I think I was anxious about learning on my own because I was so used to having someone right beside me.

13 years old and my passion for music came spiraling back. I picked up the guitar again learning from YouTube videos and the Internet. Surrounded by musical friends, I was taught how to play the ukulele and soon enough bought my own. Having a background in guitar, it really helped me in my ukulele playing. I started playing piano again on my own. Through my music, I felt like I was able to find and create myself.

For four years I continued learning and practicing the guitar on my own. My parents saw that my passion came back and bought me a new guitar. I first started playing in church, singing on my own and playing during worship/praise time. By the age of 16 I started writing and composing on my own. I shared a few songs to some friends and family members and they really enjoyed them. My uncle, who is also a huge music person, helped me record my songs. I learned how to program my own drum track, play on time, find harmonies, and arrange music. I uploaded a few songs on Soundcloud and received positive feedback. This opened my eyes and made me realize that I had a desire for music and I had a talent that could be appreciated. This made me believe in myself and I found a self-confidence that I never had before. I began taking vocal lessons from Lorna Goodwin. She has helped me find my voice and taught me how to sing properly without blowing it out. Learning about the right way to sing has made me fall in love with singing and music even more. She has also helped and inspired me in my piano playing. Learning about music brought my passion to the next level. I then started getting interested in the drums and one day a friend taught me the basics. I fell in love so quickly, leaving me wanting to learn more.

One day in the fall of 2013, my mom gets a call from a family friend. She tells my mother about a fashion show needing models for the Live2GiveU Fashion Show. Having experience in modeling, my mom thought it would be a great opportunity for me. My mom also found out that there would be performances and asked the director, Joy Guzman of Wynn Star Prod. and Talent Agency, if I could sing a song or two. After the modeling practice I auditioned my original song “Reach” and “What Do We Do?” (a song about the limo accident on the San Mateo bridge) for her. She ended up loving it and reserved a spot for me to perform.

At the Live2GiveU Fashion Show, I played “Reach” with the help of the drummer girl Hannah Huyoa. After I got to walk in the designs of Chona Pike and Sudha. Next, I played “What Do We Do?” After that day I felt more confident in myself and I knew that music is what I wanted to do with my life.

At the Vietnamese Lunar New Year Festival

With the help of Joy Guzman, I got to perform at Seasons Market with Power ng Pinoy, sharing more of my own music. After that, Power ng Pinoy invited me back to play at the Vallejo Festival, along with modeling for Chona Pike again. Gaining my experience and confidence, I was able to show off my personality on stage.

Soon enough, Joy Guzman became my manager and ever since then I have grown so much musically. I have gotten the opportunity to perform my songs at open mics, festivals, and even landed a spot as one of Vice Ganda’s front acts for his Tour in the U.S. As the number of audience grew, so did my experience, confidence, and passion. I have met so many great people over the last few months since I’ve been performing.

Along side of singing and performing, Joy Guzman has helped me expand my experience in acting. I have been casted as “Sarah”, a main character, for Katherine Park’s “Promise” music video. I also landed a spot in Study Sync’s actor/actress list, and got to film a promotional video for Testpreparations.com.

I am super excited to see what else the future holds and will continue to work my best. Each day I fall even more in love with music and can’t imagine a day without it. Living without music would be like living without a soul. I encourage everyone to find a desire and go for a dream no matter how difficult or far it may seem.

You can follow Liezel on  https://www.facebook.com/LiezlTorres.