The Essence Of The Bonfyre

In a recent sit down interview,  The Bonfyre, opened up about her upbringing, music, and future projects.  She asserts herself as someone who is not manufactured by the industry (something we’re all too familiar with). Everything about her firey personality is real and with a strong and powerful voice, she is definitely one to watch.

The Chicopee, Massachusetts native hopes to evoke her passion through her music. The Bonfyre was not just a name created as a public portrayal of her art. It was well thought out as a feeling, and as a deep personal connection to those who keep her grounded. 

When asked where the name The Bonfyre came from she explained that everyone would always ask her what she wanted her music to sound like, her response, “ a bonfire”.  

She elaborated,

“I’m really close-knit with my family and for fun we would get together and just sing. And one of my first memories was at a bonfire”.

She was discovered by a producer from Harlem who found her YouTube channel and contacted her to be the opener for a singer at a club in NYC. She exclaimed, “I was so excited because I never left Chicopee!” Before then, she had never recorded music or penned her own work. She had been uploading covers when she was presented with this opportunity of a lifetime. In fact, she sang covers for the opening act. Through word of mouth, she was introduced to her manager who happened to be close friends with singer and producer, Raphael Saadiq.

She says:

“and it was kind of like a chain reaction, from there, Raphael Saadiq wrote me on twitter and I didn’t even believe it was a real thing […] I thought someone was playing me […] it was like bing bing bang, he flew me out to Atlanta and that was the first meeting that we had. We started working from that day, ever since.”

After spending time in Atlanta developing her sound with Raphael Saadiq, she also had the opportunity to work with renowned record producer L.A. Reid.  We asked how it felt for her after growing up in Chicopee to work with such people, “Growing up my childhood was band practice every week, rehearsals every week, that was comfortable.  So when Raphael Saadiq and L.A. Reid came into the picture, it never felt foreign”.

The Bonfyre talked to us about her biggest influences, both musically and personally, “My biggest influences are people like Erykah Badu, Lauryn Hill, and Jill Scott.  And as far as me as a person, my mother, my mom is like my rock,” said The Bonfyre.

Her close ties with her family give her the level-headedness of someone with not only the drive, but also the nurture. While her voice can be described as strong, it’s also very warm and calming, almost therapeutic.

Her advice to young artists who wish to stand out is:

“I would just encourage them to be themselves. Everybody is unique in their own way. You can try to be like somebody else and liek you said everything is filtered over and over and over again. Everybody’s trying to get ‘what’s the new hype?’ like ‘how can I be like this?’ and you know, social media and the world that we live in today is a huge encourager of that, like ‘you have to be like this person’ but I feel like everybody should highlight them. What makes them them? Because everybody’s beautiful in their own way.”

A woman with love and strength in her voice and an open and welcoming personality it will be a joy to watch her in her future endeavors. 

Watch the music video for her single “Ready to Love,” down below.