Lee Safar’s story is different to almost every other musician. In fact, it is probably unique. Like most other musician’s her dreams and aspirations of one day performing her music to a wider audience were developed early in life. However, when Lee left school her hopes to pursue these dreams were shattered by her family’s strict cultural beliefs. At the age of 17, Lee was forbidden to play music. For the next twelve years Lee put her love of music aside and built a successful life for herself.
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Lee Safar’s story is different to almost every other musician. In fact, it is probably unique. Like most other musician’s her dreams and aspirations of one day performing her music to a wider audience were developed early in life. However, when Lee left school her hopes to pursue these dreams were shattered by her family’s strict cultural beliefs. At the age of 17, Lee was forbidden to play music. For the next twelve years Lee put her love of music aside and built a successful life for herself. She graduated from University as a Genetic Scientist, worked for a leading multinational IT company as a Senior Business Analyst, got married, bought a house and was happy. Until one day, someone from her past gave her a call. During the conversation with this person, who used to play music with Lee, her creative spirit was reawakened and her passion to make music became insatiable. So where do you start after 12 years of not listening to or playing music? Well, Lee started by changing her life and first was leaving the full-time corporate job to spend time on her singing, playing and songwriting. She started to demo songs at home and doing a few small solo gigs. It was the audience reaction to these early shows that convinced Lee that music was now her life and vice-versa. What people were reacting to was something new and refreshing because here was a mature artist with the spark and enthusiasm of someone just starting out in the industry. Lee’s songs were not the uninformed immature songs of a teenager but the perfect expression of feelings and emotions that only come with years of experience. When Lee sings, her audience is transported to the events that shaped Lee’s life. They feel her joy and sorrow and share her experiences making the connection with their own. Another aspect of Lee’s songwriting and performance that set’s her apart from other artists is that she has been isolated from the trends of pop music for over a decade so there is no obvious influences or imitation. However, one song from an early demo was re-recorded by Roy Ayers Jnr and submitted for consideration to Evanescence. One last thing that sets Lee apart from most musicians is her work ethic and business knowledge. From the beginning Lee had a plan and, with the help of a few music industry people she’d sought out, she began the process toward her goal of releasing her first CD. While working as a Barista in an inner city café, Lee recorded at night, attended music seminars, talked to as many industry professionals as possible and tested her music on the customers coming in for their coffee. The reactions were positive all round and soon Lee had her debut EP recorded and ready for the world to hear. Titled ‘Who I’ve Become’, the EP was a powerful statement about Lee’s personal journey to this point in her life. The songs found an immediate audience who identified with the honesty in Lee’s songs. The track ‘I’m Here’ became an on-line hit through her popular MySpace page and soon there was a demand for more music and live shows. Lee launched the EP, along with the Video Trilogy filmed to accompany the first three tracks, to a sell-out crowd in Sydney but was soon on a plane to America to attend the SXSW music conference in Texas. In America Lee spent all her days promoting the EP and her vision for the future. Many people took notice and were impressed enough to want to be a part of that future. Lee found musicians who wanted to play live and write songs with her, she caught the interest of the publishers putting tracks together for the next Twilight film and so impressed producer Jeff Blue (Linkin Park) that he invited her to LA to record songs for a second EP. With all this achieved in a very short time Lee needed to return home to insure the work in America could go ahead without a hitch. On returning to Sydney Lee set up a number of live shows which included some of the musicians she met in America as special guests. These shows all sold out as people were spreading the word of Lee’s stunning live performances. Lee also found a growing interest coming from the connection to Twilight. A press release had been made in America hinting at possible artists for inclusion on the New Moon soundtrack including “Sydney singer/songwriter Lee Safar”. When this news appeared on the MTV network Lee was invited to perform at Official Twilight cast and crew fan events in both Australia and the US. For these events Lee produced a special edition Twilight Tour Pack containing a CD and DVD along with other merchandise such as T-shirts. Since returning to America to record with Jeff Blue, Lee has set up her own label, The House of Jote, released two singles from this session titled ‘All This Fear’ and ‘Take Me Away’ as a follow-up to her initial release ‘Who I’ve Become'. She has set up her on-line brand called ‘Dream Angle’, a simple guide showing people how to live their dreams and realize their life ambitions. Now basing herself in LA Lee is currently promoting her new single ‘Take Me Away’ while working on material for a debut album. She has also just signed a distribution deal in Japan with ICJ Inc. who specialize in direct digital sales which now accounts for the largest share of sales in the Japanese music market. Lee Safar is truly a unique artist and one to watch out for in the future. You can sample Lee’s music, her Dream Angel Podcast and her Blog at www.myspace.com/leesafar or www.leesafar.com
