Thea May

Don’t bother with anything but honesty with Thea May. An emo kid at heart, the Anishnawbe artist from Atikameksheng Anishnawbek, near Sudbury, ON, makes music because she has to. As a child, singing, dancing and performing was driven by impulse, an inner force of truth that found its way out. Now as an adult, May is a songwriter finding her purpose, or more accurately, understanding the purpose that found her. “My artist journey hurts sometimes, but it’s healing and it’s important that I am here to share this with the world,” says May.

Mining, both as a metaphor for the emotional depths explored in her songs, and an actual day job for a time, is a handy prompt to consider what it might be like to be in May’s position, an artist out of instinct, raw talent, and out of necessity. There’s something very precious within. “We bare our souls so you don’t have to, we provide safe space in an unsafe place. I’m grateful to be able to connect with people who share pain in this world.”

A kindred bridge enthusiast, May is determined to craft her own distinct eras, starting now with an EP that establishes her powerful voice and clear directive. Offered to others for the same reason she does it herself, for May, music is a place of renewal: “I am on this journey for every version of me that suffered, I am on this journey for every person who fears that sadness and darkness are all that exists, I am on this journey to normalize a path we all walk.” Brought to You by Tragedy, Thea May’s powerful entrance, is a thrilling, thrashing, compelling and compassionate work of love.