Urban Teen Magazine Celebrity Interview with Oya!

Urban Teen Radio

Harmony, energy and the divine beauty of the world are all channeled through the artistry of soulful Los Angeles-based singer/songwriter, actress and musical mentor Oya Thomas. In her recordings and engaging performances, she uses her voice as an instrument to weave textured stories and melodies that vibrate with the transformative power of music. In one-on-one coaching sessions, she shares the deep knowledge of human spirituality and the Arts that she has gained from years of immersion and study to energize and inspire her clients to dive head-first into their power as human beings, alive in the world. She takes a playful yet wise approach to her craft, and her heartfelt original songs and thoughtful interpretations of timeless favorites pay homage to the authentic storytellers and creators that most powerfully influenced her, including Whitney Houston, Ella Fitzgerald, Prince, Bonnie Raitt and Stevie Wonder. Oya fully immersed herself in music when, at three-years old her father began to encourage her natural propensity for expressing herself through poems and stories that she would immediately turn into songs. As she continued to fine-tune her instrument through church choir and solo performances, her desire to teach people about the instinctive spirituality and strength within them led her to pursue and complete advanced degrees in spiritual psychology. Her unrelenting drive to explore the many dimensions of both psychology and music has helped her create her own space in the industry and makes her a compellingly unique artist. Throughout her diverse career, Oya has frequently traversed genre lines to work with some of the industry’s most versatile artists and creators. Aside from being a nationally-touring solo artist and an in-demand life coach, she is the lead singer of the electronic live band Soul in the Machine. Her debut solo album Spirit of Oya will release September 23, 2012.