EMERGING ARTIST: A PROFILE OF A YOUNG ARTIST
Have you ever felt like you’ve found your reason for living? The reason why you were put on this planet? The moment when you go, “Ohhh, so this is why I’m here.” My name is Ayla Roberts and my reason for living is music.
I learned my first chords on the piano when I was four and my dad taught me my first song on guitar when I was seven. I couldn’t get enough.
I was that weird kid who spent hours in her room playing her favourite songs, screaming the words, and dancing around like I was on stage in front of thousands of people. (I still am that weird kid!)
I was that weird kid who spent hours in her room playing her favourite songs, screaming the words, and dancing around like I was on stage in front of thousands of people. (I still am that weird kid!)
I started writing songs when I was eight. The way songs are woven together, the different melodies, harmonies and underlying messages, fascinated me. Now, at 16, they still do.
Growing up in Tofino
I grew up in the small town of Tofino surrounded by forests and the ocean. I’ve been homeschooled my whole life, which I’m grateful for. It’s given me the opportunity to figure out who I am and what my passions are without the pressure of having to “fit in.”
Making a difference through music
Once I realized the songs I wrote were a place where I could put my thoughts and feelings so I could understand them better, I couldn’t stop writing. Then I noticed my songs could help others in the same way they helped me, and I knew I wanted to make music for the rest of my life.
All I want is to make people feel something. I want to make someone I have never met cry or scream or smile—just because they relate to one of my songs. I want to make them stop and think, even if it’s just for a moment.
Making music makes me feel like I’m a part of something bigger. It makes me think that I can make a difference in someone’s life. It makes me think that anything is possible and that maybe, right now is perfect.
One of my biggest fears is that I won’t live my life to the fullest, that I won’t use it to make a difference in this world. I think we all take for granted the things we have right now, and we don’t realize that nothing lasts forever until it’s too late. Until it’s gone.
All we have is right now. We will never have right now ever again.
Making music makes me feel like I’m a part of something bigger. It makes me think that I can make a difference in someone’s life. It makes me think that anything is possible and that maybe, right now is perfect.
In the fall of 2024, my family and I decided to move to the Comox Valley so I could pursue my dream of becoming a professional musician.
Moving to the Comox Valley & recording Safe Place
On March 28, 2025, I released my debut EP, Safe Place. I had been dreaming of doing this since I was 12 years old, so it was unreal when it actually happened. There were so many times when the little voice in the back of my head would whisper, “You’re not good enough,” or “You can’t do it.” But I just kept going.
I recorded all the songs with Corwin Fox at Hidden Well recording studio in Cumberland. Working in the studio with Corwin was one of the most confusing and terrifying things I’ve ever done, but also unbelievably amazing. I learned so much about myself and my music while recording my EP.
The release of Safe Place proved to me that I am good enough and I can do anything I put my mind to. I hope that through my music I can help others see they are good enough and can do anything, too. No one is perfect, but that’s okay because perfect is boring. Being imperfect is what makes you beautiful. It’s what makes you human.
