Along with changing his name, Greg Sczebel has made a successful leap from Christian rock to the mainstream market.
Now known in the music scene as Sebell, the talented singer-songwriter is up for two Indie Awards – Single of the Year for Till the Sun Burns Out and Pop Artist of the Year.
Humble as always, Sebell says he was shocked and surprised to be nominated in these two prestigious categories.
“The company I am with are all incredibly talented artists and they’re creating a lot of buzz right now,” he says.
Sebell explains that the indie music scene has changed a great deal, with big-time artists having ties with major labels but are still considered to be independent.
“I have a deal with Universal Canada but my album is being released on my own label Show & Tell: Music in conjunction with Universal,” he says, noting the Indie Awards are specifically for artists who are considered to be independent.”
Sebell calls the nominations validating and encouraging.
“I was basically changing sound, genres and name, it’s a nice reminder that it was the right move.”
One recent enjoyable move was a call to the stage to perform at an Juno after-party hosted by esteemed Canadian record producer, guitarist, vocalist, and songwriter Daniel Lanois.
On the work scene, Sebell is devoting his time to writing and working with producers in LA and Toronto – in “heavy creative mode.”
That includes music video shoots, writing for other Canadian artists and prepping to perform at the North by Northeast (NXNE) music festival in June in Toronto.
A remix of his song Promiseland hit it big on blog world, climbing to number three on the Hype Machine charts.
And a video has just surfaced on YouTube of dancers from the D.side Dance Studio in Kiev, Ukraine doing a hip-hop routine to the song.
The 2015 SiriusXM Indies – 15th Annual Independent Music Awards are part of Canadian Music week and celebrate another year of top independent talent. Awards will be handed out Saturday, May 9 in Toronto. Both public and industry votes decide the winners. Fans can vote online once per email address in both categories at http://indies.ca.