ole/tanjola writer Justin Forsley, in-demand songwriter and producer

It's rare to find ole/tanjola songwriter and in-demand producer Justin Forsley with his suitcase unpacked and no immediate plans for travel. But as the saying goes, for everything there is a season and right now Forsley's agenda is telling him that he'll be working closer to home for a while. Pop/R&B singer Timeka, with whom he had been working in Barbados recently - as well as with reggae/R&B/pop performer, Simon Pipe - is in town while the following week Sony artist Marilou Bourdon is in from Québec looking for another track for her debut English-speaking album. Actually, during this period, there is another reminder of previous travels as the highly-anticipated German film, Hanni und Nanni, for which Forsley and fellow ole/tanjola writer/artist Shiloh co-wrote three songs, was having its premiere in Germany and Austria. (See separate story.)

"There has been a lot of travelling going on," Forsley agrees. "Right now, one of the artists I've been writing for with another ole/tanjola writer, Rupert Gayle, is Marilou Bourdon. She's a pop artist who has had some success in Quebec doing French language albums and now she's doing her first English-speaking album. To date, we've written a half a dozen songs or so and I believe that a good chunk, if not all of them, are going to be included on the album. I'm excited for her because she's a great girl and she's a fabulous singer. I'm really proud of the material we have done so far. She's planning on starting production on her album in September."

Forsley joined ole/tanjola's writer roster in the fall of 2009 during a period when he had a number of key songs on projects by Universal Canada artist Shiloh ("Get to You" and "Strong Enough to Cry"), Dru ("Never Too Late" and "Changes"), international pop artist Andreea Balan ("It") and Universal Canada's Massari ("Bad Girl," which became a hit in the Middle East following its release in North America and the rest of the world, "Breathe" and "Like Diamonds"). He also co-wrote the theme song, performed by Shiloh, for Teletoon's first live-action television series, Majority Rules!

"Working with fellow ole and ole/tanjola writers like Rupert Gayle, Shiloh, Dru and others has been a real privilege; they're all super-talented and push me to be at my best," says Forsley. "It's also wonderful to be involved with great projects and ole/tanjola has facilitated that, whether it's a writing trip to Germany for a film like Hanni und Nanni or getting opportunities to work directly with an artist who's writing for an album. At the end of the day, you hope to have your music heard, and I'm thrilled that they help to make that possible."

As with most songwriters and producers, the genesis of their careers can be traced back to a genuine passion for music and a favourite instrument. For Forsley, it was the guitar. "I started playing when I was nine years old and took lessons for a number of years. Throughout my teen years and early '20s, I played in indie bands that played the club circuit in Toronto. While I was doing that, I was also learning how to record, more for the fun of it than as a career move. I got into that side of the business mainly because a good friend of mine was a producer and we ended up doing a little bit of work together. That's how I met Ivan Berry, who is the tanjola side of the publishing deal that I have."

As a child of the '80s and a guitar player, Forsley's main early influence was rock music and bands like Van Halen and Rush. "My aspiration, at least through the teen years, was to be a rock guitarist. I ended up getting a four track recorder and recorded guitar and drums really just to practice technique. Along the way, as I kept on recording, I had a growing fascination with that side of the music industry. Rather than just being a player, I really liked the nuances of production and trying to actually make what I was recording sound exactly the way I wanted it to sound."

Songwriting followed to a certain extent because of that early experimentation with recording. "Going through that process of making recordings just to practice, I ended up composing just to have something to play guitar over," recalls Forsley. "Through my guitar lessons, I learned theory, which really helped me a lot in just knowing what the rules were and how to break them.

"I'm not sure you can actually teach someone to be a songwriter but I also don't know if it's a gift that you either have or you don't. At first my writing was terrible, as I'm sure it is for most people, but as you continue doing it, you certainly become better at it over time. Practice makes... well, not necessarily perfect, but it at least keeps you in the game."

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