Lexie Galantie is a trained classical actress who has also trained professionally as a singer with some of the top vocal coaches in the industry in NYC & L.A. Her career has been varied and storied, and she works as a singer, session singer, demo singer and backup singer. She spoke to MC about all that, My Little Pony, and more...
How and when did you first start singing and performing? What was your introduction to music?
I first started singing when I was 8 years old. I had already been belting out Roxette’s “Fading Like A Flower” all over my family home, I was obsessed with her voice and music. My parents took me to see “Les Miserables” when I was 8 years old and I remember looking at the performers on the stage and thinking “I want to do that”. I was super ADHD and I never stopped moving or talking, and my mom told me that she had never seen me so still and so quiet before in her life haha. I told my parents I wanted to start singing and performing, and that weekend I joined my church choir and started piano lessons that year.
Can you remember your first public performance?
I do remember! My first performance ever was in a church musical and I was the lead :) We performed for a few hundred people and I remember feeling like I was home. I had so much fun, and the energy in the “theatre” was so infectious, I knew that I wanted to continue performing. It was my happy place.
When did you start writing songs?
I started writing songs around eight years old, the same time I started singing and playing the piano. I wrote for fun, I didn’t even really understand the concept of songwriting. I loved writing poetry, I loved singing melodies, and I would just sit at my piano and instead of practicing piano I would hum melodies and put words to them and write them down in my journal.
I didn’t understand it at the time, but writing was very therapeutic for me, it was a way for me to get out what I was feeling and process it in a healthy way. It was very healing for me and still is.
I’ve been very fortunate to write with and learn from some amazing songwriters in the industry including the legendary Barry Goldberg who sadly passed away earlier this year, also known as the fifth Ramone of The Ramones, and he worked a lot with Bob Dylan and other icons. He’s written hits over the years with Gerry Goffin (Carol King) for Rod Stewart, Gladys Knight, Joe Cocker, Steve Miller, to name a few, and he had a band called “The Rides” with Stephen Stills and Kenny Wayne Shepherd. We wrote some
beautiful songs together and recorded them, an experience that remains deeply meaningful to me. He was not only a talented collaborator but also a cherished friend and mentor. I will always be grateful for the time we shared, and I will forever miss him.
Describe your sound/style?
My sound and style is alternative rock pop. I have a high belt and I just love belting my face off, but then I love singing a soft ballad, and then combining the two. My voice gets compared a lot to Alanis Morissette, Pat Benatar, Joan Jett, Melissa Etheridge and funny enough Axl Rose.
When I need to be Disney and Broadway then I can sound like a Disney Princess and a pop star, and I can sing Gospel, jazz, country and other genres as well. My versatility has allowed me to vocally work in so many different areas of the music industry and voiceover world.
You've collaborated with some biggies -- including Gaga, Andra Day, Rihanna, Foo Fighters and Barry Goldberg. How did those come about?
I was living in New York City and I was doing Off-Broadway musicals, workshopping Broadway musicals, and I was up for leads in a lot of Broadway shows, and for fun I would sing at Cabaret’s in NYC.
I was singing rock songs one night at a cabaret because all of the popular shows on Broadway were rock musicals.
Rihanna’s management was there and they came up to me after the show in the lobby and asked me if I was interested in being a recording artist, and I of course said yes. That week they ended up introducing me to Rihanna‘s band as well as other heavy hitter musicians and music directors in the biz including Rihanna’s MD, and the following week I ended up meeting Rihanna, Beyoncé and Jay-Z, which was really really cool! I ended up doing some session work for Ri, and I even had the opportunity to pitch a song to her that I co-wrote.
I met one of Lady Gaga‘s producers in N.Y.C. and he had me do some session singing for her. It was so much fun and so liberating. Stefani is so rad! She’s very raw, real, funny, authentic and genuine, and she’s just so so cool.
When I was living in Los Angeles I was doing a lot of corporate singing, session singing, and BGV’s for different artists and bands, and performing at venues. I was even flown to Barcelona to headline a huge corporate event. I also headlined another corporate event where I opened for Brian McKnight and David Foster.
Andra Day was a beautiful experience. I was working with several vocal contractors in L.A., and I was working with artists and bands at EastWest Studios. I was hired to sing with Andra Day and back her up for her song “Rise Up” which was an incredible honour. She is such a powerhouse of a human and talent, and that song has become a healing anthem for people all over the world.
I was working at EastWest Studios and the Foo Fighters were recording their album “Concrete and Gold”. Dave Grohl and I were chatting one day, and he had me come into the studio to record some stuff on the album, which was just unreal! The album went on to win a Grammy! Holy dream come true!!
I also met Barry Goldberg at EastWest when he was recording an album with Stephen Stills and Kenny Wayne Shepherd for their band “The Rides”. We clicked as people and as creatives, and that’s when we started writing and recording together.
You've performed in some fun musicals, notably Evil Dead. How was that? Do you enjoy the musical experience?
Working on Evil Dead The Musical was awesome! It was so much fun!! I played Linda, Ash’s girlfriend, and I had never experienced anything like this show. Evil Dead is an iconic cult film, with a phenomenal fan base. We did the show at the Just For Laughs Comedy Festival in Montreal, which is the biggest Comedy Festival in the world. We headlined the festival that year, and it was life-changing for me. The theatre was packed every single night, and it was full of Evil Dead fans from all over the world, as well as some of the biggest celebrities and comedians in the biz. The cast and crew were amazing and so talented, and the producers were absolutely wonderful. I met so many creatives throughout Canada and the U.S. at JFL’s who I kept in contact with. I then moved to New York City a few years later when I finished college and the rest is history :)
Tell us about your music production credits? How did they come about?
I have always loved all the different sides of the biz, and I have always genuinely loved connecting people. I’ll meet someone and I’ll automatically start thinking about other people who I think they would creatively click with, and who I think they are energetically aligned with as well. Everything is energy, and I recognize similar energies in people and intuitively feel that they need to meet. I really love being a part of the creative process and helping to bring visions to life. I was already doing that as an actress and singer, and I loved talking to producers, engineers, writers, musicians, department heads and crew members about their creative process, I’ve always found it fascinating.
I met U.K. recording artist Josh Beech through mutual friends. Josh knew I was well connected in the music and film/TV industry, and he asked me if I knew of any directors who shot in a specific style because he wanted to shoot a music video for he new single “Fight Strong”. He sent me the song and some photos and videos of what he was going for, and I immediately knew the top 3 directors out of my network that I thought would be great for it. Josh decided to have award-winning director and my good friend John Wynn direct the video, and I helped to produce it. It went on to be #3 on the MTV Rock Charts in Italy, which was extra cool for me because I’m half Italian.
I was chatting with Stent Music Group at EastWest Studios and they asked me if I knew of any great directors to direct a music video for their European artist Jean Castel. I had done some work with Red Bull Media House, including acting in their first-ever scripted series “Exit Vine”. I reached out to the co-founder of Red Bull MH George Mays, who is an amazing award-winning director, and George and the Red Bull team came on board to shoot the music video for Castel’s song “What Happened To Us”, which was a hit in the U.K. and the U.S.
I started producing short films, web-series, commercials, music videos, activations, pop- ups, and events.
I’ve been living in Toronto, and I have a production company with two of my friends and creative partners called “TrePalm”. We are a full-service award-winning production company, and we also rep some of the biggest directors and photographers in the industry.
We produced a music video for Frank Walker & Tyler Shaw for their song “Gravity” and it just Won “Music Video Of The Year” at the EDM Awards in Miami. What an honour! www.trepalm.com
Is there anything you'd like to add?
I’ve always loved Disney and animation. I’ve done different character voices in theatre production, and have always loved playing with my voice to see what cool and fun characters come out of it, and I’ve always had to be versatile with my voice as a singer, depending on what genre I had to sing for work.
I’ve done VoiceOver work for commercials, and I even sang on a promo commercial for Jack Reacher for Paramount Pictures.
I auditioned for the My Little Pony: Make Your Mark series on Netflix, and I ended up booking it :) Which was a literal dream come true moment. I LOVED the series when I was little. When my agent called me and told me they were offering me the role I screamed haha and I’m pretty sure there were some tears as well.
I voice a character named Snuzzle who is an iconic Pony Popstar in the band “The Dreamlands” that performs at Bridlewoodstock, soooo cute. Snuzzle is from the original My Little Pony, which just turned 40 recently. I not only got to voice a pony, but I also got to sing in the series! My Little Pony has its own EP album on all streaming platforms, which I sing on :) I’m still pinching myself!
Comedian and Roast Master General Jeff Ross had me sing the theme song with the iconic Kii Arens for his podcast Thick Skin, and when he did a live podcast at the Just For Laughs festival he asked me to sing the theme song live to open the show. So fun! It was wonderful being on stage at JFL again, especially opening for Jeff.
I also had a role in the very first ever scripted series for Red Bull Media House called Exit Vine which was also a music series, and I got to sing in it. I was hired as an actress and rock singer. It was one of the coolest and most fun experiences I’ve had in my career. I loved the entire cast and crew and we’ve gone on to collaborate on other projects :)
I’ve been involved in some iconic franchises over the years including the American Pie movie franchise where I had a role in American Pie: Beta House, to the Evil Dead franchise and the Just For Laughs Comedy Festival, to the iconic My Little Pony franchise.
I feel incredibly fortunate and blessed to have the ability to express myself through various artistic avenues in the industry. Embracing versatility has opened the door to so many dream-come-true moments, each one deepening my passion for what I do. I truly love every aspect of my craft, and I’m profoundly grateful for the continued opportunities to create, grow, and share my art with the world.
Visit lexiegalante.com.
