To be granted this opportunity feels so surreal but we (I.). can’t do it alone. If you’re in a position to help support my journey even in a small amount I’d be endlessly grateful. And if you’re unable to donate please consider sharing this page with your network to help spread the word.

Hi my name is Amber Johnson.

I'm a professionally trained vocal coach as my day job where I teach privately online Muskoka and Canada wide, and in person at the Muskoka Lumber Arena auditorium in Bracebridge. I'm extremely passionate about raising awareness about how little women representation there is in my genre, the true cost of today's musician lifestyle for artists, and inspiring the next generation of local musicians here in Muskoka.

I've been performing on and off since I was a teenager in various bands formed with high school friends. In my twenties I played shows and festivals across Ontario such as Rock The Mill in Cambridge with Counterparts, Vans Warped Tour in Toronto at the Budweiser Stage, in 2022 I performed in Stoke UK with Bleak Soul, and I was a Top 10 Finalist in Hunstville's Got Talent 2025.

In January 2026 I was featured as one of the Top 5 Female Vocalists in Scream Dude's World's Biggest Metal Vocal Collab which featured over 170+ vocalists across the world and received over 115,00 views on Instagram and over 7,000 views on YouTube. You can view the video here Top Five Female Metal Vocalist Video .

Despite all of this I have never been able to release my own solo music.

With the current state of the music industry and how expensive recording and touring has gotten since the Covid-19 Pandemic, along with the regular every day cost of living it is just not financially viable or feasible for me to do this on my own.

People outside of the music industry might not know it but most of your favourite bands still work full-time jobs on top of touring 100+ shows a year. The only way they are able to release music is by either being signed to a record label, crowdfunding -- like this GoFundMe page, or they go into very serious personal credit card or bank loan debt that can take them years to pay off.

That's where I need your help.

I have been given an incredible opportunity to co-write and work on a debut body of recorded songs. A seven song EP with two producers. Producer and guitarist Steven Jones from the Scottish metal band Bleed From Within. (He was shortlisted for a 2025 Grammy nomination for Best Metal Performance.). and Stevie Knight. (Aria nominated Australian producer who has worked with female led bands such as Stand Atlantic, Red Hook, and Yours Truly AUS.). (I will also be self-shooting and co-editing four music video in conjunction with Joseph Aitchison of JWA Creations and a have online press and magazine, Spotify playlisting, and radio play pitching PR Campaign done by Canadian publicist Eric Alper.).

You can view some of Steven and Stevie's production and co-writing work, as well as Joseph's video work here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xp_HkFova0A and https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7IZEVp7Htz0 .

They are both very selective of who they work with and only take on vocalists and projects that they believe they can contribute substantial value to and has the potential to do well upon release.

This is something that I'm going to have to fundraise for as the cost of production, mixing, and mastering is more than I can afford on my own. This is GoFundMe is being used to help cover some of these expenses. I have saved up enough to do two songs by myself. That leaves five left. I don't qualify for the local, Ontario based, or Factor grants due to my collaborators being international. (All vocal writing and tracking will be done remotely between the three of us with me recording vocals from home.).

If all goes well the writing and tracking would start to take place in June, the mixing and mastering would be in September, music videos would be filmed in October, and the first song would come out in November.

The rest of the songs would be waterfall released as singles every two months in 2027 leading up to a full EP release in September.

Any money that is left over would go to future music releases and any future touring costs.

Here is a breakdown of all of the other costs.

-- $12,270 for the production, co-writing, mixing, and mastering of five songs.

-- $730 for promotional photography and four music videos.

-- $2000 for the Press Release, Spotify, and radio campaign.

I'm heavily inspired and influenced by bands like Pvris, Thornhill, Trash Boat, Boston Manor, As Everything Unfolds, and Deftones.

Fun fact -- Courtney Laplante from Spiritbox -- Vancouver made history as the first woman and personal in general to ever perform metal vocals and screaming of any kind on the Grammys stage this year after being nominated three years in a row for Best Metal Performance. Two seperate studies done between 2018 to 2021 by Huddersfield University and The International Society Of Metal Music, and in 2024 by Professor Lori Burns from The University Of Ottawa concluded that 3 to 3.5% of musicians in heavy rock and metal are women, with only half -- 1.5% being vocalists. It cited that women said it's not because they don't want to be involved -- but it's because they are intimidated being the minority and don't see enough other women out there doing the same thing they want to be doing.

This would not only help support me in my journey but also help with female representation in heavy music and hopefully inspire the next generation of frontwomen.

Some of my personal goals are to follow in the footsteps of some of my friends, teaching colleagues, and peers performing at festivals such as Slam Dunk Festival and Download Festival in the UK, Summer Breeze in Germany, Hell Fest in France, and Wacken the word's largest metal festival.

Thank you so much for reading.