My passion for songwriting spans back into my teen years, when I penned break-up ballads for relationships I’d never experienced. After my life was turned upside-down by disability, I discovered a new source of inspiration for my creativity, pouring my heart and soul into songs about the disability experience. Sometimes heart-wrenching, sometimes sassy, always honest, these songs speak to a group that often does not get a voice.
The confidence was another thing. Years of illness had worn away the strength of my voice, and I had to sing daily to gain it back. I became a regular fixture busking in front of the local grocery store and playing music at local markets, getting used to a live audience, and slowly introducing the many songs I was writing behind the scenes.
In 2023, I began the journey of sharing those songs with the world. Some I recorded at home, in all their rough-hewn glory. Some I recorded at EMG Music Hub, a Mid North Coast studio. They resonated with audiences at home, those voiceless groups hearing their voices in song.
After many years of writing my own music and dreaming of reaching people with my message, I began the project of producing my own album in 2025. With no real resources to produce a studio album and no musician friends to help me out, the entire album was recorded, produced and edited by me, in my home office with my YouTube microphone and my gaming headphones. It was developed ‘Under My Roof’, you could say.
I am still working towards the difficult goal of having my music heard. I am trying to get gigs in my local area, I am trying to put together a band, and I am trying to share my album so people know what’s important to me. Making music is easy – sharing music can be hard. But when it’s what your heart wants, it’s hard for it to beat without it.
Nell Tyler 