Biography
With a voice as powerful as her personality, Warner Music Canada recording artist CARYS is well on her way to becoming Canada’s next pop sensation.
The proof is all over CARYS’s recent singles “Bad Boy” and “Some Of You” that established her as a musical force in 2019. But it was her third single, “Princesses Don’t Cry,” that propelled CARYS to a new level by going viral on TikTok. Over 1.4 million videos on the latest social media platform have been created using the song, totaling over 18 million views. The numbers don’t lie; CARYS’s approach to music as a vessel for unfiltered emotions has clearly connected with young audiences around the globe.
The reason why she chose to record under the name CARYS, meaning “love” in Welsh is her belief that it is from love that other emotions are derived—both positive and negative—and they are all present in CARYS’s music. In keeping with her approach to songwriting, CARYS is constantly tapping into those emotions in her live show to bring her music to the masses, and her U.S. partners at Atlantic Records are always pushing her to go further on her own terms.
“I naturally write lyrics from a place of sadness and hurt,” she says. “At the same time, I hope my music can empower the listener. For example, when I wrote ‘Princesses Don’t Cry’ I was feeling that I was expected to behave in a certain way in my relationship because I'm a girl, so the song became a big ‘f.u.’ to that. As I’ve grown and become more self-aware, it’s been easier to write from a place of strength—and send myself and anyone who’s listening the message that you are valid to feel upset with your place in the world sometimes, but that should never stop you from being who you are meant to be, and doing the things you are meant to do.”
Before firmly honing her focus on music, CARYS established herself as an actress under her given name Aviva Mongillo, starring in the Family Channel series Backstage, playing the role of Juniper in CBC’s Workin’ Moms, and appearing in the Seth Rogan/Charlize Theron feature film Long Shot.
Now as she sets out on the leading edge of a generation of female artists redefining what pop music is, CARYS is unapologetically authentic and ready to take on the world. In the end, you can’t run from the truth, and the truth is all that CARYS intends to offer.