Know Your Neighbor: Chloe Collins, Singer/Songwriter, Pleasantville

June 27, 2014 Examiner Media Pleasantville

Most middle school students probably don’t know what they want to do for a living, but 14-year-old Chloe Collins is already pursuing a successful career as a singer, songwriter and musician.

Collins, who graduates this month from Pleasantville Middle School, found her love of music at the age of eight, when she decided she wanted to learn how to play a song from the Disney Channel show “Hannah Montana” on guitar.

Since she comes from a musical family, once her father taught her some basic guitar chords, she took off running, practicing several hours a day until she mastered the basics and then the more complicated aspects of playing.

Collins always loved to perform for family and friends at parties, and after honing her skills, she decided that she wanted to take the next step and perform at a local open mic night.

In just a few short years, Collins has evolved from playing cover songs to writing several of her own, many of which are currently available on iTunes. The first song she wrote was “It’s Not as Far as You Think,” and although she doesn’t remember how she went about writing it, she has saved all of her compositions in a notebook, thanks to encouragement from her parents.

“Ideas come to me at random times — in school, in the car, in my room or when I am just walking around, and as soon as I can get to a guitar or piano, I sound them out and try to work them into something,” Collins explained.

She said each song is brought to life in a different way, depending on whether she gets the idea for the music or lyrics first. Collins takes inspiration from a variety of musical acts from different genres and generations of music.

Her first musical influence was The Beatles, since her parents would play the music around the house. Collins would often sing Beatles songs in harmony with her parents. As she began to develop her own musical identity, she fell in love with the music of Taylor Swift, Katy Perry and Idina Menzel.

Although younger than her idols, Collins has already achieved success in building her musical career. Her most recent song, “Upside Down,” charted on the Tweenpop Radio, which charts airplay of music geared toward preteens.

“It was very exciting to be listed up there with Katy Perry and Demi Lovato,” Collins said.

Collins’ music has received a variety of airplay, both on local radio stations like WHUD and internationally through foreign radio stations, Spotify and web radio.

“Hearing my song on the radio the first time was so exciting,” she said. “It was hard to believe. I just wanted to jump up and dance around.”

In addition to radio, her music received national television exposure after a song she wrote when she was 11, “I’ve Had Enough,” was featured on an ABC/Family show called “The Vineyard.”

Locally, Collins showcases her music through school talent shows and performances in the All-County Chorus and Select Chorus at Pleasantville Middle School. She noted that her fellow classmates are very supportive of her career, and often send her excited text messages when they hear one of her songs on the radio. Most recently, a group of local dancers at the Academy of Dance Arts performed to a Collins track.

That’s fitting since Jennifer Pollock of Academy of Dance Arts has been particularly supportive of Collins’ musical exploits.

“Sometimes young kids in the school will ask for my autograph. This also happened with the girls who danced to my song ‘Upside Down’ in the recital. It is very flattering and truly an honor,” she said.

Collins may be moving on to Pleasantville High School in the fall, but she already has bigger plans for the future. She hopes to continue writing songs and wants to be able to create hits that get airtime on Ryan Seacrest’s Top 40 Radio Show.

For the time being, however, Collins will perform at a few songwriter showcases in New York City as well as some open mic nights in Westchester during the summer. In addition, she is planning a trip to Nashville, and hopes to get the chance to perform there as well.

She said one day she’d love to tour the world, and perhaps even do a show with her idol, Taylor Swift, but there is one venue that she is especially hopeful to headline one day.

“Someday I would like to play Madison Square Garden since almost every great artist has performed there,” she said.