“I have a constant fear that my personality is not ‘famous person’ enough!”
The irony of musician Victoria Canal’s anxiety – which she candidly confides when she visits GLAMOUR HQ – is palpable, in the best way. Even though she has just released her debut album, Slowly, It Dawns, Victoria is already firm friends with Hollywood A-listers such as Tom Cruise, Bruce Springsteen and Coldplay’s Chris Martin. After performing with the band onstage at Glastonbury 2024, she seems a solid member of the créme de la créme, even if she’s concerned her persona may not fit the mold.
Victoria may be used to feeling different to others, however, having been born with a limb difference that meant she was born without her right forearm and hand, due to a condition called condition called amniotic band syndrome. She is an established guitar and piano player in spite of her difference, though, and credits her mum as the person who encouraged her to keep playing with both arms, her way.
“There is a way to strum a guitar like this, and there is a way to play piano. But the thing is not many people, unless they really care about you, will push you to try. My mum said ‘you gotta play with your little arm too’, and that opened up a whole new world,” Victoria tells GLAMOUR. “Limitation is such a wonderful tool for creativity. When you have parameters around your choices, you find your voice in a way that I did upon learning piano and guitar… I have to be very selective and thoughtful about the colours and the voices and the feelings that I’m invoking through fewer notes, and that creates a simplicity.”
She sat down with GLAMOUR to talk A-list besties, the complexity of representing other people with disabilities, the damaging impact of being defined by your difference and misogyny in the music industry.
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Tell us about the influences around your debut album – does it say a lot about what era of your life that you’re in?
Slowly, It Dawns, for me, is all about navigating your 20s and getting older. The first half of the album is very brash and pop and overconfident in a way that I felt in my youth. As you get older, you become more self aware and maybe a little more wounded and a little more introverted and wiser, so the second half of the album is that version of me… I wanted to embrace all sides of myself, and I hope whoever listens to the album just feels permission to fully, fully allow every side of themselves.
What was it like to play with Coldplay at Glastonbury last year?
It was probably the most insane experience I’ll ever have in my life. The performance itself was just so crazy fast, and backstage at a Coldplay show, there is every famous person under the sun. People ask me what it was like to perform, and honestly, what I remember more was the rehearsal, seeing one of the most successful bands work the way that they do up close behind the scenes was so shocking and inspiring. Everyone’s so on their game and kind to each other, which was just so cool to see. I feel like I came away from it just feeling inspired to be better and to treat the people around me with respect.
