"On My Way": A Conversation with Carina

Interview by Imani Dominique Busby

Photography by Christopher Joseph (@wolfwarriorchris @Cameradatediaries)

We sat down with Carina ahead of her dance-pop performance at NXNE Music Festival 2025. Keep reading to learn more about her unique style and music.

Please tell us a bit about yourself and your introduction to making music? 

For sure. So I'm Carina and I'm a dance-pop artist. I'm a singer, songwriter, dancer, and I was introduced to music through my father who’s a musician. He did the whole touring thing with a band, and now he's actually teaching. 


He taught me a lot of what I know. He taught me how to sing, a little bit of guitar and piano as well. I was put into singing and dancing lessons when I was two years old, and I'm 23 now. So it's been a while.

Wonderful. And are you from Toronto, the GTA?

Yeah. So I'm just from Markham and I'm in Toronto all the time. I just finished my four-year Professional Music program at Toronto Metropolitan University. So I'm very used to being in the city for sure.

Has Markham influenced your sound at all or being in Toronto?


I don't know about influence my sound, per se. Being in Toronto, yeah, for sure. Just seeing all the other local artists perform. I'm definitely inspired by seeing them and my friends because I go to a lot of local shows. But there's a lot of Hello Kitty Girls in Markham, and that inspires my aesthetic. All the The Hello Kitty, San Rio girlies, they definitely are a lot of my target audience.

The first time I saw you perform was at the TMU Creative Industries Showcase a few years ago. You have such a stage presence, a confidence, and a really unique way of presenting yourself as an artist.
Who are your inspirations and what helps you hone in on your unique identity as a creative?

I love artists like Ariana Grande, Sabrina Carpenter, and Chappell Roan, because they're just so authentic to themselves. They have these identifying characteristics that are very unique. When you think of Ariana, of course, you think of the ponytail, you know what I mean? And Chappell's red hair and the theatrical outfits and stuff like that. I'm just trying to establish something for myself that makes me, recognizable and unique. 

And this is also lowkey how I've always been. I've always been very girly and into pink and Barbie and stuff like that. So I'm just playing into who I am naturally, I guess.

How do you feel about playing at NXNE?

Oh, my gosh. I'm so honoured. To even be in the same festival as artists like Khalid, who's playing at Sankofa Square tomorrow night. It's just so exciting. So thank you to NXNE for having me this year. And also just having access to all the resources and the panels that are happening. I'm going to the full day of panels on Friday as well as on Saturday. And I was just at like, Billboard events all day today, too. It's just super exciting, very surreal, and I'm very grateful.

Are there any projects that you're working on or that you've released recently where you can share about your creative process in making them?


Just last week, I released my brand new single called “On My Way”, as well as the music video to go along with it. And honestly, it's a very camp, funny music video. It has some aspects of humour in it, some storytelling. All these singles that I've been releasing, including “On My Way”, are leading up to my first full-length album. It's very exciting because I have a bunch of singles out, and I have two EPs, but I've never released a full album, a very full cohesive project. So it's very exciting and it'll be out in the late summer.

If a listener could only hear one song from your catalogue, what would you recommend and why?

I feel like there's so many layers to Carina as an artist because I have songs that range from “Pinky Promise”, which is very It's K-pop inspired, bubble gum, upbeat girly pop. And then I have songs like “Locked In”, which is like Tate McCray, a little more sassy. Okay, maybe we'll meet in the middle and I'll say “Experience" because I think it has aspects of both. 

Aside from yourself, who is your favourite Toronto artist?


I'm going to shout out my friend Elia. She is a pop rock artist, very similar to the likes of Avril Lavigne. She plays with a band. She's really good. So yeah, that's one of the homies. 


Okay, let me think. Let me think. Let me think. Maybe I go with a band instead of a solo artist. I actually do know one of the people in this band really well, but I don't know the whole band really well. A Weekend at Ramona's. Really good man. They're also playing the festival.

Do you have any last thoughts?


Check out my Instagram, @carinaa.b!  And thanks for talking to me.

Anytime. Thank you.
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