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TWO PEOPLE, ONE DREAM

How Soundline got its roots.

Believe it or not, they're just like you.

That's right. One day they were sitting at their computers and happened to meet online. No, they weren't from the same city, not even the same province. In fact, they were half a country apart.

Krista Hall is originally from Sydney, Nova Scotia. A place where she didn't see a future for herself. Krys Grandmond is a St. Catharines, Ontario native. A retirement town with very little to offer someone from the entertainment industry. Both were aching to leave, and both wanted to go to the same place.

"Toronto's just where it's all at," says Krys. "If you want to be in the music biz in Canada, you gotta be in Toronto."

Krys was debating picking up some art courses from Sheridan College in Mississauga, and convinced Krista to move halfway across the country so they could be together to work with artists and bands.

It was their mutual love of tribute bands and promotions that brought them to create Into Existence Promotions. An amateur promotion company that grew quickly and aquired a great name among tribute performers.

But they were young, inexperienced, uneducated and impatient. While they had great love for what they were doing, they didn't really know how to make something of it. And so, 2 years after it began, Into Existence faded out.

With the ending of Into Existence Promotions, plans got changed. Krys remained in St. Catharines to attend Niagara College, hoping to land a job in music journalism after her two-year course. She picked up skills in photojournalism, writing & editing copy, layout and design (of newspapers and magazines), and some basic knowledge of printing presses. An aspiring music journalist, though, she had to fight for the stories she wanted to do. And she fought hard. After interviewing Snow, her life changed.

"I just kind of found out I could do it," she says, "Snow is one of my favourite performers of all time. I'm mean, you're going back to my childhood on this one. And I loved him so much and really admired his work, I didn't know how I would be able to interview him. But I wanted the story, so I had to do it. Only the first few minutes were hard. Then I kind of relaxed and things went so smoothly. In the end, I was like 'I can't believe it. I just spent almost an hour interviewing Snow.' And that was it. I knew my life had changed in that moment."

She also spent the summer working at a local theme park, gaining extensive training in customer service and relations.

While Krys didn't move to Mississauga to attend Sheridan College, Krista did. She was not upset, however, about Krys' choice to stay in Niagara.

"Well I can't lie," says Krista, "I was kind of disappointed when I found out we weren't going to be going to school together, and I tried to persuade her to come. But she was stubborn like always and decided to stay put. I realized afterwards it was for the best."

She attended the college for a year, gaining necessary knowledge in business and marketing. She too, spent a summer at a theme park, picking up some very important customer service skills.

"People underestimate the value of working in a place like that," says Krys. "You're dealing with SO many people all the time. And they're all different. Some are very understanding, others just need to get their way. There's times when I had to say no and not be persuaded otherwise, and it was hard, but those are the things you learn. You have to deal with it all. Including keeping your head on your shoulders and not losing it when something goes wrong."

"I learned a lot from my experiences working in the amusement park," says Krista. "I met a lot of great people too, some of which I have become very close with and who have helped me a lot to discover who I am. It was a lot of fun, and definately something I would do again."

Now, after courses in journalism, photography, layout & design, marketing, and business; extensive training in customer service; and some good old practise with some already famous musicians, they're ready to try again. Now with a background and a good idea of where they're taking it, Krys & Krista's newest venture, SoundLine, is bound to succeed.