About: Zara | Chasing Leaves: -

I'm Zara, stage name: "Chasing Leaves", and I am an award winning singer, songwriter and musician based in Poole, Dorset.

Whilst I am still in the early stages of my career, I am already starting to gain traction within the music industry e.g. I am now being invited to perform on increasingly larger stages, have had several original songs aired on local radio (Forest FM and BBC Introducing (Solent), and my first album will be released later this year (2026).

After twelve years of music lessons and practice, and performing live on more than 100 occasions, in August 2026 I finally turned professional (full-time), aged eighteen.

Currently, my work life has three different aspects: -

Studio: This is where I write lyrics, compose music, and then record and mix the songs (and where I still practice almost every day).

Note: During recording, I do all of the vocals, and play most of the instruments myself e.g. Acoustic, Bass and Electric guitars, Piano and Synthesizer are played by myself but to add more depth and interest to my music, I also use Virtual Studio Technology instruments (VST's), for Drums, Woodwind, Brass, Strings, etc. (I never use pre-made loops and/or, AI generated music).

Performing Live: This is the most fun and is also how I will earn my living for the foreseeable future (obviously, I would like to earn money from my original songs, but this will most likely take a few more years to achieve). It is an interesting and exciting time right now, as I have only just turned professional. It will now be very interesting to see it I can actually earn a living, as this is certainly not guaranteed. In fact, if I can earn as much a local shop shelf-stacker in this first year, I will consider this a success.

Social Media: In this modern era, a strong social media presence is essential for any musician with career ambitions. However, creating posts is very time consuming and requires yet another layer of learning and expense. Fair to say that this aspect of attempting to become a successful musician is not my favourite! That said, the music industry has always been difficult and the modern era hardships, are just a different type of difficult.

Outside of Work: In my spare time, I like to be creative and make things like jewellery, clothing and handbags, and I also like to get out hiking and doing water sports I have even started doing the local Parkrun this year... ("I never thought that I would do this"!). I'm also learning to drive and hope to get my license soon.

My Wish List for 2026: -

Firstly, I have just turned eighteen, so it's time to get out more and explore new social opportunities e.g. pubs and clubs (note: it will be a bit strange as I have been performing in pubs for three years but until now, I have never been able to buy a beer!). Anyway, it's time to get my glad rags on and go dancing!

With regard to the bigger picture, I don't really know what my future truly holds (who does?)... "all I can do is work hard, play hard, seek out opportunities, and try my very best to enjoy every aspect of my personal journey"! Yes, I do aspire to become an International Superstar with a life full of glitz and glamour but for now, it's just a matter of one step at a time.

Why Chasing Leaves?

Like most young kids, I really enjoyed larking about with my friends and on a windy day in Autumn, running around the playground 'chasing leaves' was brilliant fun. On the face of it this may appear to be a pointless form of entertainment but in reality, it's an inclusive activity that's dynamic, energetic, exciting, noisy, *relatively harmless, and it makes young kids happy... so how can you knock it?

*relatively harmless - Ok, so there will be a few falls, scuffs, bruises, crying, and the occasional holes in trousers.

Personally, I want to capture some of the spirit of chasing leaves into my music, but adapt it to captivate a broader audience e.g. the young, the old, and everyone in-between.