Idol Chatter & Voice Views

Zaxai performs in the live playoffs on The Voice Season 15. (NBC Photo)

Fans of Zaxai from Season 15 of The Voice will be thrilled to hear that new music is right around the corner.

In fact, the entertainer from Brooklyn and front man for the Date Night Band is hoping to have a couple of singles out by the end of the year.

And those will be followed by not one, but two EPs.

Zaxai, 29 when he auditioned, landed a spot on Team Jennifer Hudson in his blind audition; Jennifer used her block to make sure he landed on her team.

The coach she blocked, Kelly Clarkson, stole Zaxai in the battle round and took his all the way to the live playoffs before he was eliminated.

Here’s what Zaxai — pronounced “Zah-K-eye” — told Voice Views about his time on the show and his plans for new music.

Voice Views: Where do you see The Voice experience leading you musically? What are your musical goals / aspirations now?

Zaxai: The Voice experience allowed me to get my foot in the door in the music industry and will inevitability lead me towards bigger venues and bigger crowds. I was fortunate enough to meet and work with some extraordinarily talented people whose experiences and advice I will forever treasure moving forward in my career. This includes staging, lights, and overall production. It’s a lot of hard work and detail that I now know to pay more attention to as I prepare to move forward with my music career. My music goals remain the same, win loads of Grammys, collaborate with some of my musical hero’s and make a difference in the world using music. The Voice helped me get one step closer to that.

Voice Views: Do you envision releasing new music soon? If so, can you tell me about that? Either what you have planned or what you’d like to do? And what sound fans can expect?

Zaxai: Yes, my EP is actually already finished. I am releasing two singles in mid December. One is a re-release of a song I recorded earlier this year called “Find Me Here.” There is a music video that fans can enjoy available on YouTube now. The other is the title track single called “Too Far Gone.” I am releasing the EP in full in January of 2019.

Currently, I am working on marketing and branding of the project to guarantee the most positive outcome in sales, of course. You can expect this project to be what I have tried to demonstrate to my fans all along. This project is soulful, passionate, filled with some life experiences put to melodies that hopefully allows fans to resonate with my sound.

I am excited to announce that I am working on my second solo EP which will feature some of my Season 15 Voice contestants. I think the fans will be excited to hear our collaborations, as some of them have made requests via social media.

Voice Views: Which was your favorite Voice performance and why?

Zaxai: My favorite Voice performance would have to be my knockout round where I performed “Cruising” by Smokey Robinson. This is because I was part of the first three-way knockout and I will forever be a part of that “Voice” History. Secondly, I had a lot of purpose behind the song. The song was dedicated to my girlfriend and if you notice the ending of the song, my ad libs are all pet names that I call her. I felt her close to me throughout that performance.

Voice Views: Is there anything else you’d like to add about The Voice experience?

Zaxai: Well, I can say that the Voice experience reveals some things about yourself that you otherwise would not have noticed. That includes, anxiety on and off the stage. I always considered myself to be a confident performer & conquer any stage but then again, I’ve never been on TV and a stage where millions of people are watching alongside some of your musical inspirations. You’re forced to bring your A game under such pressure and that sharpens you. Also being away for so long, it teaches you how to communicate with your loved ones and family members. It taught me patience.

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Zaxai performs during the battle round on The Voice. (NBC Photo)