Today we’d like to introduce you to April May.
April, we appreciate you taking the time to share your story with us today. Where does your story begin?
I have been fortunate to have an almost 20-year career, working with over 100 national brands as brand support, event, and promotions management, working with live events and entertainment. I believe these experiences have guided me to Deep Ellum with an open mind and heart. I was able to travel with my previous jobs and have been able to visit every state in this beautiful country. I am an East Coast girl so Deep Ellum has an all-too-familiar feel and is one of the reasons that I fell in love with it. Texas is the 5th state I’ve lived in and I moved to Dallas after living in Tulsa, OK for nearly a decade. In mid-2021, I decided to move to Deep Ellum after doing somewhat of a Texas Tour, thinking Austin would be my place, but ultimately choosing Deep Ellum for the feeling I got when I entered this neighborhood. I didn’t know much about the music history when I moved here but I could feel it as soon as I entered these streets. I was contemplating my move when I was on the patio of the former Braindead Brewing Company and the DJ played Biggie, I knew this was my place.
Growing up an hour outside of Philadelphia, and two and a half hours away from New York City, my dream was to live in NYC. Although I never got the chance to live there, I attended Woodstock 99 in Rome, NY, and met my first love during the Fat Boy Slim performance on Saturday night. That performance was the night before the riots and I was there until the very end and experienced all of it firsthand. He was from Queens, NY, and I was able to spend a good amount of time visiting New York. I believe having experienced Woodstock 99 somewhat altered my life and view of the live music world.
Before the music fully hit me, I was a banker that had a dream of opening a flower shop or being in fashion. I put myself through college going to night classes at a community college in Reading, PA while working a full-time banking career. After 7 years of hustling for my education, I ultimately graduated from Johnson and Wales in Providence, RI, with degrees in Entrepreneurship, Fashion Merchandising, and Retail Marketing and Management. I picked up my first promotional gig working with my cousin during a month of Spring Break in South Padre Island. The plan was to take an after-college/change in career break and to move to Orlando, FL for a couple of months and then head back to the East Coast to start my new career in the arts. I started working at House of Blues as a VIP host and got a job at Cox Radio, as well as picking up any event and promotion that would come into town. I wanted to grow at House of Blues and when they were reopening in downtown Boston, I felt it was my opportunity but unfortunately did not get the job I was seeking. I decided to stay in Orlando and that is where I was able to work with a wide array of brands, events, and music festivals and be more involved in live events and performances.
While living in Orlando and learning the promotional side of the touring industry, I figured out a way to get on tour with my favorite band, Dave Matthews band, working with a non-profit company that was touring with them. I followed that band for nearly 20 years, seeing them each year at different music venues all over the country and world, roughly 50 times. They have had a major influence on my live performance passion, and they are known for changing the set list for each and every show so that the fan does not see the same show twice.
I married a Radio Program Director whom I met while working at Cox Radio in Orlando and he gave me the name April May, which is actually my legal name. I moved to Tulsa, OK with him 10 years ago and was able to learn about this part of the country and fall in love with it. While we parted ways with love, I was able to grow a beautiful life there and was able to visit and work in Texas throughout my time with Budweiser and Monster Energy.
A few years before my move to Dallas, I heard Halsey when she was featured on The Chainsmokers’ song Closer and fell in love with her voice. Soon after, I was able to see her live when I worked a show for Monster Energy in Rogers, AR. When she performed, I knew right then and there that she was my new Dave Matthew Band. I patiently waited until she announced a concert date again. When she was set to perform at the 2019 I Heart Jingle Ball in New York City, I knew that I had to go. It was a hot ticket at Madison Square Garden and I purchased a ticket in the lower bowl but somewhat in the side of the stage as they sold the entire arena. During her new song at the time, Graveyard, she come over and sang to me and it was at the moment that I knew I needed to pursue my performance/artist side once and for all. I purchased a music pass to SXSW to start a more extensive learning and networking in 2020 but we all know what happened that year. I walked away from my career in events/branding to pursue my rediscovered passion full-time.
When I moved to Deep Ellum, in May 2021, I did not know anyone other than some of my previous co-workers from Monster Energy. I took some time to reflect on my life and choose my new path. I was downsizing my living quarters but I have always had a passion for dance and was able to take several classes throughout my life, one being a hula hoop class in Orlando, FL, where I purchased a hoop that was sitting in the corner of my garage in Tulsa. I looked at it and said to myself, it’s coming with me to Dallas. I only know how to hoop around my waist and hadn’t used it in almost 9 years. I started practicing every day and thought it would be great exercise but people kept stopping and recording me when I was walking down Main Street in Deep Ellum to Main Street Garden Park to exercise with it. I started by wearing my headphones and blocking out the world but was quickly able to show myself. After a few months of walking the streets, I decided that I wanted to try my hand at street performing and pushing myself out during the 2021 Deep Ellum Arts Festival, and have been on the street at different times ever since. I continued to challenge myself in 2022 by stage-performing after meeting an extremely talented group of people at House of Dirt in Biscop Arts. They put on a monthly show called Random Acts of Talent and I was able to perform, learn and be inspired by all the local talent there throughout 2022. I also work at I Heart Radio part-time and have been able to be involved in several of their large show productions, including Jingle Ball, and have been able to hula hoop in the St. Patrick’s Day and Pride Parade in 2022. And my story is continuing to grow.
We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
Each part of my story included significant struggles that I have had along the way. None of the decisions I made came easily and I had to give up so many traditional comforts in life. Every journey that I took helped me to gain more knowledge and perspective to grow in my life and career but it also came with a lot of sacrifice, heartache, and pain along the way. The events, music, and promotional industries are ones that you give up your life for. Primarily working around the clock, giving up the everyday comforts of your home to stay in hotel rooms and constantly be on the go; but you do it for the passion. You have to learn how to be self-sufficient, roll with the punches, and work in nearly any environment.
Can you tell our readers more about what you do and what you think sets you apart from others?
I’m focused on growing my art with the help of some very talented local artist/talent that I met throughout my first year here. I put myself on a 30-day dance challenge a few months after I moved to Dallas. I took 51 classes during that time and was able to see a start of what Dallas has to offer. I was able to meet and build relationships with several local dance instructors, studio owners, and local artists during that time. I have always had dance in my life, mostly inspired by live music and live environments, and that is where 2023 is leading me. I am in the process of making a plan for a live performance artist space in Deep Ellum, called Groove City. It is in the beginning stages, but our mission would be a safe space for performing and recording artists to create, collaborate and be their authentic self. A collaborative space with a recording and dance studio, a performance area as well as other options for artists, such as artist management and talent guidance. I also have the skill of connecting to artists on a deeper level, identifying talent, and understanding how to support them and I want to be able to help bring that to life in Deep Ellum. Groove City would also plan to have an area where street performers/artists are able to set up freely as a part of the history of Deep Ellum, I’ve been told there used to be artists and performers all over these streets. I would like to be the one that helps bring that back. The goal is to have Groove City fully operational by mid-2024.
What do you like best about our city? What do you like least?
I love how Dallas has so many unique neighborhoods but they all seem to connect in some way. The creative, music and art scene is very much alive and I feel there is so much undiscovered talent that I am happy to be discovering, connecting to, and being a part of. I also love how it has so many unique music and performance venues for bands of all genres to play at while they are touring across the country.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.aprildhayward.com
- Instagram: AprilMayHula
- Facebook: AprilSky1489
Image Credits
Alex Segura
