LEONOR H. ALVAREZ

Ever since I was little, I showed interest in other cultures and specially big cities. Books like Shanghai Baby by Wei Hui and The New York Trilogy by Paul Auster shaped in me an early-on interest for the outside world. I was heavily influenced as well by my family on my mom's side where almost everybody has lived abroad, and I like to think that my artistic ways are directly tied to them too. All of us always have our little personal artistic projects going on, that we work on here and there. My uncle makes movies, my mom takes pictures, my grandpa paints, my grandma sings... And I just try my best, lets say.

Santander is my hometown, a little northern coastal city in Spain. It's where I lived until I turned 15, and I have a lot of love for it. Life there is tender and sweet, though I've only realized once I've left her for good.

 

At the tender age of 15 I moved for the first time on my own to Vancouver, Canada. I was an international student in an arts high school for 2 years. I graduated High School there as a Music major, and this is where I discovered my musical potential for the first time. 

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After my return to Europe I decided to pursue a career in Jazz Vocals and moved to The Netherlands, which led me to meet wonderful people and amazing artists that I look up to, and that I'm lucky to call my friends. My music studies were however, shortly interrupted by a sudden urge to to explore, and an overwhelming ache for self-discovery. At only 18 and one year into my music career, I decided to pack my things once again and move on my own to Shanghai. I landed in Hangzhou and worked as a private nanny for a Chinese family for 6 months, while on the side I was working and singing in jazz bars around the city. Eventually, I moved to Shanghai where I shared a ridiculously small appartment with 5 other people, and worked as an english teacher during the day, and as a singer at night for the next 6 months. Needless to say, this was one of the best experiences of my life. My Band mate and good friend, Billy, a local Shanghainese guitar player who I became very close with, him and I together played in countless spots as a duo, and he introduced me to the less seen blues and R&B music scene in the city. He was the one who showed me the true nature of the Shanghai through the eyes of a local, and musician. From it's ancient traditions to the modern and twisted China, and it's underground musicians starved for recognition and misunderstood Chinese young artists with a desire to be taken seriously, in an extremely competitive and difficult city.

It's because of this that I now have a deep love and admiration for Chinese culture in general, but of course, specially, Shanghai.

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I recently returned to Vancouver, where I now live after my gap year in China, where I believe I've been completely re-shaped. 

I'm continuing with my studies here for now.The journey continues!

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The name of this blog comes from a song I wrote back in high school called The Cherry Convoy.

Cute, no? 

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Last updated: Oct. 2025​​