Q:  Where are you from and where are you now? 

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Saniyé:  I’m from NYC! Since the 1980s, baby :) Lived in different parts of New York State, but it always drew me back, so I’m in Manhattan now.  My family is from Turkey, and I was born in Germany, so I’m an international gal and fit right in with the melting pot that is Manhattan. 

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Q: How did you raise the money so far for MBC?

 

Saniyé:  It was a few years ago that I heard about Music Beats Cancer (then “Sound Affects”) and I signed and created my campaign page with them, I want to say in 2016? I was really excited because it was an amazing opportunity to make a difference with something I already love doing, which is music.  I raised funds through my Music Beats Cancer page via various online efforts, including an email blast on my newsletter, multiple posts on my social media pages on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram etc (@saniyemusic), texts to friends, family, colleagues, and also through my own pr company at 6/8 Music NY. There was a campaign to raise a minimum of $1000 to play an additional fundraiser showcase at the Music Hall Of Williamsburg, which was a dream venue of mine! I was so grateful for the opportunity to be able to make a small difference through music, via a cause I very, very strongly believe in. 

 

Q: What's your connection with cancer?

 

Saniyé: Sadly, I’ve lost a lot of close family members, all to cancer. The biggest loss suffered was that of my father, from liver cancer, when I was just 2 weeks shy of my first birthday. It’s left a gigantic hole in my heart and being, and despite not having any memories of him, I know him through all the stories, I love him and miss him and think about him almost every day. Unfortunately, this terrible disease runs in the family, so we also lost my father’s mother to cancer before I was born, and also my uncle, my father’s brother, who actually took on the role of “Dad” and helped raise me! When I was 19, he too, passed of cancer. 

 

On my mother’s side, mom’s aunt passed from throat cancer. I remember as a small child visiting her and she was ill at home, in bed, with a breathing machine and a hole in her throat that she had to press just to talk. I was terrified. 

 

Finally, we lost a college friend to breast cancer, and she was only in her 30s. 

 

I don’t know any one who isn’t affected by cancer in some shape or form. 

 

 

Q: Why are you partnered with MBC?

 

Saniyé: I’m honored to be partnered with Music Beats Cancer on behalf of my work as a songwriter, musician, and performer to help raise awareness, strength, and community around a movement that aims to help find a cure for this awful disease through fundraising and the arts. The founder, Mona S. Jhaveri is an absolute inspiration and I am forever indebted to her for allowing me to honor my late father in way that I hope would make him proud.

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To make a donation to Music Beats Cancer, please visit Saniyé's fundrasier page or go to https://musicbeatscancer.org/