CREDIT: PROVIDED BY FONZY
Electronic pop artist, Fonzy, is a first year MIA student making waves with his latest song and music video, "Forget U".

Fanshawe Music Industry Arts (MIA) student Tony Alfonso may be in first year, but he's already making big waves in his niche as an electronic pop artist.

Also known by the artist name Fonzy, he recently released a music video for his upbeat track “Forget U” to a positive reception.

Something that makes Alfonso unique as a student is the fact that he came to Canada last year after already having an established career in the Philippines.

“I started out in a pop punk band…We did the whole charade of touring, recording an album, music videos out for MTV and all that stuff,” Fonzy said.

The group, known as Drop Decay, ran their course for a few years, but eventually came to an end. It was then that Alfonso decided to make the transition into pop production.

“I spent so much time after the band broke up just trying to figure out how music technology works and that's what really got me interested and sort of reawakened or revitalized my love of music,” Alfonso said.

Everything that comes with this style of music was new to Fonzy and he welcomed the opportunity to step outside of his comfort zone.

“[I] had to change my whole attitude towards how I make music and where music is going and [started] thinking of what I should do if I was to consider this whole thing of a lifelong career,” he said.

Despite having some major success in the Philippines as Fonzy, he decided that if he was going to take his career to the next level he'd have to come to Canada and attend MIA. He did this to gain a better understanding of the North American music industry.

“The North American Music Industry is the biggest,” he said. “It dictates what the rest of the world listens to and as someone who's very interested in pop culture, pop music and shaping culture, I've gotta learn as much as I can from the program and absorb the technical skills that I wouldn't be able to get in Asia or anywhere else.”

Coming to Fanshawe has presented a number of opportunities both in and out of school for Fonzy. A big takeaway from his first year has been learning to juggle all of this and pace himself.

“There's so many talented people in the program and as an artist, as a producer you want to work with everyone. But you're only human and the amount of time that you have in a day is not enough. The amount of time that the semester allows is not enough,” Alfonso said. “Jumping between between personal projects and stuff you have to get done for school, it gets tough and you've gotta take care of your health.”

It took two months of navigating his program and getting to know the local music scene before Fonzy decided to release his single Forget U. The style of the track was partially inspired from seeing a performance by local legends Loud Luxury. “One of their singles Body was one of the reasons I decided to write something in that vein,” Alfonso said. “But then I wanted to inject some of my flavour.”

With the track already receiving a number of streams on major platforms, Fonzy said he credits a lot of the success to his online presence and branding.

“A lot of our media: video, music and photos, it's consumed online and I guess you can have a good song, you can be the most talented person in the world, but what people are looking for now… is something they consume as whole instead of just something they can take piece by piece,” he said.

Knowing this, Fonzy said he tries to take a realistic, down to earth approach with his social profiles.

“I respond to a lot of friends [and] I treat everyone that appreciates my music as friends. I just try to keep it honest,” Alfonso said. “I'm not one of those people on instagram that tries to fake followers or my life style. I mean, my lifestyle is what it is right now, I'm a student [and] I'm making music in my dorm.”

Fonzy recently released the official music video for “Forget U” and has been blown away by the support he's received from his friends at Fanshawe.

“I'm grateful for the amount of streams I'm getting and the amount followers and the support that MIA has shown me. Everyone here is new but for a first year, it's overwhelming the amount of friends that show up to some of the shows and actually share my music,” Alfonso said.

Despite his modesty, Fonzy's music is certainly worth the share and those interested in finding out more about him can got to Facebook.com/tonyalfonzy or follow him on Instagram @tonyfonzy.

His single “Forget U” can be found on major streaming platforms like Spotify and Apple Music. The official music video for this track can be found on YouTube.