Michelle Forziati – Once More

When Michelle Forziati needs to lift herself up, she gets down low. Literally.

The Massachusetts pop and R&B singer, actor, and dancer has a certain routine when she’s feeling a creative outburst, physically lying on the floor to write music and lyrics. It’s a spiritual ritual for the Medford native, most notably known for portraying Jill Hurley in the 2017 Boston Marathon bombing biographical drama film Stronger alongside Jake Gyllenhaal, and it’s one steeped in humility and compassion.

Both literal and metaphorical, the notion of going low to elevate her mindset is at the core of new single “Once More,” a hazy twirl of alt-R&B and atmospheric empower-pop that feels like a warm embrace.

Like the multi-hyphenate’s pair of 2024 singles in the emphatic “Stranger” and the swirling  “Strings,” this sleek new composition is a portal into Forziati’s world, a motivational bop where heartfelt lyricisms, hypnotic beats, and entrancing guitarwork from collaborator Dylan Gagnon all twist and ache through a rising artist’s lens of real life’s highs and lows.  

“‘Once More’ is about falling into failure or hard times, and finding the courage to always stand up just once more,” Forziati says. “It’s about finding the courage to get up and take action in life. It’s about resolution and release after recognizing hardships. Life is a dance, and in dance we take steps forward and steps back. As long as we’re moving, that’s the most important part.” 

A former ballroom dance instructor, Forziati wrote “Once More” during one of the hardest periods of her life, experiencing personal and professional setbacks and enduring all the ups and downs that come with life in the 2020s. Going through a rollercoaster of emotions, she does what she always does in times of needed creativity – she gets down on the floor and writes.

Like the lyrics in “Once More” suggest, she opens up her heart and mind and pours her feelings into lyrics, like entries to pages on a diary, singing: “I’m sitting down on the floor / Tryna get situated / to stand up once more / Gotta pick myself up / Gotta get off the floor / I keep doing it once more.”  

And that “once more” is key, because she’s been there before and knows she’ll be there again. But for this moment, there is the need to rise up.

“This single is allowing me to start over – and it’s always OK to start over,” she admits. “I end the song saying I’m not afraid anymore and even though life’s beautiful ride brings fears, I refuse to allow the fear to control me in a sense that keeps me from doing the things I love.”

Knowing we’re all going through hardships, with some battles appearing closer to the surface than others, Forziati hopes that her music can help others power through. Her background in acting and dance helps shape her musical vision, all crystallizing through an artistic expression that’s unlike others in the Boston music scene. 

“Acting helps me find the truth in what is; the rawness of storytelling and finding the truth in what I’m saying,” she adds. “Dance helps me feel and become one with the music. It forces me to feel, especially when I’m writing something sad. When I write, I’m trying to find the truth in my words, even if it’s a song that isn’t lived by me. Dancing helps me figure out what would be felt, how to emotionally respond to this, and how to become visible and audible. It helps a great deal. It provides avenues of creativity to flow, to form and become something meaningful.” 

Mixed and mastered by Monty Dale at Graybeard Recording Studio in Framingham, “Once More” has a magnetic allure, one that’s both personal and universal. Forziati crafted the track utilizing beats from BeatStars, and weaved her lyrics across the slow-burn vibe of the backbeat. Gagnon’s guitar acts as the connective tissue, and what emerges is a confident tapestry of calm, cool, and collected storytelling.

“Dylan Gagnon played those beautiful guitar riffs throughout the song; I’m such a big fan of him and how he expresses himself through music,” Forziati says. “He has this soul that to me is absolutely captivating. Such a beautiful tone. His conversation with music is inspiring to hear. And Monty is a master at coaching me through different variations and his skills at mixing and mastering just blow me away. He creates this safe space for me to relax, record and get in the zone of my feelings.”

She adds: “Monty is brilliant at capturing the emotion behind the mic, not just the in and out process. He captures the emotion and for me that’s the most important because music is meant to be felt. It’s meant to make us feel even if we don’t want to at times. It’s healing. I’m extremely honored to work with both him and Dylan.”

Where “Stranger” was a healing journey about strengthening her faith and her relationship to God, and “Strings” positioned a notion that falling so in love with music – and in a parallel theme, a person – can ultimately manipulate emotions, “Once More” reflects inward. It’s a healing path for self-discovery, acceptance, and realization.  

“So far the songs I have released are stories that sit with me,” Forziati admits. “Whether it’s something I need to learn, have learned, or need to experience. Not to say that the feelings I have are no longer there or will be gone once the song is out there. It’s just part of the healing journey. The community is in sharing our stories in hopes it can comfort or help another.” 

Forziati knows life is hard, and the world can be cruel. But that requires an even greater reliance on the arts, on physical expression, on personal awareness.

“It’s crucial for an artist to stay active in difficult times,” she admits. “Artists tend to feel things on a different level of depth because an artist expresses what others feel. When we ourselves stay active we become a vessel of expression for ourselves and others. The arts free us. It frees us from the barriers and gives us hope and inspiration. Can you imagine life without music, movies, art, dance? These provide us with inspiration to then innovate for the world. It sparks that creativity and release to live life fully and beautifully.”

And that first step is quite literal. It helps us get up off the floor once more. 

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