By: Isabelle Speerin
It’s another whirlwind week for artist manager, Sandy Pandya. This time she’s riding high after bringing home three Canadian Music Week awards, one of which celebrates the community-building, mentorship, and wellness advocacy work she’s championing across the industry, a calling near to her heart.
As one of the few women of colour in the Canadian music industry who owns her own company, Pandya openly admits it’s been a long journey but her entrepreneurial spirit, hustle, and effortless ability to treat everyone like family, remains her secret sauce. Born in Kenya’s third-largest city, Kisumu, Pandya lived in Africa until she moved to Saskatchewan when she was ten, with little more than the clothes on her back. Her family moved often, and at one time her father owned one of the first Indian restaurants in Edmonton. After high school, Pandya lived and worked in a group home for children in care under the broader child welfare system in Saskatchewan. “Part of the deal was they would pay for my first few years of university,” she explained.
Pandya loved the children, but the intensity of working with troubled youth coupled with her studies in psychology eventually took a toll. She needed to find another way to financially support her academic career. Inspired by cafés in Europe, Pandya and her sister launched a multi-use café in Regina, featuring art exhibits, poetry readings, and local bands.
“Every gig would be sold out because people would trust the music – it was always the next big thing,” Pandya recalls.
Local bands turned into international acts, and it wasn’t long until Pandya relocated to Vancouver to work with music manager’s Allen Moy and Keith Porteous, and then to Toronto as Al Mair’s secretary at Attic Records, one of Canada’s most successful independent record companies at the time. Pandya transitioned to a marketing gig at BMG and a three-year stint at booking agency, Celebrity Talent International, before joining forces with like-minded music industry veteran, the late Skinny Tenn, to form an artist management company in the mid 90s.
“I ended up going home one Christmas to Regina and saw this band called The Waltons and I knew I had to manage them,” she said. “And so, my first two bands were the Waltons and Lowest of the Low.”
When Pandya branched out on her own in the early 2000s, she and Tenn amicably split their roster, which included Tegan and Sara, Hawksley Workman, The Cash Brothers, and Hayden. Pandya then added singer songwriters, Jully Black and Serena Ryder. Fast forward twenty years and today, Pandya heads up ArtHaus in partnership with seven-time JUNO award winner, Serena Ryder. ArtHaus sets itself apart by prioritizing community.
“The best thing that happened during the pandemic is that it gave us time to dream,” she explained. “And that’s when we really built what is now ArtHaus Media. “On one side is artist management, a record label, a publishing company, and recording studio. On the flip side is the not-for-profit ArtHaus Community, which provides holistic support to hundreds of emerging artists and entrepreneurs through experiential mentorship programs, mental wellness initiatives, and a multi-purpose live, work and event space.”
CMRRA’s service offering has become even more instrumental to Pandya now she’s entered the publishing space.
“I do a refresher course on publishing every year because it can be so confusing,” she admits. “What I really love is that CMRRA understands it all and anyone there can give you the low down in one phone call.”
Pandya’s current client list includes Adria Kain, Blair Lee, TALK, Nicolette & the Nobodies, and Paesler. Singer songwriter TALK took home Sync Artist or Songwriter of the Year’ at the 2024 Canadian Sync Awards, in ArtHaus Publishing’s first year.
Pandya says she’s often approached by emerging artists searching for an established, well-connected manager, despite friends offering to help.
“My dream is to publish a book called ‘My Homie Wants to be My Manager,’” she laughed. “If your friend wants to do it, you should let that person grow with you, because that’s how I started.”
She points out that the lift on artists these days is heavy. “I really feel for them,” she said. “Having to prioritize social media alongside songwriting and production is a full-time job so let your friends help produce your content.”
Her advice for those interested in pursuing a music industry career is to connect with trade associations, like Music Publishers Canada (MPC), Music Managers Forum Canada (MMF Canada) and the Canadian Independent Music Association (CIMA), and attend workshops and events.
“It’s about being in the mix, getting out there, and taking advantage of what’s being offered,” she said. “A lot of these events have a minimal fee to join or are free”.
Currently, ArtHaus Community in partnership with the City of Toronto is running On The Fly @ YTZ which brings emerging artists to perform at Billy Bishop Airport for five weeks of programming throughout the year.
This summer, emerging or established artists from across Canada could apply for free recording studio time through the On The Haus program, which is an initiative in its second year in partnership with Kinaxis and made possible by their joint venture, The Catapult Collaboration.
Pandya currently sits on the CIMA and FACTOR boards and was recognized for her contributions to the music industry with the MMF’s Brian Chater Industry Award in 2018, and Honour Roll Award in 2019. In 2023, she won Women in Music Canada’s inaugural Trailblazer Award.
To learn more about the ArtHaus community, visit www.arthausmusic.com.
