Most musicians use music as an escape from the pressures of their lives and the issues that they’re going through. For Hazel Allik, music has been her escape from her health issues, and she has used it as a source of motivation and inspiration to keep doing what she loves.
Allik is a singer known for her expressive blues and jazz-inflected vocal style, as well as her stylistic versatility. Allik is currently the frontwoman of the rock group Venus Teal and is an active member of the University of Connecticut’s jazz program, as well as being a former member of East on Eleven.
Allik’s musical journey began when she started playing piano at six years old, an instrument that she still holds in high regard. She also started playing drums when she was 13. As she went through high school, singing came to the forefront of her life as she became involved with her school’s choir and musical theater productions. She said that being involved in these helped increase her confidence as a singer, something that she lacked before.
But by the end of her senior year of high school, she began developing crippling pain in her wrists, fingers and other joints, leading her to stop participating in musical theater and temporarily give up piano. The pain worsened as she went to Wellesley College for her first semester in fall 2021 before being diagnosed with Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome, a condition that weakens the body’s connective tissues in joints. She then dropped out of Wellesley, taking a year off to heal and attend physical therapy.
She said that “it was a relief that I finally knew what was going on, but it changed my whole life to find that out” after she was diagnosed. During her time away from school, her doctors advised her against playing piano, which was tough for her to digest.
“It was really hard to be told by my doctors ‘music’s not for you,’” she said. “There’s a lot of other things I couldn’t do too. I stopped acting since I couldn’t be on my feet for a long time.”
After her year off, Allik enrolled at UConn’s Avery Point campus in Groton, Connecticut, hungry to get music back in her life again. She found an advertisement on Craigslist from Boston-based band East on Eleven looking for a singer influenced by Amy Winehouse. Allik was immediately interested since Winehouse is her favorite singer, noting that she immersed herself in Winehouse’s catalog while she wasn’t in school.
After successfully auditioning and joining the band, Allik performed with East on Eleven from summer 2023 to spring 2024. In the band, Allik performed original jazz-influenced singer-songwriter songs by the group’s guitarist Gary Rubin. She got to perform in various clubs, lounges and venues in the Greater Boston area, including The Jungle in Somerville, Massachusetts and The Lilypad in Cambridge, Massachusetts.
Commuting up to Boston on a weekly basis for shows took its toll, especially during the school year. Allik recalled one time when she had a show on a Tuesday night before having to race back down to Avery Point for an exam at 8 a.m. the next morning. But her experience with the band made her realize how important music is in her life.
“It was definitely a lot, especially with my health, going up and down to Boston and being in classes at the same time,” she said. “But that’s when I realized that regardless of what’s going on, I can’t live without music. And that’s how you know you should do it if you can’t see yourself living a fulfilling life without it.”
Not only did performing with the group make her realize the importance of music for her mental health; it was vital to her physical health as well. She shared, “When I was singing, I realized that’s when I feel my pain the least physically.”
Around the same time she joined East on Eleven, she found another ad on Craigslist for another group looking for a singer: Venus Teal. She admitted that she was skeptical of the grunge-based alternative rock group would be interested in a jazz-inspired singer like her. Her skepticism was proved wrong, as she joined the band in the summer of 2023 and has remained their frontwoman since.
Allik said that joining a rock band like this was “definitely different” from any other projects she had been involved in. She claimed, “I didn’t change my voice to fit it,” instead juxtaposing her vocals against the heavier instrumentation, creating a mix of sounds few bands offer in the Connecticut scene. She has also been the group’s main lyricist, a role that “was kind of thrown at me,” but one that she has embraced.
In addition to her work in Venus Teal and East on Eleven, Allik is also in the jazz program at UConn while pursuing a bachelor of music in jazz. Her involvement is notable because she is the first person who is in the program primarily as a singer, who performs with the program’s jazz combos. She is also slated to perform with the full UConn Jazz Ensemble this semester.
At the center of all of Allik’s musical endeavors is a passion for performing live. She shared that there’s nothing better for her than being able to connect with audiences and put on a good show, regardless of how many people are there.
“More than anything, the audience is what really makes it for me, having people recognize you sometimes or just making them happy and feel special,” she said. “And I love audience participation, making people have a good time and feel connected to each other.
“And no matter how few people are there, if I can make one person’s night a little bit better by showing them some tunes, then it’s worth it for me,” she said.