2 young artists from Fresno release song inspired by pandemic

FRESNO, Calif. (KFSN) -- If the best songs come from experience, two local musicians have plenty of material during this pandemic.

The young artists collaborated on a song they already had in the works.

And when they started writing the lyrics, their inspiration took the track in a direction that reflected feelings of isolation during these trying times, but with hope at the end.

23-year-old Mikaela Harris puts the finishing touches on her vocal for a new song that seems tailor-made for the times.

The San Joaquin Memorial High School graduate, homecoming queen, and 2013 Miss California Outstanding Teen, now lives in southern California to pursue her music career but has been back home in the Valley during the pandemic.

"It's been really interesting to see the kind of songwriting that comes with this situation," she says.

And it's this situation that inspired Mikaela and her friend and fellow musician Jay Zamora to collaborate on Jay's new track with an uplifting message titled 'By Your Side'. It's now available on Spotify, iTunes, Sound Cloud, and other major streaming platforms.

"I want to inspire people so this has helped me accomplish that goal," says Jay.

23-year-old Jay goes by the professional name Jaisua and his work is well-known around the world.

"Switzerland, New Zealand, UK.... places I've never even heard of, they message me and say they love my music, which is inspiring because I'm just a kid from Fresno," he says.

The Buchanan High School grad's love of music started when he was a pre-teen and now his work has 14 million streams on Spotify.

'By Your Side' was a track just "sitting on his laptop" until he and Mikaela brought it to life.

As independent artists, Mikaela and Jaisua handle all the marketing, promoting, and release of a new project and hope to help other aspiring musicians, especially from the Valley, reach for their dreams.

For more news coverage on the coronavirus and COVID-19 go to ABC30.com/coronavirus