The Artist Rise #016
Welcome to your weekly resource for all things branding, release strategy, and overall artist development.
Every week I'll help you tackle brand-building and strengthen your artistry by asking questions that dig deeper into your true artist self. Let's get into it.
The Question
This week's question: Where did your music journey begin?
If you're familiar with Why Music? (shameless podcast plug), then you've heard this question before.
But your story is what made you, so let's get dive in.
The Importance
Your story is what makes you "you", it's what has happened to get you to where you are now and paved the way for you to make the music you make today.
Where you come from is always a part of you, whether you like it or not.
But it influences how you make music.
For example, I've had a few different artists come on Why Music? and start their story with musical theatre. And I'm never surprised.
Why? Because I can hear it in their songs.
A great example of this is Carina Marie.
Her melodies and chord structures have theatre background written alllll over it. It's part of what makes her music really hers.
Same goes for artists that started as musicians, grew up in choir, or were raised in a musical family. There's always a hint of it (at least) in their music.
Think back to your first moment where music really meant something to you or when you first dove into it.
Follow the steps you took from where it started and take note of what major moments came along the way.
I'll use myself as an example. When I think of my music story I think of:
- Starting piano lessons in 5th grade
- Writing my first piano track at 14
- Adding lyrics to my abilities at 16
- Recording my first album at 18
- Taking guitar class in college
- And starting my most recent artist project in 2022
Now what shows through in my music most is where I started: piano. Most (not all, but most) of my songs start from a piano foundation. Until recently, that's how I wrote everything.
Writing lyrics coming later also fed into the way I make music today because I pour as much into the music itself as I do the words.
Arrangements are one of my favorite things, not gonna lie.
Then, I went to college for music production and learned how to properly record instruments (you don't even want to know what I was doing before then). And learning that opened a lot of doors and potential for me in what I was able to do myself when it came to producing my own music.
A lot of it can be self-explanatory, but you can also dig a little deeper.
I tried writing lyrics for two years before it finally happened, so when it did, I learned to let the lyrics add to the equation rather than dominate it.
I always struggled with my own voice, so it wasn't until 2022 that I featured my voice on my own songs, so I fell into melodies and keys that were more "me" than the stuff I wrote before.
And restarting my artist project that same year gave me a new slate to build on with everything I'd learned up to that point and tell stories in a new way that really felt like me.
The point is, your stepping stones are the foundation of what has gotten you to where you are today. And those stepping stones are going to stick with you and shape you into who you are as an artist now.
If I'd learned a different instrument, went to college for something different, or stuck with the original foundation I'd built as a so-called "artist project", I wouldn't be the kind of artist I am now.
And not in any grand "I'm all that" kind of way, but to further the point that steps (whether they are forward, lateral, or otherwise) shape you and your journey as a whole.
Your Task
Create a timeline of what big music-related moments make your story. Look at where you started and see what big things you did along the way to get to where you are now.
Compare it to your music today and the way you approach being an artist. What falls in line? What feels like a surprise turn of events? Connect the dots that stick out most.
Then go back, dig deeper, see what those experiences led to in terms of your core artist values.
What do you prioritize? What do you find to be the hardest part of being an artist? What parts of who you are came from your setbacks or deeper moments along the way?
The goal is to gain a deeper understanding of the core of your artistry and the foundation that got you to where you are now.
If you understand your foundation, including what's below the surface, you are even more empowered to build an artistry that will carry you forward.
-Ava
Talk it out: As previously promised, I want you to provide the opportunity to talk this out and explore it further, so you're welcome to share your origin/growth story in a reply to this email, or chat about it with me.
That's it for this week! Hopefully this helped you take the next step in developing yourself as an artist and a brand. Stay tuned for more next week.
If you have any topics you want to see more of or any questions you'd love for me to answer, simply reply to this email.
Keep learning and growing,
Ava Rose Lynch
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