“You can reach so many people at once with social media and make your fans feel like they are a part of your life for real.” – @audreyxofficial
Episode #275 : A.V.A Live Radio Behind The Music with Jacqueline Jax
http://www.blogtalkradio.com/avaliveradio/2015/11/18/episode-275-ava-live-radio-behind-the-music-with-jacqueline-jax
GETTING TO KNOW AUDREY X
by Jacqueline Jax host of A.V.A Live Radio
Music business…
So far I have been extremely lucky with almost only positive feedback. I’m really trying to focus on the good parts but unfortunately it is the “bad” stuff that sticks the most. The music business today is harder in the sense that the big labels don’t have the same power. Today it is possible to do everything on your own – extremely hard but possible.
I find, as a woman the business progressing towards equality but there still is a way to go. Almost every gig I go to only has male musicians and looking at the top charts in the world – there still is a male dominance. I am so happy people like Ellie Goulding and Tove Lo are pushing boundaries and are ending up on the charts. It is a jungle and there will be a lot of sharks on the way but it is all part of a life that I would like to live.
Social media…
You can reach so many people at once and make your fans feel like they are a part of your life for real. Social media can also be a con since bullies and haters have easy access to you. Like I said, I am grateful that a lot of stuff can be done on your own since I am not signed yet but it’s also a con since it is really hard to network when you don’t have anywhere to start.
I think in the end it is about being true to yourself and not allowing anyone but yourself to define who you are and your self worth. I like the fact that you can communicate with a lot of people and somehow seem close to a lot of people. You can share your life and the things you go through sort of together.
My instagram for instance is sort of a diary. I don’t have to write anything on my computer or in a book – the memories are there online and I can look at them whenever I want. It is a way to remember your life in pictures instead of words.
Challenges…
Yes – of course not everyone can love you and there will always be haters out there. People write negative comments that have absolutely nothing to do with your music or your performance; they just want to bring you down. It is about “rising above” and just realize the fact that they don’t know you and your personality. They are lashing out for some reason to make themselves feel better.
Not having a label when you start out and also being rejected by labels – or rejected at all, hurts. Maybe it’s not personal but it always feels personal. My motto in life has turned out to be “in a hundred – one will say yes”, so just keep going.
Singles vs an album…
I think for me releasing “Volcano” as a single is a smart move because I can start to build a fan base releasing another single in January and hopefully a few more people will know about me in January than they did in August. The hope, for me, is to release an EP in May 2016. After that I hope that the summer will bring a lot of gigs and I can market myself in that way. We have a lot of small festivals and stuff like that here.
When the EP is released I will try to gig more and do a little promotion tour in the UK and the US. It would be a very short show if I did that now just releasing one single.
I would love to have 5 minutes alone with…
Tove Lo. First of all I love her music, her integrity and her whole persona. She is a phenomenal performer as well, I have only seen her once at a charity concert but I will be attending her concert here in Stockholm on November 14th. She inspires me to be less concerned with the perfection and to let go and just trust “it”. She makes me want to be a better musician and a better performer.
Being current and trendy…
There is a lot of emphasis yes on being current and trendy and I think most of the artists today (in pop) are concerned with this. If you stray to far there is a fear of losing fans but at the same time you have to be true to what you really want to do or you’ll be miserable and not wanting to perform at all. For me, I take inspiration of current people and try to interpret it into something that I can stand for and something that I will be proud of.
I have always been a person that wants to be heard…
If I wasn’t singing I was talking and the other way around. Sometimes a dinner could take three hours just because I was singing and talking so much. I started out in a church choir and then turned to my local music school. After a while I decided I wanted more “professional” help – I started taking lessons once a week with a vocal coach.
I believe that music is my way to express my feelings and to deal with my emotions. I love being on stage – it is a phenomenal kick and the fact that you can help people overcome hard times in their own lives, I think that is my drive.
” Volcano”
It is about not needing anyone but yourself. It’s about a girl/woman who is her own person and her own queen. Often people believe they have you all figured out but you don’t have me all figured out. It shows that my life is my scene and my show. For me the word of the title “Volcano” stands for power and fierceness.
My producer, Christoffer Lauridsen is also the writer of the song, along with two other songwriters. We started recording bright and early and we finished recording all the parts for it in one day. It is my first single so it was an amazing progress to actually hear what my first ever single is going to sound like. I remember being nervous the whole day before – I didn’t sleep very much the night before. It turned out great tho, we had fun, we laughed through it and we got a lot done. We even managed to have some lunch out in the sun.
You can expect pop in its prime here on my single “Volcano”…
It is happy, catchy and it’s edgy. This single will always mean a lot to me since it’s my first and hopefully I’ll still be singing it further down the line. I am releasing another single in January, which will be a little more mature, and I am hoping to widen my audience with the next single. Volcano is a great song to boost confidence and it really gets you going and that was the aim we had when we recorded it.
My wish with the single is to have something to show the world. I wish to start building a fan base and just have something to show and that marks the start of what hopefully will be a long career. It is supposed to be a springboard to make me go further and upwards. I released it on iTunes first via an aggregator called Spinnup. Then it got released on Spotify etc. I did a music video that I released a few weeks after to show people who I am and what kind of person I am. My ultimate goal at the moment is to find a label that I can work with and get a licence-deal. That allows me do still do my music and have help with marketing, radio etc.
I live in Stockholm, Sweden…
The music scene here is very different from when I lived in London and Edinburgh. We have music bars and stuff like that but not in the same extent. Here you kind of already have to “be someone” or have a label backing you to perform. There are a few places tho that when I have more material I would like to perform. There is a lot going on music wise here in Stockholm tho which I love – there is always a concert or something like that going on.
Things to do…
1) Fasching, anything and everything that has to do with jazz happens here
2) Debaser, James Bay, Tove Lo and others perform here. It started out as a live rock venue and it holds a lot of concerts every year.
3) Globen (The Globe) This is the arena where Beyoncé, Sting and Madonna perform whenever they are playing in Stockholm, Sweden.
One thing I like to do that is music related is to just go see others perform. I learn a lot and meeting new people is something I love to do. It gives me a boost to want to push harder and get “somewhere” myself.
One thing that is not music related is that I love to ski. Honestly, during the cold Swedish winter it is my favourite thing. I try to go skiing at least two weeks every year.
I am most afraid of…
Losing my voice. I can’t even think about it without getting all shivery in my body and sad. It is such a big part of my life and mostly, for me, it’s about expressing feelings. Sometimes if I am going through something and I can’t talk about it, I sing about it. Not to anyone, but for myself when I am practicing.
My personal definition of success is..
I want so much but I think my definition of success is when I can be a respected musician (by other musicians) and also be true to the performer I want to be. I want to take risks and put on a show, but I still want to keep my integrity.
I am proud of making Volcano and making it on the radio without a label. It might not be heard on the biggest channels here in Sweden but I am being played in Taiwan, Australia, the UK and so on. I am proud of myself for not allowing myself to be sad and blue about not getting any “attention” in my own country.
My over all goal for my life & career is…
I try to live my life in the way that I set small goals and achieve them and then set another one. My dream is of course to play all the big arenas – I would love to headline at Glastonbury. Mostly I want to spread love (as corny as that sounds) and try to make a difference in the world by building schools and hospitals in places in the world where it’s needed. For my life I am aiming to always listen to my gut and make decisions based on what I want and NOT what anyone else wants me to do.
3 Ways that I challenge myself and how each one moves me forward towards my goal.
1) Set a goal – example: get Volcano played on the radio, and so I worked on that for a few weeks and I am extremely surprised and happy with the feedback I have received and I am so grateful to every single person who plays the song and who listens.
2) Watch bad auditions on YouTube. It makes me want to practice harder and become the best singer I can possibly be.
3) I challenge myself by aiming higher all the time. You won’t get anywhere thinking the same thoughts everyday – to make it big you have to think big and take risks.
Social Media:
www.audreyx.com
www.instagram.com/audreyxofficial
www.facebook.com/audreyxofficial
www.twitter.com/audreyxofficial
http://www.amazon.com/Volcano-Single-Audrey-X/dp/B013D6TIB4
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6p3FS8k2X0w