“When you start to be in the public eye and on social media it is always a little tricky. You never know when networking who can actually help, who is really interested and who just wants to use you. It’s challenging to read a person over emails or posts so you need to be very perceptive and careful but at the same time willing to give them a chance.” – @MorganGalavan

Listen to the Interview
Episode #310 : A.V.A Live Radio Behind The Music with Jacqueline Jax : http://www.blogtalkradio.com/avaliveradio/2016/03/30/episode-310-ava-live-radio-behind-the-music-with-jacqueline-jax

GETTING TO KNOW MORGAN GALAVAN
by Jacqueline Jax host of A.V.A Live Radio

Music business…
The music business is all so new to me, I am learning slowly about all the levels involved in making an image for myself as an artist as well as what goes into making a song a great song.

Pros and cons…
Since I haven’t been in the music business for long I couldn’t specify what has been bad or good so far, besides gaining supports and a few fans-which feels amazing and makes me so grateful that I’m able to share what I love doing with others.

Hurdles and pitfalls…
Again I haven’t been in the business for that long so I haven’t met with many hurdles except for the fact that it costs a lot to produce a radio quality original song as an independent artist. I am looking forward to see what other challenges are in my path and how I will handle them and what will come out of overcoming them.

Social media…
I like it- because you can meet many people who are interested in the same things as yourself as well it is an easier way to get your music out for the people to listen to and hopefully gain them as a fan.

Have you found any challenges that you’ve had to overcome…
When you start to be in the public eye and on social media it is always a little tricky. You never know when networking who can actually help, who is really interested and who just wants to use you. It’s challenging to read a person over emails or posts so you need to be very perceptive and careful but at the same time willing to give them a chance.

Singles vs an album…
At this point I have only released one single, with another coming later this month- so my opinion is pretty biased. I would love to release an album but as an artist who has just stepped into this business I believe singles work better to bring attention to an artist’s sound and image, always want to leave them wanting more right?

Right now I am focusing on gaining a fan base, so I am promoting my singles as much as possible along with the music videos to match each. I go to Facebook, Instagram and twitter to give my supporters any new news on the singles and the videos, keeping them interested until I release my next single.

I would love to have 5 minutes alone with…
I would love to sit down with Taylor Swift. I have been a huge fan of hers since she first started. I admire her because even when her sound changes you can tell she still is in love with what she does. She got to the point where she can be in charge of her own decisions and I think that is amazing. And even when she changed her sound from country to pop her fans stuck by her, she didn’t disappoint them.

There definitely is an emphasis on being up to date on the trends…
As someone trying to break into the business you need the help of the people, which means you need to show them that you are into what is trending. It shows that you are one of them as well as one who is worth the attention. That’s what I believe. But of course you still need to make your artistic decisions based on what you believe is right for yourself, even if sometimes it’s not what the people agree with. I’m not sure if I have found balance yet or if I’ve needed to, but when the day comes I’m sure it will be difficult.

I am most afraid of…
disappointing people and myself. I personally am a people pleaser, I love to make someone happy if I can, and with my single ‘The Time Is Now. I found that it made some people happy and some said they could relate to that feeling of needing to break free. But as I go further with my music I am scared I am going to let people down or that I won’t be good enough and my supporters will stop caring.

My personal definition of success is..
accomplishing something that you thought was impossible. To this day I am proud of myself for moving to a different country away from my family and friends. When I was eighteen. When I was boarding my plane I had a panic attack. I wanted to turn around right there and say “I’m not doing this”. But I didn’t, and now I’ve been here for two and a half years, and know this is where I was meant to be and needed to be to get the opportunities I’ve had. That to me was a huge success, no matter how scary and difficult it was at the time and sometimes still is.

My over all goal for my life & career is…
Making a living doing what makes me happy and doing what i love to do everyday- hopefully that includes my music and acting -simple as that.

3 Ways that I challenge myself…

1) I never say no to an opportunity, no matter how crazy or scary it might be. Either it will move me to the next level – or it will give me an experience to keep in mind when moving forward.

2) I try to learn as much as possible about something that I know will affect my outcome, such as the importance of social media to an artist. The more you know the better your understanding will be when something good or bad goes wrong.

3) Keep going. I know for myself I have days where it’s hard to get up and keep going- when really you only have yourself to motivate you. But as long as I do I know I am moving closer and closer to my goal – I feel I can do it.

I have been singing since the age of 12…
I have always been a dancer and was introduced to musical theater and then fell in love with performing and singing theater and pop.

The Time Is Now…
This is my first single. It tells the story of me leaving my small town at the age of 18 to move to Hollywood California to study acting and further my music career. I moved there 2 ½ years ago alone and it was a huge change from my home town of 6500 people where I’d lived all my life.

I met my co-writer and producer Jarod Farnes with Inventus Entertainment when I was an actor on another one of his client’s music videos. It was a long shoot and a few of us were goofing around, singing and dancing in between shots. A few days later Jarod called and asked me to send him a video demo of me singing – so I did and we co-wrote and then recorded my first single- ‘The Time is Now’.

I can’t recall anything in particular that was sad or funny but being in the recording studio for the first time and beginning the song I kept laughing at myself because it was so new and totally foreign to me and i had no clue what I was doing.

A big observation that I have made recently is that everyone is basically the same, we go through the same things and feel the same emotions, so with my music I want to have a universal understanding for each song, but still allow people to connect to it on a personal level. I want to let people know that others are going through the same thing, whether it’s good or bad. My songs are marketed by regular means such as iTunes, Soundcloud etc.

https://itunes.apple.com/ca/album/the-time-is-now-single/id1051059546

Canada…
Right now I live in Hollywood but i will be returning back to Alberta, Canada to shoot a movie next month and be there awhile. The music scene in Edmonton where I live near is very alternative rock, country and rock. It will be great to meet some of the local artists I have been networking with there since my first single came out and my next one “Just Friends” will be released in late March or early April.

When in Canada I will be traveling to do film and promote my music most likely to Vancouver and Toronto. Once I return to Los Angeles later this year, I want to continue working in LA on film and music and possibly move to New York to audition for more musical roles. I absolutely love to wake surf. I have attempted ocean surfing a hand full of times but one day I want to be able to surf along side the regulars.