MadLyn garden shot kmg featured ava live radio“I definitely owe a lot of my recent success to YouTube. I absolutely love the people I get work with; there’s nothing better than collaborating with other like-minded creative individuals who believe in your vision.” – @madlynmusic

 

Listen to the interview:  http://www.blogtalkradio.com/avaliveradio/2015/06/18/episode-240-ava-live-radio-behind-the-music-with-jacqueline-jax

Jacqueline Jax logo photoGETTING TO KNOW MadLyn
by Jacqueline Jax

Pursuing the Dream…
It seems to me I’ve been singing pretty much my entire life. I was fortunate enough to grow up with two artistic parents who loved me, and encouraged me to pursue my dreams. My mom was an actress and dancer, and my dad was a director, actor, and singer. In fact my dad was actually the first person to give me formal singing instruction when I was about seven. As most kids do, I started out by participating in local children’s theater groups, performing in musicals, like “The Wizard of Oz.” When I was kid, live theater was everything to me. I would have given anything to always be on stage singing, dancing and creating characters. I found applause infectious, and I remember after doing my first professional equity musical production of “Annie” telling my parents that I wanted to perform for the rest of my life. When I was thirteen, my world was turned upside down when my mother passed away from breast cancer. It was a tragic and true turning point for me. The idea that she would no longer be here wasn’t a concept that really settled in until many years later; I was in a daze. I remember on the very night of her memorial service, a family friend wanted to help my dad and I get our minds elsewhere, and she took us to an open mic at a restaurant in Beverly Hills. That night was the first of many Monday nights I would spent in Café Roma, singing pop and R&B tunes. The artistic community that gathered in this magical place became a new family in itself, and I was fortunate enough that my amazing and supportive father was dedicated enough to drive me up every week to take part in the music. This chapter was truly the beginning of my shift in focus from musical theater, to pure pop singing, piano playing, and songwriting.

What’s ahead..
I’m already really excited about my next single and music video which I believe we are aiming to release in August. It’s a really catchy yet thought-provoking tune, that I think a lot of people will relate to. It’s also going to show a turning point in my musical development. I can’t wait to continue sharing with the world, and I am hopeful and driven to continue creating both audio and visual works that inspire people.


If You Were Mine…
is a timeless romantic love story. I was fooling around on the piano one morning when I came up with with the melody for the chorus. It was one of those rare moments we get as songwriters, when a simple idea sparks the whole thing, and the entire song came pouring out. Within a half hour, the first edit of the song was finished. I remember it was a morning in which I was supposed to be going to the studio, and when I eventually got there, I immediately pulled my producer to the piano and began playing the tune. We both loved it and decided it would be the next song we record. After much fine-tuning, the final version of “If You Were Mine” was born. I was already envisioning the video for this during the recording process. I knew I wanted the theme to be about timeless love, and my whole team collaborated to come up with the video’s plot. I absolutely love the people I get work with; there’s nothing better than collaborating with other like-minded creative individuals who believe in your vision. I’m blessed because since my dad has such a heavy background in film, his contributions to making my songs come to life on screen are invaluable. The entire making of this music video was truly an amazing experience. There were certain things we knew we wanted to have for the production, but because we were working with a limited budget we didn’t know what would be possible. For instance, I knew I really wanted a horse in the video, but I didn’t know anyone personally who owned one. As fate would have it, we found out about a town here in Southern California called Chatsworth, with an abundance of ranches and stables. After many phone calls, we managed to reach a woman named Dana, whose ranch had previously been used for filming scenes for “True Blood.” We were amazed when she said she would be more than happy to let us use her facilities. She felt connected to me because of my mom passing away from cancer, and loved my first single and music video so much, that she was excited to have her ranch and favorite palomino horse Ozzy featured in the video. The entire making of this was a blessed experience, surrounded by truly good people. A lot of amazing memories were created, and new friends were made. -“If You Were Mine” Purchase Link-  http://hyperurl.co/fakh25

California..
I live in Southern California just about 20 minutes from Hollywood, in a place called The South Bay. It’s a great little spot close to the beach, and freeways, so it makes it convenient for getting around a lot of places. The music scene down here is pretty happening; we have a lot of great venues both in Hermosa & Redondo Beach, that attract a wide range of people from all walks of life. We also have several festivals with live music happening all year round. I definitely love hitting the bars and local coffee shops with friends and just simply catching up. Or, a lot of the times my friends and I will just chill at one of our houses and cook, write, or make flower crowns. MadLyn live at witzend

Social Media..
Social media is amazing! I really like that it has given all of us independent artists a platform for promoting and advertising ourselves without having to go through expensive PR companies, or being signed to a major label. The challenge is, since now everyone can create a Facebook fan page and post music to SoundCloud, it’s easier to get lost in the shuffle. I personally find the challenge exciting, because it means you really have to get creative in the way you promote yourself, and you have to make sure the product you are representing is the very best it can be.

Youtube…
I definitely owe a lot of my recent success to YouTube. It began with my first music video and single “Kiss Me Goodbye.” I’m sure a lot of my friends and family members found me annoying for how often I was asking them to subscribe, view, and share my music, but the way I see it is, every little bit counts. I had a “youtuber” friend of mine cover the song on saxophone, and because he already had a significant following, people began flocking to my channel, other big youtubers began giving me awesome shoutouts, and others began covering the song on their own channels. The video started getting featured on independent music sites and blogs, and the song began charting on several National Airplay Top 50 radio charts. It was because of the success of the first one, that my 2nd single and music video “If you Were Mine” have had great advantages. A lot of the same people, who now have become loyal fans, are coming back to watch and share the new song. The single and video for “If You Were Mine” were released on May 8th 2015, in honor of my mom’s birthday. In just a few weeks, the video has surpassed 55,000 views on YouTube, and the song has begun charting on various radio charts. I’ve learned it’s really all about cross-promotion, quality content, and being persistent. You really can’t care what people are going to think, or be embarrassed to promote yourself when your an independent artist. Plus, if it’s your creation, you should be proud of it! If you don’t go out of your way to share it with the world, only you will get to enjoy your work of art, and it won’t ever have the chance of impacting people’s lives.

 

MadLyn flower fixed

BIO:
Born into an artistic family, MadLyn began performing at age 3 and has been passionate about entertaining audiences ever since. Growing up in Southern California, she would begin to train her powerful vocals with a wide range of influences including Barbara Streisand, Whitney Houston, and Billy Joel. She tragically lost her mother to breast cancer when she was just 13, and after that began to immerse herself completely in songwriting and pop music. She later made the choice to honor her mother Madelyn, by taking on her name. Artistically choosing to drop the “e,” she would be known as MadLyn, in loving tribute of her mother.
After deferring her acceptance into the Berklee College of Music in Boston to study songwriting, MadLyn was cast in her first
feature film, “Elena Undone,” which premiered at Outfest in 2010. In addition to playing a supporting character in the movie, MadLyn wrote and recorded “Suddenly,” an original song that was featured in the film and on its soundtrack.
Years of developing her craft have now led MadLyn to writing songs for other artists, including European pop sensation,
Suzanna Lubrano, recording the title track for the film
“Wheels,” appearing on Jimmy Kimmel Live singing background vocals for bands like Youngblood Hawke, and recording vocals on the latest Jared Leto / Thirty Seconds to Mars album, “LOVE LUST FAITH + DREAMS.” MadLyn has also co-written with some of the music industry’s most prestigious songwriters including the legendary Billy Steinberg and Ken Hirsch.
MadLyn performs on a regular basis at various venues
throughout the US, entertaining audiences both as a solo act and with her other awesome band members. Her original music
combines honest and self-aware songwriting along with her quirky piano playing pop sensibilities, and her covers of classics and modern music always includes her own style and interpretation. Currently, MadLyn is the creator & host of the ongoing breast cancer fundraising music event, “The Siren Song,” which has a monthly residency at “The WitZend” in Venice Beach, CA. On February 17th 2015, MadLyn released her first official music video and single, ‘Kiss Me Goodbye.” Within the first month of “Kiss Me Goodbye’s” release, the music video on YouTube reached over 100,000 views, gaining popularity amongst twitter, Facebook, and other social media platforms. On March 21st 2015, the single reached its way to number 1 on the National Airplay Top 50 Independent Radio Chart.

-Social Media Links-