Mental Health, Music & Community with Artist and VTS Student Ari Welkom (aka Avatari)

This week on From Singer to Artist, we’re joined by actor, artist, and VTS student Ari Welkom, aka Avatari, for a powerful conversation about music, healing, and being real.

After struggling with addiction, Ari found his way back to himself through music—and created Mental Health & Music, a collaborative space for artists to talk about the connection between creativity and mental wellness.

We also talk about why authenticity attracts the right fans, how singing is deeper than sound, and what it really means to use your voice as a tool for connection.

Whether you’re coming back to music after a hard season, or just trying to figure out how to show up more fully in your art—this one’s for you.

 

📍Mentioned Resource:

Instagram:  @avatariworld

YouTube: @AVATARI

Check out my guest episode on Metal Health And Music (Ari’s podcast) here: https://open.spotify.com/episode/5OQdN2Mc25b1nuilMnGuOr?si=522d6f1c057b4873

👉 Want to make practicing easier? Grab our FREE warm up track here: https://lessons.voxtapestudios.com/free-warm-up-track

👉 Not sure what your voice needs to improve? Get a vocal evaluation from our professional coaches here: https://lessons.voxtapestudios.com/vocal-evaluation

👉 Book a 1:1 session with Coach Lara: https://lessons.voxtapestudios.com/trial-lesson

🔔 Subscribe & follow for new episodes every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday!

Episode Transcript

(00:00):
the flip side is I

(00:01):
I think when I came to you guys also my
my mind was opening up to also
not wanting to be limited to that
so it was like I wanted to
continue to work on being able to use that tool
and I was like
could I also be more of a versatile singer
yes cause I think part of me felt like

(00:22):
my voice can just only do this thing
you know and I can do this and I feel comfy doing it
and you know
people tell me they think it sounds good
um
does that mean that I can't also
like sing some type of pop song

(00:48):
hey voxstar and welcome to from singer to artist
I'm Lara Chapman award winning singer and songwriter
turned viral vocal coach and the host of this show
at Voxtape Studios
we help singers from all over the world
level up their voices
by teaching them the three fundamental skills
all singers need technique
awareness and artistry whether you're looking to go pro

(01:09):
or just develop your voice for fun
my team and I are here to help
check the link in the description
to book your first session
or grab some of our other resources
Alrighty are you ready
let's get started
coming to you from LA today because I've got a very
very special guest with me here
and I'm so
excited to introduce you to the special guest
oh my gosh we have a lot of different connections

(01:31):
how we ended up here is really weird
and we're gonna get into the story
but this is a fellow um musician
singer artist and also a student of ours
welcome avatari hey Laura
hi Ari
yeah Ari Avatar
you got it are you welcome
Avatar artist name

(01:51):
many names many names
how are you I'm great
thank you so much for being here
taking the time out of your busy
schedule to meet with me absolutely
thanks for having me of course
and talk to all of us about your lovely story
and how you ended up here
because you've got a lot of stuff going on
oh the story
the story um gosh uh

(02:13):
so what I'm thinking what angle to take with the story
but
um yeah
so I'm in Los Angeles and I feel like I was kind of
always destined to come here
because I am a musician but I'm also an actor
and I've always loved to kind of wear those 2 art forms
and expressions intersect hmm um

(02:36):
so that's part of my story is the uh
entertainment and kind of fusing music and songwriting
and singing and acting together
and that's what I love to do now really um
I love to do all those things
and I love when those things do cross
like in music videos or uh
you know creating music that goes in film or TV and

(02:59):
and stuff like that so that's part of my story
um the other
you know one other part of my story is that uh
like I think I
in some ways always knew that I was a musician
and an artist at heart like when I was a little
little kid like 5 or six
there were a couple opportunities to like

(03:19):
jump on stage and do a talent show
and one was uh
I sang Tutty
Fruity by Little Richard at a talent show when I was 5
I love Little Richard I just
that one that's the one
oh yeah
yeah yeah
um and so there were
you know anytime there was a chance to like
get on stage and perform another one

(03:40):
like
I got to do Michael Jackson Thriller when I was 6 or 7
and um
so but the other thing was that I
I had a lot of things that I really liked to do
and different things in my life
as a young person that were driving me
um I was into sports
I was into academics

(04:00):
and I had really big goals and drive
like I
with sports I wanted to like play football in the NFL
and with academics I knew I wanted to go to like
the best school that I could possibly go to
and so that drove me
and it kind of took up a lot of the space that
maybe focusing on music would have

(04:22):
um I also grew up in a musical family
and my dad is in the music business oh
and why do you know that yeah
yeah he's um
a rock concert promoter and so he also is
was a musician like he played guitar
um
when he was you know
10 years old to 30 years old and he was in like a 60s

(04:46):
70s rock band and in fact
like one of his stories is
he got to open for the doors
at one of those shows where Jim Morrison was like
too wasted to actually go on
and so his band
my dad's band had to play for like two sets until yeah
Jim Morrison sobered up and but um
that's hilarious anyway
so I was around music

(05:08):
but because my dad was kind of in the music industry
I kind of
also got to see the other side of it a little bit
where it almost felt like
that's not really a realistic career pursuit
you know because I was so close
I didn't have any um
like it was just clearly I saw all the kind of

(05:31):
size of what it would probably take to do it
so I kind of just said you know what
I think I'm maybe I'm not gonna do that
instead of kind of just going for
following my heart with creating music
and not worrying about where it might lead
so anyway um
then I got to college and I did go to Harvard
which was kind of my goal yeah

(05:51):
which was amazing and an amazing opportunity
but what happened was I had a moment of kind of um
I would say like I got over this giant hurdle
and then I didn't know what would
what to do next
like I had done the thing and then at the same time
all these other things were coming into my life as like

(06:14):
possibilities um
girls yeah uh
partying yeah uh
drugs and alcohol and so I just
and I've been a kind of good boy for so long
that the part of me that wanted to keep doing that
kind of broke and it was time
in retrospect I think it was inevitable

(06:35):
you know but um
it LED to me over a few years just losing my mind and
and ultimately crashing and burning
and I'm pretty young though
so I
I kind of maybe got it out of my system and hit a
you know
what is referred to in some circles as a bottom
and fortunately for me

(06:56):
I had a window of opportunity and some support
and I wound up getting clean and sober
and so that set off a whole new journey
and at the same time I was in Los Angeles pursuing
you know
career as an actor and musician and all that and so
and that's really where when all that happened
I kind of went from

(07:17):
what am I gonna do in the next phase of my life
what do I really wanna do
I had majored in economics
I did play football in college and
I just I knew that I wanted
my heart was yearning for a different path
and so I kind of went back to that
the little boy who jumped on stage and sang

(07:38):
Tutti Frutti is what came back to me
yeah and I just started playing music
and it was really like my
my soul remedy um
especially on those nights where I was
you know get
I was getting clean
it was at the beginning of my sober journey
and I needed um
an outlet
and so I had a guitar and I had my voice and I had

(08:01):
you know pen and paper to write lyrics and stuff
and I just and it just started coming out of me
and so anyway that's over the last
you know 10+ years been my journey and it's turned into
oh shit
this is like what I wanna do
yeah uh
you know I don't know about for the rest of my life I
I hesitate to say that cause it well

(08:23):
you never know but what you never know
but I absolutely love it you know it's
it's you know
and it also the the people part of it
like it's drawn me to amazing
other humans that are like minded
um so I forget what the initial question was
just your story my story yes
so I think that sums it up
really well I mean yeah
that's that's amazing you know
every time we meet and we can dig into how

(08:45):
how we met but every time we meet and I see you
there's a new thing that I learn about you and I'm like
what what what
it's just like you it's a lot of wet
there's a lot like but you
you've done so much like you're
you're you're
you're so accomplished and and you've
you've worked so hard in your life and you've
you've um

(09:05):
you've done just so many amazing things and it's like
oh he did that too and that and that and it's like wow
does it ever end hahaha
and you're still so young
just a little spring chicken
like I like to say
but so how we met is through modern musician and I uh
I reached out to to Modern Musician and

(09:26):
and you were you were the person answering
and so you were kind of like my first contact there
and then
we started working together through Modern Musician
and then eventually
you ended up taking voice lessons with us
so now you are a student here too
and you're working with Coach Emily
oh
yeah seriously
yes Box Tape Studios

(09:48):
we try we try no
you do way more than try yeah
well thank you
thank you we love what we do and I hope that shows
I'll
I'll definitely be praising you and Emily and Vox tapes
very much during this
this conversation we'll
we'll get there well
thank you yeah
so you uh
you work at Modern Musician

(10:08):
can you tell us a little bit more about uh
what you do there and how you ended up there
yeah for sure
yeah that was one of those moments um
where I was kind of just following
intuition opportunity just
you know one thing LED to
to another and it LED to a oh

(10:30):
this is a place that I'm supposed to be in life
you know like
I don't know if it's God or magic or just
you know the universe
the universe you know
whatever you would call it
but uh
definitely like a series of events
so um
Modern Musician is a marketing company for musicians

(10:53):
and now now we're also a
a software company um
helping musicians grow their fan bases
and monetize their music
it's really like the kind of creating a
a path in the new music industry
for a independent musician
to be able to run their business and succeed
um our philosophy is like

(11:14):
this is the best time in independent music
to be a musician it's right now
because all of the technology
and there's just a huge explosion of what's available
which didn't always used to be the case you
you used to need gatekeepers and
you know record labels and managers and
to be able to get to certain levels

(11:35):
and now it's really about how are you
going to create a business model
using everything that's available
between social media and ads and
you know creating offers
things to sell and all that
so anyway that's what Modern Musician does
but
the way that I came to Modern Musician was during the
the pandemic um

(11:57):
and the pandemic had just started and I was getting
right before that
I was getting ready to launch my solo project Avatar
um previously I'd been in bands in LA for a few years
like five years or so pounding the pavement
um kind of old fashioned way
like just playing shows touring

(12:18):
trying to build fans through playing live
um and I had some great times
I got to play some cool festivals and had moments of
like oh
it's it's happening
it's happening but what would always happen is um
you know one thing would always lead to another
and the band would just
something would happen and the band would fall apart
so I Learned a few things

(12:40):
I Learned was you know one
I think I want to be a solo artist
because I want to be in the driver's seat
and I don't want a bunch of things
too many variables to be able to like yeah
like break the the whole mission into pieces
so I Learned that and then um
also I knew that I needed to learn a more modern way

(13:03):
to approach
growing a fanbase and releasing music
so I had some friends um
and one in particular that I saw doing well online
her name is Savannah Pope
do you know Savannah yeah
I've never met her but I
we're somehow we somehow follow each other
oh cool
Facebook friends yeah
you should be yeah
you're both awesome and

(13:23):
and she's um an LA artist with like an amazing voice
super expressive and we're
we happen to be friends in this scene
and I said you know
what are you doing how are you
how are you doing what you're doing
and she said modern musician
and so wow um
I just looked him up and I applied and I
and I just jumped in and so
there's a coaching program that was three months long

(13:45):
that's intensive and basically taught me how to
you know market myself as a musician
at the time I actually didn't even know what my my
you know project name was okay
and so
there's a whole part at the beginning about artist
identity you know
and building your brand and stuff like that and your
your artist story and your journey
and it helped me find that

(14:06):
that name and I found my logo and all this cool stuff
but I also found out how to use
you know Facebook and Instagram
and create ads and find fans and live stream
and so I started building this little thing
during the pandemic at a time where I was like
you know man
I'm just want getting ready to launch this thing

(14:26):
and live music is shut down basically
so um
but the other thing that happened was
when I went through the the program at the end
they asked me if I wanted to learn
how to coach and join the team okay
and so I just I had such an amazing experience
and I loved the people that was the other thing

(14:47):
I really loved
the people and the mission of what they were doing
to empower you know musicians and it was like
oh man this feels great
so I just said yes and I I not only did I say yes
but it was one of those moments where I
I said to myself cause I also really needed a job too
um because it was the pandemic and yeah
so and I have a family I

(15:08):
you know at the time I had my wife and 1 uh son
I have two now but um I was like
um this is perfect
and so I'm going to throw myself into this
whatever they need whatever they ask me to do
I'm just gonna say yes so unfortunately
they were growing that we're we're still growing a lot

(15:30):
but yeah
at the time they were kind of making this leap to
to a next phase of being a business
and so there were all these opportunities
and one of which was um
launching a podcast oh
no way really yeah
oh OK
yeah and um
there was a guy my my good friend there Jared

(15:50):
yes love Jared
yeah Jared's awesome
and he had wanted to launch a podcast
for modern musician so he
he wanted to do it and
and I remember there's like a meeting and he said
I feel like I could use a wingman
is there anybody here and I just went
I'll do it like I knew nothing about podcast at all
wasn't a podcast guy
but I just knew I wanted to help and be a part of it so

(16:12):
um I got to co
produce and launch the Modern Musician podcast
and that was an amazing experience
um you know
we we hit No. 2 on the Apple Podcast new music charts
and um
and it's become this whole way that we connect with
amazing partners from
on a musician yeah
and so that's how that's how we met

(16:34):
that's how we met yeah
through the podcast and you were kind of like my my
facilitator is that the word I'm looking for
like the the person who
you know schedules everything
and I like that yeah
we'll go
however you just said facilitator
that was very I was like
is the a coming first or the L facilitator

(16:57):
facilitator facilitator facilitator
yeah that um
but yeah
and you were so fun to work with and easy to work with
and I was like oh
I like this dude
and then we met in person for the first time where
here in LA yeah
it was in LA a couple summers ago yeah

(17:18):
yeah uh
summer of 23
23 sounds right yes
yup summer of 23
we met here in person
and it was just so fun to hang out with you there
and then um yeah
and then we've met a couple times
just at all these different modern yeah Hawaii
Hawaii was awesome yep
you were in Denver too Denver for a little bit

(17:41):
that's right right around your birthday
yeah um
and oh no Orlando was Orlando
yeah we're just like so many yeah
Orlando was your birthday um
but Denver and then Puerto Rico
I did not get to go to Puerto Rico
that was the one that I missed
that's right yeah yeah

(18:02):
see for me
it's like all these modern musicians of that
you're just there I know
and then but yeah
you miss that one but yeah yeah
a couple people miss that one
we had a good time but we missed you
see my brain is like
you're there
I'm there I am in Puerto Rico
you're always there you're always there
um are you gonna be in Orlando again
that's the plan that's the plan

(18:23):
yeah cool
very cool yeah
I do have a show that next week um
so I think there'll be time to do both but um yeah
very cool yeah
very cool yeah
I mean you're
you're so you're working with modern musician
um you have a big role there
and then you also have your solo project Avatar

(18:44):
yeah right
so we heard a little bit of your story of
you know how you got
how you got into that and how you're marrying it with
like you were doing acting as well
weren't you
like on days of our lives or something like that
I did I had a little run on days of our lives um
played a a bad guy
in fact
most of at least the last like 10 years of my career um

(19:05):
the acting roles that I've had are playing like
really bad guys really
but you're the goodest guy of them all
oh why
thank you hahaha
I yeah
you know I think it's type casting
I think it's just like a maybe just a look thing
but I will say I enjoy it
it's fun it's um
you know acting is fun
I I love it so much yeah
uh and it's

(19:26):
you know um
it's basically getting to be a
a kid like a child
it's a child's game
you get to make believe and kids do it all the time my
my
you know two sons
especially the littler one who's
you know uh
he's gonna be three
like it's just all imagination and play
and so part there's part

(19:47):
part of me I think
I kind of feel like there's part of all of us that um
wanna do that as adults too
so that's what acting is it's like an adult version of
yeah you know
a child's game but anyway
um
what was the yeah
and and so you
you started making more music then

(20:07):
yes as well
so tell me a little bit more about uh
about your the musical side of your
of your life like yeah
did you did you have a lot of training before
before you started doing Avatar or
and then you were in other bands as well
you said that you that you played with and toured with
or was it more like learning by doing like yeah

(20:31):
kind of a combination but mostly
at least at first it was probably learning by doing
you know like when I was a kid
I was around music
um my dad played music
he exposed us to a ton of music
uh so
I did start singing and playing a little bit of guitar

(20:51):
and I started learning piano as a little kid
um and I did learn some
you know theory when I was doing that
but then when I really kind of took the plunge
it was kind of just jumping into bands
and I started off playing the bass
guitar'cause I wanted to start
playing in a band as soon as possible

(21:12):
and I thought what would be the quickest route to that
and it's like oh
this thing has like four strings
you only play usually one note at a time
yeah you just try to sync up with the
the drums and keep the so I
I just picked up I got my first bass
and I jumped into the first band that I could
and I started playing singing some backup vocals

(21:33):
um so that was kind of the beginning of like
pursuing music as an adult
but then um
like I was telling you when I
when I got sober I started just writing tons of songs
yeah and then I really wanted to share them
but I was terrified uh
because I didn't really I didn't have experience

(21:55):
I didn't know what I was doing
I hadn't played out especially as a
you know a singer and a songwriter
so but
you know there's all these opportunities in LA
probably in every city
but like I just started going to open mics
yeah and doing that
uh
and that was cool because I just got to play the songs
and I remember
I actually remember a couple of the times where I

(22:16):
I was so scared that it was
like an out of body experience
that I can't even but I got through it
you know that was kind of the win
and then I started meeting some people in those circles
and through that somehow actually
you know what uh
it was actually through I
I was doing a movie and I was acting in it
and on set I met uh

(22:37):
one of the the guys on the crew
I think was the ad
wound up being this really cool French guy
and we hit it off
and then we started talking about music and he was
wanted to start a band
okay and he was a guitarist and I was like
I've always I have all these songs and I'm a singer
and so we just started playing together
and we started a band um

(22:59):
and we ran for a few years
and I feel like that was at the time I was like
we're gonna break we're gonna be yeah
you know yeah
we're gonna you know yeah
we're gonna do all these things but in retrospect
I think it was kind of my training
you know I mean it's all all training
it's all
all learning but I was learning how to be a frontman um

(23:20):
I you know
I jumped into vocal lessons
cause I wanted to grow as a vocalist so
so that's when you started your vocal training
that's when I started my vocal training
yeah and it was not until a couple years in
where I started to hit certain walls where yeah
like when we would play a few shows in a row
and my voice would get ragged
and I was like ah

(23:40):
you know I don't know how to navigate through this um
when there were just notes that I wanted to hit
that I couldn't hit yet or um
and so and and I just wanted to be better also
I was finding you know
like I Learned a lot in the studio um
just we we recorded a couple of albums
and so just being you know
there with the mic um

(24:02):
but yeah that's when I got into vocal training
and so I had a couple vocal teachers through that and
um
yeah and then most recently
uh I
with us with
with you yeah yeah yeah
so was there
a moment that made you want to get into vocal training

(24:23):
cause you said you started vocal training
and then eventually you hit a wall
like was there a moment where you're like
it's time for me to I think that um
I can't remember
the very first time that I started vocal lessons
trying to think back to what the impetus was I
I just think I wanted to grow and get better
OK but recently
cause I've had a a series of um

(24:46):
vocal training experiences
the most recent one there was a very clear moment
and basically there's a song that
that I wrote and recorded and released called fighter
and uh
so then I released the song
and then I started playing it live

(25:07):
and it was like one time
I would feel great and be able to sing it fully
all the way through
and then another time I could not it
so the chorus is pretty high for me
it's very difficult chorus you
you did not make your life easy with that one
my friend well I
I've you know
I like music
and I like to make music that has big dynamics yeah

(25:29):
you know I love
I love Nirvana
and I love when kind of the verses sort of chill
and then boom
the chorus hits and it goes way up not
not all the times
but that's like one of the ways that I write songs
and fighter is like that so it's like
you're singing the verse down here and then boom
I've always been a yeah fighter
yeah so hahaha I

(25:51):
there was I think a
a show or two where I just struggled through the song
and like I was singing the note
but I was like raspy but not
not intentional raspy like I was yeah
yeah kind of driving through it and
and so you know
I kind of got honest with myself and
and was like
not only do I wanna be able to sing this song live

(26:13):
I wanna be able to sing this song live
four or five nights in a row
and be okay and be okay and feel great
uh huh um
so I just I knew that I needed to get
get
like start working and get a coach and get back into it
so anyway
um I had gotten a recommendation from Shane

(26:34):
yes Shane
yeah we love Shane
Shane Helman who is a really cool artist
great guy met him through Modern Musician
and he was buzzing about you guys
just he he's literally said that you were the best
vocal coaches that he'd ever worked with
and so I I thought to myself that's you know well

(26:56):
let's give it a try
let's give it a shot and I feel the same way
it's been just a transformative process and experience
and um totally is change
like it's changing everything for me vocally
I'm so happy to hear that and yeah
kudos to my team right
like they're they're the ones doing the the groundwork

(27:18):
right
like I'm just here looking pretty talking to people
I'm kidding yeah
you know obviously
you know I
I the first lesson we did together
that was you and me and I get to know you and be like
okay who from my team is the best fit for you
we placed you with Emily
and and that really seem to seem to have worked out
so I'm big time so so so happy about that and yeah

(27:41):
I'm loving it yeah
she's she's amazing she really is
she really is and you know
it's it's
it's good to have a team
of completely different coaches
hmm with different approaches because then I can see
okay well
where are you at right now
and what are your goals
and what needs to happen to get there

(28:03):
and that's gonna be different for everybody
and also what's your personality like
I already knew you so that was helpful haha
you know yeah um
and so you know
I was like okay
well I
I do believe that Emily is gonna have the best approach
for you compared to
you know a different coach like Juliana from our team
she has a completely different approach to
to teaching somebody uh

(28:23):
singing and they're both amazing
but very different and so
I'm glad that we were able to find the right fit
for you oh yeah
not knocked it out of the park
could not be happier or so what makes you
what makes you say that because
you know I
I feel like there's so many great vocal
vocal coaches out there right and

(28:45):
and it's just all about like finding the right fit
but like what to you
compared to
maybe some of the lessons that you've had in the past
like what makes you say like this is so amazing
yeah so
I just I feel like the process is really specific
it's very technical all the exercises that we do

(29:07):
and I just feel like I'm on a real path with it um
and I felt that since the first lesson um
and I feel you know
after every little phase I can see these
these breakthroughs that are happening yeah
which is really exciting I mean

(29:27):
just take that that was kind of the big
the main goal over the the first like six months that I
was working with with you guys was the fighter song
that was the thing that was kind of driving me was
can I get to a place where that feels very easeful
where I don't feel like when the chorus is coming
I'm kind of like and jumping off a cliff

(29:48):
and that I could go right into another song
or even sing fighter again
and feel so and
you know it it hasn't happened overnight
but I've just felt like closer and closer
especially the more consistent that I've been with the
the work and the exercises
but um and I also feel oh

(30:08):
I mean
one of my
other things that I've always struggled with is like
having tension in different places
like jaw throat
tongue I didn't even really understand
know about tongue tension
you know and
the exercises that Emily has walked me through
and given me to both like

(30:29):
figure out where the tension is
and then to be able to let it go um
it I was telling her at one point I was like
I know there's tension
but I can't really tell where it is or have
don't know what to do with it yeah
and so recently
I've had the breakthrough of kind of being able to be
like oh
there it's it's creeping up in my jaw

(30:51):
my tongue and then I know how to kind of
let go of it while I'm singing
so it's not like I have to nice
wait and then do an exercise
it's like I can literally do it while I'm singing
you know wow
release it so that's huge
that is so difficult
like I feel like especially with tension
like once you're in it
it's so hard to get out of it like on the spot

(31:12):
so that's a huge breakthrough yeah
I mean I
you know it's
it's that's pretty new and yeah
I recognize there's I know this whole other level to it
but just being able to say that
and have experienced it a few times
and yeah that that feels feels like a breakthrough Yay
yeah congrats

(31:34):
yeah and you've only been at this with us
at least for a little more than six months now yeah
just about yeah
and so you know
it's obviously we're not magicians
and we can wave our wand
and all your problems disappear in one session
like who I would love that yeah
but you know it
it takes that consistency and

(31:55):
but it's still incredible to see how far you can get
in just one lesson cause sorry
in in in in over just a couple of months
and with you
I remember in our lesson that we did together
you were also singing fighter and I was like okay
we took it down down down
down down to see okay
where does it currently feel comfortable

(32:17):
and then my you know
thought process behind it was like okay
we need to feel comfortable in a range
like wherever that range is for you
and then we'll take it up and up and up
but not and still prioritize the feel of it
not just the sound of it but also the feel of it yeah

(32:37):
because like yes we wanna get up here
but if it doesn't feel good lower
how are we gonna make it feel good up there
and again sustainability
which is what you were looking for
comes from feeling good in singing
so I was like okay
well let's find the range the key
whatever it is we wanna call it um
where it currently feels good

(32:58):
and then we're gonna work our way up
back to the original key and that
where you felt good
was quite a bit lower than where the
where the actual key of the song was yeah
and then during our check in session six months later
you were singing it in the original key again
and those notes just came flying out and I was like

(33:19):
how the heck did you do that in just six months
I was really impressed oh awesome yeah
I mean it was it it feels great and you know
there was a moment where that came out as like well
do we lower the key for you to be able to sing it live
and I was like
you know combination of ego and just yeah
I was like
no way I'm gonna I don't care if I have to yeah

(33:42):
but it
but it did make me realize that I couldn't just muscle
to you know
breaking that breakthrough
I had to train through it yes
yes yes yeah muscling through
I'm so familiar with that
it's my own personal tendency too yeah
so
I could very much relate to what you were experiencing

(34:02):
I was like yeah that that is exactly what I did too
but I ended up with a vocal injury from it
and so that's why I was like no
we're gonna place you with Emily
she has a master's degree in voice pedagogy
she's gonna
make sure you do not end up with a vocal injury
like I did so
you know that I took that into consideration as well
because for me it was like well
I just wanna avoid you ending up in the same situation

(34:23):
I did because
you know if you're doing it every so often
like it's gonna be fine
but if you do end up going on tour
and you're doing this over and over and over again
for weeks it's like well
good luck you know
it's not it's not gonna be sustainable
and so you know it's a
it's all about feeling
like when it comes to sustainability
like I said before it's all about feeling good

(34:44):
physically feeling good when you're
when you're singing that's when it becomes sustainable
as long as you're like have to push or force
or just you know
squeeze the note out that's when it then
when your voice becomes inconsistent
mmm hmm and not sustainable right
right yeah
you can you can get the right take in the studio
but on stage it's then like

(35:06):
good luck babe
good luck babe
I was listening to that song driving here
so it's literally good luck
right and like
hopefully it's gonna happen this time
but you never know
and that builds so much tension because in your mind
then it's like oh my God
I hope I hope
I hope right
yeah totally
and
it takes you out of the actual performance of the song

(35:28):
yes you know
you're you're just
I would just have
be thinking either get through the song
which is not that's not
you know fun to no
or um
you know in fear that uh yeah
is not gonna make it so yeah
yeah and
and your audience can kind of tell too
you know when you get scared
whether or not they know it

(35:48):
they can pick up on they feel it yeah
when when a performer is not comfortable yes
you know like yes
yeah it's yeah
and for me I always say
mental tension is gonna
translate into physical tension
so any fears that you have
any doubts that you have all of that's your molecules
yeah yeah
yeah absolutely

(36:08):
my musical pursuit
and what I'm creating is deeply tied to the world of
mental health
and even though I've been in that world
and I've been writing songs that were about this topic
I didn't really put it all together
that this was the kind of core of my music and my

(36:29):
you know niche or my
my um my angle yeah
and so I got really clear on that about a year ago
and I started to do some work on like
how am I going to serve my community that way
and so one of the things I started to do was

(36:51):
I started doing this thing called Mental Health Monday
yeah um
which is a live stream on my Instagram channel
and basically inviting other creatives
and mainly musicians to come on live with me and
and ones that generally have some
connection to mental health
which I feel like we all do yeah

(37:13):
in some way or another but some are a little more um
either conscious of it
or committed to that side of things
and so um
and I would have these kind of live stream
interviews with them
and I invited my whole fan community
and then they would
invite their music communities as well
so it was a collaborative community thing yeah

(37:35):
and we would just talk about the topic of
music and mental health and how they intersect
so that's been really fun and I'm
I'm turning it in those those interviews
I've recorded them and I I didn't
I didn't intend to do it when I started the livestream
but I realized oh
I have these recordings why don't I make a podcast

(37:55):
and I produced a podcast before and yeah
I know the I've seen the power of them
and the reach that they can have and
and how they can help people so um
I'm gonna and I've been recording them
and I have about 20 interviews recorded
and I'm gonna launch the mental health and music
actually it's not the mental health and music podcast
it's just called Mental Health and music with Avatar

(38:19):
and I'm gonna release it in March
so that's one thing I'm doing but um
why is this important to you
yeah so
I think it goes back to my experience
with my addiction and getting clean and sober um
it's where I my whole life basically became about um

(38:45):
nurturing that I call it a spiritual malady
you know which is a disease
um but it's a it's a it's a funny one yeah
where it's like it's in your heart and your soul
my heart my soul and so the the
you know
with the the fall that I had

(39:07):
the amazing part of it was I got um
exposed to a whole new way of life
and a big piece of it was community
and connecting with other humans
and talking really honestly
sharing feelings which was not something that I uh
was good at or really knew how to do very well

(39:27):
I kept a lot of things hidden and I
so I you
you know like
especially the shadows and the
just whatever those things are that I didn't want yeah
you know um
people to see and so um
I I got to see how
those were the very things that I needed to actually
reveal and start to kind of make friends with

(39:50):
in a community with other people
cause I can't really do it by myself
you know so um
I recognized that a combination of like
a space to be free and talk about um
you know
these issues with other people that were going through
maybe similar things

(40:11):
and sharing it was kind of the answer
and so I saw it
but I still hadn't connected it totally to my music
but all my music was really about this like um
I released a song
one of the first songs I released as Avatar is called
high like this
that was the first time I
I directly wrote about my addiction

(40:32):
I'd I'd written songs that were about the kind of um
the feelings of you know
breaking free and being kept down
like that's kind of what fighter is about
but uh
in highlight this
I'm literally talking about my addiction
and nearly dying and uh
you know getting through that

(40:53):
so um
that was one of the songwriting experiences that I had
that felt like I made a breakthrough
cause I was like oh
I'm being really
I'm actually being really honest on a new level here
and so and I
I got to make a video uh
of for that
that I'm really proud of um
and that's where my acting and my

(41:15):
that's kind of where it all came together for me
where my acting my music
my songwriting
and the mental health and side of things all
all fused into one experience but um anyway
so yeah I would say that's
that's the reason that it's important to me
and what's happened over the last year is
I've just become a bit more conscious

(41:36):
and intentional about and
and also as someone that gets to um
through modern musician help other artists um
I see more and more that having a way to tie your music
into
an area that you're really passionate about

(41:57):
that is of service in some way can be very powerful
there as we know
there's so many uh
so many musicians there's so much music
which is wonderful and beautiful
it's like
really easy nowadays for someone to be able to create

(42:17):
record at a pretty good level and
you know put music out there
but it's created a a space that's very full
so cause the level of entry
like the the barrier of entry is come down
the barriers is come down
which again great
like I I I
I I would love for anyone that wants to make music

(42:38):
and release it and it
I think it's a dream come true yeah
for that to happen you know um
but for to be heard through all of that is
is harder
and so the the
the big thing that that I'm
I take away you know
as an artist
but also being with artists in their journeys is uh

(43:01):
the more authentic and real
and truthful and intentional about it
that you can be um
the better chance you have at
at like cutting through and grabbing your people to you
yeah yeah
grabbing your people
cause not everybody is gonna be your people
no and
and I feel like that's a

(43:21):
that's a great thing is like the more
not only the the more honest and
you know yourself that you are
it will cut through the people that aren't your people
too more
you know quickly
so you're not like
wasting time trying to convert someone to be your fan
that that maybe it's just not the
the right yeah
you know it's
it's interesting

(43:42):
cause we've done a couple of these interviews now
and everyone who has an artist project and they
they all say the same thing
like they it all comes down to authenticity right
and doing what really matters to you
and becoming intentional and it's um yeah
I just I love hearing that theme

(44:02):
it's just everyone talks about it and I'm like
well I guess they're right
I guess that is important
I I think it's
it's the era of authenticity
and it's funny because there is
there's also a lot of not authenticity available yeah
you know and I
and in disconnection and um
I I'm a big fan of social media as a tool

(44:23):
but it can also
be a place where you can forget that you're a human
that you forget like oh
you know human connect
it's really easy to hide and so therefore
I do feel like underneath all of it that we as a people
as a society
are really craving authenticity and real emotion

(44:45):
and for people to say things that like
hit him in the face and be like
oh man
that's what I was thinking that
but that yeah
that person actually said the thing that I was thinking
you know yeah yeah yeah
um that's like I
I love Eminem right
so he's just so um
like he says things in a completely unique way
and he's not afraid of scaring people or uh

(45:09):
you know he's not like
I feel like he's an example of someone and
you know Billy Eilish
uh
these artists that are not creating a product
they're just speaking right from their heart and soul
and then it winds up becoming huge
because they're doing that yeah

(45:31):
yeah absolutely absolutely yeah
if you can create from your heart
your soul whatever it is
however you describe that what
what that means to you that's
that's when you have the most
chances of reaching people and not like
what are people gonna like let me write that
you know or yeah
sing that I was um
I've been on YouTube on the internet looking at these

(45:55):
uh Rick Rubin interviews and he's uh
obviously an amazing producer
but also just an amazing um
articulator about creativity
and so
I was watching one recently where he's talking about um
songwriting that his his thing is like
don't even
you should not be thinking about your fans at all

(46:16):
when you're writing music
in the standpoint of you should
it should literally just be a
a diary entry yeah
like you're just spitting your soul onto yes to paper
which kind of brought me back to like
when I was first started songwriting
when I you know
put down drugs and alcohol
and then I had all this space

(46:36):
and all these thoughts and emotions
and I was like
just grab my guitar and I just it's gotta go somewhere
it was very therapeutic
now I don't know if those were the best songs in fact
I know that they they weren't
but that's just
cause I was like brand new to it and I just
but they were honest from where where I was yeah
yeah I love that therapeutic
I feel like singing lessons

(46:58):
can also be very therapeutic
for a lot of
a lot of people out there that sometimes like
we have lessons where the first 15 minutes we
just talk cause you had a shit day
but that's a part of it too
I always joke and say like
you know vocal coaches
we're we're half therapists
half vocal coaches but we're not licensed

(47:20):
we can but we're therapists
we're not but it can
it can feel very therapeutic
yeah absolutely
I mean it's it's
it's the voice so it's like
you know it's
it's your it's a human's way of
connecting through sound with the rest of humanity yeah

(47:42):
which is like
one of the main ways that we tell people how we feel
what we think that's how we communicate
release emotion so yeah
I mean it's
it's singing but it's um
it's all it's communication
every it's not just singing
it's also speaking cause your
your voice is yeah
it's the same thing whether you speak or you sing

(48:04):
and so when I went through my vocal injury journey
and I I literally
I didn't have a voice for four weeks
and I was so afraid
that I would never be able to sing again and
it was all I knew like it was my entire identity
my voice was my identity not in a healthy way

(48:28):
and it was like you
you you can't take that away from me
because what am I without my voice
and obviously not healthy
Learned a lot from that and uh
but you know it's
it's a yeah
it's just
it's such a big part of who you are as a person
even if you don't sing'cause

(48:50):
it's how you communicate with others
it's how you stand up for yourself hmm it's
how you tell someone you don't like something
you love something like
yeah it's how you get your emotions across sure
body language is huge in that as well but
the voice is such a vulnerable thing

(49:15):
it makes it very powerful
I think yeah
I mean we
we uh
we each have a unique one like a like a fingerprint
right and it's um
but also you know
the it
it has all these levels to it
that you can kind of unlock and find and
you know the more
the more I kind of um

(49:37):
do the work and getting in touch with my voice
I kind of it's
it's a bit of a barometer for
you know where
where am I emotionally you know
where am I mentally you know
am I being am I being truly honest right now
you know there's like
you can see there's places that your voice goes when
you know maybe you're not or when you're uncomfortable

(49:58):
you know not just like telling a lie
but just maybe just avoiding yeah
avoiding a uncomfortable interaction yeah
or conflict you know
and but also it gives you power when you know that
cause then you can if you're in an UN
you can say you know what
I'm gonna drop my voice right now or I'm
I'm just
gonna breathe a little bit through this and then talk

(50:18):
and then or
you know
I'm not gonna I'm not gonna talk loud at this person
you know I'm not gonna give away all my power
I'm gonna kind of thing yeah
yeah yeah yeah yeah
well
in acting you you probably Learned a lot about that too
like how to use your voice and even again
not for singing only
but also for how to get your point across cause man

(50:39):
the voice carries a lot of emotion
a lot of intention too cause like you can say a phrase
the like the same phrase in three different ways
and they all come out complete
like the meaning of it changes completely
just by how you say it yeah yeah
I mean the words don't change right
the delivery changes totally I mean

(51:01):
if you so for and for acting basically
you know as an actor
you're giving you're given words on a piece of paper
so it's just like
a piece of paper with these black and white
little words right
yeah
and then it's up to you to turn that into a a living
breathing world and of course

(51:22):
the words the the the big tool is your
your voice and your and your well
the voice is almost a byproduct of
the emotional life in
in acting in the imaginative world that you create
but finding that voice and then of course
it's connected to the body
you know they're not like the voices inside your body

(51:44):
yeah yeah
yeah and also it
you know the way that you move um
also as an artist you know
the way that I'm moving on stage
and stuff like that
will affect the way that I'm able to sing yeah
oh yeah yeah
very much so but there's so much to unpack haha
there's so much more than just into it right
like yeah
when you're when you're just listening to music like

(52:05):
oh yeah they have a great voice
they sound so pretty
but like there's so much like that goes into it
it's crazy and again
not just the technical side of singing
but also the mental side of singing
the emotional side of singing
all of it there's just so much to unpack yeah
a lot of groundwork that needs to be done
that's so fun is it though

(52:25):
it is it can be frustrating at times
but overall yeah
yeah yeah yeah
yep
well do we wanna do a little
a little singing I'll take your leads
yeah yeah
well let's do
let's do a quick little warm up
just a little call and response thing okay
um and then we'll work a little bit on the song cool
yeah yeah
let's do it alright

(52:45):
so oh boing
let's snap on boing two and four and 1
two three four hmm

(53:08):
ah ha ha yes
jumped up the autumn
we we
yeah there it is there's that middle octave
yeah right
and that it's so funny
cause that is something that I always see in lessons
when I'm working with a male voice

(53:30):
when I sing
uh when I sing something
they either sing it in their octave
meaning like an octave lower than where I am yeah
or skip the middle octave where I am and jump way up
like hold on the middle don't forget that middle
I want the middle one it's so
I find it so fascinating everyone does it

(53:53):
yeah literally everyone
well I mean
those would be my two most comfy places
like that middle octave and then in the head voice like
yeah up high
yeah so yeah
well let's go a little bit higher up too OK alright

(54:25):
oh
oh oh
oh we
yeah we
yeah nice
okay very good
how's your voice feeling feels good
yeah I had
I did have a big vocal lesson earlier with Emily
oh right before I came here
it's Wednesday there you go
yes yeah

(54:46):
and uh
it was great and we're working on um
we are the champions okay
um and so I ran that a bunch of times
so I don't you are warm
my voice I'm warm
I'm also like my voice is I anyway
you're getting to the point where you're overly warm
it's like hold on
we're starting to slow down again because that you
you do you're hitting a

(55:07):
like you can absolutely do too much right
even if you have the perfect technique
and you're doing everything
exactly the way you're supposed to
if you are really working out your voice
eventually it's like okay
hold on we don't wanna overdo it
it's just like when you lift weights at the gym
eventually those weights are gonna get too heavy
and you just cannot
do another bicep curl for the life of you yeah right

(55:29):
so it's it's the same in in singing too yeah
that's that's a good way to um
to hear it because I think part of
part of me feels like oh
if I get tired
it's because I'm doing something wrong you know
not necessarily yeah not necessarily
it can just be
because you are working really freaking hard right now
yeah and and your stamina just runs out

(55:51):
everybody's stamina runs out yeah
no matter what you do right
whether that's bicep curls
or you're running a Marathon
or you're swimming or you're singing yeah
you can only go so far
and then you have to take a break
are you still cool to do a little singing
yeah yeah
yeah yeah
totally do you wanna do we are the champions
or do you wanna do something else
oh man um what do you wanna do
you need cooling baby

(56:13):
I'm not fooling gonna send you back to schoolin
way down inside honey you need it
gonna give you my love gonna give you my love yeah

(56:34):
wanna whole lot of love
wanna whole lot of love
wanna whole lot of love
yeah
okay very nice
sorry how did it feel
yeah it felt good um
I hahaha
I definitely felt a little bit of the
like
I was just singing We Are the champions for an hour

(56:58):
so a little bit of that
like it wasn't 100% clean the way I wanted it
but but yeah
it was you know
I love
I love the song and it's kind of in my rock wheelhouse
so yeah oh yeah
I mean you
you have that like little grittiness coming through too
which is so sexy
and you know yes
you feel like a little bit of vocal fatigue right

(57:19):
cause you were just working your
that's what it is working out your voice really heavily
yeah um
and so you know
you experience a little bit of vocal fatigue
a little bit but in like
to us as your audience we're listening to this and like
especially like if we don't know you
it's like yeah
I mean that was fucking great right
like cool you
you get that little bit of grit
that rasp like the ugh and

(57:39):
and it sounds really cool
and you know
in your mind you're like hmm
I would love this to be a little bit cleaner
like clearer um
but as your audience we don't know that
and it sounds great to us the way you're
the way you're doing it well that that's good um yeah
it's funny
like some of a lot of my personal vocal heroes are

(58:04):
you know front frontmen that do wield grit like yeah
you know Chris Cornell and and Robert Plant and um
I'm Michael Jackson yeah
and so and I've always kind of leaned that way
because of something about how I felt like
with what I like
but also the way that my voice is but I've also um

(58:29):
started to become more uh
maybe clear of like when am I using it versus when uh
when is it a function of I
I don't even know how to you
I'm sure you can you can when is it a choice
when is it a choice yeah
and when is my voice just getting a little bit raw

(58:50):
yeah you know
and and um
being more uh
crafty about using grit I guess yeah
yeah and with grit
like with distortion or even with breathy singing too
you know
anything where we're changing the tone of our voice
to me that should always be a

(59:11):
a choice right like I am choosing to add grit here
I'm choosing to make the notes breathy here not like
well I can't sing it any other way
so that's what I'm gonna have to do to get it out um
especially you know
when it comes to like feel with
with any sort of distortion
you can blow out your voice really freaking fast yeah
so we we just have to be careful with that but again

(59:35):
you know sometimes when we add distortion
or actually almost all the time when we add distortion
it actually makes the notes easier to sing
when you have access to distortion right
like when you first learn how to sing with distortion
it can be a little tricky and difficult to do
but if you have access to that tool in your toolbox

(59:57):
when you then add distortion
on some of these high notes
in this song or any song for that matter
your voice
actually has to work a little bit less to get the note
out because the distortion is what's gonna add like
almost like the power to it yeah
so your your vocal folds themselves
don't have to work quite as right
you don't have to push as hard to make it powerful the
the kind of texture of the

(01:00:18):
the texture will do it for you of the distortion yes
makes it feel powerful yes
do you know the song Beautiful Things by Benson Boone
beautiful things and I yes
I do he's he's freaking awesome stay yeah
of course that song's yeah
so I was actually working on that song with Emily too
oh cool and I realized that when I sing like uh

(01:00:41):
the the high notes with please stay
stay with the distortion is yeah
so much easier than stay right
stay yeah yeah yeah
easier because I have access to the distortion if yeah
if that's a new tool for you
then it's probably a whole lot more difficult at first
but yeah once that's a tool in your toolbox

(01:01:03):
it gets easier
that's great that was a really great um
portrayal of like
the power of using distortion that way and how it can
yeah and that
that's a great song great Dan
your voice is haha
thank you I've been working on it
you've been working on it for a lifetime
yes yes
yes it's been many

(01:01:23):
many many
many years but um
distortion is new to me too
like that that was never really something I did
besides like the Christina Aguilera growls
you know the
uh you know that yeah
kind of lower growly thing
yeah yeah
yes always loved doing that
cause Christina was like
my biggest idol ever growing up
so you know
that's that's what I wanted to do

(01:01:43):
but anytime she did any sort of rasp
which is like that Benson Boon thing that I just did
or what you were doing that's different from a growl
it's um
you create it anyways it doesn't matter
you create it differently
it sounds completely different
yeah and so I never Learned that and I was like
I wanna learn how to do that that that
that that raspy thing
that gritty thing and not just the full on growl

(01:02:06):
and now that it's a part of my toolbox
I'm like God
this is kind of cool yeah
just opens up the world you know yeah
it does it's really powerful
and now now that I'm thinking of it
you know that was one of the things
like when I heard that Little Richard song
you know and he's a lot of those rock guys
you know um
Mick Jagger

(01:02:26):
Robert Plant were kind of the
the that was when I and
and it's because my dad came from that world
and I was exposed to it
but it was also just because I identified with it
I was like oh
I wanna do that yes
yes yes yes
and well
that was a conversation that we had in our first lesson
too right
I was like I knew you wanted

(01:02:47):
you were in that more like rock seen vocally
like with your with your music
and I was like yeah
I mean Emily has that um
vocal distortion background
she studied with people who are experts in
in vocal distortion so
you know she doesn't do like heavy metal
like screamo type stuff

(01:03:08):
but for rock singing I was like yeah
like
that's just a really cool tool to have in your toolbox
for your specific you know
music that you're creating
and so I wanted to make sure that you're
studying that with somebody who knows how to do it
in a healthy way yeah
it's great it's great
and the flip side is I
I think when I came to you guys also my

(01:03:29):
my mind was opening up to also
not wanting to be limited to that
so it was like I wanted to
continue to work on being able to use that tool
and I was like
could I also be more of a versatile singer
yes cause I think part of me felt like
my voice can just only do this thing

(01:03:51):
you know
and I can do this and I feel comfy doing it and
you know people tell me they think it sounds good um
does that mean that I can't also
like sing some type of pop song as well
like do I not have a pop voice
yeah and uh
so I think getting into you know

(01:04:14):
the the work and just being like OK
what can I do to to expand the palette that I use
yeah and it comes down to choice right
at the end of the day
vocal training to me should be so that you
you can make choices on how you want to sing each note

(01:04:37):
do you want to add rasp or not
like any sort of distortion or not
do you want to add vibrato on that note or not
do you want to sing it in a breathy voice or not
do you want to belt it
or do you want to switch into a more of a head voicey
falsettoy type of thing
like there's a million different ways you can
sing each note and at the end of the day
I want you to be able to freely express yourself

(01:05:00):
however you want yeah
but we need to have the vocal skills to do that
because otherwise
the voice is gonna choose for you and you have no big
like like no real say in it right
yeah totally
and I mean
I have my instinctive way that I want to sing things
like straight off the bat um
but I think sometimes instinct can also be based on

(01:05:24):
this is what I currently am confident doing
you know your
you versus like the instinct of what I would like to do
you know so when you add tools
then it's like
then you can instinctively do other things
so yeah yeah
um well
and you're mostly gonna live in your comfortable zone
yeah totally right

(01:05:45):
that's where you're gonna spend most of your time
when you're when you're singing songs
when you're performing right
yeah vocal training
you probably spent most of your time
outside of your comfort zone
but when you're singing and performing and all that
yeah you spend most of your time in your comfort zone
because that's where your voice shines right
we want to highlight the strengths
not the challenges that you're experiencing
when you're singing and performing right

(01:06:07):
so it's like social media
you always put your best foot forward right
and you kind of hide the stuff that might not be so
great hahaha
it's the same thing in singing and performing
we want to put our best foot forward
so we stay in our comfort zone most of the time
but we then still pull from other things that we can do
too that might maybe be a little bit more challenging
but it feels right in that moment there

(01:06:29):
like in wherever
whatever song you're singing in that bridge
for example it just feels right
to throw in that weird thing that you can do
that
might not necessarily be a part of your comfort zone
but it just feels right to do it there
you know and it serves the song
yeah
we live in different circles
and those circles overlap most of the time in singing

(01:06:52):
yeah right
so anyways yeah
like you know
I was one of the first icons that I said oh
you know I wanna do that
you know Michael Jackson
and like obviously he can
I mean he could do raspy yeah
like a like a
just a straight up rock and roll

(01:07:13):
you know frontman
and then he could full on go into all
you know riffing and soft pop and beautiful
so I think part of yeah
you know I
I
that was that became the kind of um
Pinnacle of like being a really
really well rounded singer

(01:07:35):
and um
yeah I love that
well again
it's it's all about having the choice right
if you are the more well rounded you are
the more choice you have hmm
that's in my book what it comes down to
yeah right
I have this question that I ask all of our guests
and the the show is called from singer to artist

(01:08:00):
and so the question is what to you
is the difference between a singer and an artist
if there is one
yeah really good
really good question
I think that for me it
it
the the thing that I'm thinking about is
what we were talking about earlier where
with acting actually

(01:08:20):
where we're talking about the page with
like the lyrics on it and it's like
and it also goes to like
what you talked about earlier with
you know more
more tools just mean more ways to communicate and evoke
um but it's how

(01:08:41):
how much am I making this come to life
and live and breathe you know
and how much am I making it my own
you know like
so that it is and it also goes to authenticity and
you know am I
am I truly singing from my heart and no

(01:09:02):
no one else's am I using my voice and no one else's
um
and that's why I feel like
you know
there are amazing singers and there are amazing artists
and sometimes their circles intersect yeah
and sometimes not you know my
my main goal for myself in

(01:09:25):
in basically everything that I'm doing is
you know how much of myself am I pouring into this
you know the
the songwriting the singing
the acting the stage performance
and so and
and it's myself at this moment in time
you know cause we're all evolving
and then as an artist I'm always trying to grow

(01:09:48):
so I'm always trying to add things that that
that I can do you know
my palette and my yeah
paint brushes like I'm I'm
I'm taking you know
dance lessons right now to cool
like expand my ability to communicate through movement
I've always loved dancing and moving
but I've I
you know I've just gone with what feels right to me

(01:10:10):
and I'm like kind of like with singing
I'm like could I
add a whole range of motion
and expression to what I'm doing
and could that you know
open things up and it totally has
you know and so uh
yeah with singing
you know there's
there's what God gave me and then there's
you know how am I using it

(01:10:30):
and then how am I continuing to gain access
and so I guess it's just like how much
you know I wanna be a great singer
but I think probably my big
bigger goal is I wanna be a really deep
and unique and original communicator through voice

(01:10:51):
I love that thank you so much for sharing
and for sharing your whole story with us
and being here today thank you
Ari for joining us
oh Laura
it was a total pleasure I had
I had a blast and I I love what you're doing
I think that it's really cool that you're
you're doing this and and this um

(01:11:12):
I mean you're already on a platform and helping people
and you know
I just think that growing
the way that you're able to reach people
is a great thing cause you have
you have a great message and a great way that is
you know really um
like I think
you know people identify with it and you're

(01:11:32):
you're helping a lot of people
thank you thank you
that that is the goal
and that was kind of the the decision that I made
when I went vocal coaching full time
compared to you know
doing my own artist project
that was like I feel like I'm just in it for myself
with my own artist project
cause there was a misalignment
you know with authenticity and all that stuff
that's not something we need to get into right now
but you know

(01:11:53):
it's um
it it
it felt like the only person depending on me was me
and I didn't like that
and when I started vocal coaching
it was like oh my god
I can actually make a difference in somebody
else's life like
even if it's just for a hobby right
like it doesn't matter what your goal is
they are enjoying themselves
and they're learning something
they're having a good time

(01:12:13):
and that just lit me up and I was like yeah
I want to do that
I'm gonna switch lanes here a little bit
and start doing that full time
so thank you for seeing that and for saying it
and thank you for trusting us with your voice
and thank you to Coach Emily too
yeah shout out to Coach Emily
yes yes yes
yup and uh

(01:12:35):
cheers to many more successful vocal performances
songs your whole career
I can't wait to see where you're gonna go next
so let us know where can we find you
if we want to follow along with your music yeah
um probably the
the easiest way is on Instagram
Avatar world um
that's like the word Avatar and I at the end

(01:12:56):
and then world at Avatar World is my Instagram
and I'm very active there
and I do the Mental Health Monday
live stream every Monday at four PM Pacific
so um
that's one of the ways my YouTube channel
I'm very proud of it cause
I make videos that I think incorporate cinema
and my acting and I'm yeah

(01:13:17):
I I
I it's one of my favorite ways to make art
so follow me on subscribe to YouTube
you can search Avatar
or I don't know if there are links in the show notes
yeah um
I have uh
my my podcast is gonna be coming out in March
mental health and music so if you do podcast

(01:13:39):
which probably if you're watching this
you do would love for you to check it out and
and I think you're gonna join me
yes I will in a couple weeks yes
I'm very excited yeah
I'm excited about that and um
and then as far as playing live
I have a show coming through that so um yeah
those are I'll link to everything too awesome

(01:14:00):
perfect but Avatar World
Avatar World on Instagram and TikTok
and then Avatar and the other places yeah perfect yeah
thank you so much Ari
it's been a pleasure thank you Laura
and I'm excited to join you for your podcast
oh yeah Mental Health Monday
I can't wait to have you it's gonna be great
yeah and yeah

(01:14:21):
all the best to you with everything with your acting
with your music with your life
your beautiful family thank you
and I can't wait to catch up again soon
thanks Laura alright
alright thanks everybody for joining
we'll see you next time bye bye