Meet ARO – | Music Artist

We had the good fortune of connecting with ARO – and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi ARO, what do you attribute your success to?
For me the most important factor of success is making sure that everything I’m doing to build my career is either fun and bringing me joy, or expanding me in a direction I want to move towards.

I used to have a really convoluted relationship with success. In my early 20’s I quit my job and started working for myself as a personal trainer. I built a very successful business, I had more clients than I knew what to do with, a successful online presence that generated sales of my online products, and I was calling all the shots. I had everything a young entrepreneur could dream of, all the external markers of success, and I still didn’t *feel* successful. Nothing was ever enough for me. I didn’t know how to celebrate things I’d accomplished. I’d just hit a goal and move right past it to the next one. I wasn’t in touch with what made me really happy and from that place of disconnect it’s impossible to know what you actually want.

Right before the pandemic hit I shut down my business and went back to a 9-5 job. I needed a reset, and I needed to just clock in and have someone else be the boss for a little bit while I focused on getting in touch with myself again. I used that time during the pandemic to work on myself and get back in touch with what lights me up inside. I would’ve never guessed the answer would be making music but here we are.

Now I have the opportunity to once again build my own thing and each step of the way I’m having to really check myself, making sure that I’m clear on my own definition of success rather than relying on external markers. Each step of the way I’m choosing myself, I’m choosing fun or I’m choosing growth that lights me up. If it’s neither of those things, I don’t want it.

Let’s talk shop? Tell us more about your career, what can you share with our community?
I’m an alternative independent artist just starting out my music career. I’ve been a lot of things professionally. I have a habit of trying on each of my interests as careers. But music has been the one thing I’ve found that gives me back as much as I pour into it in terms of fulfillment. I’ve always wanted to make music but I had a lot of excuses in my head about why it was a silly idea or it wasn’t realistic. I think it’s something a lot of creatvies and entreprenuers can releate to. Why me? Our society’s prevailing ideas about material success can often make us feel like we’re a failure before we’ve even tried something, and in that I think it can become hard to take ourselves seriously, to take what lights us up inside seriously. One day I decided that I was done not listening to what lights me up inside and I started writing music. I didn’t think I would actually pursue it when I started and I think that was good for me. It took the pressure off. I spent a whole summer writing every single day for hours. Most of it was pretty bad looking back, but I was really enjoying it and after a few months I started writing stuff that I didn’t think was that bad anymore, eventually I started writing stuff that I actually liked, and that’s when I started looking into the music business and seeing how I might take this forward. I released my first single ‘Let Me Go’ in June of this year (2023), and it being my first song and having a very modest social media following I literally thought I’d get like 30 streams on the song, but it ended up amassing over 11k streams in the first month. I’ve just released my second single ‘I Fall In Love Too Many Times’ and plan to just keep rolling out singles into my first EP. My music is very personal to me. I’m completely self taught and It’s a direct reflection of my inner world and how I make sense of my experiences. I like diving into the sticky stuff without the need to clean it up and make it nice. Ultimately I just want my work to make people feel something.

If you had a friend visiting you, what are some of the local spots you’d want to take them around to?
Oh I love LA so much, it’s like a hundred different cities packed into one. I have a particularly affinity for the west side, I love Venice, Marina del Rey and Santa Monica (minus the pier/promenade). Abbot Kinney and Main Street are musts, there are so many cool little shops and pop-ups/events. Needless to say I also love the beach, you can find me there most weekends even when in the winter. The ocean has always been a very calming place for me, I try to visit her as often as I can. I love all the LA hikes too, Palos Verdes is probably my favorite place to go hike. I’m also a big fan of the Echo Park area, lots of cute coffee shops and restaurants over there.

As far as eats go, I’m vegan so my favorite restaurants are all centered around vegan food. Cafe Gratitude is like my default place to go grab a bite. Red White Ramen up in Studio City has some of the best vegan ramen I’ve ever had in my life. Nic’s on Beverly has the most gorgeous outdoor space and some of the most exquisite dishes I’ve ever tried. Chaumont Vegan makes vegan croissants and pastries in Beverly Hills, it’s hard to make a good vegan croissant, but they’ve perfected it. Satdah in Santa Monica makes really great vegan Thai dishes. And Pura Vita in WeHo might actually be my favorite restaurant here in LA serving all plant based Italian dishes.

My ideal weekend looks like: hiking, brunch, catching a comedy show (Dynasty Typewriter is my favorite scene right now), taking a walk on the beach, and going to cool vintage shops.

The Shoutout series is all about recognizing that our success and where we are in life is at least somewhat thanks to the efforts, support, mentorship, love and encouragement of others. So is there someone that you want to dedicate your shoutout to?
My partner John has been my biggest supporter throughout my entire journey. He’s cheered me on as I’ve built businesses and torn them down to move towards something better. He trusts my vision and drive completely and that has never waivered, even when we were really young and money was tight. I’ve made some really wild leaps of faith in my professional life and he has never doubted my ability to land with feet on the ground. Now as he’s building his own business I have the opportunity to give him that same support and encouragement and that feels really special.

Website: www.aromusicofficial.com

Instagram: https://instagram.com/i.am.aro.music?igshid=OGQ5ZDc2ODk2ZA==

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=61550476726150&mibextid=LQQJ4d

Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCUqI4_WgNsCj0fb9w_Gal6A

Other: Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/artist/6a9nBvhitl1xqGMUAF0sNX?si=Eo9tJI9LSMq3PONceDEQmA TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@i.am.aro.music?_t=8g4npZyKYRP&_r=1

Image Credits
All photos credited to Tristan Guarini