Meet Afina Madoian | Music Artist | Singer | Songwriter | Actress

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

Hi Afina, we’d love to hear about how you approach risk and risk-taking
I wouldn’t be in the country of opportunities today doing what I love doing if I wouldn’t risk everything 6 years ago and decided to move to the United States on my own at 19 years old, where I didn’t know anybody. I think if you don’t take risks in your life, you’re missing out on many life-changing opportunities. Consider everything that is outside of your comfort zone – a risk. You’re opening yourself up to possibilities for a better life and are giving yourself a chance to get closer to your dreams. Now, it doesn’t mean that you won’t fail or you won’t get hurt. Most probably, you’re setting yourself for something that might bring a lot of challenge and require a strong will. For example, I haven’t seen my family in person for 6 years to be able to be in the US, which is probably one of the most painful things that usually hit me hard when I’m on my own with my thoughts, but if you’re going to find ways to overcome these difficulties and you’re focused and work hard, you’re set for success.

Let’s talk shop? Tell us more about your career, what can you share with our community?
I don’t think I’m better or worse or that anything sets me apart from anybody else, but I think our actions define us, so I hope my story can inspire other young individuals to be brave and learn how to risk and fight for their dreams.

Usually, when you tell your story, there are so many painful and dramatic moments that are missed, and all the gravity of certain situations is skipped, but I’ll do my best to give a quick realistic walk-through of my journey as an immigrant artist.
When I had just moved to the US, I was 19 years old kid with $1200 in my pocket. I had to figure out everything from finding a job, learning the language, adapting to the new system and culture (I had no clue about the importance of credit cards, how DMV works, why the hell do you need social security, etc.) to finding ways to make music. I’m going to skip other regular immigrant difficulties, but I hope you understand that moving to a new country on your own is pretty challenging. My plan was to work as hard as possible and save $20,000 (I’m honestly not sure why I set this number) in the first 2 years to then switch to building my music career. As you can imagine, it never happened that way. I did work unstoppably for 4 years, had a crazy schedule, had no vacations, didn’t have any social life, and of course, I had no time left for music. I was singing at the restaurant during the weekends, which was my only connection to music. Throughout these 4 years, I also tried to sell on Amazon twice and launch a new app to have additional income streams, and none of that worked. So at the end of 2020, I was left burned out, with no money, no work, and I still hadn’t seen my parents. I was depressed, lonely, very lost, and upset that 4 years of my non-stop hustle didn’t pay off. I felt like a failure (the only thing I did right with the money I’ve made throughout these 4 years is investing in Tesla stock 🙂

But instead of giving up, thanks to the emotional support of my parents and friends, I decided it was my time to stop doing a bunch of things that don’t align with my main goals and dedicate my time to art. I was lucky to meet my new friend, who inspired and pushed me to write my own music, and kept telling me that the only way to succeed is to be creative. So I started writing my music, continued performing, and started acting.

But don’t think it’s all butterflies and rainbows since then, and Atlantic and Interscope are fighting to sign me. I’ve been through a constant emotional rollercoaster due to uncertainty. Being a singer and an actress is like opening a new business. The only difference is the product you’re selling, which is you in this case. And as you know, opening and developing a business is pretty hard. So most of the time, I was anxious and full of worries about the future. Until I’ve learned to be present, concentrate on doing my best today, and since that moment, magically, things started to work out. For example, I got Mike from Voyage LA sending me an email about this interview, my songs are now playing on the radio in my home country, my new song “Lay with me” that had an amazing team of people working on it (written by Josh Ryan, produced by DenzBeats, recorded by Opus Recording Studio, mixed and mastered by SpeakEasy Studio),  was released on Nov 19th, and is now on a bunch of playlists from Australia, Germany, US, Greece, etc.

But you know what, because it’s still hard to describe all the hardship and tears left on the pillow, I think you should better listen to one of my upcoming songs in January 2022 called “Sweet Dreams.” It’ll tell more than any written story by me, and I promise it will resonate with you a lot.

To wrap up, I think it’s the biggest accomplishment for me as a human being – to be able to do what I love doing full time, so even when I struggle and it breaks my heart that I still haven’t seen my parents in 6 years, I know I struggle fighting for my dream.

If you had a friend visiting you, what are some of the local spots you’d want to take them around to?
Oh, I thought about it many times. Hopefully, soon my parents and my childhood friends are going to be able to get their visas and visit me. I will start from a regular tour around LA: Hollywood, Santa-Monica, Venice Beach, Malibu, Rodeo Drive, and of course I’d go on dinners on evenings at different amazing restaurants, like a Mexican alley with delicious food in Sherman Oaks, Micelli’s in Hollywood, Biceclete on Pico blvd and others. I’d definitely go to Van Gogh gallery, which is amazing. I’d show them my favorite place in Malibu beach and Topanga View Point, where I usually spent my time when I felt lonely and scared and was looking at the sky thinking about them. Then after walking all these places, I’d go to Universal, Six Flags, Disneyland that by the way, I’ve never been to myself. I would go with them to the Getty Museum, and I’d take a day to travel to Orange County, which is beautiful and peaceful. I’d take them to a DT rooftop and show them how beautiful and romantic it is during the night. After I’ll be done with the LA area, I’d take them on several trips to Big Bear and then Sequoia, and if I’m enthusiastic enough I’d travel with them to San Francisco one day to show them the Bay Area and the Golden Gate Bridge. After I’m done with CA, I’d take them to Las Vegas and then New York. Honestly, there are so many beautiful places in the US that I’d love to show them, but It’ll take me another page to write about it!

Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
There are many people thanks to whom I’m in music. Starting from my parents, who let go of their only child to move to another part of the world and support me in what I’m doing, to my friends, who were with me through many emotional breakdowns and tough moments. As an immigrant, you go through a constant rollercoaster, especially mentally, because most probably you don’t have many people to help you out in the first years, you don’t have great connections, and it takes time to build all of that, so when you’re in any kind of trouble, you’re really in trouble. Also, let’s not forget that LA isn’t the easiest city to find authentic friends and partners. But I was lucky enough to find some beautiful souls who became my good friends, and some of them even became my mentors.

So I won’t mention the names, not to offend anybody, because there are many people I’m grateful for, but instead, I’ll share the 2 biggest pieces of advice I got from some of these people.
Life advice: it’s a lie that your 20s will be the best years of your life. In a capitalistic world most probably you’re going to be broke, lost, learning how to let people you love go, you’re going to fail many times, suffer from depression, etc. Sure, there’s a fun side, where you party, meet new people, date, etc., but most of the time, you’re going to be feeling weird. And yes, “weird” is probably the best word to describe it. You’re going to see all these highly-promoted 20-year-old entrepreneurs, successful musicians, models, etc. who succeed at an early age, and you’ll start doubting yourself, but the actual situation is that majority of your peers are struggling, and just a few were able to make it at a young age, so let yourself explore, live, try things and give yourself time and chances to fail and try again. Don’t force on yourself fake advertised standards that aren’t always applicable in real life. Stay concentrated and keep grinding, and you’ll succeed at your own time.

Professional Advice: the key to success is being creative. When you’re a struggling musician, you don’t need money, you need to be creative. You don’t need a fancy video. Instead, you want to have good music and a creative video that can even be shot on your phone.

I couldn’t make peace with this thought for a long while. I was convinced that to succeed, you need the most expensive-looking video and a song made with platinum producers only.. and none of these things I could afford, but now I realize that it’s not the case, and I guess, my career will be the brightest evidence whether this statement is true or not.

Website: linktr.ee/afinamadoian

Instagram: instagram.com/afinamadoian

Facebook: facebook.com/afinamadoian

Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCenPRnbJEA91C_iJwricwQQ

Other: Pre=Save Link for new song “Lay with Me”: https://distrokid.com/hyperfollow/afina/lay-with-me Link for new song “Horrorwood | The Dark Side of Hollywood”: https://youtu.be/SMUPSc3DWUE