Today we’d like to introduce you to Austin Lam.
Austin, please share your story with us. How did you get to where you are today?
When I was a kid, I’ve never been a very smart individual. This is something that I’ve always known and I’ve always been self-conscious of. When I was five years old, I wandered into one of my fathers (whos been a guitar player for 40 years) practice sessions with his fellow musicians when they were on break and I picked up his guitar and started to play with it. instantly, all of the adult musicians noticed and they came into the room and showed me how to play a song and within five minutes, I had it mastered. This was my calling. I knew right then and there that even if I’m not smart, I can still be exceptional. They way they looked at me I can still remember vividly and I’m still chasing that praise to this day.
I was never much liked by my peers in school. not a loner, but close enough. These kids from southern California had moved in up the street from me year a few years before high school and they were my primary friends. I loved them and only wanted to be liked by them. The universe is really funny in some ways because they just so happened to all be musicians. This was my outlet. My chance to be a part of something bigger and I wasn’t going to let it go. They started a punk rock/reggae band called Stamped 86 and I was too young and dismissed by them to be a part of it. I spent years honing my craft and eventually was given the spot of rhythm guitarist/background vocalist. Keep in mind, I had no idea yet that singing was my calling, I just knew how to play guitar and nothing else so I was rolling with the punches.
Mid highschool, life moved on, the band faded from doing shows all around GA in these sleazy clubs to barely even speaking to fellow bandmates. Word had traveled around our school that I was a musician and soon enough, I was recruited by an upperclassman to be in a music collective called HGHRCLSS. This was when the conception of my musical persona came to fruition. I sang on a few records, it caught fire around our town and boom. I was a solo artist now. It was more just for fun and to impress girls. Nothing about being this was on my mind at all at this time. I ended up disagreeing with decisions that were being made and I was ex-communicated from the group. Left alone with no musical prospects once again. eventually, it was all just a memory and graduation was looming on the horizon for me with no plans of what I wanted to do or be. This was when I broke down and existentialism was crippling. I didn’t know what I wanted. I didn’t know who I was. All the while, all of my friends are going to college and in happy relationships while I wallowed. So, I made a snap decision.
After high school, I chose to go to SAE Atlanta. A school for audio engineering. I would have never told anybody this but I was only doing it to stave off my parents and make it seem like I had a plan. Thank God, I ended up loving it all and diving really deep. I learned how to record myself and I started putting out records on SoundCloud that I was writing/producing/recording myself. No plans, no prospects. Just hoping the universe would show me a path. Somewhere to go so I wouldn’t feel so lost and like such a loser. Then, it happened.
While I was attending SAE, a friend of mine was at a mixer in downtown and he showed a record that I was singing on to a man named Fred Foster. This man would change my life as I knew it. Fred is a prominent influence of culture in Atlanta in fashion and music. Fred heard my voice and reached out to me to become my day to day manager. Once this happened, it all became real. With Fred’s faith and resources, music turned from silly pipe dream to VERY possible and achievable.
NOW, since we’ve met and started working together, Fred, Melvin and I have given our hearts and souls to music and we released my first debut album Neon Sunset along with several singles with prominent Atlanta natives like young bans and nessly. I’ve also featured on Ski Mask The Slumpgods debut album Stokeley. There is a soft talk around Atlanta about me. Every day, I become more talked about and I see myself going from a phantom of Atlanta to one of its most loved artists.
Although I have chosen not to mention him until now, Melvin Bass is my right-hand man. He has been my best friend from day one and has kept me motivated to pursue this dream unlike anybody else ever has or ever will. Our lives parallel in many ways, we are both from the same place and we both are clawing to become something better. we have grown up together and somewhere in our younger years when I was still with the band in high school there was a moment I shared with Melvin that ill never forget. I was singing a song in the back seat and he stopped and looked at me and said “you’ve got it, man, you’re amazing’ and that moment of affirmation changed so much for me as a vocalist. Melvin now helps me write my records and produces some of my records so we move as a team in a way. Both of our words are represented in my songs. He has been an ever-presence in my musical career and I owe so much to him. this journey is my own no doubt. Not everyone needs a friend like him to propel them and keep them level headed.
About me; as of right now, I’m just floating through life and fighting depression through making music. basically like every other artist on the planet. It’s just the way we are I suppose. I’ve always connected to the darker, more honest and emotional side of music. I like the idea of being mysterious and pondered about. I personify that in music I think. The enigmatic one, the one that doesn’t always speak or sing but when he does. It’s meaningful. powerful. I never want to give too much away about how I operate. I never want to answer certain questions because I feel like the music will bring you closer to me. Not me myself. Does that make sense? Right now, I’m just a ghost with a nice voice.
Great, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
It has absolutely never been a smooth road for me. I have such a strange opposite-day like life that I’m living and I would love to explain. Do you know the old pop culture telling of a stars rise to fame? You know the one… the whole “I was down and out with nothing and nobody believed in me but I beat the odds and now look, I’m famous.” THAT whole thing. For me, I’m coming from the opposite end of the spectrum. From the moment I started singing, everyone around me said “you’re so great, you’re gonna make it!” and of course, I believed them. Who wouldn’t want to believe that about themselves? And yet, my life has definitely has not reflected their opinions in terms of what you would think “success” is for an artist. I have faced every obstacle from thinking I’m not good enough and that I don’t deserve this great talent, that I’ve been given to literal legal battles over my time and music. It’s never just about talent, and that’s the biggest struggle for me on a day to day basis AND on a spiritual level. If it’s pound for pound talent, then I can go toe to toe with the best of them. But it never was, never will be. And THAT… is the struggle of being an artist. My struggle.
Please tell us about Stilted Music:
Stilted music is our creative hub. It’s a group of creatives led by My manager Fred Foster. It’s a safe have where we can feed off each other’s creative energy.
About Austin:
I’m a singer/songwriter/producer.
I’m most proud of my music itself and I think that’s exactly what sets me apart from everyone else. I’ve got my own sound.
Do you look back particularly fondly on any memories from childhood?
Learning my first song on guitar.
Contact Info:
- Instagram: _austinlam_
- Twitter: @austnlam
Image Credit:
jreamworks
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