Today we’d like to introduce you to Ethan “Lit Zando” Paul.
Alright, so thank you so much for sharing your story and insight with our readers. To kick things off, can you tell us a bit about how you got started?
For as long as I can remember, I’ve wanted to be an entertainer, specifically a musician and an actor (but I was more towards music). I would go to performance arts camps, acting classes, and singing lessons. The more I grew up, the more I realized that I was gaining more ground in acting. Coupled with the fact that my voice was changing and that I started to not like how I sounded, I decided to give music a break and lean more into acting. The thing is, music still stuck with me. I would write songs, come up with the beat, and unprofessionally record it, and that’s all I would listen to. Taking a break from singing made the music fire in me grow since I wasn’t expelling it. And then, growing up some more, music and acting began to intertwine, and from there, I wanted to practically do everything creative. I was also tired of not being booked for something. So I decided that I would book myself and take a chance on me and make my own productions. So now I direct, script and song write, act, make music (actually good music) for, produce, and star in my own projects. And projects could mean both musical projects and visual projects.
Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way. Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
No, it has not been a smooth road at all. People just haven’t realized my potential yet. I haven’t been cast as a main character in any major projects yet and when I try to show people my music, they don’t really appreciate it like I would like them to. But there has been a nice plus that has happened. One of my songs “Find Cover – Lit Zando” has found its way to becoming a viral trend on TikTok, which has raised my streams exponentially. With this happening, all of my other music has been given a boost as well. People don’t recognize me in the street or anything but collectively hundreds of thousands of people have listened to my voice and that right there has pushed me to keep going. I truly believe that I will become successful in the entertainment world, so even though the road is bumpy, I don’t mind it. I have also just recently landed something acting-wise that could potentially open a door to the real industry. I enjoy the wins, big or small, because I know it will lead to something great.
Can you tell our readers more about what you do and what you think sets you apart from others?
On the visual side, I act, write, produce, and direct. On the auditory side, I am an artist and songwriter. I can also produce a beat if I tell a producer what I want, and they physically lay it down for me. I am most known for my song “Find Cover” as that’s the one thing out of all my artistry that has put eyes on me. What I’m most proud of is a pilot episode that I created in high school for a show that I made. I put my all into that project, and I think that that was a great lesson on what to do and what not to do. I believe what sets me apart from others is that I don’t sound or do anything like anybody in my field. If I play music from my catalogue and music from other artists around you could clearly hear a difference. And people my age aren’t utilizing all their creativity into one big project like I do. Nobody is making soundtracks to their own movies that they also write and act in. And I believe that the fact that I am an actor and writer helps better with storytelling on a song than other musicians around me.
What do you like best about our city? What do you like least?
What I like best about my city is the fact that you can do so much. Anything you can think of, there is most likely a business somewhere here. I also like the fact that every movie wants to be filmed here, which helps with my film career. And the city is just very alive and everyone is outside and I like that. What I don’t like the most about this city is the traffic. Yes, everyone is outside, but that means that they are also on the roads. We have a saying here: “Atlanta is an hour away from Atlanta”.
Contact Info:
- Instagram: instagram.com/3thanpaul // instagram.com/lit_zando // instagram.com/redd13productions
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@redd13productions11
- SoundCloud: https://on.soundcloud.com/iXn9Q
Image Credits
Taliyah Baptiste
