We were lucky to catch up with Olivia Khiel recently and have shared our conversation below.

Olivia , looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. Let’s start with the story of your mission. What should we know?

When Atlas Artist Group was started, it was our mission to highlight artists making amazing music while also making a positive impact on their scene or community. That’s still our mission today and we’ve been able to expand it beyond the local Arizona scene and the constraints of genre- we aim to shine a spotlight on artists across the musical spectrum that we really believe in.

This is so important to Atlas as a whole because we feel that it’s only possible to create truly great music if it comes from a place of honesty and integrity. This mission has really allowed us to expand our coverage across the country and the world and let our readers know about some amazing people we’ve encountered along the way.

Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.

My name is Olivia Khiel and I am the Editor in Chief of Atlas Artist Group, along with being a writer and photographer. Like a lot of creatives out there, this path came to me entirely by accident and a little bit of luck. As a writer, I wasn’t able to get a job doing what I loved after college so my best friend and business partner suggested we create our own outlet for covering artists and booking shows.

I’ve never had any formal training in photography- my first show behind a camera for Atlas was Sum 41 and I had no idea what I was doing. Almost six years later, I’ve found my true passion in capturing my favorite artists from behind my plethora of lenses and I’ve learned so much about the stories I want to tell along the way.

I hope that our readers really get a sense of the pride and passion we put into our work at Atlas. We truly love all of the artists we get to cover and it’s been such a joy to experience live music in this way over the years. I’m so proud of the growth we’ve achieved and every accomplishment feels like another stepping stone to even greater stories that we’ll get to tell.

How’d you meet your business partner?

My business partner’s name is David Key and he’s really the driving force behind how Atlas even got started. We met in college when he was playing in a local band and I was just starting to go to shows and explore the scene. After the band came to an end, he went into booking and promoting shows in the area and we struggled to find a corner of the community that really felt like ours.

Atlas was born out of an insane idea, David’s business intelligence and a lot of publicists taking a chance on a rookie publication. We’re still best friends and collaborators and always looking for opportunities to get Atlas to the next level.

For you, what’s the most rewarding aspect of being a creative?

Being a creative is the most rewarding path I could have ever chosen for myself. Live music is my favorite thing in the world and it’s incredible to experience my favorite artists from such a unique perspective behind my camera. I’ve had the chance to photograph all of my childhood heroes and discovered this was a dream I never knew existed until I had the chance to do it.

It can be exhausting and tough at times, but I’d never trade the opportunities I’ve had for anything.

Contact Info:

• Website: atlasartistgroup.com
• Instagram: instagram.com/oliviakhiel and instagram.com/atlasartistgroup
• Facebook: facebook.com/atlasartistgroup
• Linkedin: linkedin.com/olivia-khiel
• Twitter: twitter.com/oliviakhiel and twitter.com/atlasartist

Image Credits
Taylor Knauf Olivia Khiel