We were lucky to catch up with Arden Alexa recently and have shared our conversation below.

Arden, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. Can you take us back in time to the first dollar you earned as a creative – how did it happen? What’s the story?

I was actually pretty young when I first earned money from music. I had entered a national art contest with the first ever original song I wrote titled “Our Time”. It was a song inspired by the beliefs that my parents had instilled in me from a young age; standing up for what you believe in and being brave in the face of adversity. I entered it into the contest with no expectations and promptly forgot about it (I had much more exciting things to worry about in 7th grade like what I was wearing to the next school dance), until my principal pulled me out of English class one day to tell me I had won the grand prize with my song. I ended up getting to sing the song at the awards ceremony and received a $500 check, which I immediately gave back to the contest organizers and asked that they continue encouraging and supporting young artists. Winning the contest was huge for me, not just because of the money, but because it showed me that people actually connected to my music and resonated with the message I was singing about. That was the first moment that music became a real possibility, that I thought of music as more than just a hobby, but as something that could be a career and help bring people together.

Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers.

My name is Arden Alexa. I’m a independent pop artist from San Francisco (so yes I am a true California girl). Currently based in LA, my music is a blend of sleek pop sounds, relatable lyrics straight from my notes app, and a sassiness that I have yet to master hiding. Sonically, I’ve been incredibly inspired by strong female artists such as Amy Winehouse, Taylor Swift, and Billie Eilish. Having recently relocated to Los Angeles to bypass the collegiate path and pursue music full-time, I am currently rolling out a number of singles off of my debut album.

My goal with music is to represent and give a voice to women; to demonstrate to the world the complexity and multifaceted nature of women. Too often, we are put into boxes and minimized to representing one thing, whether it’s edgy or girly or sexy. Through my music, I hope to show that women can be all of those things, and more. I can be relatable and sassy and goofy, while also being elegant and edgy and glamorous.

Any insights you can share with us about how you built up your social media presence?

I know everyone says this, but CONSISTENCY. I really can’t emphasize this enough. As someone with a TikTok following, I can confidently say that the thing that built my audience was posting videos, going live and responding to comments/DMs regularly. This connection is what fans so often crave, so if they can find that in your social media posts, they will be more than happy to stick around.

Learning and unlearning are both critical parts of growth – can you share a story of a time when you had to unlearn a lesson?

I’ve had to work really hard to unlearn being a perfectionist, and despite my best efforts, I’m still not completely immune to some of my old perfectionist habits. However, as a creative, I had to come to terms with the fact that art is inherently imperfect and can never be truly perfect. I used to be so scared of sharing music with anyone unless the song was completely finished and polished, but quickly learned that the music industry doesn’t work that way. A large part of being an artist is sharing songs and ideas that aren’t fully fleshed out or completely recorded. I forced myself to share my music, even when I didn’t think it was “ready” to be shared, until I became comfortable in knowing that others weren’t judging my ideas because they were just that, ideas.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.ardenalexa.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/theardenalexa/
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@ardenalexa
• Other: https://www.tiktok.com/@arden_alexa

  https://open.spotify.com/artist/4PG2Mszo0adf00VIj8v7FL

Image Credits

Sam Klegerman
John Chigas