Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Audalei. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.

Audalei, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. We’d love to go back in time and hear the story of how you came up with the name of your brand?

My artist name is audalei and I often get asked if it’s my real name. It is! It’s a middle eastern name (because I’m Iranian) and legally it’s spelled different than the way I spell it for my music. I was tired of having people mispronounce it constantly and I think the spelling I’ve chosen is both unique and somewhat phonetic. It’s pronounced “aw-delay”

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

I’ve been surrounded by music my whole life. I’d mess around on piano, and drums in my basement with my brothers and picked up the violin and double bass in my high school orchestra but singing and writing were always my favorite. I would write and sing along with my sharpie doodled guitar in the privacy of my bedroom and very rarely show others what I’d made. I worked as an actor for a few years and would do the occasional musical which satisfied my musical itch. Over the pandemic I was off work and fell back in love with writing songs and for the first time, I wanted to share them. I started working with producers that were friends of friends in Vancouver, Canada until I made the move to Los Angeles. I came to LA with one single released and that’s it. But I was excited to pursue my goal of making music that I’m proud of. My hope is that if I got amnesia and listened to my music for the first time not knowing it was mine, I’d still like it.

We’d love to hear a story of resilience from your journey.

In May of 2022, after moving to LA and signing a lease, I lost my remote day job. I was broke, in a new country without any safety net. I lived off of 79 cent beans and used the LA transit system. All my money went to dog food, rent and of course, music. The entire EP CAN’T AFFORD MY THERAPY was written in the month of May and brought to life with the help of producers Dalton Ricks, Ben Coleman, Scott Rosenthal and my manager Tyler Gardosh. My EP’s track list is in order of when the events took place. First, letting go of a toxic narcisist relationship from Canada (IDONTCARE) then becoming self aware and getting high off my therapist’s approval (atleast my therapist thinks im cool), next, a broke girl anthem (20 SOMETHiNG), followed by a queer situationship (WASTED) and lastly being in an endless cycle of fleeting short term relationships (meringue pie). For the first time I’m so proud of my music and excited for everyone to join the journey in the order it was experienced.

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

When I first started writing and making music I was hyper critical of myself. I struggled with tons of self doubt and was anxious to share what I’d created. I spent 2021 working on my mindset. This was before releasing anything at all. I listened to positive podcasts, read inspirational books, and filled my mind with only optimistic material. I made delusional confidence my mission and still try to practice it. For whatever reason, it’s given me a level of faith that things with work out in the end. Without 2021, I would have never had the courage to move to LA and release an EP.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://ffm.bio/audalei
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/audalei/
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@audalei
• Other: https://www.tiktok.com/@audalei.hee.hooo

Image Credits
pink background with record (Jade Sadler), black and white with mic (The Permanent Rain Press), Colored live shot (Em Whiting), Brick Apartment smoking out the window shot (Adaline Bray)