We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Autumn Mallard a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Autumn, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. Learning the craft is often a unique journey from every creative – we’d love to hear about your journey and if knowing what you know now, you would have done anything differently to speed up the learning process.

I gradually learned about the many facets/ hats within music at a young age. The moment my toddler-self heard music (whether in person or on TV), I was quickly drawn to it. From then on, I always wanted to be involved in something music related. I started learning that to be really skilled in what you do, you gotta work at it. I started out in my church choir along with being on the praise team. That taught me to sing and perform boldly. I then got into choir and band in school along with private lessons for both voice and piano. Later I joined show choir. When it came to music production, I wanted to start learning how to do it, so at around age 14 or 15 I began songwriting. By 16 or 17, I downloaded GarageBand and the rest is history.

One thing I could have done to speed up the learning process is to be less timid to simply try new things. As I got older and started learning more about the world, I realized how cruel it can be sometimes, so I would be nervous or afraid to confidently audition for a role or sing solos even though I knew I was capable of doing it. Same applies for music production. I always knew I was beginning to make great songs, but was afraid to put them out. You won’t know until you try right?

Skills that were and still are most essential are my ears. My parents started realizing at a young that I could aurally retain things I was hearing. In addition, I would hop on our old upright piano and playback what I was hearing in commercials and other commercial songs. That is what prompted the private lessons. Once I was able to develop the technique to sing and play properly, I would be able to do great things. They were right. I’m making them proud.

Obstacles that stood between me and learning more was me being focused. I am such an energetic person that it would set me back. I wouldn’t be as locked in with practicing or during weekly lessons which would require me to go back and study the previous material.

Autumn, before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?

Hello everybody! My name is Autumn Mallard, a recording artist, music producer, and singer-songwriter. I got into music production and performing during my high school years. Seeing so many of the greats within the music industry create great bodies of work and then perform them on the biggest stages around the world was inspiring. I myself provide music production services such as producing fully finished songs, vocal production, composing, and writing lyrics and melodies. Problems I solve for my clients are to take artistic visions and bringing them to life. In addition, I take raw files, polish them, and make them ready for release. What I believe sets me apart from others is that I am efficient. We can have fun during the creative process, but I value people’s time. If you’re ever paying for my services, I will assure you that things are going to get done in a timely manner. What I am most proud of is the amount I’ve been able to achieve in my life thus far. By believing in the Lord, I have had many successes. One thing I want for any collaborators to know about me and my brand is that you will have a positive and creative experience. As a fellow creative, I have grown to love pushing myself. I will creatively push you in the right direction that will hopefully inspire you to do the same when you leave me.

Let’s talk about resilience next – do you have a story you can share with us?

During my undergraduate studies at Stephen F. Austin State University where I received a Bachelors in Music: Sound Recording/ Technology, I needed to complete a summer internship at the end of my junior year. I found a live sound internship at this restaurant that plays live music outside. I didn’t have much experience in live sound besides the one class we took a year or so prior. I was afraid of making a mistake most of the time, so I was not super proactive. I also got caught dancing a little bit while we were striking the stage after the headliner performed and someone found that unprofessional. After about a month, I was let go by the person I was working under. At first, I thought something terrible must’ve happened, but I shortly learned that it was for those reasons. I was super disappointed in myself and really thought I screwed up, but I had my cry and knew I had to move forward. Next year rolls around and I have to redo my internship elsewhere. I found a recording studio called “Audio Dallas Recording Studio” in Garland, Texas. This time, I thrived in this internship. Because I had much more experience in a studio setting, I was capable of doing so much in that space. I could set up microphones, patch cables, record musicians, clean, and more. I even got paid by clients that came through. They found out I could sing and needed either a female vocal or harmonies. That was one of the best experiences I had and that showed me to just keep going even when you are setback.

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

I started truly building my audience on social media back in 2022. We had just taken a multimedia course in my undergrad studies where we learned basic editing skills using both audio and video. Once that class was over, I took initiative and started learning more about editing from various different YouTube videos and tutorials. With time, the quality of my content got better and my audience grew. There was one video I made called “Producing a Fiverr Order Pt.1” which I didn’t put that much time into, but it started gaining a lot of traction. Before I knew it, it had over 1,000 views. Today, it now has over 24,000 views. People really enjoyed watching the process of me creating. That led to other opportunities like getting my first paid partnership in a YouTube video, performance opportunities, and more. If I had to give any advice for people starting out, it would be to just start. You won’t know how to do everything, but once you start, your skills and strategies will come with time.

Contact Info:

• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/autumn.mallard/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/autumn.mallard.1
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/autumn-mallard-b47219290/
• Twitter: https://x.com/tharmonizaa?lang=en
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@AutumnMallard
• Soundcloud: https://on.soundcloud.com/2cTkVGjGelv3Dvsm1a

Image Credits

B.U University
Autumn Mallard