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

Chelsey , thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today Can you talk to us about a risk you’ve taken – walk us through the story?

One of the biggest risks I have ever taken was leaving my Civil Engineering job to pursue Music Production and Audio Engineering as a career.

I got my bachelors in Civil Engineering. It took me 6.5 years to finish up school. Through out those years, music production was my favorite hobby. I was making music everyday, publishing music on streaming platforms, and meeting other music producers. I even joined the Music Industry Club on my college campus. I remember I would always tell myself , “after I graduate, I’m going to school for Music Production”. I think it was my 5th year of college when I realized I wanted to become a Music Producer.

I graduated in 2020, It was the height of COVID and I needed to find a job that was stable. I ended up finding a Civil Engineering job in LA and worked as a AutoCAD Freelancer. I never thought it was possible to make any kind of money doing anything related to music or audio because I never had any formal training. I began to get discouraged so I reached out to music organizations in LA, went to networking events, and watched SO many youtube videos on how to start a music career. Little did I know, that I was setting myself up for a complete career change.

One day in 2021, I woke up and decided to quit my engineering job to finally pursue music. I got a part time job at a local wedding venue as a server/ banquet captain and worked on producing music on my free time. I remember feeling so scared and anxious all the time because I was so unsure of my future. However, at the same time I knew what I wanted to do I just didn’t know how to get there. No one in my family has done what I was doing, so it did feel quite lonely at times.

I never stopped going after my goals. After a year and a half of quitting my engineering job, I ended up saving enough money to enroll in a Music Production and Recording Certification Program and finding a job as an Audio Visual Tech.

This was the one of the biggest life changing events and I am happy with the decisions I’ve made to get where I am today.

As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?

My name is Chelsey, I create music under the name of Chels Sounds. I am a independant artist, musician, Producer, Mixing and Mastering Engineer. The first instrument i’ve ever played was the violin in grade school. After that, along came the guitar, drums and piano. I started creating my own music in college. Once I discovered what Logic pro was I just never stopped creating. My favorite part of creating music is creating with other people. I have met so many cool and talented people through music. I also LOVE to jam with other musicians. It always brings out the best in everyone. I have cultivated a craft for chill electronica, ambient, and vapor soul music. I am heavily influenced by R&b and Electronica music. I try to blend the two together to create a lush, organic and ethereal sound.

I provide Production, Mixing, and Mastering services. I will take the bare bones of an artist track and build a world that they envision on top of it. I always make sure that the track is what the artist wants, sonically and musically. I am most proud of creating relationships with my clients. They so are talented and I love to see talented people do talented things! I am grateful to have gotten the chance to work with them.

Can you talk to us about how your side-hustle turned into something more.

All I have to say is… YouTube. I like to call it Youtube University. When I was starting to use Logic Pro, I knew absolutely nothing. Youtube is a great way to learn the basics and some cool tips and advice on learning anything with music production! I was teaching myself how to create music almost everyday. I never stopped wanting to learn. Even though I have been producing for a while, there is always something to learn and that’s what keeps me going. A key milestone in my music career is enrolling in my Music Production and Recording Certification Program.

We’d love to hear the story of how you built up your social media audience?

I am not one to always be promoting or posting on social media. However, I love that it is a way to communicate, network, and learn. The top 3 ways I built my following are:

1) Networking in person
2) Posting reels with popular sounds
3) Following accounts that have the same interest as me

Contact Info:

• Instagram: @chels_sounds

Image Credits
Mark Fukubayashi