Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Kay Azna. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.
Hi Kay, thanks for joining us today. Was there an experience or lesson you learned at a previous job that’s benefited your career afterwards?
The most important lesson in a job that applies directly to my life now, is actually twofold. It’s what ultimately led me to the music industry, and it’s saving my butt as a growing artist. The value of security.
In my undergrad, my major choice was Military Strategic Intelligence, with minors in business and cinema. My initial plan for my life was to work for the CIA post graduation, because I was (and still am!) a licensed cosmetologist, and there is a division of the CIA called the Department Of Disguise, which is who does the SFX, custom wigs, etc so field agents can do their job safely and successfully everyday. I loved the fact it would be an ever changing role, and something where I could utilize my creative talents while making a difference at the same time, so I had my heart set on it for about 4-5 years of my late teens/early 20’s. As I was studying how that world works, because we had to get comparable education to military service members and field agents to qualify for a job in that field, I got introduced to a lot of people with specialized training in the security field, and when some of them left the military, a LOT of them ended up getting into personal protection of bands, celebrities, and all-around high profile people. Around the time I ended school, because I’d befriended so many in personal protection, a lot of my life’s draw started heading instead to concert touring and show production, rather than the initial plan to work in DC. I’d worked concert tour stops in high school anyway, I always had liked the business and fun of show production, and I got to see some pretty awesome bands from a different perspective all over the country.
Well… As I was diving heavily into this, a mutual friend, the late Christina Grimmie, was shot and killed by a “fan” at her concert. I’d heard about what happened to Selena Quintanilla years prior but this…it hit more on a personal level because so many friends of my life had known her. I didn’t understand how it happened. She was famous, right? Shouldn’t she have had security? Her manager was Selena Gomez’s father after all, and with the fame of Selena, he surely understood the value of that for his artists, right?
She didn’t. It was just her and her brother at that meet and greet when she was killed.
When I confided in a good friend in the security world about this frustration of mine, he told me that one bodyguard on her would have been enough to save her life. ONE. I was crushed. She had so much ahead of her taken in a second by a complete psycho, and now so many were grieving her loss. It was then I knew that I would only work with people who were proactive about ensuring the safety of everyone at a show, because this was roughly the time where the mass shooting at the outdoor show in Vegas happened, the tragedy at the Ariana Grande concert… Like this was becoming an apparent problem to be very aware of and prepared for, and I had terrorism training.
In my education, I had to see things I wouldn’t wish any human being to witness or experience in their lifetime. As Americans, we’re pretty fortunate that for the most part, everyone can sleep in their bed at night knowing they won’t walk outside to a warzone. For the most part, we can trust that schools, churches, public places will take proactive measures to keep the people there safe. But you have to think ten steps ahead like the criminal to keep everyone safe. So at my shows, I always have security. I don’t make it obvious, but I always have security onsite for myself and my band, and I only play venues that have, at the very least, door security for guests. The crazy shoes I wear onstage actually give me better visibility to scan while performing for suspicious activity, and if spotted, I speak in code to alert security to the situation if they haven’t already seen it themselves, and discuss code language I’d be using with them in advance. Only if it could immediately impact the other attendees would I say point blank what I’m seeing in an emergency situation, because some things are best resolved under everyone’s noses.
And then the part about it benefiting me now, which I stress to all artists, and people in general, especially females, is the understanding of how the law works, and understanding how to shoot to kill. Things you might write off as just an insult or just something someone says or does to bully you- the law has got your back on a LOT. You can’t predict someone’s just be all talk. I’ve had someone stalk me before, I’ve had someone threaten my life before, I’ve had someone physically assault me as I was stepping out of the car to go in my home… I seriously stress to everyone reading this- learn the law. Fight back with the law, and fight back with your strength and wit too. Self defense classes are a thing and are available even in the smallest of towns. Grab some friends one night and take one. Even if you’re intimidated to own a gun, learn at the very least how to shoot one, because if some crazy person were to hold you at gunpoint, you need to know how to knock it from their grip, grab it, and flip it on them. I mean, hell, if women can get kidnapped and killed just trying to go on their morning run or going to the grocery store with their kids, this is valuable info to know, even if you’re convinced it couldn’t happen to you, because I guarantee everyone it did happen to thought the same thing. Knowing things like this can not only save your life, but the lives of those around you too, and you can never be too safe. Speaking as a woman who has been there, I know women as a rule tend to get more emotionally invested than men in a high stress situation, but if you need to break that mentality to defend, maybe try something simple like substitution- putting yourself in the mental perspective of someone else who could- to be able to successfully save yourself and those around you. Things like domestic violence statistics in this country are too freaking high for my liking, which is all the more reason why I am grateful and thankful for my education.
So definitely guys- be safe. Safe at shows, and safe in everyday life. Besides, who’s got your back better than you anyway?
Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.
My name is Kay Azna, and I am the frontwoman for The Weapons Of Mass Elation, and the CEO of the parent company behind it, AznaWhat Entertainment, which serves as both my band’s management firm, and as a charity concert production company. What got me into performing and event production is a combination of what I just described in answering the most valuable lesson question, growing up around musically inclined and professional musicians in the extended family, and being told when I was 21 years old by Clive Davis’s right hand guy that I had a fantastic voice, and pointed me to all the right people to get that part of my life rolling (and for that I am very thankful with my friendship with my “brother from another mother”, Mr. John Cain.).
As a performer, what I deliver is a performance that doesn’t have a direct comparison to any other artist. When we’re doing a show, we’re not there to be background noise. We’re the freaking SHOW honey, and between glitter baptisms, “Aznomic Bombs” (gotta come to a show to see what I mean by that), and award winning performers in the band, unless you’re a straight up “Karen” type personality who isn’t happy about anything fun, you’re gonna be wowed every time you see us out.
As an entertainment professional, I love working with top notch artists to deliver shows that will bring the most funds to a deserving cause. If the thing that makes me and everyone else onstage happy can help people too, it’s just the best kind of win for me and the recipient too. In time, I plan to evolve this company to offer a-la-carte management and development services for independent artists, so keep an eye out for that in the next couple years.
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 had to unlearn that I sucked. I had to unlearn that I was awful, that I wasn’t good enough, that I was too fat, too tall, too different, too dorky, too much.
Growing up, I was the art geek. I was pretty good at playing off that not fitting in didn’t bother me, but like any kid going through puberty, it totally did. I mean, the worst of it was probably in middle school, when I bought Hollister, Aeropostale, and American Eagle clothes purely to be accepted by my peers for a certain label on my shirt- not necessarily because I actually liked it and sought it out on my own accord (But AE having long enough jeans for me turned out to be a plus as a teenager, so I’ll give them that). I actually was more into Ed Hardy, and all sorts of loud colors and prints because they were different. But I had just moved, I didn’t really have any friends yet, and I really just wanted to make sure I was liked, because it was bad enough they called me “suitcase girl” because I brought a roller backpack my first day of 7th grade and it didn’t fit in my locker. But my homeroom teacher, Miss Karnes, used to always say this thing that seemed completely weird to me at the time, but it grew on me the more she said it, and by the end of the year I finally understood what she meant by “Embrace The Weird”. It meant to just be yourself. It took me a few years to be okay with even just dressing the way I wanted to, because I was insecure as hell. I was tall, so boys didn’t really look at the girl taller than them, much less express any interest in her. I didn’t live near the roller rink, so unlike my more popular peers I didn’t really have a social life unless I did some sort of extra-curricular activity. My personal interests were generally different than what was “socially acceptable” in my class, so unless it was about classwork, with the exception of the few genuine friends I did end up making, nobody really took the time to get to know me, which I guess is better than being bullied. I just kinda co-existed. As I went from middle to high school though, I started getting comfortable enough to start dressing how I liked- even going so far as to design and sew my own costumes for Spirit Week because I was on Student Council and very committed to what we’d planned. Even let myself do a bit more with the arts, between art classes and creative writing classes. Hell it took me til sophomore year for my choir teacher to tell me she really liked my voice and the fact I had some dance training too, but I still didn’t fully believe I was good at singing til I was 21 and someone from Sony told me the same thing. At that point, I was like “Okay…these people actually signed the people I listen to, so maybe I’m not that terrible after all,”.
But it’s like… middle school… high school… hell, even college. I was a total people pleaser. Even though I was gradually learning to be myself, and do what I liked to do, I constantly had the thought of making sure whatever I did would get me the approval I desperately sought out. And modeling, while I liked it for the fashion and artistry aspects in my early 20’s, it did not help me much with that thinking either. Being put up against girls who could be your sister and losing out on jobs to the girls who didn’t get curves in puberty certainly screwed with my self worth too. It took at least a solid decade of growth and people I respected in my life telling me the opposite of what I thought of myself, and retraining me out of that negative thinking for it to all finally click that it was okay to be myself, and do things regardless of what people have to say or think about it.
To this day, I’d say that’s the overall hardest thing I’ve had to break myself of, thinking negatively of myself in pretty much all aspects. So if there’s someone reading this who is me at 13… just know it gets better. And maybe don’t model in those foundational years of adulthood like I did if you don’t have a backbone yet. You’ll save a little bit on therapy.
What’s the most rewarding aspect of being a creative in your experience?
Honestly, the most rewarding aspect of what I do is being able to help people. I do it just to do it. People have come out of the woodwork for me at the most unexpected times for the best reasons in helping me to grow my career, so the very least I can do is pay it forward, whether it’s helping in putting together a show, or helping connect some friends, sharing advice that’s been shared with me, or giving my talents to worthy causes. I don’t really do anything expecting a thank you or recognition. It just makes me happy to do good whenever I can. And same goes for my music too. I’ve got a couple songs I’ve had people come to me and share how my lyrics spoke to them, saying they were almost therapeutic, which to me is simply amazing, because it was therapeutic for me to just get them written. Plus isn’t that really what we’re all put here on this earth to do anyway? Help one another, so long as nobody’s abusing the privilege?
Contact Info:
- Website: www.kayazna.com
- Instagram: @realkayazna
- Facebook: @realkayazna
- Twitter: @realkayazna
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCVCSJbOy_Sqnz2K-op_ypsA
- Other: TikTok & BIGO Live: @realkayazna
Image Credits
Nita In Nashville, Ryan Hillier, Patrick Chavez