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

Lo, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today We’d love to hear about when you first realized that you wanted to pursue a creative path professionally.

Since my earliest memory writing music was the one place I could put into words the intensity of waves of emotion I’d feel as early as 7. The kids around me in school had diaries, I had sheet music & a journal dedicated to lyrics. For a few years I solely looked at music at the thing that freed me from how out of place I felt in comparison to every other human around me from a young age. I was very private about it, or at least thought I was haha. My mom was the only person I let hear me sing. Then when I was 10 I performed “Respect” by Aretha Franklin at my school’s talent show. I was completely terrified & barely moved on stage – at the time I was being severely bullied by my classmates. I was quite the easy target as an obvious sensitive kid & at that point my self esteem was shot so low. I remember being confused as to the crowd’s response – questioning why they were screaming, clapping, & smiling. When it was time for them to announce the winners, I remember 3rd place being called out, then 2nd place was called out, & after that I was 100% sure I wasn’t going to win. I had never won anything in my life. I didn’t think I was good at anything really. A girl next to me who also competed in the talent show kneeled down & whispered to me “you know that’s gonna be you”. I looked at her in shock & almost tried to console her with the reality that I wouldn’t be winning first place – because I didn’t want her to be hurt by her assumption? Haha And then they said it – first place goes to Lourdes Artiz. That was the first time I was praised for something that I did solely for me & was such a sacred spiritual practice from a young age. I thought to myself man I guess I’m good at this? Maybe this is what I should do then? Haha

Lo, love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?

It was pretty apparent at a young age that I’d be pursuing my music. My family was always supportive as they saw how immensely it helped me deal with my mental health. I know they were secretly rooting for me to pursue coding or computer engineering or even medicine, but they never pressed me on it. I think they just wanted me to be okay, & if that meant pursuing music as a career path, they were happy to be on board.

My Abuelo was a classical pianist, & my dad grew up playing guitar in a band with his buddies in my Abuela’s living room. Their love for music as well as my dad introducing nearly every discography of every genre possible to me was a huge influence as well. There was something about the language of music that I could actually understand, unlike human to human language outside of music. It was the one place I didn’t feel as much like an alien walking on this planet haha

I started off singing & playing piano. Later I taught myself guitar, and a year ago I started learning bass. I’ve been attempting drums but I say attempting because that’s the most respectful word I can use towards it haha. I started producing when I was 15 & started learning how to mix engineer vocals in 2020.

I’d say what I’m most proud of is maintaining my soul while navigating this industry. I want to be transparent with my audience, with myself really. Music has & always will be that place. It’s impossible to put on a mask when I’m writing or performing. So I’m grateful I haven’t let outside influences try to warp me or change my message in any way. It’s hard navigating this industry alone but especially as a woman, & a Latin-American woman at that. But I’ve built an incredible community around me over the years, that encourage what separates me from others rather than trying to water my insight & messages down.

: Is there a particular goal or mission driving your creative journey?

I have definitely placed upon myself a soul-like mission when it comes to my craft. For the sake of transparency & vulnerability, I wasn’t always as resilient as I am now when it comes to discussing topics like mental health, severe depression, anxiety, PTSD, & suicide.
I struggled from a very early age, & not many in my family knew how to handle it. They walked & I stumbled. When they moved, I stood still. I always felt out of step & was morbidly aware of how certain things affected me gravely that my peers paid no mind to whatsoever. I quickly learned to keep my thoughts/feelings to myself & only share them through music.
I saw plenty of therapists, none that I actually was transparent with – I just said what I thought they wanted to hear.
Until when I was 16, I had a big wake-up call in my life. I returned home from the hospital a few days later & found myself still in a sunken place & planning on how I could numb it again, when this huge wave of nurturing energy came over me & a presence that I take as angelic, told me “You can’t go yet. There’s too many people that are relying on you”.
Some would call that the voice of god, or divine intervention, or plain schizophrenia. Haha
But to me, it was a saving grace that connected the dots of why someone like me, with the pre-dispositions I have to feel with such brutal intensity, & suffering such a weight in mental health – would choose to live this life in this reality.
It made what once made no sense, make complete sense.

Since that day my mission has & always will be to be a place for folks who struggle with the same things, or folks who witness their loved ones struggle with these things. To put into words what many can’t articulate for others. To hold space for those who don’t want to share the words. To be the song someone puts on that will stop them from doing the thing the reactionary self is trying to get them to do. I just want to save someone like music saved me. If I can do that for just one person, I’ve achieved my soul mission.

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

Definitely!

Pretty early on I noticed this performative nature about social media. I thought to myself, what can I do that separates me from this formula/pattern? I’ve always been a goof, I’m a theater kid at heart, so goofing off in front of others or a camera was never really scary for me. I started sharing moments of my day or story telling on my Snapchat story or Instagram story. Some things people just found entertaining/funny & other times I’d share moments that were more serious in nature or touched on a soulful subject. I think folks found the dichotomy between those two things refreshing to see on social media laid out plain. I shared my creative process, my art via painting, my spiritual practice – etc. I shared my good days & I shared my bad days.
I started posting a lot of live performance footage & that got even more attention. Then I got into the wave of Instagram musician 30 sec – 1 min video loops. I’d write some topline over a producer that I admire’s beat or I’d choose a song to cover & perform the music behind it myself. I’d edit the video the same day & post it that week. I gained much more traction during quarantine doing that – but it can definitely get really exhausting & you can burn out quick.

There’s a big resentment whether consciously or subconsciously in a lot of us when it comes to how important social media presence is to artists that are trying to rise in their career. But the way I see it, we can either detest the beast, & waste energy pointing fingers on who’s to blame or complain about the way our society’s built now OR – we can ride the beast instead & steer it in which ever way we like. I think that’s how we take our control back in the situation. Use it to our benefit, learn the ins & outs of algorithmic principle, & then instead of being played by the game, we become the gamekeepers.
TikTok is also a wave I wouldn’t recommend missing, unless you are 100% completely morally opposed haha.

Contact Info:

• Website: http://loartiz.com/
• Instagram: https://instagram.com/loartiz/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/LoArtizMusic
• Twitter: https://twitter.com/loartiz?lang=en
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/c/LoArtizMusic
• Other: https://linktr.ee/loartiz

Image Credits
Photography: Taylor Shae & Colette Nourie