We were lucky to catch up with LynZ Wells recently and have shared our conversation below.
Hi LynZ, thanks for joining us today. Do you feel you or your work has ever been misunderstood or mischaracterized? If so, tell us the story and how/why it happened and if there are any interesting learnings or insights you took from the experience?
Oh my gosh! Absolutely! Let me see which one I want to talk about here. I was living in Nashville pursuing a career as an artist. I got a meeting with a huge music engineer in the industry that worked on Fleetwood Mac’s songs. He asked me what I wanted to do, and although I thought I made it very clear, I guess I didn’t because my parents, who got me the connection by knowing his brother, told me that he told his brother “I was unclear of what she wanted!” To be honest I think I was so intimidated and not secure enough in my artistry at the time to really utilize that resource to the best of my ability. Unfortunately I didn’t learn quick enough to be able to turn that around, but I eventually did learn a lot. I think it’s very important as an artist to know who you are, not just who YOU are but who you are as an artist with a vision. I struggled to separate Lindsay the person with LynZ the Artist. I let other peoples opinions effect my vision, and therefore struggled with the confidence to define myself and stick to it! When you have a voice that can sing anything really, It’s hard to find your place. I learned it’s very important as an artist to take the time to find your place, your genre, your style….the place that resonates with your soul, not the place that other people think you should be. It’s important that you define yourself, no one else! Love it! Fight for it! That way if people don’t understand you but your confident in yourself and in your art, that’s all that matters.
Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers?
I got into the music industry by having my first solo in church and the choir director noticing I had a gift. From there, it went. I started recording in a studio and writing songs in High School. Caught the eye of a producer that introduced me to my Vocal Coach Kim Wood Sandusky and the story goes on from there. I sang demos in Nashville, performed at legendary venues, and worked in the music business as well for a bit. Eventually I ended up in Los Angeles which was a better fit for me anyways because honestly I don’t even really listen to country music. I ended up there because one of my family members was like “you know Lindsay you would be really good at country music!” Like I said in the previous question, I listened to that instead of really defining myself and following MY heart. So I went down a path but eventually I found my way and now I am doing music that is more ME then anything I’ve ever done before. I rap sometimes in a group I have called GEMMA! We are getting our songs in clubs around LA and it will be in a movie coming out so stay tuned. I also just released a new single and instead of stay tuned please say so check it out on all music platforms.
Learning and unlearning are both critical parts of growth – can you share a story of a time when you had to unlearn a lesson?
Wow! I love this question because I feel like there are a lot of lessons in life you have to unlearn. I have unlearned a lot! There’s a line in my new single that goes “School it didn’t teach me much. I kinda see it as a crutch. How am I supposed to thrive when I was taught to survive.” This may be an unpopular opinion but I don’t think school is for everyone, especially not for creatives or entrepreneurs. Sometimes I think the best schooling is just to start focusing on your craft early, with a focused mindset. In my opinion school is a distraction for a creative. Hey don’t get me wrong, I love the schools I went to but looking back, I wish my parents would have just encouraged me to start a band, moved me to LA when I was recruited by a Disney rep and not worried about school & me having a “normal” childhood. So the lesson here is don’t be afraid to not “follow” the “norm” because of the fear of what if! What if they fly ya know?!?!
What can society do to ensure an environment that’s helpful to artists and creatives?
Honestly we need more people willing to pay to endorse indie artists. I think there’s a huge gap between artists who are signed and artists who are unsigned. I don’t think society has any idea how hard it is for unsigned artists. Also, I think just purchasing songs, buying concert tickets, following on Instagram and liking and commenting can go a long way. I am going to speak a bit about NFTs but I’m still researching so I can’t say much but I think that could revolutionize the industry and be a great way for artists to partner with their audience to create a better system. So instead of the labels being a bank, the audience has a vested interest in the success of that artist so it would encourage more support! That’s really what creatives need is support and I think that kind of creative ecosystem could help both the artist and the audience thrive, creating a win win situation, which we love!
Contact Info:
- Website: Lynzwells.com
- Instagram: http://www.instagram.com/lynzwellsmusic
- Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/lindsaywellsmusic
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/lindsay-wells-a6a36743
- Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/lynzwellsmusic
- Youtube: https://youtu.be/V6wZwvIu21I
Image Credits
Tricia Battani