We caught up with the brilliant and insightful The Avnu a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.
Hi The, thanks for joining us 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 learned how to create music through listening to the artists that I liked. I paid attention to their interviews & in studio blogs to see how they were moving, recording, performing, dealing with the media etc while also trying to balance their personal family life. I spent almost everyday for 5 years writing, listening to different producers & recording to perfect my craft. Most times without even having a job. I chose making music over earning an income for it mostly because I was hungry to get better at what I was doing. Not the best decision to be made but I found my way through it. All of that time dedicated & nights without sleep made me the artist that I am because I have an extreme passion for it. I dropped out of highschool in 2010 & didn’t really build a name for myself locally until 2014 while working with another local artist named Burgos. From 2014 – 2017 I had only released 3 videos but I had 4 mixtapes out on audiomack. Then I was releasing single after single, collaborating with local & out of state artists shooting videos in Fort Myers, Tampa & Atlanta. But I ran into a point where I needed to rebrand myself & my name to go bigger. I was originally named “Avenue” but I took the e’s out & abbreviated it to “Avnu” which did help with marketing & promotion moving forward to now.
The, 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?
So like I mentioned in the previous question I started off writing ✍🏾 I was great at writing verses but I couldn’t put a hook together to save my life lol I had to listen to a lot of music & really study how they were doing it. Every time I listened to a new artist I was trying to compare what I heard in my head to them.. wanting to be better than them… I always wanted to be the best at what I do. So I pushed myself to be as different as possible figuring that if my sound & approach were rare in form then I couldn’t be compared to anyone else. I would always stand out. I also tried to think about what I personally liked & what the majority of people enjoyed & blend those 2 together. With time I feel like I’ve reached a level of creating music that I’ve always foreseen for myself. I’m aware of who the greats are but I’m me.. & who’s to say I can’t become one of them if not better? The sky’s the limit. I started off free styling at house party’s & gaining most of the attention in the party’s because of my voice & my presence. People would contest me into battling & I would win every time. I would post freestyles on my social media all the time or snippets of my songs to build the hype & gain attention. By 2016 I had developed a relevant name for myself in Fort Myers where I’m from & also found an artist to build while chasing my own career. I was ranked in Southwest Florida’s top 10 hip hop artists, I attended X factor & made it past the first 3 rounds, debuted one of my biggest singles yet in Orlando on their main radio station, performed for many showcases in my hometown, helped manage an artist fork the ground up who went from 10k plays on SoundCloud to 1 million + views on YouTube. All around a time where I had taken a step back to rebrand myself & create a new sound. Now in 2024 it’s been 4 years since I made my return in 2020 as an artist & I’m better/ more consistent than I’ve ever been. Still pushing my artists while working with more. Built a platform to promote & market our brand while also helping the community. I’m very involved in the music scene & plan on doing even bigger things to come with it!
Any resources you can share with us that might be helpful to other creatives?
I wish I knew more about the marketing resources that are available & how to utilize them in my own campaign. I also wish I had more confidence in my image as an artist so that I would’ve attempted something like that without having any insecurities about it which I did at that time. At this point in my career now i know what my image is, who Avnu is & I’m ready to show the world! Marketing is very important in any business any industry period. It’s how you get the word out. We all need it so my personal advice would be if you’re an artist pursuing a career find a great marketing team as soon as possible & get to work.
What do you think is the goal or mission that drives your creative journey?
Yes.. my mother has had 6 heart attacks since I was 15 years old. One being major one at just 36 years old. I almost lost my mother as a teenager. It’s traumatized a huge part of my life emotionally. I want her to see me succeed in this journey before she leaves. I want her to be proud of what I chose to do with my life. I was a pretty good football player in high school & had scholarship opportunities that I ruined. Music became my outlet, it allowed me to also heal from childhood trauma’s. Instead of speaking to a therapist, I go to the studio & record. I tell the truth & I listen back to it as a reflection. A moment to learn from what I went through by hearing me admit the wrongs but also tell my story.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://theavnu.bio.link/
- Instagram: @theavnu
- Facebook: The Avnu
- Twitter: @theavnu1
- Youtube: https://youtube.com/@theavnu?si=NYQNponataSbTJPb
Image Credits
Image Credits – VILO/ CL Photography