We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Xedrin a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.
Alright, Xedrin thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. Can you open up about a risk you’ve taken – what it was like taking that risk, why you took the risk and how it turned out?
Growing up in Montana during the 2000’s and 2010’s there was little to no local music scene. Sure, you had a couple indie bands and rappers that would play bars and small venues; but there was never any real platform or opportunity for growth for entertainers as a whole. From a young age when I started making music – and even more so when I started taking it seriously, it was pretty apparent that there was a low ceiling for growth as a creative. With little support from my peers and being pretty much a no-name in my hometown, I packed up and moved to Los Angeles in 2021 at 17 years old. When I left Montana I had <1000 monthly listeners and virtually no streams to now tens of thousands of listeners and over a million streams in less than 2 years. All from taking the jump into the deep end, taking those risks and putting myself out there to meet the right people.
Xedrin, 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?
I grew up an unpopular kid in a small town in the middle of nowhere Montana. Through grade school I never had a lot of close friends, and at 13 when I started recording and releasing music I never had a lot of supporters in my hometown. Actually, I had a lot of the very opposite of supporters. Where I’m from, historically very, VERY few people have made a name for themselves in any field of entertainment; especially in music. The majority of my peers, friends, and even family looked right past how I was using music as an outlet for my mental health and straight to the conclusion that I was just another kid trying to give SoundCloud a go and build up a facade to be something “bigger” and “tougher” than I actually was. All throughout high school (until I ultimately dropped out at 16 and got my GED due to mental health reasons) and after I was getting treated and looked at as “less than”. I had a small circle of creatives in my hometown that helped push me forward to keep exploring my passion; but that all came crumbling down when myself and the other co-founders of the group had a falling out leading to everyone going their separate ways. I was lost. A jobless kid with no education and no motivation left, no idea what direction I wanted to take in life. Pathless. I had like 4 friends left in my corner than I felt like I could really depend on and really helped motivate me. One of them being a former gymnastics coach of mine. She was the first person who told me I needed to leave my hometown; I just needed to dive into the deep end and learn how to swim to go get it. This made me realize if I wanted to grow I needed to start looking outside the small bubble that is Montana. I shifted my focus from making music to building connections with other small artists online during the pandemic where I connected with a group of creatives that are still my friends and collaborators to this day. I met a kid online who was a little younger than me named Ed who had just moved from Utah to Los Angeles in pursuit of music. After talking over the span of a few months we planned a trip for me and a friend to visit him and see the city. During this trip I shot a music video for my single “TIDAL WAVE” and met somebody who was savvy with running facebook ads. I took this new connection and music video back home to Montana and restarted my entire approach into music. I deleted every past song, album, and photo and completely rebranded myself as a new artist and a new person. The release of the song was more successful than I could have ever imagined and I started to garner a little bit of respect in my local scene, but had no opportunity for radio or podcasts or most importantly – live shows. I made a plan with those people I met online to come back to Los Angeles indefinitely when I was 17 years old. The majority of my peers told me I was moving way too quickly and my own brothers even admitted that they thought I was going to California to kill myself; and honestly, I knew the risks.
I was a 17 year old with less than a thousand monthly listeners with one song released getting ready to enter the entertainment capital of the country, but I also knew I was putting my dreams at jeopardy way more if I stayed in Montana. Despite the numerous warnings I had from those around me, in August of 2021 I packed my bags in a Mini Cooper and drove cross-country to LA.
Since arriving in Los Angeles I’ve had the chance to explore so many new sounds and genres and avenues of creativity that I never thought I would’ve done.
The most beautiful part of it all is not only do I get to make music for myself, but I get to make music for people like me. For people who have feelings they don’t know how to put into words, for people trapped in places or situations they don’t want to be in, for people who struggle feeling understood, or who don’t understand themselves. I get to see the real life impact that my music has on some people’s lives and it means the world to me.
Are there any books, videos or other content that you feel have meaningfully impacted your thinking?
“As a Man Thinketh” by James Allen. An incredibly short yet powerful book that I’ve kept coming back to and rereading over the course of the last couple years. That book made me realize the power of thought alone and reminds me to continue to weed out negative thoughts. “Nothing can come from corn but corn” is a simple yet truthful quote from the book. Good and positive thoughts and actions can never produce bad results and vice versa. I highly recommend the book, it’s helped shape my mindset for the better greatly.
For you, what’s the most rewarding aspect of being a creative?
The most rewarding part of this for me at least has to be seeing the impact that my art has on other people. Seeing people be able to connect with the content of my music and feel heard, or seeing people create memories with my music. It’s beautiful and it motivate and inspires me
Contact Info:
- Website: linktr.ee/xedrin
- Instagram: instagram.com/iamxedrin
- Twitter: twitter.com/iamxedrin
- Youtube: youtube.com/c/xedrin
Image Credits
Isaiah Kim Shanti Kotliarsky