Today we’d like to introduce you to Krista Marina.
Hi Krista, we’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
My fascination with music started with Armenian and Arabic music I was surrounded with growing up. Though there weren’t any full-on musicians in my family, there was often music playing in the house. I also later discovered my grandmother sang in church and all of her friends would ask her to sing. I’m hoping I’ll find some sort of recording of it one day. Though I was born in Pasadena, my family later moved to Orange County where I met one of my best friends in elementary school and we began playing music together and bringing our instruments to school to play during recess. As we approached junior high school, we formed a band in which we played Armenian folk songs, as well as bluesy pop originals. As one of the lead singers, the cajon player and keyboardist of the group, this experience gave me a lot of practice getting comfortable with performing and exploring who I wanted to be as an artist. At Huntington Beach High School, I auditioned and joined the APA-MMET, the Academy of Performing Arts – Music Media and Entertainment Technology. The program was essentially like School of Rock, but in real life – and more pop-oriented. I was lucky to attend a public school with such an amazing program that helped me develop my songwriting and foster my interest in production. I also met many people I still play with today.
After graduating high school, I realized I didn’t want music to be something I did on the side only for fun. My obsession with it only grew as I decided I wanted to pursue it seriously and make it a part of my everyday life. I abandoned a Journalism scholarship to UCI to take a gap year and record my first EP, which I co-produced. Many collaborations and writing sessions later, I gained the courage to begin producing my own music, where I really started to find my own sound. It was an overwhelming, scary time. I made an agreement with my parents that during my gap year, I would still take a class at community college. Suddenly I found myself on the OCC Speech and Debate team, which I initially joined to help me build the skill of owning a stage and become a better thinker, but it quickly became another passion of mine. I competed nationally and won Top Speaker in the Nation two years in a row at the Phi Rho Pi National Tournament. It was wild, but it only fueled my dream to pursue music even more. Speech and Debate revived in me this feeling that anything is possible so long as you commit to the come up and delegate your time and energy properly. After OCC, I transferred to UCLA where I studied Communications and Music Industry and played shows all around the LA area. I loved my time at UCLA, meeting other musicians, making loops for fellow producers and just experiencing the comfort of a driven, creative community. Having graduated in quarantine this past Spring, I am currently working three freelance jobs in order to support my pursuit of being songwriter, artist and producer full time. I am currently releasing a song a month and can’t wait to keep sharing more.
Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way. Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
Though my family is Armenian, my dad is from Lebanon and my mom from Jordan. There is a lot of existential gravity in being a part of a diaspora with a heavy history and generations of refugees. That alone has shaped who I am and I carry that story with pride. But those struggles, coupled with pursuing an art, has not been a smooth road – though a necessary one. I didn’t grow up with any musical or artist role models in my family or in my life, so it has taken a lot of solo research, self-reliance and unwavering passion to even convince myself and those around me that I would pursue music on a serious level. Producing was a whole other feat, as I never saw, knew of or watched any female producers in any capacity until I got to UCLA. I’d produce all my demos before sending them to another producer but never felt like the final product fully reached this vision I had in my head. I then realized I had suppressed my desire to produce because I didn’t know I could. Upon jumping over that mental hurdle, I have now ended up in what feels like a limitless creative realm, where I can explore and refine my sound, blending together the middle eastern soul I grew up with and the r&b/pop I fell in love with.
Thanks – so what else should our readers know about your work and what you’re currently focused on?
I am a singer, songwriter and producer. I have written and sang toplines for many EDM artists, I wrote for other r&b/pop artists and release music of my own. After years of collaborating and exploring all the genres I love, I’ve discovered my sound to be alt r&b/pop with occasional hints of the middle eastern soul I grew up with. I’m proud of where I came from, my Armenian roots and the resilience and survival of all the generations before me, against all odds. I’m proud that I’ve been able to maintain the dreamer in me through adulthood while also remaining practical and focused.
What does success mean to you?
Success means being excited to wake up every day and work towards your goals and spend time with the people that are in your life. Success means being able to celebrate every day while also appreciating milestones. Success means true fulfillment, finding honest meaning in your purpose, helping others along the way and embarking on a path to peace of mind.
Contact Info:
- Website: http://www.kristamarina.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/kristamarina_/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/kristamarinamusic
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/kristamarina_
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC0BEb1bKsrOyuL_MKcAIZsw
- SoundCloud: https://soundcloud.com/kristamarina
- Other: https://campsite.bio/kristamarinamusic
Image Credits:
Jade Marie, Andrea Hoffman, Ara Soudjian, @centurysfinest
