Life & Work with Allen Lara

Today we’d like to introduce you to Allen Lara.

Hi Allen, so excited to have you with us today. What can you tell us about your story?
I’m a first-generation American born in Los Angeles, CA. I have been into music for as long as I can remember. From picking up a guitar for the first time when I was six years old to the time when I played at The Greek Theater for a Battle of the Bands in High School. At that time, I was in a Post-Hardcore/Metalcore band; boy do I miss those days.

I grew up in Los Angeles, specifically in Silver Lake. Very early on the only music I would listen to was pure Christian/Gospel music due to my parents being heavily involved with the church at the time. I remember my favorite artist was called Rabito, a Christian Singer/Songwriter.

That all changed when I met the people who I call my brothers.

It was a Thursday night, we were all hanging out in my buddy Brian’s car and he decided to show us some music. The first thing he plays is a song from a Grindcore band! My ears could not believe what they were hearing! It was the first time I had listened to something other than Disney film songs or Christian music. You figured I would be scared since Grindcore may be on the exact opposite spectrum from what I’ve listened to. But it honestly blew my mind!! After asking so many questions about it, my friend pops in another CD and it’s Eminem. I was at a loss for words, learning about all of this new music just made me want to dive in and listen to as much as I could. With the internet becoming more available watching music videos on Yahoo Music and early YouTube was one of my favorite pass times.

From then on, I got into Choir in Elementary School and was also classically trained at Guitar. And when I entered Middle School, I enrolled in a music class but unfortunately was stuck with a Clarinet. Ngl not my most favorite instrument to play but nonetheless, I had to learn it. When I got into High School that’s when I really got into songwriting. I wrote a few songs but nothing officially released, and in my sophomore year I grouped with some of my friends and we formed a band. That band was called Crayons, I don’t really remember how the name was brought up but we ran with it. I played drums in the band and later in the year another member joined and I moved to Rhythm Guitar/Vocalist. We competed in our school’s Battle of the Bands but were unable to make the finals to play at The Greek Theatre. We split at the end of that year and decided to work on our own projects.

In my Junior year I was I formed a Hardcore/Metalcore band and became the lead vocalist. And I also had another Metalcore band with members outside of school. I played my first backyard shows, got in my first mosh pits, and even played at The Glass House in Pomona. We ended getting into the finals for our school’s Battle of the Bands and got to play @ The Greek Theatre. Though we didn’t come home with the win, having the chance to play at such a legendary venue was amazing.

When my senior year came around half of our band had graduated since they were seniors and that’s when I began to become more of a solo artist and began to write and record my own music.

One of my first releases titled ‘Her Chorus’ was the first song I wrote, with collaborative efforts from other fellow musicians, that I recorded and got mixed.

After High School, I went to a Music Production program at LA Film School in Hollywood to really further develop my music production skills. During my time there, I made a good friend who was really into electronic music. It was popular when I was growing up but I wasn’t that dedicated to it than he was at first. But as I learned more and more about production, I began to fall more and more in love with Electronic Dance Music. My buddy and I formed a group that was known as Are We Famous Yet. He really taught me a lot about the many different Electronic genres, and boy were there a ton! During this time, I also learned how to DJ. We had a few releases in 2015 with our first one being Titled ‘Balls Flying Everywhere’ followed by a few unofficial remixes and demos. My buddy decided to leave the group in 2015 and I became the sole artist for Are We Famous Yet. I worked with many different artists at the time and helped produce tracks from Hip-Hop to Pop and Alternative. After all of that, I released ‘What’s Gucci’ in 2016.

At some point between 2016-2019, I almost completely stopped working on music. I was more focused on honing in my skills as a DJ. Joined a group in 2018 to throw House music parties throughout DTLA. During the time, I didn’t really have the motivation to write music. Writer’s block or lack of drive for that many years was kind of a drain on me. Through playing live shows and playing music for people to dance to kept my passion for music alive but I didn’t really put it all together until around late 2019 early 2020. Maybe it was a bit of depression, maybe it wasn’t, but I do know for a fact that somewhere inside me, I had doubt in my abilities to produce music. It really changed me to have that in the back of mind and for so long. I had lost my passion for the one thing I had dedicated my life to; music. With the addition of being locked down in quarantine, I was slowly losing my mind. At one point, I just decided that I needed to get rid of my doubt. I sat down, opened up my laptop, opened up Abelton, and started to write. The goal in mind was to just be on a constant schedule of getting off work and working on music afterwards. I wasn’t expecting to write anything golden right off the bat, but I just wanted to get a song done. Come May of 2020, I decided to become GHST.

I chose the name GHST (Ghost) since I produced songs for other artists and that’s kind of known as ghost producing; so hence the name. But mainly, I wanted something new, a fresh start, I’m more dedicated and more knowledgeable.

My first release as GHST was ‘Summer Night (GHST Remix)’ by my buddy Jonah Class. After that, I released my first debut single titled ‘Fright House’, something to really fit the artist’s name.

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?
My main struggle was an internal challenge; doubt. I had lost my drive to write and produce music due to the small thought that I wasn’t good enough or my music wasn’t good enough. And being locked down for quarantine didn’t really help. But one day, I decided to sit down and really think about what I have done and what I have accomplished so far. I decided to kick that fear and doubt out of my head and get back to what I love doing most, music. To stay more dedicated and give it more than I have before. The thoughts of doubt, I think, will never fully go away, but I know better than to dwell on those thoughts and I don’t want to go back to being in that rabbit hole.

Thanks for sharing that. So, maybe next you can tell us a bit more about your work?
My name is Allen Lara, professionally known as GHST, a DJ/Producer in House Music. I specialize in the production and writing process, as well as Sound Design, Mixing & Mastering. I am most proud of being able to come back to music with a stronger passion for it than ever.

If it’s one thing that sets me apart from other artists is my sense of passion for music and professionalism for the music business. I always thought that just simply writing great music and releasing it was the way to become successful. But as I soon realized, “The success in the Music Business is in the business of music.”

How do you think about luck?
One of my professors told me, “There’s no such thing as luck, luck is simply when preparation meets opportunity.” I live by those words til today. I truly believe that if you put the hard work in, it’s just a matter of time for my opportunity to come.

Contact Info:

• Email: ggghstmusic@gmail.com
• Website: https://ghstmusic.onuniverse.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ghst_music/
• Twitter: https://twitter.com/GhstMusic
• Youtube: https://youtube.com/channel/UC1vrf4p6DrzcXY0O0FHBRqg
• SoundCloud: https://soundcloud.com/ggghstmusic
• Other: https://open.spotify.com/artist/4RHy3pt3nX940Y9pZWjuaU?si=SeFIJiUfS7S2XsU-gqFoKg