An Inspired Chat with Alto DZI of Downtown

We recently had the chance to connect with Alto DZI and have shared our conversation below.

Alto, a huge thanks to you for investing the time to share your wisdom with those who are seeking it. We think it’s so important for us to share stories with our neighbors, friends and community because knowledge multiples when we share with each other. Let’s jump in: What are you being called to do now, that you may have been afraid of before?
Funnily enough performing on stage has always been a childhood fear of mine. I’ve always had a fear of public perception, large social gatherings, or even public speaking. I grew up with immense social anxiety that stopped me from going out too much. I think it was around 2020 when I finally started to overcome my fears to work towards being a public figure. I’m not called to perform in front of large amounts of people, be in the limelight, and even do interviews (like this one!). Ironically I feel like I now enjoy doing these things. I overcame that fear by slowly exposing myself to more and more extroverted events.

Can you briefly introduce yourself and share what makes you or your brand unique?
Hello global audience! My name is AltoDZI! I’m a South Korean artist, singer-songwriter, rapper, and entrepreneur. Coming from a K-Pop background, I moved to the U.S to pursue my dreams of becoming a independent artist. I love to work with many different genres, often blending multiple to find sounds rarely heard in mainstream Korean media. Beyond music, I’m focused on building a full creative universe that extends to visuals, fashion, and community. I love directing my own music videos and designing my own clothes. Right now I’m working on new releases with a darker theme to really capture the feeling of “winter blues”.

Appreciate your sharing that. Let’s talk about your life, growing up and some of topics and learnings around that. What part of you has served its purpose and must now be released?
I think being a perfectionist has caused me so many delays and unreleased projects. Being a perfectionist isn’t all bad but in regards of being an artist I feel as if its a leash in the shape of a noose. Perfectionism holds me back from making mistakes and is comfortable when I stay within my boundaries, afraid to fail and afraid to explore. It always felt like a tug of war in my head whenever I would release a new project, I’d always find flaws or mistakes when listening to it over and over again causing me to never push it out. Now that I am older I feel as if its time to let that side of me go and focus on making art that really resonates with me instead of striving for unachievable perfection.

If you could say one kind thing to your younger self, what would it be?
I would tell my younger self to stop stressing so much about making money or becoming famous. Its equally as important to rest as it is to work. You should party while you are young and you can afford to be reckless not when you are settled down and have a career you cant risk. On that note also don’t take relationships in my teens or early 20s TOO seriously. I feel like I’ve spent wayyy too much energy crying over exs when I could have spent that time channeling that energy into something more positive.

Next, maybe we can discuss some of your foundational philosophies and views? Is the public version of you the real you?
I think before when I first stepped into the industry there was a big difference between me on screen and in real life. I tried to be a more ideal version of me that felt forced and was exhausting to maintain. Now I feel like its so important to just be yourself. I’m no longer playing a character, even on stage I feel so much comfortable cracking a couple jokes or just talking like my usual self. Even with years of PR training I can’t just not be me I guess.

Thank you so much for all of your openness so far. Maybe we can close with a future oriented question. What is the story you hope people tell about you when you’re gone?
I hope to people that know me, my friends and family, I was a fun person to be around, always lighting up the room. I want to be remembered by close ones as someone that they can count on and can rely on when times are rough. Someone that no matter how tough things get can just laugh it off and roll with the punches. To the masses and the public I want to be someone that inspires. Someone that not only walked the path but paved the way. I want people to be inspired by my work and maybe even give art a try. I want to inspire people more than I want to be remembered as a musician.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://altodzi.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/altodzi
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCc2mMj9YYYJw47fE16ul84A
• Other: https://open.spotify.com/artist/7gCjL1hRCiuzLdjTeKgBZX

Image Credits
Luis Morales
Eiler Byberi