Check Out Myla Roja’s Story

Today we’d like to introduce you to Myla Roja

Alright, so thank you so much for sharing your story and insight with our readers. To kick things off, can you tell us a bit about how you got started?
Hey I’m Myla Roja, I’m an artist, producer, and multi instrumentalist from LA. I was born in Manila, Philippines and immigrated with my family to Southern California when I was young. My father was a jazz musician and I grew up playing gospel in church. I picked up guitar at around the age of 11, and I started to professionally perform around the age of 13.

I ended up briefly going to music school (first in Fullerton and then in Musician’s Institute in Hollywood), but ended up quickly dropping out to pursue music on my own. I honed my production and songwriting skills, as well as playing guitar for other artists such as Alemeda, Foushee, Rei Ami, Elujay, Killboy, and many others.

Currently, I’m working on my own music as well as building my own sample pack company. I just dropped a single called “Back 2 U”!

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?
Yes, there’s definitely been a lot of struggles. Being a transgender immigrant in today’s climate kind of just feels like there’s a constant target on your back, but I’m very grateful that I have my music and art.

In addition to that, my father had a debilitating stroke right before my 18th birthday that left him paralyzed and unable to talk, so a lot of the past decade has been trying to take care of him and my family, while also somehow trying to make it in the cutthroat music industry of LA.

Appreciate you sharing that. What else should we know about what you do?
I produce, write, sing, and play multiple instruments (though I’m known primarily for guitar and talkbox).

As a full time musician since I was a teenager, I’ve played every kind of gig imaginable from old rundown churches and retirement homes, to smashing guitars on the main stage at Rolling Loud, so I have a kind of experience that I think is rare for other artists my age.

As an artist, I take all my experiences and influences and combine it all. Whether it’s Prince-style guitars, Roger Troutman style talkbox, 90’s/Y2k style vocals, or Electronic Music production.

Any big plans?
I literally have albums worth of material on my hard drives that I’ve been working on for over 5 years. Full visual concepts, live show ideas, and everything, so I’m very excited to start rolling everything out!

Contact Info:

• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/mylaroja/
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@MylaRoja
• Soundcloud: https://soundcloud.com/myla-roja
• Other: https://mylaroja.gumroad.com/