Today we’d like to introduce you to Victor Griego
Victor, we appreciate you taking the time to share your story with us today. Where does your story begin?
When you’re born and raised in LA, you are immediately born with a dream, because LA is where it happens. My mom is an immigrant from El Salvador, and my dad is an LA native from East LA Commerce. They both worked through their immense struggles to give me a life where I am able to dream big. Growing up, I always wanted to be noticed more and more. I felt and still feel like I need to be seen, not for my own benefit, but to share my feelings with others and connect and further grow.
When I was in the 6th or 7th grade, I started to really dive into rap. I listened to N.W.A. Snoop Dogg, and most of all Tupac. After reading Tupacs book of poems, I started to write my own. I was journaling everyday, and writing how I felt. I then started to write songs with my friends in middle school, and would perform those songs at our talent shows. Then for the first time my freshmen year of High School I decided to release a song on Soundcloud, and from there I kept moving.
It was really my junior/senior year of high school when I realized I wanted to pursue music. I met a really good friend of mine, Quicho, who helped me see that music should be a career I should pursue. After multiple recording sessions with Quicho, we started to plan ways on how we will be noticed in the industry, and that’s when we came up with the idea of starting our own music collective, LOTUS.
LOTUS began as just a way of having different artist collaborate on songs together. But the more we spent time together, the bigger our dreams got. We have developed into a family that moves as a unit in LA, throwing our own shows, recording our own music videos, and producing all of our own art independently
Short after starting LOTUS I began to see my path of music forming. Quicho, Joaquin, Kai De Lua, Tangerine, David Michelle, 2k and I all started to establish our selves as artist of LOTUS, and used our passions to move forward in the industry.
I then moved to New Orleans to attend Loyola University for Music Industry Studies. At Loyola I have met other passionate artist that have similar goals as mine. My friends/partners, Kai De Lua, David Michelle and Amelie Karas have helped me expand LOTUS’ goals. From the jump, they were on board with my vision, and have been collaborating on great ideas to make our collective more established in different cities.
Now 3 years after high school, LOTUS and I have been able to throw shows in Los Angeles and New Orleans where we bring an average 250+ head count. I plan on continuing to grow LOTUS to other spots in the U.S. but will always have a place in my heart for LA!
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?
I mean so far its been ok, but obviously there have been some bumps along the way.
I think one of the main obstacles was throwing our first show. I had reached out to a family member about helping me book a venue for a show. They said they could for sure make it happen, but after a good month of reaching out I could tell it wasn’t going to happen. And this sucked because it was at a time where my collective LOTUS needed a show. We told our people that we were performing on a specific day and now we ended up with no venue.
We ended up throwing the show in my Tio’s backyard and packed it out with 50+ people, shout out my Tio Chris and Tia Lori! I honestly loved that experience because it was very intimate, and all our day ones were very supportive! Everyone had so much fun, and from then on we’ve been booking more and more shows around LA
But I will say a contnstant struggle is having people tell you they’re gonna do something, and it then falls through. If you’re from LA you know how it is when people talk a big game, but then don’t pull through. A number of times I was told I’m gonna be signed to a label, or have a sync deal in a movie, but then sure enough it’s not followed up. I’m not mad at it, but I learned that you just gotta keep going, and focus on yourself. Someone is gonna come around saying they will give you this and that, and that’s a good sign because it shows you’re noticed. But don’t believe anything til the paper is infant of you ready to be signed. And you gotta keep working till that moment hits.
As you know, we’re big fans of you and your work. For our readers who might not be as familiar what can you tell them about what you do?
I’m an Artist from Los Angeles California, as well as a co founder/ events coordinator of the artist collective, LOTUS. LOTUS is a collective that strives to break the boundaries of sound and music through live performances.
LOTUS is a collective of not just performing musical artist, but also videographers, photragohers, managers and models, all revolved around the production of musical art. The reason for LOTUS existing is to help aspiring independent artist gain the audience they need to succeed. We all move as a label would. If you need a music video, cover art, and a rollout plan, the people within the LOTUS collective will help you out with that all for FREE. For us, it’s a family thing. Quicho, Joaquin Franco, Kai De Lua, Tangerine, 2K, and David Michelle are all current members of LOTUS and these people are for real my family. I wouldn’t be where I am at today without them.
At LOTUS we love to collaborate with local independent stores by using their store as a venue for our event. We do this to help boost community and help draw businesses for independent businesses in LA. Our collective recently had a show at Maintain Skate Shop in cypress park. That show was so fun, the owner Alex was very supportive of LOTUS and our goals as artist. He helped clear out his store and let us work. Alex is a hard working store owner, and his skate shop is a Cypress Park gem! The goal for these shows is to just build a strong community of creators and fans, to help interact with these local stores. At the end of the day, were all striving for the same success, the best way to get there is to do it together.
In New Orleans, LOTUS focuses more on the experience of House party’s. We noticed that there arnt that many in NOlA so we wanted to bring our LA vibe down there. Our first show in NOLA got a lot of traction. We had over 400 people come. It was a great experience, and I feel like people got to enjoy a more intimate party setting. The people of NOLA are so full of life and well spirited. It’s a different world down south, and I really enjoy it.
Is there any advice you’d like to share with our readers who might just be starting out?
If you’re going to do anything artistic, make sure it’s for you first. Have a meaning behind what you’re doing, because once you do, you are able to offer something far greater than talent, and that’s originality.
Don’t be afraid to drop that song, don’t be worried to throw that first party, just do it. If it don’t work out, then try again. Everyone in life fails, it’s the ones that are successful that learn from their mistakes and aren’t afraid to try again. Just keep being YOU, and keep going. There will be days where you wonder if this is all worth it, I still sometimes get that feeling, but you gotta keep chasing that dream. There’s a reason why people choose this path, just find out what your reason is and you’ll never wanna stop.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.instagram.com/lotus.artist.collective/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/onlyv.e.g/
- Other: https://open.spotify.com/artist/5MeMiVpAdlSBBirhOR7PF5
Image Credits
@qimages_
@joaquin.franco_
