Daily Inspiration: Meet Zac Clejan

Today we’d like to introduce you to Zac Clejan.

Hi Zac, please kick things off for us with an introduction to yourself and your story.
“I come from a long line of musicians, and when I was two my parents decided to start me on the violin. By the time I turned six my parents split, which led my Mom and I to move from Boston, MA to Atlanta, GA. Violin was one of the only ways I still felt connected with my Dad who also played, so I kept going. I took classical lessons from a top Atlanta Symphony Orchestra member, played in school, city, and state orchestras, and attended orchestral camps throughout my life. Violin was my number one focus, but being in music from such a young age and being raised in the city of Atlanta, I became enamored with the hip-hop scene surrounding me. Home life had never been easy for me, and I started to write lyrics about my experiences and began pursuing a dream of being an artist. When I got to University, I decided to take a break from my music dreams and focus on school. I got a business degree in marketing and graduated Cum Laude. I was able to use that degree to move to Los Angeles, where I accepted a job in corporate marketing. The plan was always to get back into music, and after a few years of working a desk job in the morning and pursuing my music passions in the evening, i was able to quit my job and focus full-time on my career as an artist.

We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
Good question! I wouldn’t say it was smooth. I grew up in a broken and often abusive single-parent home in Atlanta. I constantly had issues with authority, and was kicked out of multiple orchestra’s and high school. I started hanging around with the wrong people, and got into buying and selling drugs. I was depressed and suicidal at times. No brothers or sisters and with my Dad mostly out of the picture, I just had myself and my music to cope. It was therapeutic to write, record, and eventually perform what I was going through, but most people around me scoffed at my dreams. Most saw another caucasian boy from the suburbs who wanted to be a rapper (and to be fair, there were a lot of us coming out of Atlanta who had no business in the genre) and I endured a horde of people constantly telling me I was a joke, and I wasn’t ever going to be anything. I kept working, and eventually started to play shows around Atlanta. The hate only intensified – I’d have people attacking me on stage, snatching my mic from the crowd… I even had rappers from the city calling me up to threaten my life if I kept pursuing music in general. These attacks kept going into college, where I eventually decided to set my dreams aside and focus on school, telling myself if I could, I would chase my passions again someday.

Years later, I graduated Cum Laude from the University of Georgia and decided to use my business degree to find a marketing internship in Los Angeles, a city that i’d always considered a place to pursue a crazy dream . I started making music again, but this time, I decided to use my violin to set myself apart. My internship turned into a full-time job, and I would drive an hour each way to work my 9-5, then come home and work on music until the early hours of the morning. It took three years of building and working my ass off to save/grow enough to quit my job and finally pursue my music dream full time.

This only intensified the obstacles and challenges. Going from a steady paycheck to trying to survive as a full-time independent musician in Los Angeles should be its own TV show. You really have to treat your music like a business, and you’re the CEO. Without a full team, this means you have to wear about 20 different hats. I decided to teach myself everything. How to record, mix, master music. How to edit and add effects to music videos. How to market my brand and promote my music. It became a 24/7 job, but one that I enjoyed immensely. Not only did it save me a lot of money, it also saved me time and the hassle of having to work with other people who had their own agendas and ways of doing things that sometimes didn’t align with mine.

Recently, I’ve found success on TikTok. My numbers went up and for the first time, I had some credibility in the industry, which brought its own challenges. Much like when I was younger and pursuing music, when you see success, you can also get a target on your back. Some people will try to take you down either because they’re threatened or they want clout. Others expect things from you that you could never give. The pressure rises, but the opportunities increase too. Now that I have people’s attentions, I’ve got to continue executing – and carving my own path in the music industry as ‘The Trap Violinist’ is no easy task.

Obviously, the obstacles and challenges will never go away. I think the best way to handle them is to be relentless at improving your craft, be able to think outside the box, be adaptive and tenacious, be comfortable enough to live in your truth and stick up for yourself, and respond to situations with patience and kindness.

Can you tell our readers more about what you do and what you think sets you apart from others?
I’m Clejan, AKA ‘The Trap Violinist’. Birthed out of 25 years of classical studies and growing up in the hip hop/ trap capital of the world, I combine classical violin elements with the hard-hitting, cinematic elements of Trap Music, including my vocals to further set me apart. I’m inspired by Lindsey Stirling and make high-level music videos with most of my releases.

I’m most proud of my original music. I feel like I’m doing something different and impactful, and in this day and age, when so much has already been done, I think thats hard to do.

Can you share something surprising about yourself?
I HATED playing the violin growing up. Like, really hated it. It was a chore my Mom would force me to do before I could watch TV or hang with my friends. I didn’t find any joy from it, which is so ironic because now it’s my favorite thing ever. It just took a perspective switch to figure it out 🙂

Pricing:

• 600/ hr for live performances in any genre
• 250/hr for session work
• 75/hr for lessons (virtual or in-person)
• Commissions start at $1000

Contact Info:

• Email: zac@clejan.com
• Website: www.clejan.com
• Instagram: www.instagram.com/thetrapviolinist
• Facebook: www.facebook.com/thetrapviolinistt
• Twitter: www.twitter.com/clejanmusic
• YouTube: www.youtube.com/Clejan
• Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/artist/6CbxzZHyeIz1Pig7giCufl?si=pTnPZmTMTre-26ynLuq9hg&dl_branch=1
• Apple Music: https://music.apple.com/us/artist/clejan/1486278538

Image Credits:
Kate Marley Rick Proctor