Today we’d like to introduce you to Adrian Maldonado.
Hi Adrian, we’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
My journey in music started back home in Querétaro, México, when I was around 11 or 12, which is when I started playing guitar. After my first guitar lesson, I was hooked. I kept playing on my own all through middle school and finally started playing in bands in high school. In my senior year, one of my best friends invited me to play guitar for his solo project and help him write songs with the two other band members.
Those were my first co-writing sessions ever, and I’ve loved the collaborative process of music ever since. We then decided we liked our songs enough to record them, so we reached out to a friend of my sister’s to record and produce and EP for us. That was the first time I ever set foot in a studio, and witnessing and being a part the whole production and recording process made me realize this was something I wanted to pursue. A few months after graduating High School, I packed my bags, took a plane to LA and crashed on my sister’s couch for nine months while I completed the Audio Technology Diploma at SAE. The original plan was to come back after the program ended to study communication in Mexico City, but landing an internship at Atlantic Records created a subtle change of plans. I’m no longer at Atlantic, but I’ve been in LA for seven years now. Interning at Atlantic allowed me to sit in sessions with top-tier engineers, producers and writers and made me understand the speed at which this industry moves and what is expected of you as an industry professional. I’ll always be forever grateful for those experiences and the knowledge passed on to me by people like JP Negrete, John Williams, Ryan Gladieux, Josh Collins and Luis Fuentes. It was also at Atlantic that I realized I wasn’t just interested in engineering for other people. Being able to witness songs being created in front of my bare eyes made me see that I wanted to produce and write songs for a living. This led me to start making beats and writing songs in my room whenever I wasn’t helping out at the studio. I later went back to school to pursue a Music Industry degree at Cal Poly Pomona and also started working as an A2 (or assistant engineer) for a live sound company called Ryan Cross Presents, which does a wide range of events across town.
After two years of working as an A2, and at age 20, Ryan Cross gave me the opportunity to be A1 and I’ve been in that position for five years now. If anything has taught me what it’s like to work under a time crunch, it’s been live sound. There’s definitely days where everything that can go wrong goes wrong. The thing is, even when this happens, you have to get it together and find a way to pull it off because if there’s no sound, there’s no show. I do have to say that being able to work in scenarios like these has been pivotal for me and has taught me how to get things done in this business. In addition to this, these live sound experiences have been highly influential in the way I produce music and it has blessed me with the opportunity to work alongside some of the best musicians on the planet. It has also allowed me to work with artists such as Anderson Paak, Macy Gray, G Eazy, Jamie Foxx, Quincy Jones, amongst others. The musical taste, musical choices onstage and work ethic of these musicians and artists has, without a doubt, been a huge influence in my production and writing style. It has also been through these events that I have found some of my current production and songwriting collaborators, so I’ll always be grateful for the opportunities Ryan has given me.
Last but not least, I began producing and writing songs for other people around the same time I started working in live sound. At the time, two friends from audio school were producing tracks for a range of up and coming artists from the LA scene and would frequently call me to record guitar for their productions. This went on for a few months until, finally, being available and being in the room started opening the door for me to co-write and co-produce records for some of their artists, in addition to recording guitar parts when necessary. With Hozay and The Connect, I’ve been fortunate to write songs for Empire artist Louis James and Mexican YouTube celebrity Estiabliz Badiola, amongst others. A couple of years later, I got a call from my good friend Andres Manzanilla to help him develop the sound of a promising young Venezuelan artist called Dru Flecha. I’ve been fortunate to write a bunch of Dru’s projects ever since. I also had the pleasure of writing songs for Go Noodle/ Decca Records boy band Enmoción with Andres and his team last year. It was also last year that I started producing and writing records for artists on my own and launched my solo project, B Nain. I’ve released two songs so far, but many more are on the way this year.
We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
Not at all. I think part of the beauty of being in the music industry is that it’s not smooth at all. It builds character. It shows you that you can do things you didn’t think you’d be able to do and it makes you appreciate the moments of success much more. A lot of people say this, but it’s true. If it was easy, everyone would do it. There’s definitely been a lot of struggles for me. First of all, leaving my country, my culture and my family to pursue my dreams was inspiring, but it was also really tough. Adapting to a new culture and to living in a big city was really hard for me. I was fortunate to live my sister, but it was still tough. I thought of moving back home a couple of times, but I just felt like I couldn’t quite what I was doing. LA can bring the best and the worst out of you. It can be incredibly rewarding but it can also be incredibly lonesome. I’ve lived through both sides for sure. I had to be away from my family at a time when a family member was passing away because of work and school and it was really hard. There’s also a lot of competition and talent in LA and I’ve definitely felt like I’m falling behind at times, but you have to remember that every path is different. I’ve had to learn and to appreciate and be grateful for every next step I’m able to achieve, regardless of how big or small it is. That’s really the only real point of comparison you can have.
Thanks for sharing that. So, maybe next you can tell us a bit more about your work?
I do a little bit of everything. I feel like nowadays, you kind of have to do so in music, I write and produce songs for other artists as well as my solo project, do a lot of live sound, I edit voice-over reels and I’ve been getting more into vocal production as well. It’s always weird to know what one specializes in for sure because every project you work on brings different things out of you, but what I’ve spent the most time doing this past year has definitely been writing and producing. I also believe a lot of my strength lies in my ability to empathize with whoever I’m working with, what they’re going through and making them feel comfortable in portraying that in their music. I’ve noticed that when people feel heard and taken care of (be it in writing or production sessions or in live shows) is when they perform at their best. I also believe I’m good at writing topline melodies and one thing you can know for sure is that I put my heart and soul into all the work I do, from the small coffee shop live sound gigs I do at times to the writing sessions with label artists I’ve been fortunate to be a part of. Something I feel really proud of achieving last year was being a part of over ten finished projects that reached the public. Two of them were from my own project, B Nain, which was a huge step for me. Sharing your art or helping others share theirs with the world is scary and vulnerable, which can easily lead to projects just sitting on hard drives for years. At some point, you just have got to take a leap of faith and see what happens. This is why being a part of these releases was a huge milestone for me.
How do you think about happiness?
It kind of changes, you know? But I’ve come to realize that a lot of the time it’s the simple things. I still remember one day that last year that I was eating pizza and watching the NFL playoffs with a bunch of family and thinking “wow, this is amazing”. It was one of the happiest moments of the year for me. It was the simplicity of the situation and being around people that I love and feel really comfortable with that made it great for me. Being with my family makes me happy. I also love soccer. I’m a huge soccer-head. I like gatherings with friends, just having a couple of beers, hanging out and laughing. Going out on walks is also key for me. It helps me clear my mind. Also, I love collaborating with other writers, producers and musicians. I love the collaborative process of making music. The vibe of a great writing session is just unmatched to me. There’s something really magical of sitting in a room and creating a song out of nothing. I sometimes get in my head a lot, and being in the room with other people forces me to be in the moment and aware of what other people are saying or doing and it really helps me. I also enjoy having some alone time. I feel like I’m kind of an extroverted introvert, so I need some time to decompress. Oh! And food, I love food.
Contact Info:
- Email: [email protected]
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/_bnainmusic/
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCDp1YBsItt-vhxDaLP5ACug
- Other: Phone: (310) 882-9019
