Meet Jeff Azar of Los Angeles

Today we’d like to introduce you to Jeff Azar.

Hi Jeff, can you start by introducing yourself? We’d love to learn more about how you got to where you are today?
I started the project Demi the Daredevil at a point in my life when I had almost no self-esteem. I felt invisible, like I didn’t belong anywhere, and I didn’t believe in myself. Music became the one place where I could process all of that: the existential anxiety, the shame, the trauma, the feeling of being an outsider.

Over time, what just began as a way to survive my own struggles slowly turned into something bigger. As I kept creating, even when no one was really watching, I started to connect with people who felt like I did, who didn’t see themselves in the mainstream, who felt like misfits or outsiders. And it just started becoming more about the community than it did me.

I keep trying to stay true to that. I want to make the ‘ugly’ beautiful. I’ve grown a fanbase (the devilin cult) that shares this world with me. I now have an industry team, am touring regularly, the devilins have submitted over 1,000 fan arts. And I want us to keep going together!

That’s still what drives me today: overcoming my own mental struggles through art, creating something real for neurodivergent people who feel like they never fit the mold.

Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
It definitely hasn’t been a smooth road. When we started, I lost my best friend and founding bandmate Jovan Ortiz early on. That shook everything. Within the same year two other good friends had passed. I was grieving, and gave up Demi the Daredevil altogether. Around that time, I was also diagnosed with bipolar disorder, so it was the first ‘real hit’ I took from life all at once.

But I had some kind of epiphany that I wanted to be an artist no matter what though. From then on, each year came with it’s own struggle. But that one realization that I had to be an artist, that I had to connect with people on a deeper level and help others not feel so alone and alienated from the world is the main constant that kept and still keeps me going. I think there is something to the idea of ‘choosing your identity first and the right actions will come from there’.

I’m diving into this stage and story on the upcoming concept EP Vanishing Point and the follow up album! First song is out July 11th.

Thanks for sharing that. So, maybe next you can tell us a bit more about your work?
At its core, Demi the Daredevil is about creating music and art for the underdogs who feel like they don’t quite fit anywhere. Who started with a leg down in life whether it was from trauma, a disability, or being different. Stylistically Demi is a theatrical alt-rock band. It’s dark, cinematic, like Tim Burton meets Edgar Allen Poe but emo rock.

I think I’m most proud of the lore behind the masked demi character who is in all the cover arts and designs. It represents an archetype to me of that highly sensitive, inner conflicted adolescent who is searching for some kind of meaning.

I think what sets this apart is the vulnerability of the project. It’s not trying to be popular and cool, and it’s not trying to be weird. It’s just meant to be an open place that highlights the dark in us, and make it ok.

Can you share something surprising about yourself?
Well I feel like I’ve always been a senior citizen in a younger persons body. I listen to like soft instrumental jazz piano the majority of the time haha, despite the kind of music that I tend to make. If I’m listening to alternative rock now I can’t help but just study it. So I just need a lot of breaks and quiet time. And I really don’t have too many hobbies. I just sit and think and walk and journal when I’m not doing band stuff.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.demithedaredevil.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/demithedaredevil
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/demithedaredevil
• Twitter: https://x.com/demidaredevil
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/demithedaredevil

Image Credits
Madeleine Hanlon Azar