Rising Music Star Auti On The Five Things You Need To Shine In the Music Industry

by Yitzi Weiner | Published in Authority Magazine

I had the pleasure to interview Auti. Growing up in the Charleston, West Virginia area, Auti often felt like the proverbial square peg in a round hole. An old soul embodied in a teenager, Auti looked at life through a different lens. As schoolkids often do when they don’t understand something or see “differences,” they bullied her. When the bullying drove her close friend to commit suicide, Auti was set on a lifelong mission for change.

At the ripe old age of 14, Auti went viral in a video singing “Shallow” (originally performed by Lady GaGa and Bradley Cooper) with her dad. To date, her videos have amassed over 300 million views across all social media platforms, along with her weekly social media live performances and her following in the hundreds of thousands, Auti is setting the stage for an opportunity to change the world and get her message out. With the relative “overnight” success and recognition, Auti started teaching herself multiple instruments to properly capture the lyrics she had been writing for years. Music seemed like a natural way for her to reach the masses with her mission.

Reflecting on her experiences as a young teen and losing her close friend so tragically, Auti says, “my reason for singing is to reach as many people as I possibly can with the message that you are loved, not alone, and have a purpose in this world. I want to focus on mental health & illness awareness and suicide prevention.”

With exposure comes new opportunities for collaboration and recognition. Auti had the chance to work with Dolly’s Parton’s producer Kent Wells and recorded a duet with artist, MattyB, that has accumulated another 3 million views to her portfolio. Auti also had the opportunity to open for multi platinum, Grammy nominated artists, Ty Herndon, Brady Seals, Jamie Floyd and others, which led to a partnership with Pivotal Moments Media, a company with a mission to promote mental wellness through education and entertainment.

In 2021, Auti won “Artist of the Year” at The Josie Awards, which is the largest independent artist award show globally. Look for new music to be released in 2022.

Thank you so much for joining us in this interview series! Before we dive in, our readers would love to learn a bit about your “origin story”. Can you tell us the story of how you grew up?

Igrew up on a little farm outside of Charleston, West Virginia with my parents, my brother, and several animals throughout the years. Hermit crabs, bunnies, and tadpoles included (I really thought I’d be a vet someday). Living on a farm and having that freedom has definitely influenced most of who I am today and easily helped develop my love for nature. Growing up, my grandparents were always a big part of my life as well. I remember loving being around them so much that I would hide underneath the table when my mom would come to pick me up. My grandpas, both recently gone, were two people I seemed to idolize growing up, and even more so now. My grandmother, who I call my gaga, put it perfectly the other day, saying “they were just different,” and I know nearly everyone says that about their grandpas, but they really were. Between my parents, my brother, and I, we’ve always been an easy-going family. By no means was everything perfect growing up, but I always felt safe and loved at home, and that’s most of what matters.

Can you share a story with us about what brought you to this specific career path?

My entire life, I can’t remember a moment that I haven’t sung. I started in church around 4 years old, my debut song being “Jesus Loves Me,” and I never stopped from there. As I grew up, I began listening to different genres of music. Artists such as Avril Lavigne, Adele, and my favorite pop artist and all time influence in vocals, Ariana Grande. I always knew I wanted to sing, but to be a real artist didn’t start until about 4 years ago. I began writing lyrics and before I knew it, my dad had scrounged up an old, beaten up keyboard so I could start putting music to my words. After a year, I had gotten decent at playing, so we upgraded to a real, heavy weighted keyboard. I would say the thing that influenced me choosing this career path the most was the storytelling I was able to do with songwriting. It allowed me to say how I felt without directly saying it. As more people began listening and connecting with my music, telling me that each song was saying what they themselves couldn’t, I began to realize that being an artist was what I both wanted and needed to do.

Can you tell us the most interesting story that happened to you since you began your career?

As boring as it is, I don’t know if I really have an interesting story. I’m sure I’ll make one along the way and get back to you on that!

It has been said that our mistakes can be our greatest teachers. Can you share a story about the funniest mistake you made when you were first starting? Can you tell us what lesson you learned from that?

When I first technically started in the music industry, I was 14 years old. It’s rare at 14 that you have any sense of who you are or who you want to be. When the video of me and my dad singing went viral, I had many open opportunities out of Nashville and I took them. The first couple weeks there, all I heard was that I needed to be a country artist — meanwhile all I had ever known and felt comfortable in was pop music. I tried the bell-bottoms and boot shopping for a week, maybe, before going back to my converse. This clearly taught me, considering I refuse to look at any pictures from that year, that it’s best to be yourself. Don’t let anyone succeed in changing you because they’ve been in that field of work longer or they feel it in their heart that’s what you’re meant to be. You be the judge of you.

We are very interested in diversity in the entertainment industry. Can you share three reasons with our readers about why you think it’s important to have diversity represented in music, film, and television? How can that potentially affect our culture?

Diversity is important for many reasons, and I think they can all go hand-in-hand, but to give a few: growth in the world, representation for everyone, and more perspective. Diversity affects our culture by strengthening the knowledge of other cultures and using that strength to bring us together. It’s also just refreshing to see diversity in everyday things, such as TV, film, and music. I mean, as up front and “duh” as it is, that’s the way that it should be, and I’m so happy that it’s finally being seen that way.

What are your “5 things I wish someone told me when I first started” and why? Please share a story or example for each.

I wish someone would have told me that it’s 100% okay to speak your mind when it’s your art. When I first started, I remember sitting in sessions and getting talked over by grown men, who simply saw me as a young girl who liked to sing. Though I wouldn’t change a thing, I will say I regret not speaking my mind on certain matters, especially my music. To go along with this, it would have been rather bittersweet, or at least a heads up to hear “you’re a woman and your voice is not going to be valued in a room full of men.” To the young girls and fellow women in the music industry, young girls and fellow women in just life, our voices must be heard and it’s important that we make sure they are.

Which tips would you recommend to your colleagues in your industry to help them to thrive and not “burn out”?

My biggest advice to keep from burnout would be to find things that you can do alongside what you’re already doing. Also, don’t feel bad if these “hobbies” don’t last long and you move on quickly, because chances are you’ll likely come back to it at some point.

You are a person of enormous influence. If you could inspire a movement that would bring the most amount of good to the most amount of people, what would that be? You never know what your idea can trigger. :-)

I think we could do with a patience movement and along with that patience, kindness. If we could stop and realize for a second that there doesn’t need to be something immediately said about everything ever, we’d realize that… well… there doesn’t need to be something said about everything ever (unless it’s positivity, of course). Not having patience may make for a faster life somehow, but having patience will make for a lighter one.

None of us are able to achieve success without some help along the way. Is there a particular person who you are grateful towards who helped get you to where you are? Can you share a story about that?

There are many people and things that have helped me along the way on my career path, but also just in life that I’m grateful for. My dog Clementine would be the first to credit for me just being here. I adopted her when I was going through a really deep depression and she seemed to help pull me out of it quicker than anything else. She’s the brightest light in my life. I’ve yet to thank Luke for being the reason I began songwriting. I think that I would have gotten into it one way or another, but it wouldn’t have been nearly as heavy and somehow therapeutic at the same time if I hadn’t lost him. Though I’d give anything for him to be back on this earth, I thank him for the love and healing that music and songwriting has brought me. I also thank God, because I wouldn’t be here without him.

Can you please give us your favorite “Life Lesson Quote”? Can you share how that was relevant to you in your life?

“There are years that ask questions and years that answer.” — Zora Neale Hurston.

I didn’t discover this quote or author until just a couple weeks ago. As I began to read through some of her quotes, I quickly saw what a beautiful mind she had and powerful message she held in her writing. This quote from Their Eyes Were Watching God, seemed to align perfectly with my life and my overall thought process. I seem to always be asking myself, both in promising and tough times, ‘what is this teaching me?’ Why am I experiencing this the way that I am, at the time that I am? For years growing up, it seemed that there was no answer. I even went through a phase telling myself that nothing had meaning, but I soon realized that everything does. These past couple years I’ve watched the answers I patiently waited for, flow in light from the grief and loss I once deemed as meaningless.

Is there a person in the world, or in the US whom you would love to have a private breakfast or lunch with, and why? He or she might just see this, especially if we tag them. :-)

I think an obvious answer from me would be Ariana Grande. She’s always been someone that I’ve just really adored for the longest time. If I had to choose someone outside of music, I would immediately choose the writer of ‘The Last of Us.’ It’s such an incredible game to begin with and I’m a sucker for post-apocalyptic anything, but the story is what makes it what it is. The story and of course, the music within it as well. Gustavo Santaolalla is a genius. I’ve just never seen anything blend so well and feel so bittersweet as ‘The Last of Us.’ I have that game to thank for being a sort of part-time therapy for me and to thank the literal writer would be beyond epic.

This was very meaningful, thank you so much! We wish you continued success!