My name is Louise, I’m a 21 years old Swedish DJ and producer and my artist name is “Louzina”. After graduating in 2019 as a fully educated musician, singer and pianist I had to start taking care of my own mental health and has since then mostly been trying to find help and answers to what is going on with me.
In the process of doing that I decided to start releasing my own music in the summer of 2020 and I began with releasing my first single “Rocketlaunch” and has since then released 10 singles and hit over 110 000 streams on Spotify!
Ive been struggling with finding things fun since I’m struggling with depression and anxiety, but music has really never stopped being what I love, so I just thought why not try to test my luck and see if others like what I make? And as it’s now been a year since I began my music career I’m still struggling with my mental state but focusing on my music and my lovely audience I’ve made it work. In a few years I hope to be able to make a living off of my music and also be free of my little “prison” in my mind, so I can really be free and do what I love.
My official website: https://www.louzinamusic.com/
Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/artist/6pYL8c2imoAdxpQrr6SR1A?si=kP9ZJcS2QKOTY98H6vtrxg&dl_branch=1
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/djlouzina/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/DjLouzina
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/DJLouzina/
Apple Music: https://music.apple.com/se/artist/louzina/1520674224
YouTube Music: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCoTOsaRfuCYGFL8bby5BGqQ
Soundcloud: https://soundcloud.com/user-578065358
1.) What elements and/or characteristics made you say to yourself that you wanted to do music for a living? Who are your influences/heroes/role models?
I started playing the piano at a very young age and since everyone in my family has music in their blood, so do I. My mom taught me to play the piano when I was 2 years old and I never stopped since then, it was just clear for me that music is my thing. The element of surprise when you release a song and get amazing feedback from other musicians or just people you’ve never met is what keeps producing and making music the best. My role models has always been my mom and dad, they are both amazing singers and instrumentalists and both of them has always been supporting me in my creating, which has lead me to where I am today, I can’t thank them enough for being my biggest fans.
2.) If you could compare yourself to an already established artist, who would that be and why? If you don’t like to compare yourself, then music-wise, what separates you from other musicians?
I’d say comparing yourself to others is something of a bad thing, at least to me. Since music genres today have so many sub-genres it’s so hard to find someone who makes exactly what you make, therefore I don’t really see the reason to compare, but more so to be happy about you having your own sound and ideas! I’d say what separates me from other musicians is the fact that I know I’ve found my “thing”, my niche. I always hear “I’ve never heard anything like this” from my audience, which is exactly what I want to hear! I want to do my thing my way and even if my music isn’t for everyone, I’d rather have it that way than make what others tell me to, or stay mainstream and be “like everybody else”. At least that’s how I like it.
3.) Everyone in life goes through adversity of some sort. Is there anything in your life that has any influence on the kind of songs you write? What is the most difficult thing you’ve had to endure on your path to becoming a musician?
My one and only real obstacle in life and in my path to where I am today is my own mental health. It’s a struggle that, sadly, many people have to endure. Always being my own villain and telling myself I’m not enough or that my music won’t make it is really hard cause I can’t tell my own thoughts what to do, they just exist. I’ve been getting help since 2018 and I’m still trying to get to where I can say I live a “normal” life. At this point in time I’m unable to study and work like my friends and family, all due to my own thoughts and my “inner demons.” Making music is what makes me feel happy, it gets me out of bed each and every day and it’s one of the very few things I can still find joy in doing. I’m going to keep trying to get to where I can be my own happy self again.
4.) How do you prepare yourself to write certain songs? What is your song-writing and recording process?
As of now I haven’t made many songs with vocals in them, but there’s big plans for that. When I am creating my music it’s always a sort of “in the moment” thing, I go into my bubble and I let myself just make what comes to mind. I always start with making the melody, that’s what lays down the foundation, so to speak. When I have a melody that really speaks to me I go into the bass and then I build the song with kicks, percussion and FXs until I can hear that this is “me”. If the song has vocals in them I usually make that first, since that’s the whole feeling of the song, and then I find a melody that I find fitting to what I sing about. Of course most of my songs have had an idea to start with, but I always let my ears work when I make my music, I love the process I have and it really works for me.
5.) Unfortunately the music industry is full of talented individuals who just don’t get any recognition for their talent and/or hard work. What do you plan to do to make sure you stand out and get noticed? Would you rather be on a major label or would you rather stay independent? Why or why not? In regards to the music industry itself, do you think that the traditional music industry model as we know it is dead?
I wouldn’t say dead, but the “old” model will certainly be useless as the world changes along with the people. I’ll try to be as independent as I can, I wouldn’t want someone else to pull my strings, I want my music to be as much me as possible. And as I’ve said, I’ll be making what I enjoy and if that doesn’t make me stand out then I don’t see the reason to keep making music, then I can just listen to those other individuals. I don’t see my music as a job, I see it more as me having fun creating and then hopefully others enjoy listening to it.
6.) Are you able to make a living with your music? If so, how were you able to attain a career doing what you love? If not, what do you do in order to fund your music career? What advice would give to someone who’s interested in pursuing a career in music?
Today that’s sadly a no, I don’t make a living with my music. I make an amount, sure, but I try to use that amount to fund what’s to come. The amount I’ve made so far have all been spent to make the future music quality excel, so I see it as an investment rather than not being able to live off of my music. Hopefully one day I will, but for now I’m happy for every small amount I get.
My advice would be to not give up, a bit of a cliché, I know, but to never give up when something goes sideways or not as planned. It takes time and effort to be found and to get a spot in the big spotlight, and every single talented musician wants that same spot, we all want the same thing in the end.
7.) How do you think the internet and social media affected the music industry and how musicians are able to market themselves? Social media is obviously an extremely important element in today’s world, especially when it comes to business, branding, marketing, etc. With that being said, do you think an artist will be able to survive in today’s music industry if they’re not social media savvy?
I guess that depends on the meaning of “survive”. I know for a fact that people don’t just magically find your Spotify page, you have to make sure they do by telling them you exist. So not marketing yourself on social media today would probably be a long journey. Having your friends and family tell their friends and family can get you somewhere, sure, but getting big in today’s music world is hard as it is for the ones that spend hours upon hours being out there posting, marketing and finding new connections. Social media is the one thing that keeps the world connected these days, so not being in that world would make you very small in this big industry.
8.) Artists who try to make music for the general public and make more money are usually seen as “sell-outs.” Do you see it that way and if so, what do you plan to do to make sure your music stays true to your brand and make a good living at the same time without having to “sell out”?
This is a hard question to answer for me since I have always been a “me doing my thing” kind of person. It’s really hard to live a good life without money today, so if being seen as a “sell-out” is what you need to do to have that life then go for it, I won’t judge.
Personally I don’t see the fun in the whole “make what they want” thing, I want to have my own sound and make my music just as much enjoyable for my audience to listen to as it’s enjoyable for me to make. I’d just get tired of making music if it wasn’t “my” music, but only what others want me to make, if that makes sense.
9.) What are the positives and negatives of the music industry? What is it about the music industry that makes some artists push forward? What do you think makes some artists quit?
The most negative aspect in the industry is for me personally how hard it is to be noticed. If you don’t already have contacts it’s super hard to make a name for yourself since the social media algorithms usually favor the people who already have a huge following.
A very positive aspect is how almost every single musician I’ve talked to and networked with so far has been very polite and helpful, I barely ever see any kind of rudeness, negativity or overall bad people in the big ocean of talented musicians.
10.) What trends do you see staying or going?
Depending on what kind of trends we’re going for I guess that’s hard to say for sure, but the whole live-streaming trend probably won’t be leaving us any time soon, it’s a great way to let people find you and hear you straight away and live without needing to click any links to listen to Spotify etc. I can’t say much for what trend will or won’t be going away with time but there’s for sure going to be some changes in the future.
11.) With so many people online who are expressing their opinions on any and everything under the sun, how do you know when to take something as constructive criticism or when to see it as trolling?
I guess that depends a lot on what the opinion would be in that case, but I’d like to say that for me personally I’d try to take any criticism as constructive criticism as long as it’s not very obvious that the person in question are notably joking, just being rude, inappropriate or disrespectful.
12.) If you were to advise an up and coming musician on how to get more fans, what advice would you give them?
I’d say use social media, that’s where the people will be, and to keep looking for other like-minded people and musicians to network with. That’s what I do and I find that it works, just make sure to not give up when it will be moving slowly.
13.) There are multiple ways of attaining fans and building up your fan base, so what are some ways you acquire fans?
As written above, I use social media as my go-to with acquiring fans and also finding other musicians that can mention my name to their fans and I do the same to mine. This way both of us gain listeners and hopefully a bigger long term audience and at the same time you might have gained a great future collaboration with that musician! You really have to stick your artist name into peoples heads and make sure they won’t forget you, social media is the golden path for me.
14.) Professionally, where do you see yourself 5 years from now?
I see myself still doing what I love, my own thing. I’d say I might be doing some shows, working on awesome new songs with better equipment and my own studio and living my best life. For me money isn’t the big thing, it’s to still be enjoying what I do that will keep me going. I believe that I can get to those big stages if I keep this up!