Diandra Reviews It All

Resilience is a word we hear a lot. It is a form of strength used when you are facing a challenge or a situation that, seemingly, contrasts you. Ava King displays, in music and motivation, resilience is not only powering through hard times but learning more during them. From virtues like, humility and patience, or hobbies, like Tarot, she discusses how life is an imaginative adventure and her music is the soundtrack.

Diandra: What are the things you most love and accept about yourself?

Ava King: I like that I get super excited about learning things, so I guess I’m never bored with myself. At the beginning of quarantine I started teaching myself Tarot, then got a teacher in India to teach me Sanskrit over skype. I don’t remember anything about Tarot or Sanskrit anymore, but it was a fun time!

Diandra: What are the lessons you learned about yourself in your tenure in China?

Ava King: I learned that I’m pretty resilient and able to press on through intense confusion. At the beginning, I really didn’t know what was going on, I didn’t understand some of the language and the culture and the way people communicate is so different. I was pissing off lots of people without realizing it, but for some reason I just pressed on.

Diandra: Describe the moment you decided to become a music producer and come back to the US?

Ava King: Let me set the scene, it was a stormy autumn night, I’d just gotten off from hosting a show. I had broken up with my long-term, Chinese boyfriend, a few months before, moved into this little apartment. As I looked around, and heard the rain on the window, I thought to myself: is this it? I loved China, but did I want to be an expat my whole life?

And then I thought to myself, I don’t have a husband or children, I can up and leave and start all over again, in a country ,I’m a national of, and while we’re at it, why not go crazy and just go for this music dream. I didn’t honestly know how I was going to survive, once I got to LA, but that was four years ago and somehow I’ve managed (lol!)

Diandra: If you could describe our sound style as the premise of a novel how would you do so?

Ava King: Love this question!! What if pop songs didn’t have to be about sex, money or love?

Diandra: What is one movie or tv show you would love turn into a concept album? Why and from what angle/ perspective?

Diandra: Wow now you’re giving me songwriting ideas with your questions!

Ava King: I mean first off I just think of one of my favorite shows, Fleabag. I’m so drawn to humor, and I love also infusing my music with humor, dark, silly, the whole rainbow.
There’s a scene where she’s at her mother’s funeral and everyone’s commenting on how good she looks; “Grief suits you well my dear.” I’m so attracted to stark opposites. It would be interesting to write a song about someone who’s so pretty but so ravaged inside.

And then a song about wanting an easy answer to life, wanting someone to just tell you how it’s done. There is that scene where she’s confessing to the priest she has a crush on that she doesn’t have the faintest idea about how to live. I very much relate to that, I’m constantly scared of making my own choices, scared of being judged, scared of doing something wrong. When in fact there is no right or wrong in life (aside from if you’re murdering people obviously), there’s only what is personally right for you, and no one can make that decision for you.

Diandra: What is your favorite album your would turn into a movie? What would be the premise?

Ava King: Man I can’t remember the last time I listened to a full album! (the music industry is so singles’ based these days). But let me tell you about a single I really like and what visual I could see behind that.

I’ve been so into Brazilian funk recently, been listening to this one song on repeat “Oh Juliana” by Niack. And I’ve also been thinking a lot about age recently (well I mean not recently, it’s kind of something I’m a little bit obsessed by: our obsession with youth as a culture). I have a friend of mine Fernanda Teixeira who’s an amazing Brazilian funk dancer and choreographer. I would love to make a video where she comes and teaches the old ladies in my neighbordhood some Brazilian funk moves and then they dance to that super sexy Oh Juliana song. I would love to document that process of them learning. I just think older people are not portrayed nearly enough enjoying their bodies and dancing.

Diandra: You have spoken about the “inner voice” that can tell you you are not enough. If you could give that inner voice a name, an origin story, and a weakness like a comic book villain, what would it be?

Ava King: Oh wow! Great question (and helpful to me). The origin story of my inner voice. He was just this kid who wanted to play with his toys, but his father was murdered by this dark Italian mafia faction. The little boy had to grow up and take care of his mother and sisters, no time for play. He also had to take revenge on the Mafia Faction, one by one he brought them down and each time his lust for revenge and blood grew, until it was all he could think about. There was no light in the darkness of his soul. The purpose of his existence was as an executioner and nothing else. His name was Antonio (because …. That’s Italian right?). His weakness; a warm loving hug from someone he trusts.

Diandra: In an industry that is notoriously vain, how do you define humility and what are the things you are grateful for that keep you humble?

Ava King: Ah yes!!! Humility is actually something I’ve been thinking a lot about over the last few weeks. I think to be completely honest, I’m gaining humility but still lacking in it. In China, my career went pretty smoothly, I would perform in front of stadiums full of people and on huge TV platforms with millions of viewers. When I go to the states, I had a really hard time, at first, just performing in coffee shops and getting 10 likes on my IG. There was this voice that said “No! No! This is beneath you, you should have hundreds of thousands of followers and do the things you were doing in China.” Because my self-esteem was very attached to those things, to fame and validation, and, without those, I didn’t believe I was worthy of joy.

I’m grateful now that things have come to me very slowly in the States. It’s beating out the external-dependent, self-esteem, and entitlement from me. I’m learning to love myself just for being me, and learning that it’s a blessing to be part of this human race. Humility is understanding that I am special and worthy of love, but no more or less special or worthy of love than anybody else is. Humility is the erasure of all perceptions of being “better than” or “less than.”

Diandra: Promoting happiness and enjoying mediation, what is one mantra on joy you love to repeat or meditate upon?

Ava King: “I am the one I’ve been waiting for. I am the love of my life.”

Diandra: What is one place, around the world, you would love to meditate in and why?

Ava King: Ubud, Bali. I don’t know why I’ve been having lots of dreams about being in a jungle in Bali. Are there even jungles in Bali? I should do some research.

Diandra: What do you feel your music says bout you as a person and how you define peace?

Ava King: Love this question around peace. I think my music tries to bring peace through humor. Laughing about something means that it’s OK, that everyone goes through it. Leave Me On Read was my attempt at making myself feel OK with rejection, and making myself feel OK about getting upset over super small things.

I think peace is being able to look at your flaws with a sense of humor that dissipates shame. Hopefully my music can help people laugh off their shame in a few areas.

Diandra: If music was a lover or friend, what would you say it taught you about maintaining a
relationships.

Ava King: I think music is teaching me authenticity. It’s teaching me to commit to who I really am, and to be brave enough to state my truth even though I’m so afraid of what people will think of me. So, in a sense, it’s teaching me to a be a healthy autonomous human being in a relationship (which is, difficult for me sometimes. (lol!)

Diandra: What is your favorite childhood memory with music?

Ava King: Awwwww, such a sweet way to end the interview! I think my favorite memory was writing songs on the piano with my sister as a 10-12 year old, and then getting dressed up (which basically meant finding random pieces of cloth and pinning them on) and performing them for my father or mother.

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