Rising Star Ava Grace On The Five Things You Need To Shine In The Music Industry

An Interview With Edward Sylvan

Confidence is something that has never come easily to me. I guess I’ve had my fair share of self-consciousness, doubts, and insecurities. One thing that has helped me significantly is making music. I really love finding confidence in that way. So, I think it’s important to spend the time finding ways to be confident, having faith in your path, patience, and being there for yourself, because there will be people in the world that won’t.

As a part of our series about rising music stars, I had the distinct pleasure of interviewing Ava Grace.

Fifteen-year-old actress and singer-songwriter, Ava Grace, is an up-and-coming soulful indie-pop artist. As a songwriter, she mixes captivating visuals with playful melodies, creating her own unique and original style. As an actress, she will first be seen in a lead role in Sony’s, “The Honey Girls” from the popular Build-A-Bear collection and she will appear as Tatum in the musical drama Monarch, alongside Susan Sarandon. Ava’s work has received high praises from top celebrity/lifestyle publications like Hollywood Life, Just Jared Jr, Entertainment Weekly and more.

Thank you so much for joining us in this interview series! Can you tell us the story of how you grew up?

I was born in Tennessee, then moved to Florida when I was 4. I’ve always had an interest in music. For example, when I was a toddler, I would sing nursery rhymes and if anyone tried to sing along, I’d yell at them. I tried a lot of different activities when I was younger, like skating, softball, soccer, biking, but I found out early on that I was most interested in the arts. My favorite classes at school were art and choir. At home in Florida, my favorite thing to do was sing the Teen Beach Movie soundtrack with my best friend Marte. Growing up, I was imaginative, so I’d also make short films, music videos or play pretend with my cousins. As a little kid, I also had my fair share of rolling around in the dirt. I was shown a lot of different types of music from my dad growing up, and I started playing around with instruments as I got older.

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

I really took notice of my passion when I started classical piano lessons at 5 and the children’s choir at 6. Then I started writing 4-line songs, my first one being “Fun in the Beach” and nope not on, not at, but in. My family and I moved back to Tennessee after being in Florida for a few years. Soon after we moved back, a family friend recommended doing a play at a local church. So we auditioned together, and my first role was a lollipop girl in the Wizard of Oz. I’m very thankful for that moment because it caused me to really discover my fondness for performing and even writing. And today, two of my main goals are performing/touring and writing my own musical! I continued to do theater until I was 11 but stopped because I loved songwriting so much. At 10, I wrote my first full song. It was about a dove. I started writing almost every day and I’m still writing songs as often as I can.

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

In January, I was cast in a movie called Honey Girls. It was filmed in Vancouver. It was my first time traveling out of the country. I really enjoyed experiencing Vancouver. The people, the food, the city were all amazing. I took a lot of inspiration from this experience and made many memories.

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 was younger, around 11 years old, my mom would take me to open mics around my area. I would get up on stage and sing my originals, but I was so young and inexperienced I never really knew what to do during my soundcheck. So, one time at Eddie’s Attic, the sound person asked me to check my mic and since I didn’t know what to do, I just blew into the microphone. Kind of like how you’d imagine blowing out candles on a cake. The sound guy said, “she just blew us away” and the entire room laughed. Then, when he asked me to check my guitar sound, I said “I’m good” without even strumming a single note. Lol! There was a traveling band there that night that we met that told us later that was how they pretended to do their sound checks for the next several shows because it was so funny. I learned it’s ok to laugh at yourself!

What are some of the most interesting or exciting projects you are working on now?

Currently, I am recurring on a TV series called Monarch. It’s a musical drama on Fox coming out on January 30th. It has the absolute best cast. Some of the nicest and most talented people I’ve ever met. Keep an eye out for the premiere! I’m also putting out new music that I recorded this past August with Mark Nilan, Jr. Definitely keep a lookout for new music over the next couple of months!

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 film and television? How can that potentially affect our culture?

I strongly believe that every single person should feel represented. Whether it’s through writing, television, modeling, etc., I hope we can stay on the path to a greater world where everyone can feel included.

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

Confidence is something that has never come easily to me. I guess I’ve had my fair share of self-consciousness, doubts, and insecurities. One thing that has helped me significantly is making music. I really love finding confidence in that way. So, I think it’s important to spend the time finding ways to be confident, having faith in your path, patience, and being there for yourself, because there will be people in the world that won’t.

Don’t modify yourself for other people’s standards. I’ve had moments where the standards of others felt like they created a barricade, a wall I had to be behind. With music, the way I look, the way I dress, it can feel like everything is in the open waiting to be discredited. To mold myself to make others happy and to feel accepted. However, I’ve found that I’m the happiest when I spend time doing things I like, not worrying about acceptance, doing things exactly how I want to do them, making music and not fearing people not liking it. I find peace from authenticity being myself.

Live your life according to yourself, don’t let people tell you how to live. Every single person has their own individual path. A lot of people I know in the industry have gotten the question “but what’s your plan b?” when talking about career paths. Not everyone is meant to have the same path. It’d be boring if everyone lived the same life, right?

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

I’ve heard a lot of people say to constantly overwork yourself with making songs, keeping a tight schedule continuously, but I’ve found it’s best for me to live in the moment and let inspiration strike me. So, instead of worrying about outcomes allow things to just happen naturally.

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. :-)

Something I’d love to see, or change would be more class options in school for kids to express themselves and explore artistic freedom. I also wish there were core classes offered in High School for individuals who want to pursue a career in the arts.

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?

Two people I’m extremely grateful for are my mom and dad. Not only are they extremely supportive, but they helped me discover who I am and what I love to do. I’m so thankful for the way they allowed me to try different things, get classes, take me to open mics, my mom traveling with me everywhere, and not holding me back from my creativity.

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. :-)

Finneas, because I’d make him write a song with me. :)

How can our readers follow you online?

You can follow me on Instagram and TikTok @junkbyava and youtube under Ava Grace!

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