Check Out Christian Young’s Story

Today we’d like to introduce you to Christian Young.

Hi Christian, thanks for sharing your story with us. To start, maybe you can tell our readers some of your backstory.
For years, my dad sang with bands and ran karaoke at various bars and restaurants. Seeing other people sing my favorite songs made me wanna learn to sing. I started singing very often at karaoke and eventually was introduced to a program named NYA (Network for Young Artists). I had a teacher named Danny Vasquez who really taught me how to use my voice correctly, but unfortunately, I would leave after a couple of years to focus on school. After months of getting peer pressured to learn bass guitar by my best friend Robert, I joined his metal band RIVAL.

By the time, I had come out of middle school, I was also playing bass on stage with my father’s country band. But when the pandemic stopped events and caused businesses to go stagnant, the music stopped, and I had time to focus on more of what I wanted to do musically. The online music community came together and started helping beginner musicians like me grow. As a kid, I never used any social media, but with quarantine becoming the new normal, I decided to start using apps like Discord and Instagram to talk to my friends and meet new ones. Discord specifically was the one I learned the fastest. Through just one google search I could find any server I wanted filled with other musicians allowing me to ask questions and learn more about mixing, recording, and basic song structure. I started recording covers on my school Chromebook and got better and better at mixing my voice with instrumentals.

By my Junior year, I finally decided to start recording my originals and by August 19th I had fully written and released my first song named “Stressin'” under the name I’m Trying but I forgot to put the apostrophe and didn’t know how to change it at the time. The reception of its original release on YouTube fueled my drive to write more music and eventually learn how to distribute my music to all platforms on Spotify, Apple Music, and Amazon. Currently, I’ve been trying to release something new every 1-2 months. And as for my name, I’ve kept the mistake as it is since everyone still knows to say it as I’m Trying. The reason behind the name is something I still follow and pride myself on. I always try. I’m Trying to be better every single day, improving my production, flow, and consistently listening to new music to inspire my work. The day I stop trying is the day I die.

Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way. Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
I was an 8th grader with maybe 10 bucks to my name and a dream so big that I didn’t even know where to start. I knew I could pay various studios or pay professionals for rap beats. The more I thought about the costs the more unlikely music began to feel. Then it hit me, that an artist from Texas named Love-SadKiD made music on his own at around the same age as me! If they could do it, maybe I could too! I researched so many different resources like, YouTube videos, blogs, and anything that had info on how to begin as a music artist. While researching I found a website called SoundTrap which is a free online DAW (Digital audio workstation). Most DAWs are very costly so finding SoundTrap was a turning point for me. I realized I didn’t have to spend hundreds of dollars to make a song like professionals around my town had told me in the past. The main challenge was not only learning how to just record sounds on the website such as vocals and my guitar, but also learning how to mix these sounds and make them meld together into something you hear on the radio. While I learned more and more through trial and error, a friend named Jenn invited me to her Discord server named Music Feedback. The server was full of people all of various music talent. I met many independent artists such as Faerie (Christine Lam) that had been making music for a couple of years as well and they were able to point me in the right direction and tell me where to look and what to do to make my music better.

Thanks for sharing that. So, maybe next you can tell us a bit more about your work?
One of the main things that sets me apart from others is my determination and ability to try and try again no matter what. Every time I hit a roadblock; I was able to overcome it. When I set a goal, I would do everything in my power to reach it. When I had no money to make music, I used a Chromebook that was provided by my school and recorded my vocals on some 5-dollar headphones that I got from a Family Dollar down the road. It’s something I pride myself on. As a high school student, with absolutely no prior knowledge on how to record or how to write a song, I was basically learning on the job! I researched the best affordable equipment and kept them in mind as I wrote songs and saved up to buy them. I learned basic songwriting techniques from books online and through YouTube videos, and eventually, I knew I was ready to start recording my first album. Though money, knowledge, and school would cause barriers for me, I would find ways to make time for music.

So, before we go, how can our readers or others connect or collaborate with you? How can they support you?
My main form of contact is through Instagram currently @_imtryingmusic_ If you are an artist from San Antonio and you would like to collaborate on something I would be delighted! Just send me a direct message anytime!

If you would like to support me, buying and streaming my music on any platform would be extremely helpful! My goal is to reach 1k monthly listeners on Spotify by the end of this year. If you would like to donate money for equipment such as mics, I also have a PayPal linked to my Spotify account! You can also buy my album on Bandcamp if you would like!

This link has all of my social media (YouTube, Instagram, Bandcamp, Spotify, iTunes, Amazon Music etc.) https://linktr.ee/imtryingmusic

Contact Info:

• Email: imtryingmusic227@gmail.com
• Website: https://linktr.ee/imtryingmusic
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/_imtryingmusic_/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ImTryingMusic/
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCLTohGG5VCNXxcCUZlA7wMA
• SoundCloud: https://soundcloud.com/imtryingmusic

Image Credits
@okieducky
@xcidvroccoli