Check out Austin Moore and Amelia Kestner (AustnAmeliA)’s Artwork

Today we’d like to introduce you to Austin Moore and Amelia Kestner (AustnAmeliA).

Austin and Amelia, we’d love to hear your story and how you got to where you are today both personally and as an artist.
Amelia: I am a third generation musician and performer, born and raised in a small town in Michigan. Singing in front of crowds since the age of three, I began classical piano training at the age of seven at a nearby university and continued to study for ten years, teaching myself guitar sometime along the way. A dysfunctional family environment led me to leave home at 19 and move out west to find a new life and a new sense of home.

After moving to Phoenix in 2016, I started performing my original music at open mic nights and local artist showcases, which led to quitting day jobs and performing full time as a solo act at resorts, wine bars and private events all across the Valley. After meeting fellow competitor-turned-boyfriend Austin Moore during Alice Cooper’s Proof is in the Pudding Talent Competition, I decided to pursue the music dream as a member of our newly formed alternative pop duo, AustnAmeliA.

Austin: I grew up in Phoenix, Arizona surrounded by music and rhythm. As a toddler, my mom dragged me to her aerobics classes where she would bump hip hop and repeat “One-and-Two-and-Three-and-Four.” Meanwhile, my dad worked for Alice Cooper’s non-profit organization, Solid Rock, which allowed me access backstage to dozens of gigantic concerts featuring Rock ‘n’ Roll Hall-of-famers. Every year since I was a boy I watched local artists compete for a slot alongside stars at Alice Cooper’s annual Christmas Pudding concert which inspired me to teach myself drums, guitar, and piano and write my own music. Eventually, I saved up enough money to buy a gear to produce my music. I have been slowly building my home studio and developing my craft ever since.

We’d love to hear more about your art. What do you do you do and why and what do you hope others will take away from your work?
We create original music from folk to pop. Between the two of us, we can play piano, guitar, bass, drums, banjo, harmonica, trumpet, and more. Austin also records, produces, and engineers which allows us to make our music from the ground up entirely ourselves. We feel this is necessary so that we can be completely sustainable without having to spend resources on tracking our material or sacrifice creative control.

Music has always been a sort of therapy for each of us since early childhood. Songwriting provides us with a means, to be honest, storytell, express ideas we couldn’t otherwise, and sometimes even escape from the world.

We hope to inspire others to tell their own stories and pursue whatever they are passionate about despite any discouragement along the way. We also want our art to be enjoyable and thought-stimulating to anyone who hears it.

What do you think it takes to be successful as an artist?
We feel that persistence and resilience are necessary to have success as an artist in the modern industry as it can be extremely discouraging at times. We also hold that quality never goes out of style which motivates us to spend the extra time creating art that we can firmly stand behind.

Any time someone gives positive feedback to our work is a small victory.
To be able to become independent, internationally touring artists who can continue creating our own way on our own terms is our version of success.

Do you have any events or exhibitions coming up? Where would one go to see more of your work? How can people support you and your artwork?
We are on the verge of releasing music and videos we have been working on for about six months.

Our new single, Cruisin’, will be released on all music streaming platforms by November 2018.

We post release dates and upcoming shows on our Facebook: @austnameliaofficial and Instagram: @austnamelia

You can stay updated on our website www.AustnAmeliA.com

Contact Info:

• Website: www.AustnAmeliA.com
• Email: AustnAmeliA@gmail.com
• Instagram: instagram.com/austnamelia
• Facebook: facebook.com/austnameliaofficial

Image Credit:
Geoffrey Swanson

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