Meet Azul Zapata
Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Azul Zapata. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.
Azul, we’re thrilled to have you sharing your thoughts and lessons with our community. So, for folks who are at a stage in their life or career where they are trying to be more resilient, can you share where you get your resilience from?
I think this has two sides. My resilience is fed by dark and light forces.
I get my resilience from gratitude. I’m incredibly lucky to still be alive. But within that luck are the sacrifices others have made for me and through me. I’ve had mentors and family members that have put so much on the line for me and I owe it to them to be resilient.
I get some of my resilience from the petty side of my character. I will achieve and succeed out of spite. Simply because several people doubted me and tried to instill doubt in me.
I try to lean more on the good, but the bad works in a pinch.
Thanks, so before we move on maybe you can share a bit more about yourself?
I am a music maker. A performer. An Entertainer.
I write/produce very personal songs and I perform other people’s songs with everything I have in me to give. I also try to build a tribe/community of people and organizations that believe in the basics of human decency and compassion. I come from a “diverse” background and I strive to keep everyone’s safety and wellbeing in mind when putting together any type of project.
For example, I rarely play on a stage with a band that is mostly cis straight white men. I do this for myself and for the people coming up behind me, and for the people watching me. Seeing yourself on stage is so important. Being on stage with people that respect you and respect what you are trying to accomplish not just musically is paramount to a lasting legacy. I wanted to have that from the very beginning.
I’ve been blessed with so many collaborators, friends, and bandmates. To name a few: Bethany Mckee, TJ Richardson, Dan Burket, Bao Vuong, Nikki Benton, Alex Mckee, Emily Musolino, Saint Josie, Max Eloi, Alex Thomspon, and Brett Scott. And so many more I could spend the rest of the day typing out. These are folks that have busy schedules and take time out of their lives and creative ventures to play with me and support my dreams. I could never thank enough for their gifts.
I took a year and half to try my hand at being at a corporate job and juggling a music career. It almost killed me. I left at the end of 2022 and never looked back. From the beginning of 2023 I’ve been working on new songs to record, working them in the set lists, going on short tours around the state, and reaching more and more audiences every time. I’ve been to so much therapy in the last 8 months and I’m working through a lot of stuff and I’m ready to share it all in the safest way.
Starting in October to the end of the year I am planning on launching my first Kickstarter to raise money to record some of the best songs I’ve been performing and be able to distribute them far and wide. They will be songs to dance to, cry to, and call your best friend to talk about to.
I’m also going to be experimenting with my set in radically new ways and pushing myself to be a better performer all around. I’m excited but terrified. I hope you’ll join me.
Looking back, what do you think were the three qualities, skills, or areas of knowledge that were most impactful in your journey? What advice do you have for folks who are early in their journey in terms of how they can best develop or improve on these?
1. Know what your general goal is, and know that it can and will change. But document it all so you can call back to the moments that helped you shape decisions. I write everything in my notes app or in a journal. I write something everyday because otherwise I wouldn’t remember a single damn thing. Your inside voices can be so helpful and so harmful at the same time. Learn to know the difference but writing stuff down.
2. Protect your center. Having people that love you is great. Having people that support you is also great. Having people that will push you and give you the real talks when you need them is priceless. I’ve had a lot of that lately and I’m so glad when I can be that for someone else too. Protecting your center also means protecting your community.
3. Noone will care more about your goals more than you. Period. Point blank. Find what keeps you resilient.
How can folks who want to work with you connect?
I am always looking for more folks to work with because I know nothing about so many things. I would love to connect with more and more BIPOC, Queer, femme, non-binary, and all around rad folks. I’m primarily looking to understand how to move my sets into a different sound with tracks. I’m looking for savvy publicists or promoters or talent bookers that are looking to work with my people and my community across the identity intersectionalities named above.
If you see me and read this and want to work with me and think I can help you in any way. With a conversation, a show, a pep talk, a songwriting session, I am here for it!
