Music

Music is not a priority for me, because making music my life, leads to an unhealthy balance.

I can't afford to spend every second I have and concentrating only on music. Doing that does not allow me to focus on my education, work, nor does it leave time for a personal life. Many people still don't exactly know why I make music. I began hoping I could make something from music, but as the years passed, I realized I was chasing a dream I might not be happy with. Anyone who knows the slightest bit about the music industry knows how frustrating it is to deal with record labels and deals. Even if you are offered a contract and the opportunity to sign with a record label, the artist ends up receiving nothing. You basically sign your life away, which I will never allow.

I no longer chase the opportunity of getting signed to a record label. Any promotion I do is to merely catch the attention of those who I think should hear my music. The reason I started making music was to express myself and have people hear about my life. That is why I promote myself, to have as many people as possible, open their ears to my music. However, if I am offered the chance to sign a deal, I won't reject it. If the deal is decent, I will work with it. But I'm not selling my soul to gain nothing.

No longer will I chase after deadlines, because that affects my personal life. I choose to not fall back behind in my education, just to make an album. I have announced July 7, 2007 as the official day to release my album, but due to my beliefs, my debut album currently has no release date. I may or may not finish the album by then, therefore, I am not setting anything in stone. I will simply finish when I have time. I need to focus my full attention on getting to where I need with my school, and still make time to be with friends and family. That's the most important thing right now.

If you don't know, now you know.

Change

I recently received a letter in the mail, from Armen Karaoghlanian, which was written over three years ago. Let me explain.

In my Junior year of High School, one of the most inspirational teachers I have ever had, suggested we all write ourselves letters as a project. The idea was we would write about our lives at that current moment, talk about our situations with school and life, and our goals in the future. She would later keep them in her room and mail them to us three years later. I hadn't completely forgotten about the letter, in the last three years, I had remembered it a few times - most recently a few weeks ago. I was anticipating receiving it, as I had remembered it was due for Spring 2007.

The letter ended up at my uncle's house, because I had listed him as the return address, just in case I moved. Confused, he handed me the letter and asked what it was. I immediately dug into it and sat in my car to ride it. It felt like it was a letter from a previous lifetime, so much has changed, as I had imagined. Surprisingly enough I made a comment telling myself I could not picture my life a few months from that moment - let alone three years.

I felt the pain in my words, worried about what life would hold after graduation. So many problems with school, family, money and girls. Reading back, I have realized how much I have changed. During those three years, in my opinion, I underwent serious change and matured. I changed my set of beliefs, for the better, and today, I am nothing like the 2004 Armen Karaoghlanian. My life is headed on the right path, with my education and family, and I have even found the special person in my life.

If someone was to tell me my life would be the way it is today, I would not be able to believe it. I am glad I haven't wasted those few years, and haven't disappointed my family. I will continue to grow and make those around me proud.