Meet Ziggy Karraa

We were lucky to catch up with Ziggy Karraa recently and have shared our conversation below.

Ziggy, so many exciting things to discuss, we can’t wait. Thanks for joining us and we appreciate you sharing your wisdom with our readers. So, maybe we can start by discussing optimism and where your optimism comes from?
I think my optimism is a little bit of a defense mechanism…I’m always worried that something absolutely horrible is going to happen, so if I’m relentlessly optimistic, that really helps fight off that worry. But other than that, I’ve always seen life to have a lot of potential. I feel like there is a lot of space in life for things to be done and space for new things to be made. That has always felt like magic to me, the idea that something new is kind of waiting to be made, and I’ve always wanted to make something positive that can be a new part of the world and fill that space. That’s where I think my optimism comes from and it is definitely how I think about it in relation to art.

Let’s take a small detour – maybe you can share a bit about yourself before we dive back into some of the other questions we had for you?
I am an independent artist and I teach music in and around Los Angeles! I truly love making music–I’m not sure what my life would be without it. I write, record and produce all of my own music at home in Sherman Oaks. Making music to me fulfills that sort of optimism thing that I was talking about earlier. It’s kind of like this crazy magic where you’re making something new to put out into the world, which is addicting to me.

I just released 2 new singles and I’m planning on releasing an EP on October 28th of this year! I’ve also been playing live whenever possible with my amazing amazing musician friends. That has been an amazing experience and I’m excited to keep playing live whenever and wherever possible…I really feel like it makes me a better musician and I always end up discovering great new music from other local bands/artists.

I’m also planning on launching some new merch which should be available before the end of the year.

In terms of teaching, I get that same feeling of optimism when I’m teaching because it is so exciting to think about someone being able to learn something new. Whenever I was in a learning situation I always felt that optimistic magic for the same reason, so I try to bring that to all of my lessons and students.

I teach guitar, bass, beginner piano and drums, music theory, and music production. Right now I’m teaching at an awesome private lesson studio called Angeles Academy of Music on the West Side, and I also teach lessons on my own!

If you had to pick three qualities that are most important to develop, which three would you say matter most?
1. Patience with myself 2. Physically taking care of myself
3. Enjoying the process

I, quite honestly, still feel like I’m towards the beginning of my journey as a music maker and a teacher, but these are all things I’ve found to be painfully true so far…

Being patient with myself helps me to remember that I don’t have to be at the finish line already, which is why I included the 3rd idea of enjoying the process. I like to remember that concept because when is the day going to come when you feel like you truly have accomplished what you want to and you can just relax? I feel like it’s impossible…anyways that’s where I’m at in terms of my journey and physically taking care of myself, the 2nd idea plays right into that as well for me. I’m not going to be able to do what I want if I’m not doing well physically.

How can folks who want to work with you connect?
I’m really excited to partner up and collaborate with some new friends I’ve made recently. Up until a few months ago, I always tried to stay in my own lane when I was making music…I felt like I would rather just do it myself instead of dealing with the hassle of having other people involved…

But when I have worked with others recently and stepped outside of my comfort zone, I’ve found myself changing so much for the better. Working with other people who make art gives me a new perspective, and it reminds me of the joy of making music, rather than just focusing on “the grind” or figuring out a way for this music thing to work in the real world.

So for those reasons, I’m super excited to keep working with new friends and making new and exciting things.

Contact Info:

Image Credits
Milan Dileo – Photographer

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