Meet A.V. Hamilton

We recently connected with A.V. Hamilton and have shared our conversation below.

A.V. Hamilton , thank you so much for making time for us. We’ve always admired your ability to take risks and so maybe we can kick things off with a discussion around how you developed your ability to take and bear risk?
Well it started from being raised in a very strictly religious household as an only child. I was raised as a Jehovah’s Witness from birth and had to sneak to do most of the things I enjoyed as a kid, whether it was watching R rated movies or listening to Eminem and Kendrick Lamar obsessively. It was a risk of punishment and shunning every time I wanted to have my version of “fun.” But luckily (sarcastically) my parents were divorced. So I had one household that was more lenient, being my father’s. I’d visit every other weekend and from a young age I understood how to move around and take the risks I needed to hustle and get what I wanted, whether it be the albums and music I wanted to listen to, or getting to the people I wanted to hang around. As I grew and became someone who liked going against the grain and carving my own path, I started to understand that the risks I wanted to take were necessary in order to find myself and be who I really wanted to be, without conforming to any type of religion or expectations from family or friends at the time. Actually, the risks were necessary if I wanted to truly be happy and start down the journey that has led me to where I am now. You can’t put creativity, something God given, in a box. I think I was very self aware of that at a young age.

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?
My name is A.V. Hamilton, and I am an artist. My art is DJing and Songwriting, and it is my highest form of self expression. What I feel is most exciting about my craft is that as artists, we have the ability to take something that isn’t tangible, and make someone feel something good from it. It’s magic. And when you can make someone react to that, whether it’s from a song you put on, or a song you wrote, that’s the best high ever for me. My brand represents a high quality of life, independence, and class, based on the type of music I make, and the type of atmosphere I cultivate whenever I DJ. I’ve recently launched my “AVmixedit” streaming channel on Twitch, I’ve put out a new music video on YouTube called “Pressure,” based on an EP I released earlier this year, and my business partner and I have been hosting a DJ event every month in Long Beach called “Cold Summer.” I’d like to think these have all been very successful so far, but the work always continues, there’s always more risks to take. I plan to keep pushing my creative limits and trying new things that are against the grain of whatever’s “normal” for as long as I can.

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?
So far, if I could summarize it into three qualities that have been impactful in my journey, I would say being teachable, fearless, and consistent. If you stand in a line of people who are knocking on a door, and whatever is behind that door has the ability to change your life, how long would you keep knocking? People will definitely fall out of line after a while, and they’ll even tell you that it’s useless to keep trying. But if you stay locked in on those three qualities I mentioned, in my experience, any door you want can open up for you.

My advice for people who are early in their journey of anything they’re doing creatively is to fail faster and figure out who you are. You can only do that by trying a bunch of things while being teachable, fearless, and consistent. Whatever feels best after a certain amount of time of doing those things, follow that and be the best at that.

Who has been most helpful in helping you overcome challenges or build and develop the essential skills, qualities or knowledge you needed to be successful?
We all know it takes a village to raise and cultivate someone so I don’t believe it’s just one person who has helped me by far. But if I could name someone who’s been by my side through everything, helped me build my skills and knowledge to get to where I am now, that would be my aunt, Racquel Thompson. Imagine you have someone whose been through the same things you’ve been through and more, religious trauma, marriage, the streets of LA; who puts their life and reputation on the line for you consistently, and always has your back no matter how stubborn or prideful you are, and then will always cook for you and give you a place to stay if you need it after a late night DJing in the club til you’re sweaty, or doing God knows what else. I don’t know why she does what she does for me but it has to be love. She believes in me sometimes more than I believe in myself. I love her right back whole heartedly. I can’t wait for her to read this haha.

There’s things that she’s shown me that have made me successful in more ways than one. And I will always be applying them throughout my life as I continue to work on becoming the best version of myself.

Contact Info:

Image Credits
@nickshoots @zack.bruno @yoayejayy

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