Meet Adam Amoedo

We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Adam Amoedo. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Adam below.

Hi Adam, thank you for being such a positive, uplifting person. We’ve noticed that so many of the successful folks we’ve had the good fortune of connecting with have high levels of optimism and so we’d love to hear about your optimism and where you think it comes from.
My optimism comes from my mindfulness and meditation practice. Working in music, it’s very common to consistently face rejection or setbacks. You have to be able to adapt. Before the pandemic, I was in New York City, in sessions nearly every day working with artists, producing and engineering. After things started to shut down, I had to pivot. I started doing virtual sessions over Zoom or FaceTime. Even with virtual sessions, it still felt like I had lost so much creative momentum. With an excess of downtime, I really started to pay close attention to how thoughts or certain narratives impacted my mood or outlook. I began to realize how powerful attention is and how through utilizing your attention skillfully, you can maintain a sense of equanimity even in the face of some real hardships. It can be so easy to catastrophize and be pessimistic or cynical especially when things go wrong. Not to mention, social media seems almost perfectly engineered to produce negative states of mind. However, when I’m paying attention, I can notice negative thoughts as they arise. I can ask myself, “How useful is it to ruminate on past mistakes?” or “How useful is this comparison I’m making right now?” Through an awareness of the thoughts you have and how they arise and pass away all on their own, you can decide how long you want to be sad, angry or upset. You can have more contact with best parts of yourself in a wider range of circumstances. This is far easier said than done, although, with practice, I’ve gotten a bit better at noticing and interrupting unskillful patterns of thought. It’s still something I work on everyday.

Thanks for sharing that. So, before we get any further into our conversation, can you tell our readers a bit about yourself and what you’re working on?
My musical journey started in middle school. I would watch producers like Scott Storch and Pharrell make beats on Youtube. After that, I was compelled to learn how to produce. My friend CJ and I searched all over the internet for different music making software. We downloaded ProTools, Cakewalk Sonar, and lastly, FL Studio. I stuck with it. Coming home from school every day, I would head down to the basement and make beats. I started learning how to record and engineer in college. I continued to make connections and work with local talent in New York. I moved to LA at the beginning of 2022 started working with Sony Music Publishing. A good portion of my work consists of engineering, recording or mixing. Outside of that, my main focus is production. I am fortunate to be working with some incredibly talented producers and artists. The music I’m working on and will be releasing in the coming months is special to me because it will be first time I release music under my real name “Adam Amoedo.” For nearly my entire career, I’d been working under an alias “moedoisnice.” I’m so proud of the work I’ve done under my previous moniker but I’m excited for a fresh start. I think this change will allow me to be more authentic with my music.

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?
The three qualities that’ve been most impactful for me are adaptability, humility and curiosity. No matter what goal you’re attempting to accomplish, you have to be able to adjust your approach based on changing circumstances. I’ve had to pivot countless times during my journey. Humility is important because if you’re too self righteous to listen to those who might know more than you, you’re setting yourself up for failure and closing yourself off to important knowledge. Curiosity has been indispensable for me because it keeps things exciting. Through learning new techniques, I can streamline some of the more tedious aspects of production while enhancing the more creative and explorative parts of the process. My advice for anyone pursuing a career in arts would be to take it one day at a time. Most things that are worth doing such as getting in shape, cultivating meaningful and lasting relationships, or building a career in music are born of incremental progress over long periods of time. Patience and self compassion are key. Prejudice and ego are your enemy. The best way to promote these qualities is to be mindful. Train your attention. Don’t judge yourself or your creations too harshly. Allow yourself the freedom to experiment or make something “weird.” If you don’t like it keep making adjustments or begin again. Don’t get in your own way.

Awesome, really appreciate you opening up with us today and before we close maybe you can share a book recommendation with us. Has there been a book that’s been impactful in your growth and development?
The book Waking Up by Sam Harris has been so influential in shaping the way I think over the last few years. A lot of the ideas I’ve already expressed in previous questions have been things I’ve absorbed from the book. One sentiment I try to keep in mind is the idea that I shouldn’t hold my happiness hostage. It’s tempting to say, “I’ll be happy after I achieve my goals or get some ice cream or win a grammy.” However, lasting happiness is in learning to be content before all your problems are solved. There will always be another goal to achieve or another desire to gratify. I’ve learned to remind myself to let go every so often. I can foster gratitude for this moment while I make efforts to improve experience and achieve my goals in the next.

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@canonkd

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