Meet Adin Boyer

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

Adin, we’re so excited for our community to get to know you and learn from your journey and the wisdom you’ve acquired over time. Let’s kick things off with a discussion on self-confidence and self-esteem. How did you develop yours?

In my youth speaking assemblies, I always say that the biggest reason I’m doing as well as I am is because of the people in my life outside of my immediate family who have supported me and nurtured my self-expression through music. This ultimately has been the main driving force for all of my confidence and self-esteem; not just when performing, but in all contexts. I’ve discovered and developed myself entirely through music and the arts. My music is my identity, so my deep passion for music and the people who’ve supported it have given me all of my motivation to stay confident and love myself for who I am.

Great, so let’s take a few minutes and cover your story. What should folks know about you and what you do?

I am no stranger to living a life fully devoted to music, and discovering myself entirely through music. My sound draws influences from anthemic arena alternative rock outfits such as Coldplay, Keane, and The War on Drugs, the glorious ambiences of groups like Hammock and Slowdive, and a classical-fusion flair evoking Tori Amos.

I was diagnosed with autism at age 2 and received years upon years of early-intervention therapies and social skills classes, which made all of the difference in the development of my quality of life. However, what enhanced it more than anything was my middle/high school, Orange County School of the Arts. I credit them, how they nurtured my passions, and the lack of overt bullying there for giving me the space to thrive into a happy and hopeful human being.

Following my childhood and teenage background in classical piano, choir, opera, music theory, and musical comedy, I dove headfirst into the indie rock world following a milestone first-ever full-band performance at my CalArts graduation recital in late 2021, with a series of songs I wrote and orchestrated just before and at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic. The five-song collection ultimately culminated in my debut EP “Caseload”, which was recorded with my band of CalArts comrades and engineered, mixed, and mastered by Robert Adam Stevenson of A Silent Film at Revolver Recordings.

Following my debut EP release, I took my musical missions to the big screen. I gained widespread international notoriety as a contestant on season 21 of American Idol, where I advanced to the top 55, and received major accolades from Lionel Richie, Katy Perry, Luke Bryan, songwriting mentor Phillip Phillips, and ultimately, my biggest musical inspiration, Chris Martin from Coldplay.

2024 has been my busiest and most promising year yet. Following my most massive solo performance to date at Fenway Park for an audience of over 5,000 the previous August, I released my sophomore EP, “Regroup”. This project features many of my fellow disabled artist colleagues of various mediums on the cover. Following my massive full-band release-celebration shows in my hometown of Lake Forest and my first-ever full-band show in LA at the highly-esteemed The Mint, I set off on my largest-to-date solo tour across the country. I will return from my expedition with a new project celebrating self-actualization and anticipation of new milestones ahead…

Music isn’t just my therapy or my “safe space” or my “world”; it is my means to function and do anything in life. It is my most significant coping mechanism for all of the ways the world seems to screw me over. And best of all, it’s the bridge from me to humanity I’ve so desperately wanted to connect with after feeling “other” for so long. I hope my music affirms that we’re more alike than different.

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?

Music, love, and inclusion. Those three aspects make me who I am more than anything else. They all go hand-in-hand. I love music, and love and inclusion motivated me to make it. I love and include on my end through my passion for music.

Self-discipline and hard work is one thing, but being in a nurturing environment is truly the most powerful of all, as it’s the means to get the self-discipline and hard work rolling, at least for me. It’s hard to “find your people”, and in many ways I’m still struggling with this, but it’s out there; I promise. Just knowing that made all the difference for me too. Love prevails, I promise. Your creative voice is worth being heard, no matter what anybody says or thinks. You are a beautiful product of your own adventurous experience.

What is the number one obstacle or challenge you are currently facing and what are you doing to try to resolve or overcome this challenge?

I’m still working through a lot of trauma from the days I was severely bullied and excluded as a child, so my biggest obstacles are my constant self-loathing, self-esteem issues, and my sheer exhaustion from trying to exist in this world. I lean on my family, friends, and therapist for help with all of this. But most of all, I lean on my music. Most of my songs are about the battles I’m facing, and I genuinely always feel better after being able to articulate them through lyrics and putting a melody to it. This is my best strategy to overcome this challenge. I also feel better when I can get some sleep as well!

Contact Info:

• Website: https://adinboyer.com
• Instagram: @adinboyer
• Facebook: @adinboyer
• Youtube: @adinboyer
• Other: TikTok – @adinboyer

Image Credits

Zoe Tiller, Shire Fong-Vig, Gabrielle Zwi