Meet Adam Lifto

We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Adam Lifto a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Hi Adam, we are so appreciative of you taking the time to share your nuggets of wisdom with our community. One of the topics we think is most important for folks looking to level up their lives is building up their self-confidence and self-esteem. Can you share how you developed your confidence?
I have cultivated confidence and self-esteem from the roots of authenticity. For years, especially during a time in my life where substance use and mental health disorders were firmly in the driver’s seat, I portrayed externally the way I would like to be perceived in the world, even though my internal and external worlds were not aligned and did not represent reality. Over the past four years, living each day honestly, and having a sense of dedication and commitment to vulnerability, has been the recipe for the development of true self-confidence and self-esteem in my current endeavors with Twin Citizen and in becoming a Licensed Alcohol and Drug Counselor and Mental Health Clinician.

In being authentic and vulnerable, I have found success in my life personally, professionally, and in the local music scene. I have learned how to develop new supportive, and reciprocal relationships in my life that work to help me attain my goals, aspirations, and ambitions. Although social media can sometimes feel like a black hole, and certainly does not always reflect reality, I have learned how to develop real relationships through the connections I have made over a shared love of music and creativity in that environment.

Lastly, becoming a husband and a father has helped me develop a more grounded and steady confidence and self-esteem. Being in a committed relationship with my wife that stands on a foundation of trust, consistency, love, respect, flexibility, openness, and honesty helps me continue to grow. Regarding being a father for the first time, every day I learn something new about my daughter and how to be a better parent to her, and I have just started to scratch the surface of what this means to my confidence and self-esteem.

Let us 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?
Twin Citizen is a Minnesota-based indie rock band that formed during the COVID-19 pandemic and started playing live in May of 2022. We have recorded six singles that can be found on all streaming platforms, which were a group of songs that were released as a way to get our music out there for people to get an idea of what our band sounds like, and more logistically, to have something to help us get into clubs around the Twin Cities area. Twin Citizen is in the process of writing about twenty songs that we can pick from to go in and record our debut full-length album, along with playing a bunch of shows and selling merchandise to fund this endeavor. What is exciting and different about our groups is that four out of the five members are in recovery from substance use and mental health disorder, and originally formed as a band to support one another in what can be a challenging environment for people who struggle with addiction. Considering that we met in early recovery, and we are all still living healthy lifestyles without the use of drugs and alcohol, we are a wonderful example of how the recovery community can come together and absolutely flourish. Twin Citizen is playing about a show a month leading up to going into the studio as a way of maintaining relevance in the local music scene here in Minnesota, staying sharp, but also allowing us the appropriate amount of time to dive into the writing process and going into the studio with songs we can be proud of. Twin Citizen is active on Facebook, Instagram, Bandcamp, TikTok, Twitter, and we have an official website, along with an electronic press kit website.

If you had to pick three qualities that are most important to develop, which three would you say matter most?
Overcoming adversity, being patient, and trusting the process have been essential to our group’s success. As a local band with ambitious goals, it can be difficult to wait for your passion project to develop awareness in the minds of your target audience. Twin Citizen has worked hard to develop relationships with the clubs around the Twin Cities, has waged grassroots organizing outreach to get our name and music into the minds of those who support the local scene, and it has paid dividends for us early on in our existence. What has been really challenging is keeping a positive attitude when we have experienced setbacks, especially relating to being gatekept from certain clubs and local radio stations we would have hoped to have garnered support from thus far. As the person in our band who runs our social media platforms, you attempt to portray a certain level of success and confidence in your product, but what people often do not see is the disappointments and setbacks that happen within a band’s story. For those individuals working hard on their band or project, I would encourage them to avoid comparing yourself too much with the success you see with other bands you follow, because everyone has their own struggles, and those struggles are often omitted by bands in the realm of social media. I have learned this lesson the hard way in that, at times, I have found myself becoming discouraged by the flawless journeys of the other bands around us, knowing full well that we all must scratch and claw to get where we are. In general, what I have learned is that the local music scene is more fun, and a healthier environment, when we all support each other’s projects. One thing that I would also encourage others to be mindful of is being respectful, grateful, and reciprocate with the groups that you play with around town. When you play on a bill with other bands, stay and watch them play, share their content, help promote, and reciprocate other’s hard work by putting bands that book you on the bills you book.

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?
The biggest obstacle or challenge Twin Citizen currently faces is mobilizing our social media following out to our shows. Twin Citizen debuted at the iconic First Avenue’s 7th St. Entry in February, and for the first time, we were able to do this by getting 219 folks out on Thursday evening when it was 2 degrees outside. The amount of work that went into advertising, reaching out to people on social media personally, handing out flyers, and getting word of mouth out about our show was an absolute challenge that was shared by all the groups involved on that bill. Part of being taken seriously by the Twin Cities local music scene is developing a loyal following that will come out and see you, especially when it matters the most. Like I had stated earlier, Twin Citizen has ambitious and lofty goals locally, that include becoming a household name on radio stations such as 93x, KFAI, Cities 97, and The Current, and we’d also like to climb high enough to eventually be able to play on the bigger stages around town like the main room at First Avenue. To have a chance at realizing these goals, we will have to have the music and stage performance to do it, but we will also have to continue to learn new and improved ways to reach and mobilize the local music scene supporters in the Twin Cities area.

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