Elias

MyAfton Emerging artist Elias’ government name is Elias Victor Rossell, although he goes by Elias when he is performing. Often, you will see him on stage with “The Holy Trinity” hip-hop collective.

Elias is 22 years old, born and raised in Cincinnati, Ohio, and currently still resides there. He writes all of his own lyrics and has been playing guitar since the 6th grade. So far he has only done small guitar outros or riffs over his rapping. However, he would like to utilize the guitar more in his music moving forward.

9 Questions With Elias

When did you start playing music and what inspired you to give it a try?

My parents always encouraged creativity and I started taking piano lessons in the 2nd or 3rd grade but only for a couple years, stopping when it started to become a chore. I picked up the guitar a few years later and really got into it with my second instructor who would teach me songs I liked and jam out to them with me. 

Who and what inspires you the most to keep going?

I’m inspired by my friends, family, and the people who support my music, who add hope and meaning to the madness; as well as fellow artists who push me to learn and try new things. 

What things did you enjoy about playing with Afton?

I actually am fairly new to Afton and have not yet played a show with you guys yet, although I look forward to in the future! So far we have primarily been booking shows with E.S. Live and are looking forward to opening for Cash Money artist Caskey at The Blue Note in Harrison, OH on February 25th.

Where do you see yourself in 3 years? (how can Afton help you get there?)

In 3 years I would like to be able to support myself and my family primarily from music based income (merch sales, touring, streaming, etc) and joining mid level artists on tour and possibly even headlining my own small tour.

Afton is helping me right now by giving me a platform to speak my mind and express who I am. Although I haven’t booked with Afton yet, connecting with real music fans at local shows like these is always going to be a great opportunity as I try to make headway over the next few years.

If you could play a show with any artist or band, living or dead, who would it be? Why?

I would love to do a hip-hop/edm show mix with RL Grime as my DJ. I think the merging of the two genres is something that hasn’t been experimented with enough and would make for an exciting show. 

What’s one of the craziest things that has happened since you became a musician/artist?

I was listening to Dizzy Wright back in high school, then about three years ago my friend introduced me to Caskey’s music and like a year later I heard one of Doobie’s songs on YouTube autoplay and became a fan. It’s definitely crazy to me that in our first year of performing I’ve had the opportunity to open for three decently established artists that I had already been listening to. 

Do you have any pre-show rituals before taking the stage? What do you do after a show?

Normally before the show me and the other members (Kilam King & Junker) just try to get into our zone, running through small last minute details and getting acquainted with the venue/other performers. After the show I like to have a drink and hang out with the people who came to see me and meet new people who watched the show!

What advice would you give to a young artist just starting out?

I would definitely say to have fun and don’t let your passion become practice, start with fundamentals and take everything one step at a time. Love what you do and count every small victory as you continue to grow and progress. 

What is one of the biggest lessons you’ve learned as an artist?

I would say that same advice has also been one of my largest lessons, and kind of an ongoing lesson is just growing up and learning who I want to be and what I want to stand for. Shoutout to lost souls, shoutout to lost kids!

Soundcloud

YouTube

Main Site

Instagram

Facebook

Other Resources

MyAfton Emerging Artist: Tracey Childs

MyAfton Emerging Artist: J.None

Local Shows In Your Area

The post MyAfton Emerging Artist: Elias appeared first on Afton.

1st Place

We are very happy to announce that the winner of our December Video Contest is artist Elias. We received a TON of great submission for this contest but we though that video stood out the most!

Elias will receive $100 in beat store credits (From www.myafton.com/beatstore ) as we as a featured blog article and a custom post on each of our social media sites!

Elias The Video Contest Winner

Elias is an independent hip-hop artist based out of Cincinnati. He is part of a local collective called “The HolyTrinity,” and recently they opened up for Young Money artist Caskey.

Be sure to go check out his music!

Follow Him

SoundCloud

Instagram

YouTube

Facebook

A thank you to all the artists that submitted for the December Video Contest. And a special thank you to Elias the winner! Be sure to watch out for our next contest!

Other Resources

Afton Freestyle Contest

Afton Fall Contest

Local Shows

The post December Video Contest Winner appeared first on Afton.

Afton Video Contest

It’s Contest season again! We are very happy to be having another Afton Video Contest. Bring on the concert videos!

Video Contest Prize

The first place winner will receive $100 to the MyAfton Beat store, or if beats are not your thing we will get you $100 in fliers from our site! The 1st place winner will also receive a featured blog article and a shout out on all of our social media accounts. The video will also be added to 3 of our Youtube playlists.

Second and Third place will also get shoutouts on our social media accounts, so even if you don’t get first place you can still win a prize!

How To Enter

To be entered into the contest all you have to do is submit a great quality concert video that is between 20 and 60 seconds long! Bonus points if it is from an Afton event but it is not needed.

Where to Submit

When you have finished your video make sure to email it over to Socialmedia@myafton.com with “Afton Video Contest” in the subject line. Please also make sure to have your artist name, artist email (that is linked to your Afton account) and also make sure that your video is attached to the email.

We will accept submissions from now until January 1st! So make sure to get your video submissions in by then!

*Please remember that even if your video is not chosen as the winner we may still use it in one of our posts as well as our Social media.

Questions?

If you have any questions please reach out to socialmedia@myafton.com and they will get your questions answered.

Other Resources

Afton Social Media Contest

Afton Summer Contest

Local Shows In Your Area

The post Afton Video Contest appeared first on Afton.