Ava Toton is an up and coming singer, guitarist and songwriter from Northern California, near
Oakland. At only 12 years old, Ava is often referred to a music prodigy. When she’s not shredding
her guitar and composing rock songs, Ava is your average 7th grader. Her latest EP,
Charm School Dropout, is available to be purchased and/or streamed on all music platforms. Ava Toton has already become a huge inspiration for a rockers everywhere, young and old. She wants to show the world that rock and roll is far from being dead, and introduce this music to her generation.
In this interview spotlight, I chat with Ava about the latest project, adapting during lock downs, technology and more.
Full Q&A along with links and music below.
Where are you from and how do You describe your style of music?
I was born in Los Angeles, CA but moved to Northern California in the east bay area when I was 3.
How did you get here? As in, what inspired or motivated you to take on this journey through music and the music biz?
I was having sensory issues with loud noises. The therapist told my parents to enroll me in music classes to help with that. I didn’t love it immediately. I would sit under the piano with my hands covering my ears. That didn’t last long. I was in a rock class where we were introduced to every instrument and as soon as I picked up the guitar I was in love.
How does your latest project compare/contrast with your previous release(s)? Were you setting out to accomplish anything specific, follow a specific theme, or explore different styles of creation?
My first EP, A.V.A. was written during lockdown and quarantine of COVID. Some of those songs were dealing with my reaction to the whole situation. School shut down, music lessons shut down. We didn’t even order food delivery for the first year. Two of the songs were directly about that – Are You Out of Your Mind and Take Me With You. For my second EP, Charm School Dropout, I feel like I had learned a lot from the experience from the first EP and had bigger and better ideas for what I could do on this one. I also had my first band experience during COVID: Season 2. I was 11 and the other kids were a bit older than me and we were in a very high stress situation working with a big tv show. That sort of crumbled apart for unknown reasons (and some known reasons) and my 2nd album was in part fueled by that experience. I was heartbroken about the show but I didn’t want it to get in the way of my dreams and I knew the best thing I could do was write about it and release an even better EP than the first. A tv show isn’t going to be what I base my dreams on. It’s just a small piece of a big puzzle that’s just getting started to come together. There will be many other tv opportunities for me.
Name the biggest challenge you faced as a creative during these unprecedented? How did you adapt? How have you kept the creative fires burning during all this?
The lock downs were really tough. One day I’m in school and then the next day we are told we are staying home for a few weeks. Then months. Then over a year. I started middle school in quarantine. I was going to a new school district so I didn’t know anyone. This was very hard. The only thing that was really working were remote music lessons. My guitar instructor really pushed me to continue to learn DAWs and write my own music. We used a lot of my lesson time to focus on this. I’m so grateful we did because I feel like that time flew by and now I have two EPs to show for it. I definitely got distracted but my parents were there to remind me to stay on top of everything.
What was the last song you listened to?
Bodies by Drowning Pool. That was on Spotify. On the radio I listened to Zombified by Falling In Reverse (on Octane).
Which do you prefer? Vinyl? 8-tracks? Cassettes? CDs? MP3s? Streaming platforms?
I’m 13. Streaming. 100%.
Where is the best place to connect with you and follow your journey?
Instagram.com/BraveFearlessStrong, my website www.avatoton.com or YouTube.com/c/AvaToton. I am going to be creating a lot more digital content this summer.
I really appreciate Your time. Anything else before we sign off?
Thanks for the interview. I hope that kids of my generation will start embracing rock and roll. I listen to a lot of what my mom listened to growing up (Hair Metal, classic rock, Octane, Lithium) and I don’t know a lot of people my age who love the same music as me. As I get older I’ve definitely met some kids but most of them say they don’t. Until a Bon Jovi song comes on and they start singing along to it. I hope a bunch of artists start releasing music like me and we create a new rock movement.
