Adrian Milanio is an R&B artist from Tacoma, Washington who is seeing success online, growing his fanbase both around the Pacific Northwest and throughout Asia. He works hard to nourish his different fanbases as well as his local community. Connecting with others and building up his city are Milanio’s main priorities with his career at the moment. Respect My Region got the opportunity to connect with him and discuss his journey as an artist and what it has taken for him to get to where he’s at.
Respect My Region Interview With Adrian Milanio
Photo sourced from Instagram @adrian.milanio
Taylor: So I only know a little bit about you, let’s get the whole Milanio story. For starters, were you born and raised in Tacoma?
Adrian Milanio: Yeah, born and raised in Tacoma, specifically Parkland. I’ve been in Parkland all my life. Growing up, I went to Washington High School and ended up going to Pierce College, graduating just a few years ago. So, I’ve been in the trenches of Tacoma throughout all of my time here. I’ve seen Tacoma grow since the time where a lot of it was vacant buildings, to now, where everybody is trying to move here because Tacoma is like the new spot to be at, I guess.
Taylor: Has music always been a big part of your life?
Adrian: For me, music was something that always was channeled through my blood and my energy. I’m pretty sure when I was in the womb, I was probably listening to Lionel Richie, Bryan McKnight, and Boyz II Men, whatever the 90s had going on. When my parents would drive me around in the car, we listened to everything from John Mayer to Nora Jones and Coldplay. Then I discovered throughout middle school and high school, everything from Bruno Mars to J. Cole and Kendrick.
Really, for me, first and foremost, I’ve always been a fan. I’ve always had a true deep appreciation for people who are talented. People who are really good at what they do and sharing their stories. I’ve always sort of taken an interest in music, so I grew up playing guitar and piano. I was in band in school. Basically, I was that guy in band who didn’t have to practice but who could still outperform. I just knew that I had a natural ability to play. Eventually in college I started dabbling with producing and recording.
Right after I graduated, I ended up taking an internship at a studio. What I found out was, I wasn’t a good intern. I was just too immature and I ended up just giving up on this internship because I felt like it was moving too slow for me at that time. Which I fully regret because it was probably a great opportunity for me to really do that. But, I was already producing on the side on my own. I took a class in college on audio production. So, I had my own setup and it grew from messing around and making beats to making my own songs.
Photo sourced from Instagram @adrian.milanio
Taylor: Where were you finding inspiration to write from?
Adrian: A lot of my music came from life experiences, growing up, trying to figure out who I am, going through relationships and my own adversities. The biggest adversity that I went through that really pushed me to take music seriously is that I got diagnosed as a type 1 diabetic in high school. I was 17 and it was kind of a crazy time for me.
One of the things about being diabetic is if you don’t take insulin, which is the thing that helps control your sugar, you can get really sick. I was at a point where I don’t know whether I would have made it if I hadn’t gone to the doctor. I went to the hospital and had to stay for a while.
During that time, I had a revelation, like, I’m kind of doing this music stuff. I don’t really know what’s going on here, the doctor is telling me to take this medication for me to be okay. I was dealing with a lot of teen angst during that time. But the one thing that really helped when I felt like maybe I can’t really talk to my friends or my parents, was music. I was really obsessed with this album called Continuum by John Mayer. That was an album that I listened to a lot. There are a lot of songs that really resonated with me. It was kind of a pivotal moment for me to really start taking music seriously.
Watch Adrian Milanio “Lucky” Music Video
Adrian: I used to write a lot of music that came from a place of pain, hurt, and frustration. As I continued to go through school and life, I started to write about other things that happened. Things like relationships, good or bad, growing up, and trying to figure out who I am. Throughout my time in college I was always interested in music. I remember there was this class in college my senior year. It was this biology class that I hated. I had put out an album a few months beforehand and I saw my stream count slowly going up on Spotify everyday.
Everyday I went to class and this one time I remember looking down at my phone and I saw that I had 1,000 listeners on Spotify. I went back to class two days later and watched my follower count double and I was like, “holy shit!” I had hit an algorithm spike on Spotify. That’s when I started to take an interest in replicating that success. I ended up getting 20,000 monthly listeners in a couple of weeks. I started to learn a lot more about marketing and branding. That was another moment where I was like, okay, I really have to take this music stuff seriously. I started learning and got a mentor. His name’s Quincy and he owns Campfire Coffee.
Taylor: Oh Q Dot! Things are making sense to me here.
Adrian: He’s been mentoring me for such a long time now. He was giving me a lot of feedback and consulting. I was working with him on my music and trying to develop what my brand is, what’s my concept and strategy, and what are these things that I can do to get out there. He was a big piece for me to start driving all of the stuff that I’ve been doing lately.
Follow Adrian Milanio On Spotify
From 2018 to 2020, I was learning how Spotify works, learning about branding, and how to run a business. I’m working with an agency right now called Contraband. One of the things they always talk about is artists a lot of times see their career through rose tinted glasses. But, when you take them off there’s a lot of behind the scene things that pop off.
I had to learn how to do a lot of the networking and emailing. I never thought that you would have to do that. Really, I thought you would just make music and show up and you just kind of pop off one day. But, I learned that it takes networking and being a good person and trying to do all of these things to grow your brand and your reputation for your career to move forward.
Taylor: So what are some of the things that you have done in order to move your career forward?
Adrian: I have planted some seeds in different places. I’ve been building within the Tacoma-Seattle region. A lot of the people seeing my music online are from these Asian countries like, Japan, South Korea, Indonesia, and the Philippines. I have these two different fanbases that I’m nourishing right now; I have my fanbase on the West Coast from the Bay Area to Seattle. Then I have my fan base in Asia. So, I’m just trying to put out music for both and trying to nourish them at the same time.
I dropped a song called “Where You Wanna Go” at the beginning of 2020. That was a song that did really well, really quickly. I ended up getting a lot of opportunities through that. For me, I got a record label that I signed a deal with called frtyfve Records based in London. They wanted to sign the song and we ended up talking and eventually we signed a deal. They ended up connecting me with Ne-Yo a few months later through that song. I also had the opportunity to collaborate with people like Nef the Pharaoh and Iamsu! through that.
Adrian Milanio “No Calls” Remix Featuring RJ Suave, Iamsu!, & Nef The Pharaoh
My streams are going up like crazy. I think by the end of the year of 2020, I ended up getting a million, like 1.2 million streams just off that record alone on Spotify. Where I’m at right now, though, is growing my following on TikTok. Back in May, I was at about 500 followers. Now, I’m at over 70,000 and that’s just putting covers out there and singing my original songs. Really, just learning the platform and growing.
For me now, the big things that have happened as of late, I did a few collaborations with ETC Tacoma. We did a video together promoting eTc with myself on the Night Show. We’ve also done some photoshoots together. I’ve gotten to model some of their stuff which is super cool.
I’ve had Ne-Yo mentor me over this last year, we’ve been texting back and forth. Eventually I asked him, “would you ever go on live with me to push my record?” He was like, “yeah, let’s do it.” So, I got the chance to chop it up with him and we talked about my song, “Get Home,” which I had dropped the music video for. Hearing him praise me for having a great voice is crazy. He’s been an idol of mine since I was in middle school.
Taylor: Same! I love Ne-Yo.
Adrian: Right? So, yeah, hearing him telling me that he thinks that I’m talented and that I have a good vibe with the piano and my vocals was crazy. He’s been a big person in my corner. Umi and Daz from eTc have been role models for me with how they interact with people in the scene and the community, and how they carry themselves in their business. They’ve given me a lot of support and I can’t thank them enough.
Watch Adrian Milanio Talk With Ne-Yo About His Music
So, I had a lot of help along the way. Anybody who says that they’ve done it on their own, like, yeah you gotta drive the car and you have to steer the ship, but you can’t do it alone. I’ve had huge help from Ne-Yo. I’ve had huge help from Umi and Daz, and Q-Dot. Really, just a lot of these Tacoma people who are connected and really showing me support.
I always picture myself, still, as this random kid from Tacoma that always had a passion for music, and now I’m starting to have my city take me seriously.
Adrian Milanio
Moving Forward as an Artist Coming Out of the Pandemic
Now it’s my turn to try and bring it forward and represent Tacoma in the best way that I can. To be an example, to be an entrepreneur in this space, to stand out, and standing out is really just being you and being authentic. I’m learning that for me. I used to try and chase trends and chase whatever is poppin’ and try and replicate that. But, one of the biggest things that Ne-Yo has taught me is that I don’t have to pretend to be anybody. I can really just be who I am and let my audience find me and really stay true to the things that I believe in.
A lot of it for me in 2021, coming out of the pandemic, is really building my fanbase online and making some music. I also still have the opportunity to do shows. I always picture myself, still, as a random kid from Tacoma that always had a passion for music, and now I’m starting to have my city take me seriously.
Another bright spot for me is that I got a grant from the City of Tacoma to put on a summer concert series. What I did is, I booked local Tacoma and Seattle talent to come in the recording studio. I got them a video, and a stipend for them to put on their social media and that sort of thing. It was a way to give back to my community and really I’m just trying to do things that are special. I don’t know anyone in Tacoma who really knows me like that, maybe, but I’m just trying to build connections, make good music, get it in front of people, and build the community.
The Gratification of Doing What You Love for Work
I work a full time job too. I work as an advisor at a school, counseling students and making sure that their time in college is going okay. For me, I’m really trying to build a legacy and trying to impact people the way that I want to. It’s always humbling hearing and getting DMs from people saying that my music was helping them get through the week. Or, like, the song reminds of a date that they went on and stuff like that. It doesn’t show up in a spreadsheet or on a check but just to know that I’m directly impacting people for the better through my music, there’s nothing that could replace that.
That’s all I could ever really ask for is having the opportunity to live off of my art and do the things that I want to do to impact the people in the way that I want to. You know, I want to be able to hire my friends and put people on a payroll and have my whole operation kind of take over Tacoma, Seattle and beyond. That’s just kind of where I’m at.
It doesn’t show up in a spreadsheet or on a check but just to know that I’m directly impacting people for the better through my music, there’s nothing that could replace that.
Adrian Milanio
Photo sourced from Instagram @adrian.milanio
What The Future Holds For Adrian Milanio
Taylor: Well, it sounds like you are on the right path. Everything that you were talking about, everything that you were saying I was like, yep, that’s exactly right. That’s exactly how you should be maneuvering right now. That’s how you get on to that path of success, taking it step-by-step and just grinding it out.
The numbers speak for themselves, even though we don’t like to put an emphasis on the numbers, still. You said it best, though, the end game is to build with your community. I believe you will definitely do that and expand outside of Tacoma to where you’ll have a larger community to be a part of.
As far as the future of your sound goes, right now you’re pretty much completely R&B. Do you think you will explore different sounds and genres moving forward?
Adrian: One of the things that I always think about, for me, is who am I at the end of the day in terms of my core? I really do think it’s in R&B for me. I would love to collaborate more with people. Whether that is me collaborating with some more Bay Area rappers on some smooth R&B stuff, or maybe collaborating with some other people in the R&B world.
There’s a lot of talented people on TikTok that I’m starting to connect to. Some features and some collaborations might happen because of that. I’m really just trying to mature my sound more as I continue through life. Experiencing things and reflecting on them and incorporating them into my music. I know I make R&B music, but regardless of the genre I really just want the quality to resonate with people.
Adrian Milanio and Marylou Villegas Duet on TikTok
I think the biggest thing I’ve had within my music is that it all comes from a very sincere and authentic place. I’m not going to be out here rapping about a grill I don’t have, or all these chains I don’t wear. That’s not me. But, growing up and going through relationships, heartache, and love and all those things are easy for me to write. Finding a better way to communicate that through my music, whether that’s through collaborations with people in the Bay or doing some more R&B duets. I really think I’m going to truly own that lane. That’s honestly like my pride and joy and I think that the music resonates with people.
Taylor: Sometimes it really is good to stay in one genre. Even though right now everybody is on this trend of breaking down genre barriers. It’s good because you’ll be able to hone in on your skills and refine things over the years.
Find More From Adrian Milanio
Instagram | TikTok | Spotify | Website
