ASU entrepreneurship and marketing senior Emilie Fromm has a busy schedule as a full-time student and an aspiring electronic dance music artist.
Fromm, whose stage name is Blossom, was recently booked to open Wet Electric at Big Surf in Tempe on the main stage this Saturday.
She said it will be her first time on a main stage for the event, which hosts thousands of attendees.
“I’ve never played main stage before,” she said. “That was one of my goals last year to play on main stage, so now I am finally getting around to do it, so I’m excited.”
As a full-time student, intern at Kitchen Sink Studios and a regularly performing EDM artist Fromm said her schedule is busy, but she always finds time for music.
“Learn how to balance,” she said. “School is priority, at least for me with my family. If you get a good balance, you can really do music if you put your extra time towards that. It’s pretty incredible how much time you have if you don't spend all of it partying and then waking up hung over or all those hours hanging out and watching tv.”
Fromm said her vibrant pink hair makes her stand out among the rest whether it be in a professional or academic setting.
“At ASU, I think I am easy to recognize because of my pink hair,” she said. “A lot of people say, ‘are you that one DJ?’”
Fromm said she learned to play the violin in London around the age of 2. She then transitioned to the viola, but decided to stop playing around the time she entered high school in the U.S.
“It was so uncool,” she said.
Fromm said she found an interest in EDM in high school, however because of how new the genre was at the time, she quietly delved into it alone.
“I started getting into EDM in high school super quietly,” she said. “I wasn't verbal about it, I just listened to it by myself.”
It was not until college when Fromm attempted to make music of her own. She said that at a house party about two years ago, she asked one of the house DJs if they could show her what they were doing, and he recommended a DJ controller for her.
“I bought (the DJ controller) and over the next five months, I probably touched it like 10 times because I couldn't figure out what I was doing and everything sounded terrible because I didn’t know anything about beat matching or what keys sounded good together,” she said.
Fromm said she found DJing to be an outlet to combat school stress and wanted to become better at it. After deciding to attend Dubspot, an Electronic Music Production and DJ School in Los Angeles, during the summer of 2015, she returned to the Valley and signed up to audition to open the 2015 Global Dance Festival hosted by Relentless Beats.
“I came back and entered a competition for Global Dance Festival and even though I made top 15, I didn’t make it into the final round,” she said. “I still got booked for it, which I was excited about. I did that and then I started getting booked more regularly and practicing at home.”
Local DJ Mason Reno (“Honest”), said he has known Fromm for two years and knows all too well the juggling of school and figuring out where passions fit into the academic grind. However, he said that self-expression and taking time to focus on personal passions is important.
“In college, everyone is telling you to plan out your whole life while still figuring out what you want to eat for lunch that day and then there’s debt and money and all these things,” he said. “In your free time, aside from your part-time job or your girlfriend or boyfriend or school, if you feel compelled to express yourself, do that. It’s a way to vent.”
Reno said he shares Fromm’s sentiment when it comes to the topic of balance and feels that she has what it takes to be successful in the EDM industry.
“I feel like humans who actualize their potential recognize the fact that they need balance in their life and that having multiple passions or hobbies is just a byproduct of living an awesome life,” he said. “In the case of Emilie, she makes it happen. She gets it and takes everything step by step and makes it happen and that’s why she’s successful.”
Mikaela Wolf, a social media manager at Kitchen Sink Studios, works with Fromm in Downtown Phoenix and is aware of Fromm’s life as an EDM artist.
“I'm pumped for her,” Wolf said. “It is going to be an awesome show and experience.”
Fromm said in order to be successful it is important to look past self-doubt and dive into what one is passionate about.
“I sound like I’m Nike, but just do it,” Fromm said.“If you want to do something, just do it. The only thing holding you back is you and, of course, schoolwork and work and life and everything else that piles up that you need to attend to before it. But just go for it.”
Reach the columnist at kakoch@asu.edu or follow @kaylakoch2018 on Twitter.
Like The State Press on Facebook and follow @statepress on Twitter.
