Explore Edon Molla's journey in the Music Publishing Industry

It sure is. Absolutely.

It’s dedicated to someone who is battling a lot. We didn’t know if that person was going to be okay. Thankfully, they are. So I’m not going to say exactly who it is, but that’s who it is dedicated to.

So I’m from Kosovo, Albania, and my dad’s from a region which is actually considered Montenegro even though it’s in Kosovo.

I didn’t. I came when I was two. We moved to Staten Island originally, then stayed there for a few months before we ended up growing up in Brooklyn, New York.

It’s fitting for me because I don’t necessarily feel like I have one thing that’s grounding me. I like going into my own lanes, not having roots, not having a single place where I feel trapped. I know that’s a weird word, but I always feel inspired to go into different directions.

Well, we lived in a neighborhood that wasn’t exactly high end. We didn’t grow up with much, to be honest but we were surrounded by people that were in similar scenarios. What I remember is having the opportunity to grow with other people who are also struggling. We had that bond and that’s important to me because when I finally ended up going to private school for sports, which is what got me in the door for some of these higher end schools, I just remember thinking to myself that I didn’t fit in the “upper class”. One of my favorite memories, though, is when I used to play basketball with all the older kids and my mom used to check in on me all the time because there were drug dealers everywhere in my neighborhood. She would bring this carton of lemonade for everyone in the park and everyone knew not to mess with me because my mom would be there every 20 minutes, just giving lemonade.

Edon Molla: So I started playing specifically to be able to hang out with my brother. My dad wanted me to play soccer, but that wasn’t going to happen. I grew up in Brooklyn, so all my friends played basketball, my brother’s friends played basketball. So I kind of wanted to just hang out with my big brother. By doing that, I played against his friends who are four years, five years, eight years older than I am. I developed quickly because I was playing with kids that were a lot older than I was. So, I was forced to be a better player from an early age. My mom wanted me out of the park, so she enlisted me into Catholic Youth League sports teams. Being pulled away from the park wasn’t my intention; I wanted to spend time with everyone there. Obviously, I was a six year old rebel. But I started playing youth basketball, developed really quickly, and then got recruited to play in under 18 groups by the age of 12. Then, I got recruited to play high school basketball at Saint Anthony High School. I shouldn’t have said I was recruited because It’s not legal, but I was “operated”, I was “enticed” by the stature of the school. I was drawn in and I ended up going to Anthony High School, which is in New Jersey. Commuting essentially 4 hours a day just to get to high school was hard, but I got to be a part of that culture, just demanding excellence every second of the day and that stuck with me throughout my life. From there, I was recruited to go to a Division one school, played basketball at Saint Francis College, and then I took an entirely different direction my junior year/sophomore year of college and entered the world of music.

The most important thing in my life is that, regardless of your field, success requires more effort than anyone else. Division 1 athletes, for example, achieve their status not only due talent, but because they consistently put in extra effort during workouts. I don’t like the term ‘talent’ because, unless you are 6ft10” tall, it tends to diminish the hard work people put in to get to where they are. You might not be the best shooter or be the most athletic, but through hard work, you can transform into a great athlete or shooter, and only then do people label you as “talented.” People just say that you are as if it didn’t take you countless hours to master your skills.

Edon Molla: I see it as a kind of hidden secret, which is a gift and a curse. I think it diminishes the hard work people put in to get to that level.. Take Steph Curry, for example; he probably dedicates more time to basketball than anyone else on this planet. People might attribute his success to god-given talent God or the universe. However, I believe it’s more about the effort he puts in.He just sat in the gym and shot the ball more than anybody else, and that’s why he’s better than everybody else at shooting.

I don’t recall a moment where I thought to myself, “I just want to be a regular anything in life.”  I mean, maybe down the road, I’ll want to buy a beach house and just want to sit on the beach and just chill, play the guitar without having a purpose, essentially. It is extremely competitive but I love it, I love being a part of it. I love the culture of it. I like the element that every single person here is so hungry and passionate.

Edon Molla: The failure that stung the most for me was not being the best player on the team. I worked incredibly hard, don’t get me wrong but there were moments where I could have worked harder and looking back, it taught me that you just need to work incredibly, incredibly hard. Sometimes, when you’re in that mode, there are elements like thinking your coach doesn’t like you or external factors that do play into it, don’t get me wrong, of course, that’s a part of it. But it really just comes down to whether you’re willing to work harder than every single person here. It’s not that I didn’t work harder than every single person there; it’s just that I didn’t work hard enough to be that much better. Put LeBron on any team, and he’s going to be the best player by far. So, if you take an average player and he works hard, he’s got to work ten times harder just to catch up to LeBron. There’s just that element of pushing it way past the limit.

Edon Molla: So for me, I think the element of hard work was the time commitment. During high school, I would wake up at 5 a.m. to make it to my 7:30 class, which lasted two hours and 15 minutes every day. Classes began around 7:30, and I completed my school day around 3:34. Between 4:00 and 6:00, we had a study hall, with lunch workouts squeezed in. During our lunch break, we would exercise and eat lunch in class, which is hilarious. After study hall, around 5 or 6, we had three to four-hour practices. By the time we finished, the school day extended until approximately 9 p.m. or 9:30 p.m., and then I had to commute all the way back to Brooklyn. It took over 2 hours, and night trains were particularly challenging. I would usually arrive home Monday through Friday around 11:30 – 12:00 and then repeat the cycle. I sustained this routine for numerous years, and we also had weekend practices, training seven days a week instead of a traditional school day.

For me, it’s about the passion and the desire to be successful, knowing that I can be the best at something. Not necessarily restricted to high school basketball, but in general, I like the thrill of giving my absolute best when I put my effort towards something. If it’s a subject or activity that I’m interested in, I’ll give it my best. However, if it’s something I’m not interested in, I am tuned out. I’ll always be respectful and kind to everyone, but if someone suggests, for example, taking up tennis, it’s probably not going to happen.

Edon Molla: So, I started playing music around my junior year of high school, and it continued into my senior year as a form of therapy; I would play the guitar because I felt exhausted all the time. It became a hobby, something fun outside of school and basketball. Over time, I became addicted to getting better at it. I could see the progress that I was making. Witnessing tangible progress, like playing a song this week that I couldn’t play last week, motivated me. During my junior year of college, I also worked throughout the summer to support my family. I worked at a prestigious building in Manhattan called the Dakota, where I had the overnight shift as a doorman/porter. While on the job, I had the opportunity to meet incredible people, such as Louis. One night, around 3:30 or 4:00 in the morning, Louis, aware of my passion for music, introduced me to an older woman in the elevator. He told her, “Hey, my friend’s a songwriter. He’d love to sing you a song.” I was initially taken aback, but I ended up singing a song for her. As she got off the elevator, she invited me to her studio. Louis revealed to me that she was Roberta Flack, an artist who had written songs with Michael Jackson and The Beatles, and has won Grammys. Louis told me that my life had just changed, and the next day, she called my boss and convinced him that I was meant for music and shouldn’t be cleaning toilets. She nurtured my talent and instilled confidence in me to pursue music as a path in life. This experience shifted my perspective because I had always considered music a fun hobby rather than a viable life path. Most people start music at a young age, and the narrow goal post seemed challenging to score through. Roberta Flack’s belief in me gave me the confidence to believe in myself and work hard toward my musical aspirations. In my junior year, I made the deep dive, quitting the sports team I was part of to fully pursue music. People were surprised, wondering how I would pay for school. Thankfully, my 4.0 GPA secured an academic scholarship that covered my tuition. . Had I not had that option, I would have just written it out and played for the rest of the year. However, thankfully I was able to just take that academic scholarship and focus on music.

We definitely did; the entire summer. Ironically, we never recorded a song together, which I wish we had.

Edon Molla: The first year was exciting. I knew I had to work as diligently in music as I did in sports, if not more so, as I had to catch up and prove many people wrong. While everyone had confidence in my athletic abilities, most doubted me in the sense that I could do this and that music can be a reality. So it just gave me that extra motivation to practice real hard. I also looked at the steps of accomplished artists, trying to understand the steps to become a successful musician. Everyone doubted me. I don’t think there’s anyone that was in my corner, aside from Roberta Flack who encouraged me to focus on figuring out music. Even within my inner circle, there was not a single person supporting my decision. Not my parents, not my brother. I understood their concerns as I had opportunities to play professional sports outside of the U.S. I couldn’t make it to the NBA, but I could play for teams that were willing to pay hundreds of thousands of dollars. Many would have chosen that route, but I recognized that my true passion fell into something else. The pushback from everyone, especially my parents who loved me dearly, stemmed from a fear of failure. They didn’t want to witness me facing setbacks. It wasn’t a lack of love or support but rather it’s that fear of failure. You don’t want to see someone fail. I sucked at music, so don’t get me wrong, the fear was legitimate. They love it now because they can see the trajectory and they can’t believe it, obviously. But when you start out, sometimes you don’t need anyone’s approval.

Edon Molla: I told myself on the day I walked in, there was a genuine moment where I thought, “If I do this, there is no looking back. There is no option of doubting myself. If I’m making this choice right now, nothing else matters. If I want to pursue music and become a professional musician, this is the moment where I decide.” I walked into my coach’s office and informed him that I was not playing this year or the next. I told him that I was going to focus on school. I didn’t mention music; I was embarrassed by the idea of giving up a tangible thing for something that was a concept in my mind. I kept my pursuit of music a secret for a long time, even after committing to it. I think it was more about understanding where I stood musically. The thing I was gifted with was an ability to hear music. Well, I wasn’t able to play it well, but I was able to hear it really well. I knew and there was no question about it—it was rough. Admitting to people that I wanted to be a musician while acknowledging my lack of skill embarrassed me. However, I was confident in my determination to work diligently and become a good musician. Additionally, there was a desire to avoid the added pressure that comes with being a musician, as the common question one faces is, “Do I know any of your songs?” It’s a little painful, but in terms of doubt, no, because I always knew that this is what I wanted to do from the moment I chose it.

Edon Molla: Like everything in life, you sit there and try your absolute best. I know that sounds generic, but every path in life has its elements. Take construction, for example. The first thing you learn when building is about how does someone not break this building while constructing it, what makes a building appealing, the exterior or the interior, what are people willing to pay a premium for. The same principles apply to music. What are people coming to a concert to hear? If you’re a singer, you need to have a really good voice. So, step one is to learn how to sing well—practice singing every single day. The second element: you might have a great voice, but are you entertaining? Can you play instruments? Can you tell a story mid-song? Can you write songs? What elements can someone judge you on? How do you develop those things so that they can’t necessarily judge you negatively? You’re going to be judged regardless, right? But there are certain things you can develop, whether it’s your singing ability, guitar playing, piano skills—these tangible elements. These are the things you can’t account for, like running into Roberta Flack in an elevator, but you have to be prepared for that moment. So, it’s about being prepared and working hard towards it.

I watched a lot of the great singers and studied them. I was blessed with the ability to hear music, so I knew every time I was singing poorly or sounding bad. Not that I don’t think I sound great now, but the point is, you listen to great singers, try to mimic them, and learn from them. I didn’t have any vocal coaches simply because it was too expensive; there was no way for me to afford that. So, it’s all self-taught.

Probably within a year, I started writing songs, but I wasn’t singing them publicly. I thought it was awful music that nobody would want to hea. Don’t get me wrong; the first song I wrote was probably awful, and no one wanted to hear it. However, you reach a point where you feel the urge to play songs you’ve written. I began doing open mics because that’s what some of the best artists did, especially in New York. Artists like Bob Dylan and Jimi Hendrix would go to open mics to try out their material. I view entertainment in a similar way. I observed comedians who often perform new material in small clubs before taking it to larger stages. So, I started playing open mics. The first few were terrible; I was really nervous, and I still get nervous. However, those initial performances were particularly challenging, even though there were only three people in the crowd, and half of them were focused on themselves as they prepared to play their own music.

Edon Molla: So the first song I decided to rent a recording studio. I knew that I always wanted to build out a recording studio myself, but for me I thought it would be a good investment for the first song to be recorded “professionally” and that way I can walk in there, learn everything that person is doing, and do it myself. Yeah, and that’s basically what I did. I paid for that first session, learned everything, and asked a million questions. I spent more time asking questions. I’m like, What does this button do and what does that person do just to be able to learn it? And then from there record my other songs myself, home studio, etc. First home studio was terrible. Then you gradually update and learn the little things about, you know, acoustic treatment and yeah, etc.. How many songs out now are probably 50 or 40 plus sometimes, Yeah. And across all platforms. Yeah. That’s incredible. And you said something earlier that musicians have to be entertainers.

Edon Molla: I believe, for me, the most important thing is to be myself. I know it might sound like a cop-out, but I’ve observed that various artists have different styles. You could say I play this character during the week, presenting myself as a confident individual but in real life I’m really shy and not able to come out of my shell. In real life, I’m kind of taking the opposite approach of just the way I am and hoping that you guys like it. I don’t really feel different in terms of like artist branding. I’m kind of just the same. Everything I express in interviews or on stage is likely something I would say to my friends or my manager. I’m actually my own manager.

Edon Molla: If you want to be successful, you have to do it yourself. There are going to be people that will help you along the way. The reason I don’t have a manager is that when I was searching for one, I connected with a bunch of them and I got a great piece of advice from multiple legendary artists. The best artists purely have a manager just to be able to be that barrier between you and someone else’s team. Once I realized it’s more about the visual aspect than just the music, I understood the importance of managing the process. It’s about making decisions today that might not yield results immediately but will eventually. There are no hard feelings in this process. Even if you’re someone like Beyonce, you’re likely making the decisions you truly want, with someone else handling communication and delegation. While many view entertainment as an industry where someone might help you, that’s probably not going to happen. It’s crucial to create your own opportunities. Otherwise, you’re probably not going to cut it.

That’s tough. One that I enjoyed, a memorable experience for me was opening for a comedian named Major Hope. He’s Caribbean, and his audience was anticipating a comedy show with a mostly black lineup. So, when I, a white guy with an acoustic guitar, came on stage to sing love songs, it wasn’t what they expected. Despite that, they gave me a warm welcome, and it meant a lot because they could have easily booed me off stage, like the Apollo scenario, but they didn’t.

I’ve never been booed. There have been situations where girlfriends invited their boyfriends to the show, and it got awkward with them wondering why they even came. I’m just singing about love, and it can feel a bit weird. The only downer was when a lot of people canceled on a random show, probably due to rain or something. You always want to play a big show, but once you’re on stage, you don’t really care about the crowd size.

Edon Molla: It was incredible. I was warming up or doing a soundcheck at the same time as J Balvin. my friends and I were just looking at each other, thinking how absolutely insane that was. The thing was, his team consisted of about 50 people, while my team was just me. It was a disparaging moment in a way, but also cool to see, considering he was once in my shoes. Everyone starts out in some way, but you can see the two worlds almost meeting, being able to soundcheck when he does and doing these little things. It’s like the universe is giving you signs to just keep going.

A singer-songwriter in the R&B pop genre. I believe acoustic pop would be the best genre to describe it for now, but definitely exploring new music that blends various genres.

Edon Molla: I mean, everything in general, but right now I’m listening to a lot of Frank Ocean and Ed Sheeran. Adele is also a big one. I’m constantly learning by exploring different genres and listening to various artists. Specifically, certain songs trigger so many emotions. When you’re driving, you remember songs because of the moments they represent. Speaking for myself, I remember songs based on the moments I first heard them.

lt makes me feel different emotions, which is why I love it so much. If I’m sad, chances are I want to be sadder. So I’ll put on some like Adele 21 (the album). If I’m happy, chances are I’m going to listen to Dua Lipa and gp dancing. So it’s across the board.

Any emotion, whether it’s sad, happy, just anything would be ideal.

So, I’ve got two new songs coming, and then I’m working on an album for the next couple of months. I’m going to disappear a little bit.

Edon Molla: Yes, so this is my first real guitar. The very first guitar I got when I was a junior in high school. I couldn’t afford a real guitar, so my friend played a clever prank on me. He asked me to go to the guitar store and pick up a guitar. We ended up going, and every guitar was around $5,000. He took me to a really cool vintage guitar shop, but everything there was super exclusive. I realized how much guitars cost as I was really naive at the time. But as we were leaving the guitar shop with all these expensive guitars, some guy literally threw a guitar into a trash can because it was broken. I asked him If I could have it and he accepted. I kind of fixed it. It was still pretty broken, but I learned on that broken guitar, and then, obviously, I progressed to a certain point. It was still the first guitar I had, and I still have it. Then, my parents saw that I was playing on this broken guitar for like a year or six months. They told me it’s time to get a real guitar. I saved up a bunch of money and prepared to buy this guitar, researched everything, and right before I was about to purchase it with my own money, my uncle and dad said that they were going to pay for it. I declined and said that they didn’t have to do that because I had already saved up my money, but I liked the concept of them buying my first real guitar.

There’s social media. Instagram is probably the best. I’m on Tik Tok as well, YouTube.

Edon Molla: It’s a good question. I feel like I should be prepared for this question, but I’m not. I think the number one thing is to do what makes you feel alive rather than what is comfortable. You know in your heart what that means for you, whether it’s music, sports, photography, or even accounting. I understand not many people wake up with a burning desire to be an accountant, but if that’s your passion in life, go for it. It doesn’t matter what the “financial thing” is. You can pursue your passions in life and hopefully become successful, or while you’re pursuing it, have something that supports you financially, allowing you to be independent and not reliant on anyone else while still pursuing your passion.

Cool. I’d absolutely love that.

(singing)