Singing gives AJ Mitchell a thrill

Following his collaboration with Sweet But Psycho singer Ava Max for Slow Dance that landed No. 28 on Billboard, YouTube sensation AJ Mitchell is all set for his debut full-length album Skyview which will be released soon under Sony Music.

“I feel so excited for the album,” AJ said, adding that Skyview refers to the drive-in movie theater in his hometown. “Every time I went to Skyview to see a movie, it just made me realize that I’m not just some small kid in a small town and there’s a lot more to the world and it made me really wanna go and follow my dreams.”

The songs show a bit of his personality. Most of the songs have to do with what he’s been through but half are just friend songs, fun songs. “You know, it’s really just letting my fans know where I came from because I’ve never really talked about my experiences in my hometown. And with this album, I feel like I’m gonna be able to share a lot of that to (them) and talk about those experiences that I’ve been through,” AJ said prior to his show held recently at Venice Grand Canal Mall.

The 18-year-old artist from Illinois was on his first visit to the country. He held a meet-and-greet and performed some fan favorites All My Friends, Like Strangers Do and Slow Dance.

With his collaboration with Ava, whom he described as “super sweet and incredible singer,” AJ believed that the song would be incredible with the duet feature on it. “I love the song Sweet But Psycho also so I just thought it would be perfect if she was on the song. She ended up agreeing to be on it and it was just perfect fit.”

According to AJ, he used to be a shy kid and performing was not something he imagined doing.

“And the more I started doing it, singing my own songs, it just helped me become more confident. Performing for my fans and hearing them singing back the lyrics that I wrote was one of the best feelings in the world and it made me realize that this is what I want to do for the rest of my life. I’m not that shy kid anymore.”

He started writing songs when he was six years old. The first song he wrote was about “two birds flying, one fell off and broke its knee.” He cited The Beatles, Coldplay, Lil Wayne, Bruno Mars, Stevie Wonder and Aretha Franklin as among his musical influences.

When asked about his first day in the country, AJ said it was amazing. He had also tried the Filipino food.

“I’ve had some street food. I’ve had some gising gising and sinigang. I’ve had so much food. I also got to meet some fans. The fans are incredible.”