(February 28, 2013) — The lights dimmed and the room grew silent as senior Arthur Molina opened his debut concert with his first single, “Love Is All I Got to Give.”

On Feb. 8, AMPLYFi, Los Angeles’s small and underground concert venue, let the aspiring singer and songwriter sing five original songs to over 50 people.

AMPLYFi welcomed Molina with open arms as he played his other original songs: “Gone For Good,” “Lonely Star,” “What If Today,” and “The Road to Paradise.” Regardless of his limited performing experiences, Molina carried himself well enough to impress the venue owners and still entertain the crowd. At the end of his concert, Molina surprised the crowd by introducing “The Road to Paradise,” a song he wrote that same day.

According to senior Emily Arakelian, the owners couldn’t tell it was his first real concert and her first time managing a band; she thanked Martin Atkin’s Tour Smart, a book she labeled as a musician’s bible. “I’m relaxed in front of people. You know, playing and performing…it’s all good,” Molina said. “I’m comfortable and that’s something I’ve developed through playing music.”

Within the hour of his performance, Molina managed to make his audience smile and laugh. However, within a few minutes prior to the show, hundreds of thoughts and emotions rushed through both of them. “The second Arthur and I walked in the venue, we were just shaking, jumping up and down, and we were just like ‘Oh my gosh, this is really happening,’” Arakelian said. Molina’s gig was a product of months of planning and cooperation with Arakelian for her senior project. As the designer, marketer and manager, Arakelian dealt with months of stress and preparation in order to successfully accomplish one of her biggest goals.

“This has been my dream since I was 12 years old,” Arakelian said. “My dream wasn’t to put together a concert, but to help aspiring musicians.” For over five years, she had dreamed of standing front row at a concert and taking pictures of upcoming artists, and managing the show gave her the opportunity to that.

The concert was something to check off for Molina’s bucket list as well. Before that Friday night, Molina’s performing experience was limited to school and music class events. But as his first live performance outside of school, his gig played a vital role in career.

Unlike the talent show and music class concerts, playing and singing at AMPLYFi gave him an opportunity to play all of his songs to actual fans. The number of friends and family in the audience shocked both Arakelian and Molina. With this being her first time organizing an event as large as a concert by herself, Arakelian said she expected a small audience of seven to ten people. But as weeks progressed and she continuously had to print out more tickets, Arakelian realized that Arthur’s fan base was definitely growing.

The excitement followed Arakelian and Molina beyond the event. “Even after the concert ended, I was still shaking,” Arakelian said. “I was so jumpy I forgot to eat the next morning.”