ABOUT AUSTIN MAROLLA

With songs and music, I create what I manifest in my life––all the great things,” Austin Marolla says. “You can write your life’s script in your own music.” 

Austin has tapped into a timeless power. The New York-based singer-songwriter delivers songs that are dream boards set to buoyant pop melodies, both disarmingly personal and instantly relatable. By writing about the world, he wants to experience and then performing with earnest joy, he wills beauty into being––and invites others to do the same. 

Austin’s passion has led him to perform on the biggest stages, including Madison Square Garden, Carnegie Hall, and The Walt Disney Concert Hall, all as part of the renowned New York City Gay Men’s Chorus. On his new EP Limitless, Austin explores life’s possibilities with infectious optimism and warm humor, all layered over dance ready beats, bubbly synths, and soaring guitars. “I think when you’re writing music, you’re trying to heal yourself from the inside out,” he says. “Plus, it’s fun. It’s a chance to share something about myself that makes me feel alive.” 

Raised on Staten Island, Austin grew up in a large Italian family. “I have relatives all over the city,” he says with a smile. A natural on stage, he began performing in musicals in high school, drawn to the art form’s dancing. After graduating, he attended Binghamton University (SUNY), where he studied theater and biology. A summer dance program led him to perform for crowds in French squares and Italian piazzas, only deepening his commitment. Degree in hand, he chose optometry school out of a strong desire to help others while he continued to pursue artistic dreams. When he finally became an optometrist, he had to take time away from medicine to perform in a flurry of summer stock productions––a bellwether for the life split between two worlds that awaited him. “The eyes are linked to your soul and how you see your dreams,” Austin explains. “As I give someone an eye exam, I’m helping them see their dreams more clearly. For me, music offers the same connection: With each song I write, I am helping others grasp their dreams. I’m essentially doing that for myself every day, too.” 

Austin has also taught courses on eye and vision care as an assistant professor at (CUNY) New York City College of Technology and at SUNY Optometry, his alma mater. A lifelong student, he is also pursuing mastery of energy principles drawn from Reiki, sacred geometry, animal communication, color, and sound, all rooted in physics. “It’s all about communication and energy,” Austin explains. “I’m a practicing doctor because it pragmatically supports my music, and I’m an energy practitioner because it pragmatically supports my life, which reveals itself in my music.” 

In a unique twist, Austin’s immersion in spiritual practice with a teacher who studied under the Dalai Lama led him to explore songwriting. His instructor recommended he attend Summer Songs, a songwriting festival in upstate New York. Austin was up for a challenge, but he had never written a song. So, while en route, he toyed with rhyme and melody, singing into his iPhone. Once there, he was asked to perform an original piece. He was the last to take a turn and was following a decidedly folk-focused crew of writers––but Austin didn’t blink. He stood up and delivered an anthemic power-rock song called “My Journey,” and suddenly, his fellow troubadours were on their feet, hips moving and hands clapping. A festival teacher approached Austin after the performance and asked him how many albums he’d released. “I told him none––that that was my first song,” Austin says with a laugh. “He was shocked and encouraged me to keep going.” 

Austin connected with others as well, including Sloan Wainwright, who became a trusted collaborator and friend. The two wrote song after song together, including the title track for Austin’s beloved holiday project, Christmas Kiss. The pair also cohosted The Music Power Hour, a weekly podcast on TalkRadio.com that featured interviews and performances from heavy hitters including Alan Cumming and Julie Gold. All the while, he studied guitar under master teacher Valerie MacKend, founder of the guitar program at the New School in New York City, as well as two-time Grammy-winning slack-key guitarist Jeff Peterson, who is based in Hawaii. 

Austin’s latest work Limitless is the triumphant result of all those years of apprenticeship. Playful track “Prince to Prince” tosses aside the adage that lovers must kiss a string of bad seeds––or frogs––before finding the right match. It’s sweet but also a subtly empowering rally cry for self-respect and self-worth. Jubilant “Touchdown” turns a football score into a winking metaphor for love, while “The Party’s Just Starting” dares listeners to try not to dance. A fun romp through different styles, “Hey I Wanna Dance” is also a smart piece of writing. “I love and know how to dance, but I was imagining a guy who’s never really wanted to dance until he saw this person he loves––or he’s enamored with,” Austin says. “I loved the idea of someone saying, ‘You’re the person who made me want to dance.’” 

Beautiful moments and life-changing breakthroughs anchor all of Austin’s music, which manages somehow to be both lighthearted and firmly anchored in what truly matters. “I think the power of a song is really in the connection between the person listening and the song itself,” he says. “A song is like a child. Once I write and infuse it with all the love I have, it’s out of my hands. I’ve done all I can do to make it magical.