Ariel Rubin remembers a teacher who saw what path she was headed down early on and decided to give her what he considered sage advice.

“My favorite high school teacher, in grade 12, sat me down and said, ‘I see you’re doing well with music. I just want to warn you that musicians become drug-addicted and suicidal. Their lives fall apart. Don’t do it. Do something better with your life,’ ” she says. “And then I had other people — my music teacher, my parents — who were like, ‘This music is amazing. Do music!’ ”