Melkior shares a letter of truth containing the raw and real daily struggles experienced by independent artists.
Melkior dives into the 24-hour, full-time job that being an independent musician is and all that comes with it. He explores the battle between consistency and just showing up anyway, even in a state that is lacking musical creation. He delves into the process of creating and improving as a musician by revealing his ritual and habits through his practice times and studio sessions. He also highlights the agony and frustrations that come with outsourcing and collaborating with others to bring his music to life. He unveils the hard work that’s put into organising your own hype around your music and trying to get others to share that hype. He shares the great relief and overwhelmingly positive feelings of releasing your own music and receiving lots of love back.
This is a love letter to all the independent artists out there who sacrifice immeasurable amounts of time and money and are all driven by passion. Sharing authentically the reality of the anxieties that follow the journey and the magic that comes with being an artist, through his music journey Melkior has been able to heal through his art and bring his inner self into the outer world.
Melkior- A Day in the Life of an Independent Artist.
They say if you have a passion for something follow it wholeheartedly and that you really have to love what you do to be successful. This is 100% true, especially when it comes to music. No one knows this more than the independent artist, striving to become a full-time musician and be able to achieve their dreams to live off their passion. Being an independent artist is truly one of the toughest paths to take and is often met with uncertainty and disappointment. But the love we artists have for making music, the way it makes us feel, and the importance it brings to our lives outweigh the day-to-day struggle, heartbreak and sacrifice we must endure to achieve the best version of ourselves and share that with the world.
It’s no longer just about creating music. A lot of people don’t realize the amount of work and effort required to not only finish a body of work but then to market and promote it, which 90% of the time feels like begging people to listen to it. It’s a 24-hour job. This doesn’t factor in the other forms of income needed to pay your bills, buy food and fund your music career which you invest your whole life for rarely a positive return on investment.
Consistency
For me juggling the stresses of a full-time job, which requires 10-12 hours shifts that alternate from mornings to nights regularly, as well as the full-time life of a musician, is a challenge I’ve come to accept as my journey. Consistency is key to improving any skill and it is paramount for me to do vocal exercises and write and brainstorm ideas every day. I make a concise effort to tick these tasks off daily. Sometimes this is unrealistic due to my work schedule and not being in the proper mindset to create. However, still showing up is essential even if you aren’t up for it or feeling the best. There are many days where I have to start my day job (full-time job) at 4:30 am, don’t get home till 4 pm and lock myself in my room for hours to write, create, or to try to improve myself and my music skills until my family tell me to quite cause it too late to repeat that sequence. After a few days it’s very hard to be motivated to create just off pure tiredness and the way your day job sucks the creativity out of you, that’s why I feel so passionate that being able to create a track, is a success in itself. I dedicate countless hours to improving my craft, from vocals and delivery to lyric writing, finding how to express myself in my music, and ensuring I positively affect anyone that comes in contact with my songs.
Studio Sessions
The process continues, often writing or practicing vocals to and from work, until I’ve saved up enough money and can book a studio session to create productions and bring my ideas to life. My studio session normally lasts around 8-10 hours. We strive to get as many tracks done as possible at the first demo stage. This allows us to hear how everything sounds together and determine if it is cohesive with the writing and meaning of the song. It’s always good to have breaks in long sessions as your ears start to get muddled from hearing the same thing over and over again. We tend to spend 3 -4 hours working straight at a time and then brake for 15-30 minutes. This process is repeated until the production & vocals are executed perfectly to communicate the meaning of the song. Everyone involved in the production must be happy with the final product, especially me as the artist. Everything has to fit within my brand and within the message, I am trying to convey to the world. It has to be true.
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I was never one to try to follow trends as a means of chasing easy fame or viral moments. I am confident that being true to oneself is the key to happiness in creating and longevity. But at times it’s easy to get caught up in seeing others have success hoping on hot trends. You often get disheartened as an independent artist. You put in all this work to create a product you love and then you realize the real work is just beginning. It’s super important to have a plan and normally it starts months before the release date, especially if you are doing everything independently. You need assets to go with your music, which translates to music videos, press photos, lyric videos, artwork, and this all-costs money and time. You can’t do everything yourself, so outsourcing with the right people is important. Ironically, finding the right people is the hard part. Communicating your vision with directors or videographers to create the best product for you is a skill in itself.
This is done at your first meeting, whether it be formal at their office or informal (ie. at a cafe). If you feel confident working with that person after the first sit down, you then organize a date to shoot. The lead time is averaged at 6 weeks for the organization, depending on the video idea. As an independent artist, the ball stops with you, you are trying to find actors, extras, venues to film at, props for the film, a makeup artist, a stylist if needed, and the list goes on. There’s a lot of organizing and calling around until you can settle on everything needed for a shoot. Fast forward to shoot day, where you are focusing on directing and starring, you are also worried if everything will run smoothly. It is inevitable things will happen out of your control. Drawing from my experience, actors/models/extras won’t show, the venue owner will be late, I’ve even had a videographer be 4 hours late to a shoot, which has wasted money and time, but ultimately in the end it will work out. Once all of the assets have been put together and refined, it’s time to promote.
Self-Promoting
Promoting means countless hours of researching different platforms you feel would love your music and get behind it. Emailing hundreds of industry people, whether it’d be radio, publications, blogs, or independent playlists, and introducing yourself and your music for review. You believe in and love your work, so you know others will too… Right? You send hundreds of press kits you created out to the world of music, and more often than not you don’t get the response you were so sure you would. There is a lot of rejection. There is a lot of ignorance. There are lots of unanswered questions. You’re stuck in limbo (again!). Sometimes you get a reply but it’s not what you’re looking for. Please, don’t give up. The truth is music publications get thousands of emails a day, it’s hard for them to reply to every email. Remind yourself not to take this to heart. Music is subjective so keep pushing for your art, and eventually, a little ray of light shines through the dark tunnel.
You set up your social media rollout to build hype around your project. In the days leading up to the release, you’re so excited to show your work to your peers. In your mind you know they are going to get behind it and support you. This is where you find out who your true friends are, and where loyalties lie. It’s often a stranger that becomes a fan and shows you more love than someone you know. Even some family members won’t back you. Hell, some friends and family don’t ever come to your shows, don’t ever stream your music, or don’t share your content. This is reality. People are too busy; people have a tendency to be selfless and not care about what others do. So as an artist, you have to try to find people that want to hear from you, that do care and will be your fans, and eventually, through trial and error, you will find your support network. You just need to be consistent and motivated. Fuel your passion and don’t give up on yourself. Granted believing in yourself sometimes gets hard due to your surroundings as an independent artist, especially after you sacrifice so much time, put in maximum effort and spend lots of money on your dreams. But often looking at where we started and how far we have will show you just how resilient you are.
Releasing your music
Release day comes along, and you’re stocked for the response. You’re overwhelmed with emotions of happiness, of success and relief, that all your work has come to fruition. You put your vulnerability on the line and share a piece of yourself through your music, you hope that everyone will fall in love with your creation and your art. You hope that you have done enough to reach the right people and anyone that will benefit from hearing your art. You hope for playlists, you hope to be recognized for your work, and you hope that everyone you have shared your art with will support it. I’ve been a victim of looking too much into the numbers and I think everyone has suffered from that at some point. No one wants to release a track, and have it flop, but the reality is your first works won’t live up to your expectations. Especially as an independent artist with no label or management behind them, but the real success is having done all this on your own. From an idea in their head or an emotion felt, artists, create soundscapes that express our inner selves. It’s a healing process from within that you share with the world.
The independent artist is on a huge rollercoaster of emotions, with lots of little successes and lots of defeats, but the passion we have for music and creating trumps all the pain we face in rejection, disappointment and lack of success (in society’s eyes of course). The independent artist is resilient, strong, and brave. They can overcome everything. These daily battles I have documented for you are my raw experience. The true struggles cannot be fully understood without you experiencing them for yourself. Thanks to all those who support their local artists, when we win it’s because of all the support we receive without the huge funding behind us that labelled artists have. You keep us pushing to create, striving to be better and improve. You are what keeps us motivated to get back up when we get knocked down… each and every time.
Thank you.
Melkior gives a real honest insight into the common struggles as an independent artist, the beauties and despair. Remember each small act of support to an independent artist means more than you could ever know. Give that love and support as much as you can to our local indie artist!
While you’re here, Stream Melkior’s latest album, ‘A letter to my Next’ via Spotify below!
