Marian Call – HuffPost 10.22.14

Galen Hawthorne: What advice do you have for new artists?

Marian Call: Take a good look at the innovative things other artists are doing, especially artists you respect–but know yourself, know your audience, and don’t copy others just to copy them. Don’t do a Kickstarter just because everyone’s doing a Kickstarter, don’t jump on a new website just because people tell you that you should; really investigate what works for you, because your own path will probably not be exactly like anybody else’s right now. There are more ways to have a little success in art than ever before, and also more ways to be disappointed. Also — day jobs are great. Artists without day jobs spend the time you *would* spend at a day job doing boring promo work or updating websites or driving, not doing extra art. It’s still the same struggle to find time & resources to create new things, except they have no safety net. Work on your craft. You can’t skip that part. Being pretty good is not good enough. Even if you only plan to play three chords, know how to play every chord in every key without a capo. Even if you only plan to play in one style, get competent in every style. You need to be really good and really experienced and really hardworking to stand out right now, because there are more people in the game than ever before. Spend your 10,000 hours on your craft, because no amount of online gimmicks and promo will make up for that. And last, make sure you know why you want to make your art. Do you crave an audience? That’s the wrong reason to be an artist. If you crave an audience you probably need therapy first. Do you love making your art? Do you find yourself and your reward in the making of it, even if nobody notices and nobody’s listening? That’s a much better place to be.