The Staves’ Jessica Stavely-Taylor – HuffPost 6.18.12
Mike Ragogna: Do you have any advice that you’d like to give to new artists?
Jessica Stavely-Taylor: Oh, that’s a good question. Before I start, I should say that I don’t feel qualified really to give the advice. (laughs) But you have to have a good amount of self-belief because you’ll always get knocked down. That’s why I think it’s also important to surround yourself with people you can trust and rely on. It’s very easy to be led astray by people, especially when you get into the world of record contracts and managers and things like that. We’ve been very fortunate to have been surrounded by good people from the start. I think you have to remember that every opportunity, even though it may seem like a good opportunity, is going to be the right opportunity for you if you’re not ready for it immediately. Sometimes you have the chance at an opportunity that wouldn’t do as much for you as it would for someone a bit further down the line in their career. I think the key is just to play as much as you can and really develop your sound. And, of course, believe in yourself.
MR: Very nicely put. You know, when I ask that question, I don’t think anyone has ever mentioned that very important factor in a musician’s career — timing. If you are presented with an opportunity in your career and you’re not ready for it musically, it kind of means nothing.
JST: I feel like it sounds like a very negative take on things, because it’s very hard to tell yourself that you’re not ready for something yet. However, I know there were opportunities that came along for us at certain points in time that we knew we weren’t ready for. The people around us really wanted us to do them, but we felt that we weren’t ready. We believed that if it was meant to be, those opportunities would come around another time. In the position that we’re in now, I think we’re very glad that we made those decisions.
MR: Right. I think that should also serve as motivation to young and aspiring artists to keep working so that they are ready when those opportunities present themselves.
JST: Yeah, and I think that’s the very tricky side to all of this. It certainly helps when you have a team of people around you to give you advice on those kinds of things. But when you’re starting on your own in this business, it can be very difficult to make those decisions.