We recently connected with Christopher Morelli and have shared our conversation below.
Christopher , thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. Do you wish you had waited to pursue your creative career or do you wish you had started sooner?
Sooner.
100%
I tell this to people all the time. I’ve been involved in music in some form or fashion for my entire life. I started DJ-ing during an after school program in middle school, and picked up guitar for a bit in high school, but aside from about 6 months of guitar lessons in high school, I have zero formal education in music. I am completely self taught. If I could go back and do it all again I’d focus more on actually formally learning music.
I also completely stopped pursuing music in any form during college and even for a few years after graduating, and instead focused on getting a “real job”. If I had just taken a handful of college music courses, and focused on what I WANTED to do instead of what I thought I was supposed to be doing, I think I’d be light years ahead of where I’m at.
If someone reads this and that story resonates with them I want them to know not to do that, pursue your passion, keep that flame alive, even if it’s just as a side hustle, you’ll thank yourself later.
Christopher , before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?
I am Christopher Morelli, but I also go by SHAMAN. I was born in Staten Island, New York, and began DJing in 2006 as part of an afterschool program (shoutout to Mr. Curreri) and got my first pair of CDJs and speakers shortly after.
I started performing by DJing parties and later, while at UCF, I was ranked in the top 3 DJ’s during the annual Pegasus Palooza – Knight Rave DJ contest. In 2020, during the COVID pandemic, I began teaching myself to produce music.
In 2022 I had my first performance under the SHAMAN brand during Bass Night at Gilt Nightclub and released my first single, a heavy dubstep track titled “Demon Kings”.
Since beginning the SHAMAN project, I’ve begun shifting my focus from heavy dubstep to more free-form bass music and have managed to find my own unique sound and I think listeners that enjoy listening to artists such as LSDream, CloZee and Inzo will enjoy some of the upcoming releases I have planned.
Since the start of the project, I have also been fortunate enough to play performances on Groove Cruise, Strange Desert Music Festival, Quantum EDM’s a Halloween Story, Home Bass, and Zen Awakening Music Festival with upcoming performances at Bass Fixx Mondays and 20hz Productions’ Dub City show. (Changes made due to time passing)
What can society do to ensure an environment that’s helpful to artists and creatives?
The answer to how to best help artists and foster a thriving industry/ecosystem, particularly in music is a relatively easy and simple answer but unfortunately is just as easy for people to overlook.
When it comes to music metrics are always important. How many views or likes or followers do you have on social media? How many listens do you have on streaming platforms and ultimately how many people show up to see you perform?
So show up early to shows and festivals, and check out the opener’s sets. Give their music on streaming platforms, like Apple Music, Spotify, or SoundCloud a listen. Go to smaller, local shows and check out your local talent. Give them a follow or like, comment and/or subscribe on Tik tok, Instagram, Facebook, SoundCloud, ect.
It’s easy for us to stay within our comfort zones and listen to/ focus on the “headliner” artists that we all know and love. But there’s a TON of underrated talent out there and just about everyone of your favorite headliners started as a local artist playing small shows.
For you, what’s the most rewarding aspect of being a creative?
For me, the most rewarding part of being a music artist is contributing to the community. Music has always been an escape for me, as I believe it is for a lot of people. Music festivals and shows are the one place people get to truly be themselves, let loose a little, and will even freely hand out gifts to each other just to see one another smile. The EDM community specifically is built on the pillars of Peace Love Unity Respect (and Responsibility). Bringing people together, making people dance, helping to provide that escape to people, and contributing to a community that I love is a feeling like no other and is my favorite part about making music.
Contact Info:
- Instagram: https://instagram.com/shaman_music_official?igshid=OGQ5ZDc2ODk2ZA%3D%3D&utm_source=qr
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Shamanmusicproduction?mibextid=LQQJ4d
- Other: https://on.soundcloud.com/3HyabWF4HQP3EyXd6 https://www.tiktok.com/@shaman_music_official?_t=8gwBwqMDeTG&_r=1 https://open.spotify.com/artist/4myAqUX4dckQ8vH29WSlw2?si=6gJQP5MHSiuJ7_gIbkjYDg
Image Credits
Mo Stockon Patrick Pineda Taylor Torres