We recently connected with Deej Ragusa and have shared our conversation below.
Alright, Deej thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. I’m sure there have been days where the challenges of being an artist or creative force you to think about what it would be like to just have a regular job. When’s the last time you felt that way? Did you have any insights from the experience?
I am a proud, passionate artist. I always have been and I’m sure I always will be. I’ve found many misunderstandings around jobs in the arts and I think a lot of that is lack of support around jobs in the arts. My job is like any other job. The only difference is a paycheck! I put in hours of work that go unseen and unpaid just like any worker with passion and dedication, but I wouldn’t do this if it weren’t for my deep primal need to do it! Passion allows me to put up with a whole lot I’ve found. Inconsistent income is one thing, but the feeling I get during a gig allows me to live with that. I wouldn’t have it any other way. I’ve tried! It feels as if I never chose this, but I am on a quest and I must forge my path in song! My joy around music is so strong and filled with so much whimsy, I simply cant stop myself. Every time I’ve tried to juggle another job and cut back on the music, I laugh at myself for thinking I could work outside my purpose. I think some people are just born to do things sometimes and I certainly feel like one of them. Music is my breath and blood. It’s the strongest force within me, why would I hide it? I am so happy as an artist. I am happy and most of all grateful for every lesson, struggle, and accomplishment. I love being a musician. I couldn’t stop myself from singing if I tried! From my song ‘Sage’ off my latest record ‘Blue Sky Mama’, “I’m on fire, I won’t blow away. I’m enraged, full of sage, and I can’t complain.”
Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.
I’ve always been a performer. I worked as an actor for many years in my teens, played guitar for over a decade and picked up any instrument I could possibly play with. When I graduated high school, I knew I wanted to continue writing songs. I’d always kept my voice memos full of little rhythms and melodies I’d come up with in my room. I made a big list of all the chords, melodies, different beats I put down over the years and started one by one, writing them into full songs. Finishing them, completing them. Songs I started writing at 14, I was now finishing from ages 19-23, and I haven’t stopped yet! I began to play my music out at outdoor patio type places and bars around 14, and found lots of community along the way. I just sort of emailed every place I knew and said “hey there!” I’ve taken a very friendly and chill approach to my career as I find certain formalities a little silly for funky artists who are trying to be authentic and forge real connections in the scene. It’s worked for me but I tend to be a little unconventional. I’ve found incredible artists and producers along the way who have brought so many of these songs to life with me! I think what sets me apart as an artist is my full spectrum approach to songwriting. I enjoy and engage in all genres of music. I mean that. I am flooded with feelings, visions and magic with each and every sound I’ve come across. I am a sum of my parts. I was raised on a lot of 60’s and 70’s music, I love every sub category of rock ever, I find so much alchemy in genres like jazz and blues, I hear the emotions in others voices and I resonate, literally. Sound is healing, it’s a very special thing we have as humans. I run a sound healing practice under the name General Neptune where I host and provide Guided Sound Bath Meditations with crystal singing bowls, chimes, gongs and more. Rocking out heals one part of me, and vocal toning paired with a shruti box heals another. We can use different sounds and tones to work through different energies, emotions, situations. It truly is a powerful science! Both of my musical projects overflow my cup each day I am so excited and proud to make noise! Joy being resistance is a very true thing. I think it’s part of my mission here. I want to cultivate a space for you the listener to let go, use your imagination for a while. I invite you to have a healthy escape with my music, you deserve it! In my song ‘Take It Easy’ I discuss these feelings in an emotional way, wishing a bit of ease and slack on each other, on the world. My goals are for a Deej show to be a place that feels like a hug you really needed. I am radically human. I wish us all well. I wish us all a life full of song.
Is there something you think non-creatives will struggle to understand about your journey as a creative? Maybe you can provide some insight – you never know who might benefit from the enlightenment.
I don’t usually tell people about it, but the list of tasks being an independent artist is something I can hardly get started on! I feel as though others believe we sit and jam for an hour, come up with a song, sing it into a microphone and then boom! A musician! I can’t count how many times someone has alluded to my job not being a “real” job, or that I don’t do a lot of work and must have a lot of time. I happily do all of this hard work because I love it. Admitting something is hard work doesn’t mean it’s not fun, or something to love. We artists wouldn’t put our sweat and tears into music if we didn’t recognize how silly and beautiful and hard and wonderful it is to do so. I think the biggest misunderstanding is “Why do something that historically makes very little money in order to pursue your dreams?” and to that I say, “Why aren’t people paying artists enough to support their dreams?” When you support any kind of art, you’re supporting the person behind it, their goals outside of art, their lifestyle, dreams, hobbies, families! You’re not necessarily trying to get your favorite artist to the top of the charts or to an arena tour, but pushing them forward to earn enough to be financially independent, in my case, go off grid, build my own home. I dream of an earthen dwelling, not flashing cash in music videos. I dream of soundscapes from mountaintops, not fancy award ceremonies. Having a dog or two of my own one day. That’s what you’re supporting.
What do you find most rewarding about being a creative?
I love seeing things come to life. I have so many visions in my imagination that cross my mind each day. I’m a huge daydreamer. The best part about being an artist is doing it all. Recording it, having the video, the cover art, the flier about the release, the live version, all of it! Taking each song and creating a little world for it. A place for it to exist forever and be sung a million different times and ways through its journey. Getting to play. Play is so important to me. It’s so rewarding to jump around to the melodies I worked hard to craft! Even better to see others jump around as I sing them. We are all rewarded when we dance and sing. It is the greatest gift. Creativity brings magic to the mundane. A sprinkle of fairy dust if you will. It is a reward to haul my amplifier to a gig in a wagon. It is a reward to fill another musicians tip jar. It is a reward to be on earth and feel rhythm. Everything that hurts in life can be sung out of me. The greatest reward of all, bringing peace to my body with song.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.deejmusic.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/deej.goosey?igsh=MWl5NHd0a3VrM3c1cQ%3D%3D&utm_source=qr
- Youtube: https://youtube.com/@deejjrr?si=sV3XMOzSxKZLJlt3
- Other: https://open.spotify.com/artist/4axbM0WhfY6lxskFT03G6C?si=HMdxgx2KThGei8dKDNYgrw
Image Credits
Sydney Gregory
Andrew Whiteside
Sophie Seay