We caught up with the brilliant and insightful QPZ a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.
Alright, QPZ thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. When did you first know you wanted to pursue a creative/artistic path professionally?
To start with my journey as a Music Video Director, I was originally a Live Music/Event photographer & videographer documenting the Seattle’s nightlight scene in most particular Live Music.
I was working two jobs as a Barista and a Pizza Line Cook working paycheck to paycheck. My college degree in Video Game Design & Animation couldn’t land me a job out here in Seattle, Los Angles, or in Houston. Expenses for keeping up with the latest tech to be able to create 3D Graphics was a phantom cost I did not forsee coming.
My motivation for creating 3D died and was replaced with Live Events.
While was off of both jobs tired, stressed, frustrated with my life choices I was randomly looking on numerous jobs boards from LinkedIn, Indeed I had came across a Music Venue local to Seattle called Neumos and saw in the internship tab Content Creator.
Not really thinking about it at all since I needed an outlet to create art and something to escape the vices of imposter syndrome since deep down I knew I was an artist but I was waking up day in and day out as a cook and a barista.
Like the main character in the movie I saw it as an opportunity to get out, explore my horizons, and use it as a way to get me to what I really wanted to do.
Did the internship for roughly about 6 months doing numerous random shows from Barboza and Neumos, until I could consistently be at Hip Hop Shows which can be difficult to get into especially for bigger acts. That’s where I learn about local talents here in the city and left a bunch of businesses cards with the hopes of getting an actual client.
Not much happened at first since I was just a nobody who knew nothing about this city nor its scene. Went in without knowing who I would meet. I tried to do a couple of local music publications but it wasn’t necessarily giving me the opportunities I was looking for and I was at the time thought how can I make this into a business.
For a short time I did managed to make some money here and there but it wasn’t as profitable and combined with not meeting the right people at the right time which was a recipe for disaster.
The driving point for me walking away from this lifestyle and work all started when I took an opportunity to document an artist set in a music festival in Atlanta for a week.
First day was extremely difficult I almost did not get my media pass due to lack of communication on the artist management not getting my media pass from the festival crew since I was hired to be there for the set. Managed to get the pass, got the content, and everything was cool.
The next couple of days in that same week however….
It was the worst day of my life. Had gone through the same motion as the first day having to deal with poor communication. As that was taken care of, I thought I was going to have a simple time, do the set and everything would be cool. Less I knew one of the festival crew said I wasn’t allowed near backstage even though I was wearing the same credentials as the artist which should of allowed me the same privileges which of course without interfering with the set.
Due to the miscommunication, the artist was too busy performing and the management did not stood up for me and all I got was some content but not what I really needed.
I felt at that time that nobody had my back and I felt used. On top of all that I wasn’t even paid or given an apology from the artist and the team for frustrations and difficulties I was put through to deliver this content for them. My voice did not matter.
Couple of months later in 2020 I ended the relationship with the artist and moved on to other artists who would appreciate what I bring to them.
On the week of my birthday in 2020 I was reached out to a local agency here in Seattle to do some video work at a Recording Studio in Shoreline called London Bridge Studios to record some in studio live concert series. The Pandemic had shut everything down, opportunities were pretty scare so I decided why not take it and see what happens.
It turned out to be a success, the agency liked what I did for them at the time and gave me an opportunity to record some footage for a Music Video for an artist named Ayron Jones. He had signed to a label around the time and was needing a production crew to get some shots for his Single Take Me Away. The director at the time, had me take one of the cameras with a shotgun mic and go film on top of the Space Needle so they can send some to the editor later that month.
I’ll be honest that was probably one of the best thrills I ever had in a long time. Still miss doing dope shots on top of the Space Needle. (laughs)
After the video dropped, it reached over a million views on YouTube and that’s when I had the idea of if I was able to make some success and reach a bunch a people in short period of time I figured Music Videos would be the best fit for me.
And I have been actively been doing it for over 3 years now with 16 videos Directed and Edited by me and I will keep on continuing to make more until i can no longer breath. I love it.
Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers.
The service I provide to the Global Music Community is Directing and Editing Music Videos.
I started directing music videos sometime in early as 2020 with a local rapper by the name of Gifted Youngstaz. He saw that I did the music video at the Space Needle, we did some talking back and forth, and asked if he wanted to do a video and I said sure. We did a bunch of shots around the city, inside of a billiards bar, and then on a rooftop. It was a fun project. Wasn’t my strongest start in the game but you gotta start somewhere and I was thankful to get the opportunity and it did pretty well makingover 100k views on YouTube. I was flattered.
Then I gotten an opportunity to go out and direct a music video in Mexico from an artist from Seattle by the name of Frío from talking to him from an app called Clubhouse. I met him at a crib from a guy he knew, we talked, vibed pretty well and said you want to come and I said sure. I did everything I could get as much footage I can since I wasn’t too sure if I ever be back in Mexico so I made sure to make every second count. Can’t wait to go back to Mexico again and see how much I matured since last time.
What will help me in the near future as I will eventually get into the big leagues in terms of Music Videos is how I was able to deal with absurd situations when having barely anything on deck and trying to make things work. Having failed my photography and videography business Directing small budgets and putting out fires has made me more confident to be able to handle anything being thrown at me. I love a good challenge.
I think one of the few things that set me apart from Seattle Music Video Directors is that I choose to go places outside of the State of Washington since trying to grab scenes in the same place can seem repetitive. I still occasionally want to do music videos here but I also need to direct more music videos around the world. Music, Film, and Art are a universal language. Its my duty as a creative and an artist to share my gifts to the world and hopefully inspired those to go and create art.
Right now I have been proud of my recent project with my client Sarey Savy and Ke’Ante on their single Lonely which is available on YouTube and I really enjoyed the simplicity of the video. The journey of finding yourself, meeting another friend along the way and then finally finding your circle is something I hold very dear to myself and its something I can proudly defend till my dying breath. It was one of those videos that I was put through a lot of stress but I managed to pull through in a difficult point in my life.
What can society do to ensure an environment that’s helpful to artists and creatives?
Always
Always
ALWAYS
Support your local businesses.
Like their content, Follow them on social media, Buy their products/services, and most importantly reach out and say hi.
You may never know how much creatives really appreciate genuine, authentic gratitude to see someone create something and it leaves you with inspiration. Some of us put our heart and soul to releasing a piece us creatives love to show you.
Are there any books, videos or other content that you feel have meaningfully impacted your thinking?
Hilariously this was one of the most difficult fields where the resources aren’t as clear cut as some other lines of work such as being an accountant, lawyer etc.
A good portion of it was mainly self taught alongside with some YouTube Videos.
Occasionally talking to one of my recent good friends Mark Mayr who has worked on numerous high profile videos such as Justin Bieber, Halsey, SZA, Megan Thee Stallion. Won a couple of VMAs such as Peaches by Justin Bieber. He’s been such a helpful resource when asking questions about music videos and where i can keep improving. I still ask him questions to this day. I don’t know everything.
But I did managed to find some reliable resources where some young aspiring creatives who want to direct music videos or get an idea how they can ask questions from these following communities.
Black With No Cream – Available on Circle Communities
Tropic Colour – Jakob Owens
SHADOU – Available on the App Store
Film.AI
We Make Movies
We Direct Music Videos
SHADOU was super helpful at helping me understand how to make a good treatment to pitch to artists and labels. It’s how I have been currently formatting my treatments to slowly get down to starting production on music videos. The treatments are so educational, they have artist treatments from Travis Scott, Ice Spice, Drake and more. It’s insane.
Tropic Colour subscription not only talked about music videos but also the basics of Cinematography and as well as some Behind The Scenes content on how Jakob directed a couple of his music videos. It’s very insightful.
Black With No Cream had this one zoom podcast stream where The founder BenReakVsWorld asked Andrew Sandler on his role as Director and Producer on the process and journey of what is expected when working at the highest levels in the music video world. It was extremely insight into the Producer side of into the process of creating a Music Video from start to finish at a high level. Definitely worth watching.
Film.AI is a new app I recently discovered and haven using a couple of references of some well known Movies, TV Shows, and music videos to mix and match some creative ideas I may have not thought of yet. Definitely an AI tool worth checking out.
We Make Movies is also another great resource for Music Video Directors. Since a lot of pre-production and film production can require paperwork, permits, and other misc tasks they offer great resources for someone who has no idea what they are doing and can help young filmmakers get their production go in the right direction.
We Direct Music Videos is a very helpful resource tool for a lot of aspiring Music Video Directors & Artists. One of the goals of they are pushing is to be more transparent, respectful, and help reduce free labor in a field. It’s a great community in helping make a difference in the music industry.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://set.page/quintinpetersqpz/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/qpzess/
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLZkOet8H8mslJGer9BY8IjGuW9vADR2ME
- Other: Official Website ByDaHeART Coming Soon
Image Credits
Imon Saleh, Luis Orozco, SPOON TV, Sarey Savy