We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Joseph Hebdo. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Joseph below.
Joseph, appreciate you joining us today. Are you able to earn a full-time living from your creative work? If so, can you walk us through your journey and how you made it happen?
Yes, I’ve been able to do music creation and live performance full time and I’m extremely grateful everyday. Conventionality has never been a focus for me so it just aligned over time. From the start I hit the ground running, writing songs and playing covers on patios long before I was old enough to drink legally. As I gained experience in front of people and confidence in my abilities as an artist I just kept adding shows and creating every chance I could. Of course there were other things like school but they never consumed me or lit me up the way music did so it wasn’t a hard sell for me to just do what I loved, especially at a young age where you often only focus on doing what you damn well please anyway. It was a slow grind and took many years to realize I was worth more and had something worth sharing. I was also fortunate that listeners often liked hearing what I was offering and that fueled the fire. Without a positive response I likely wouldn’t have made it very far. I had an unspoken agreement with myself that I would see music as far through as I could while keeping what felt like independence. No one calling shots for me and not having to answer to anyone. It was a lone ranger ethos that still permeates today, but as I started evolving and growing I eased off of the hard stance and focused more on the art and making sure I was creating the best art I could with the resources at hand. Time and talent got me far but belief in myself when everyone was looking the other way helped me learn to trust in myself and my instincts more and allowed me to set a foundation for myself and truly step into music and creation as a way of life and an extension of myself in so many aspects.
I think I came up believing a little too much in hard work yielding all results and I think over time I realized my mental health and relationships actually got me to better places when they were focused and aligned. Honestly I’m still learning that and my eyes aren’t on goals as much as the journey. I probably could have glad handed more and met more industry folks along my journey to date to help speed up a vertical climb but I don’t have any regrets in not playing the game more. What are you hoping to get out of it ? For me it was always expansion and experience and freedom of self.
Once I started actually believing what I had to offer was worthy, and through positive feedback realizing there was a niche for my own interested fanbase, it allowed me to step into the reality of making quality money from live performance and eventually led to me leaning fully on music as a career. Opportunities continued to open up and being on call lists for venues and private events, through gaining the trust from industry peers, allowed me to see and create a whole world that was unique to me and my wants/desires. Not playing by someone else’s rules. I’m grateful for every person and opportunity along the way. And having gratitude that folks are coming out and responding only fueled the fire within me and others. Give and take. Offer and receive. That’s how the whole universe works so it felt/feels right.
Once I had kids and became a stay at home father I had to relearn and recalibrate a lot. Some fires got turned up and others died out. My music got better and more intentional. My time is even more precious and valuable. I’m more excited now for the future than ever. I’ve come to love the rhythm and the pace of my trajectory. No one’s lording over me and as a career it has allowed me many freedoms that others couldn’t have.
As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?
My name is Joey Hebdo (HEBDO) and I’m a musician.
I create and nurture music/songs in many forms from studio recordings to live performances.
I’ve been a creator for as long as I can remember and music latched a hold of me first and most fiercely. I practice music like one might practice breathing. Aware of it at times, but mostly not at all until it pauses. I believe it’s sacred and more than me. I’m honored to be a vessel as well as a carrier. I have an undeniable sense of responsibility to share my gifts and talents with the world in which I exist.
Continuous use of music as a medium in my daily life keeps me sharp and evolving. I strive to fully represent myself as an artist as well as my community.
I have been independent and completely self managed since day one and do this with intentionality and commitment. (Booking, budgeting, social media, recording, etc) Being a stay at home father of two young kids who has chosen a life of artistic creative expression as a career path, adds so much more to my life than it could ever take away.
Over time I have definitely developed my own approach and sound as an artist. Specifically live, I play drums with my feet, and guitar, and harmonica, and sing, all simultaneously. Having these elements allows me to essentially play whatever I want in whatever way/style I’d like to. I lead the train and can switch depending on my own desires or the audience’s engagement.
It’s a freedom that’s hard to imitate and after so many years I’ve defined what lights me up and what bores me. So if I can keep my performances and studio compositions interesting to myself it translates to the listener and I’m not pigeon holed to a single lane. I feel like many artists desire such freedom, away from outside ownership and influence, and I’m grateful that I get to embrace, embody, and embolden such an expression. I’ve dubbed my own genre as “adventure folk” and it’s served and represented me well. There’s one torch I can carry in this lifetime and I intend to carry it all the way
What can society do to ensure an environment that’s helpful to artists and creatives?
First off society can start normalizing expression and creativity as a function of survival and the overall human experience and stop pretending we aren’t all artists that have brilliant amounts of resources to offer one another. For too long artists have had to be the challengers of the status quo but that’s only because they see what the world is really meant to be and can be and will be and much of society gets in the way and blocks it’s own evolution. Art and specifically music is just drenched in love and a positive and all inclusive future and reality and “art” will always seem like a counter culture as long as folks continue to deny their true reasons for being alive and on this planet. Art is reality. Accept it.
What’s a lesson you had to unlearn and what’s the backstory?
That many folks are skilled at convincing themselves and you that they understand you and can help you and have your best interest in mind when in reality we as people don’t need gate keepers to tell us what’s good for us as far as art and experience are concerned. Everybody is trying to turn music and art into commodity in every way shape or form and it just gets boring. I love that so many artists these days are just doing exactly what they want and not focusing outward trying to impress the masses. It deflates music’s ego too much and we can’t just create and get together cuz it’s all been industrialized and covered in chrome and just seems to lead to rust. No backstory needed. Just a fact of life. Music isn’t a career path that you can/should easily go into without having the heart or passion wrapped up in it. You just don’t get very far and are too transparent and exposed and burn out cuz you didn’t have adequate resources buried way deep down to pull from.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://linktr.ee/HebdoMusic
- Instagram: @hebdomusic
- Facebook: https://www.Facebook.com/hebdomusic
- Youtube: https://youtube.com/@joeyhebdo?si=uRo929z9XgJljcE_
- Other: https://Bandcamp.com/hebdomusic
Image Credits
Melissa Gilmore