We were lucky to catch up with Jared Benjamin recently and have shared our conversation below.

Jared, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today Earning a full time living from one’s creative career can be incredibly difficult. Have you been able to do so and if so, can you share some of the key parts of your journey and any important advice or lessons that might help creatives who haven’t been able to yet?

One of the things I am most proud of in this career path of mine is that I am have got myself to a point where I am able to support myself and make a solid living off music that I own. Being a struggling independent artist in New York City was not fun. To me, “making it”, was being able to buy a burrito instead of a dollar slice, which I was having almost every night just to get by. When I started putting music out, after 5 months I received a paycheck of a few hundred bucks. I can see how it at that point it is very easy to get discouraged, but I just kept reminding myself that in every career path, people have to make their way up from the bottom (and I don’t think there’s a way to speed that up). While I am still learning all the details of how to make money in music, I identified a business plan that I believed could lead to me being able to support myself and followed that through until it did.

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 manager insists that I introduce myself everytime I get on stage and I feel like this should be no different, so in that case, hi! My name is Jared Benjamin. I started playing guitar in the pandemic where I would just google covers to learn. It wasn’t until that got boring and I felt like I covered every song ever recorded that I began writing my own songs. After working on that for a bit, I started putting out songs that I liked and making as much noise with each one as possible. I would promote myself relentlessly, even when I didn’t really know what I was doing. The one thing I did know was that I wanted to capture people’s attention. Through trying to be the best artist, performer and songwriter that I could be, I met some of my best friends who are my closest collaborators, and if I had to say what I am most proud of is that we are all making it happen together our way.

How did you build your audience on social media?

The question that I lived by is, “if you wouldn’t watch your own video, you can’t expect anybody else to.” That really hit home for me because everyone’s videos are a bit cringy in the beginning, and there is no question that starting can be the hardest part. But ultimately, there is no way to practice without posting and promoting yourself, like you are strengthening a muscle or building a calleous. After a while, those fears can slowly disappear and you get more and more comfortable. That said, social media will almost never be without anxiety. But building habits in the beginning to manage that and become increasingly comfortable will really help with that in the long run.

Do you think there is something that non-creatives might struggle to understand about your journey as a creative? Maybe you can shed some light?

A lot of people treat creative endeavors as fun, and that’s fine for those who are hobbyists. But eventually you come to a point where you need to be so strong in your beliefs, especially around people who don’t share that same vision as you, that you will not be deterred. If you feel something that strongly, it won’t matter what other people do, say, or think because there will always be people who cast doubt, don’t believe, and can’t see what’s waiting for you at the end of the journey. You have to find that grounding within yourself and use that to continue through the obstacles you will inevitably face.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.jaredbenjaminmusic.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/jaredbenjaminofficial/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/p/Jared-Benjamin-100089955035084/
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@JaredBenjaminOfficial
• Other: TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@jaredbenjaminofficial?lang=en

Image Credits

Alissa Rosenberg
Mitch Whidden