We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Tolu Dada a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.
Alright, Tolu thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights 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?
I currently earn a full-time living from my creative work, this has come through years of developing my craft but also expanding my net work. One of the pluses of being a full-time artist/musician is that even when I’m not working on my own creative material I am constantly being booked to accompany fellow artists and to provide entertainment at events such as weddings, birthday parties, ceremonies etc. This has allowed me to maintain a certain lifestyle even outside of the economy of my own brand. Knowing what I know now I would probably have used the Social media and different Internet platforms to expand my brands reach to gain a larger audience and also a larger clientele base.
Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.
I am the youngest in a family full of musicians. One of four children who all grew up playing the trumpet. My older siblings & I always took being in the school bands very seriously and music in general very seriously. They were always the section leaders, drum majors and overall leaders of the band. I didn’t necessarily have these leader characteristics as a kid but I use that reserved energy to expand to other instruments. I am fluent on the electric bass guitar, classical bass, piano, organ, acoustic guitar, vocal, tuba, sousaphone & baritone. Throughout my schooling process I met several other students that were interested in music, some of the students I would eventually form a professional band with title Live Out Loud. The Live Out Loud Band was the primary way that I was able to break into the music industry. We have toured, performed with and opened shows for artist such as Tobe Nwigwe, Willow Smith, Solange, Slim Thug, Willie D, Oshun, Mario, Shawn Macklemore, Zacardi Cortez, Cali Swag District, and so many other notable artists that it will be too lengthy to list. I now perform under the alias of Tolu & Friends. My team and I service the Los Angeles area with entertainment and audio engineering. I have a unique sound of a blend of jazz and top 100 popular music. My goal is to be able to reach as many people as possible with a universal sounding body of music.
Are there any resources you wish you knew about earlier in your creative journey?
I definitely wish I understood where social media was heading. I normally have an eye for the future of certain things, but I didn’t when it came to social media. I invested to much time in the areas that may have work for the last 50years of the music industry. I think the most effective way to grow your music career is social media. That’s not specific to any position in the music industry. At all levels I think social networking can create a position for yourself.
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 have to say along this journey that not everyone will understand what it takes to produce a piece of art or content . In many cases your family and friends will question where your time is being spent. Unfortunately for artist the majority of hours spent on a craft will not be seen or the majority of the time spent on a particular art piece will not be seen, the audience only sees the end result. This can be sometimes a disadvantage for the artist because to the untrained eye it may seem like the artists is only working when he releases the final project, but this is not true the artist is working weeks, months, sometimes years on a particular piece. I find it ironic when someone says man that person is so talented, if only they were not lazy they would be a lot further in their career. This statement never made sense to me because in order to have talent it takes several hours, some would say 10,000 to present to the world a talent that not many have.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://unitedmasters.com/Tolu-dada
- Instagram: https://instagram.com/toludada_live?igshid=YzAyZWRlMzg=
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ToluDadaHTX
- Twitter: @TolulopeDADA
- Youtube: https://youtube.com/channel/UCoYGYoMiqkMdElUuG9y2MFA
Image Credits
Brad Washington IG: @baddbrad_