Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Stephen Barton. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.

Hi Stephen, thanks for joining us today. Has your work ever been misunderstood or mischaracterized?

As a creative person it is often difficult to know how our work will translate to an audience.

Obviously positive and negative feedback is expected and healthy most of the time.

The thing I have struggled with is interpretation of my work.
It’s very common for someone to compare my work to other artists.

Sometimes that is good because the comparison is flattering and in line with my actual influences and inspirations.
Other times someone will compare me to an artist I strongly dislike or see no commonality with.

That’s where the internal battle takes place because on its face a compliment is a compliment.
However to be compared to something you hate is never a great feeling.
I start asking myself if I’m failing or if my art is valid if it’s being compared to something I don’t like.

Ultimately, I had to check myself and understand that just because I don’t see the connection or meaning behind the comparison doesn’t make it any less valid or meaningful!

My own mental state has nothing to do with the person providing me the feedback.

It’s been an important lesson.
Accept things as good even if the compliment is connected to something you don’t understand or like. It’s still good positive energy to have in your bank for when you’re having a tough time with your art and life.

The short version.
Get over yourself!

Stephen, love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?

I am a musician. I have played music since I was 12 years old. I am 43 today so it’s about 31 years of being a musician or trying to be at least.

In connection to the prior question about misconceptions of our arts and who we are, I have always felt strongly about creating a unique voice within my art and creativity.

I don’t know if I succeeded or if I failed it really doesn’t matter that much because I’ve gone for it and continue to go for it.

I am currently the singer and one of the guitar players in the Dayton, Ohio based band modern witchcraft. As mentioned previously I am 43 years old and I just now feel like I’m actually creating the music and art that most represents who I am as a person and displays all of the various influences and inspirations that have led me here.

In addition to being a musician, I am also an artist in relation to doing cartoon based work as well as freeform art whether that’s on paper with pin or paint and canvas or a tablet and stylus.

And finally, I am a content creator for YouTube as well as social media. I have a channel there called Gear Stuff & Things. I review musical instruments, as well as provide helpful tips and tricks for recording and mixing and just general knowledge sharing and excitement for the tools that aid me and musical creation.

Can you share your view on NFTs? (Note: this is for education/entertainment purposes only, readers should not construe this as advice)

I find them to be a joke.
If I can take a screenshot of something that has supposed value and still have a copy of it myself, then it’s value as far as what someone paid for it is kind of diminished if not rendered completely pointless.

I’m all for people making money with their art, And I think in theory NFTs Could be a cool thing, but the reality of it is, it’s just not that functional In my opinion.

Can you share a story from your journey that illustrates your resilience?

Earlier this year, I was having a hard time being creative ideas weren’t coming as easily. I started to feel disconnected from my creativity from any sense of passion and frankly was just really disappointed with the work I was churning out.

At one point, I had even told my wife that I was thinking pretty strongly about stopping playing music and just focusing on other art forms.

Simultaneously my band mates, and I had already started working on a new record and a big part of what I wasn’t connecting to were a batch of songs that I had written and demoed myself they just didn’t feel right or at least in the headspace I was in was not conducive to creativity.

So I had to take a step back and figure out if I was going to continue with material that I didn’t feel confident about or have a conversation with my band mates, explaining that I wanted to redo some things because I wasn’t connecting with the material. Luckily, for me, my bandmates are in support of my creative vision so I took some time away and ended up removing 18 demos I had created and starting fresh.

During this period of time, my band mate and co-guitar player Started sending me demos he was working on that were really inspiring and fantastic. Now, I don’t know if it was something in me that is competitive
or just feeling the good energy of hearing something that I knew was strong but All of a sudden, I had ideas again, and once one of those ideas turned out well then more ideas came and that cloud of uncertainty and desire to give up lifted.

All of this to say that it is realistic to have bad moments or periods of time in which we don’t feel inspired as Artists. But that doesn’t mean that there won’t be another spark. I am often reminded of a story Jerry Seinfeld once told about his creative process, which is that he writes every day and every day it’s not incredible, but there will be days as a result of this practice that yield a real diamond of a gem of an idea And that one positive moment can create enough energy to push you through many more lulls and valleys. I am paraphrasing, of course, but I think the point is if you don’t stop, you’re gonna stumble into something or maybe you’ll fall but you’re never gonna know unless you keep going and much like many other artists I have the bug in me and even though at times I want desperately to run as far away as possible from my creativity and the internal battles that creates for me I know I’ll come back and they’ll be a fresh carrot dangling

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.modernwitchcraftband.com
• Instagram: @modernwitchcraftband
• Youtube: https://youtube.com/@gearstuffandthings?si=GFogHOTXt7WqNNqQ