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

Aaron, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today Have you been 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? Was it like that from day one? If not, what were some of the major steps and milestones and do you think you could have sped up the process somehow knowing what you know now?

I havent yet cracked the code on making a full time living on my music yet! I still sublimate most of my income with day trading in the stock market, from the income I make off of my creative works. As where it currently stands, I’m dedicating 6 hours out of my to strictly work music business and dialing back on the creative process. Personally, I found myself trapped in the game of seeking validation for my creations and not focusing on the monetization due to being trapped in my head with thoughts of “are people even listening to my music!!” and had to take a step back to focus on the being greatful for the fans I do have and learning to cater to their needs. With a few months of downtime to reevaulate my strategy due to a knee surgery, I changed my approach and strictly focusing collaborating with other creatives and outsourcing monthly for marketing on all artistic projects created with the emphasis on finding and tailoring to the audience that loves and supports what we are bringing to the table. This was a hard mindframe for me to get to personally, coming off of a 14 year career with the Military and working on programming myself to be a creative worker for myself and not constantly worrying about how im gonna eat off of grinding on the clock not for myself.

Aaron, 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?

Music has been my passion since I started freestyling at seven years old. What began as friendly competition evolved into a lifelong journey. I got into my business after realizing that if I did the work I put in for a company for myself, I could also be supporting my and future families’ livelihood by pushing my product and doing something I love. The discipline required to get to this point involved God teaching me to follow my heart and trust my gut, meditating to reprogram my mind frame to work entirely for myself and what that looks like daily, and staying physically fit for any challenges that come with full-time creation.
Beyond being an artist, I’m a business operator, fully sustaining myself through music, merchandise, shows, and views and looking into expanding operations to help other creatives live their artist dreams. Like many before me, the journey hasn’t been easy, but I take immense pride in breaking free from the traditional job mindset to build my brand independently. I’m constantly evolving, learning to balance music production with content creation to maximize engagement and impact. The main thing I want future clients/followers/fans to know about my brand is that it was created with the intention of you taking a piece of art with you wherever you go. Instead, it’s on your weekend playlist, an experience from watching a movie music video curated to induce emotions, or wearing it on your vessel to visually show the world the energy that has been put into the product!

We often hear about learning lessons – but just as important is unlearning lessons. Have you ever had to unlearn a lesson?

A lesson I had to unlearn is to stop focusing on the daily dopamine validation from social media and being seen and shift focus to strictly music business and the happiness of my fans. I was trapped in the social media cycle, wanting to stay relevant among my peers. This led me to take a step back to relearn social media as a marketing and income-generating tool rather than a source of validation. I also had to work deep within myself mentally and understand that these devices are created to constantly do that. Within this realization, I really came to terms with online perceptions that aren’t real life and that I only hinder myself and, ultimately, my fans from getting caught in the fog. As an artist, I’m learning to prioritize this understanding for my business’s growth and my personal development alongside my fans on this journey.

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?

One thing that is hard for non creatives to understand is that along with anything in life, the journey requires patience and learning along the way. creatives are often misunderstood because of the perception of money and what that looks like for a non full time creative. like all good things in life, time is needed for a creative to fully create and a lot of elements of life contribute to that from phone calls to brief life talks with the produce person at your grocery store, to anything life throws at you. One thing that can help bridge the gap is changing the perception of what support is to your friends and what that looks like, anything from showing up to a show, to sharing artist friends music on their profiles and even as far as grabbing some merchendise if they have their brand established. At the end of the day, we are all just trying to feed our families and that is going to look different for everybody, creative or non-creative, but if you take that time to show that free support, it always goes the longest of ways.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.officialmusicae.com/music
• Instagram: https://instagram.com/officialmrae
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/officialmrae
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/aaronevins/
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@officialmrae
• Soundcloud: https://soundcloud.com/officialmrae

Image Credits

Eyevin