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

Spenser, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. One deeply underappreciated facet of being an entrepreneur or creative is the kind of crazy stuff that happens from time to time. It could be anything from a disgruntled client attacking an employee or waking up to find out a celebrity gave you a shoutout on TikTok – the sudden, unexpected hits (both positive and negative) make the profession both exhilarating and exhausting. Can you share one of your craziest stories?

Back in 2018, I started up Clear Vision Collective with a colleague named Danny Loveless. At the time I was a college radio DJ for KCPR at Cal Poly SLO, so I’d often go out and interview bands and shoot photos/videos at events. That year I was given the opportunity to be part of the press team for the SoCal festival, Desert Daze. When we got to the fest, Friday’s headliner, Tame Impala, had their set cut short due to a huge thunderstorm. Everyone scrambled to find shelter from the storm and the rest of the night was canceled. With all of the chaos on the first day, I never received my media pass from the company.

Clear Vision Collective was created the next day after seeing King Gizzard & the Wizard Lizard. I wanted to continue being a music journalist post-college, so Danny and I brainstormed out in the desert to form our own multi-media outlet that could shine light onto independent artists or visionaries, regardless of their talents or mediums. Eventually, we met a photographer from Texas who had some extra media passes. Danny and I traded him some snacks for the passes that Sunday of the fest, so we had backstage access for the rest of the day.

You see, neither of us really expected to get backstage and we were both fairly new journalists, so we didn’t have any fancy cameras or gear, yet we still wanted to gather some coverage. I snuck my way into the press pit area as the headliner, Death Grips hit the stage, with nothing other than an iPhone 5 sporting a shattered screen. I was surrounded by professional photographers/videographers buzzing around to capture their shots. This was the moment I realized I could truly be a music journalist or a freelance content creator. Rather than shying away from the shots, I used my phone to catch what I could and acted like I was meant to be there. Luckily no security guards noticed I wasn’t supposed to be in the pit and I’m beyond grateful for the opportunity I stumbled upon.

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?

Clear Vision Collective is a multi-media outlet that documents DIY culture, assists artists with coverage, and hosts local events across California. Our team of freelance journalists and content creators are also musicians/artists that strive to provide insight into the world of music/art through interviews, articles, and providing resources for bands like venue contact sheets and playlisting. Over the past year, we’ve also started printing a bi-monthly magazine with the aim to help connect underground music/art communities across California and abroad. Overall, our team has the creative capacity to help artists with photoshoots, video content, concert coverage, promotion, booking, and project-based collaboration.

How did you build your audience on social media?

We’ve been building up our social media audiences for the past 3 years and we’ve found some success on sites like Instagram, TikTok, and Facebook. Consistency is key when it comes to building an active fanbase. For Instagram, we started out by posting concert photography and lifestyle images to promote our articles and website. This process was slow to start; however, we started to gain more traction once we posted video content. During the pandemic, we had the time to shoot, edit, and broadcast a weekly Youtube series called Clear Vision Television. Every week, we’d cut down the content into bite-sized reels or clips that could be posted on all our social media platforms. These short videos paired with community-oriented photos really helped us attract the audience we have today.

TikTok and Instagram Reels definitely pushed our content out to a wider range of people and we started to see a constant stream of submissions coming our way. By creating promotional or commercial-like videos where we highlighted our services and asked artists to send us new releases, creators from all over saw the potential of our outlet and wanted some coverage.

Is there mission driving your creative journey?

The spirit of DIY culture really drives Clear Vision Collective. The idea of “doing it yourself” really inspires us to build a platform or community that allows all types of creatives to flourish or have their story heard. A platform where collaboration is valued more than the competition. Everybody has a dream or aspiration and we want our outlet to help spark the connections that let artists bring their dreams to fruition.

One of our smaller goals is to help artists plan out their own tours or shows with the resources we gather through local coverage. Indie scenes are commonly underground or unheard of outside their localized areas and we want to help connect these small pockets of creativity so bands or artists can travel and find new fans, friends, and collaborators.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.clearvisioncollective.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/clearvisioncollective/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/basedinthemoment/
• Twitter: https://twitter.com/ClearVisionCol1
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC50LCrOPjvf3mDfw7q5867Q
• Other: Link to our magazine: https://www.clearvisioncollective.com/shop

Image Credits
Images by: Danny Loveless and Spenser Judd