We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Tim Angsten. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Tim below.
Alright, Tim thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. Do you wish you had started sooner?
I don’t think I could have started my creative career any sooner than I did. I began piano lessons in the second grade and by the time I was in grade school I was playing with my father, brother and gym teacher in bars all around Wisconsin. However, I was very lucky to have found a calling of my own which led me to pursue music with all my heart. Taking piano lessons was great, but I do think I began a bit too early as far as formal lessons go. That’s why when people ask if I’m giving my children music lessons (my oldest is 6) I tell them that I just let the children bang on instruments and have fun. When they’re ready they’ll ask to seriously learn.
After living it, I believe the first benchmark for children learning music, and learning in general, is to make sure they view it as fun before anything else. As a young and energetic child, weekly piano lessons became an extension of school in my mind. If it wasn’t for me seeing the movie “That Thing You Do” I truly believe I would have given up on music. The film gave me an entire new outlook on music. It’s about a one hit wonder band from the sixties riding the wave of success to the top. I watched the drummer in that film and was like, “I wanna play that kind of music!”
After seeing that film, I asked my piano teacher if I could perform a song I learned on my own. We were performing at a local retirement home for our monthly piano recital and instead of playing your typical children’s music I got up and sang Great Balls Of Fire by Jerry Lee Lewis. Some of the elderly residents got up and danced, some almost had a heart attack, but that was the reaction and the adrenaline rush I was looking for! From that moment on music was always front and center in my mind.
Now one thing I’ve learned as I’ve aged is that, as far as timing goes, use whatever time you have as wisely as you can. My wife and I now have a family of four and time flies by faster than I can blink my eyes! I watch so many of my younger artist friends sit back thinking that someone will hear them and make all their dreams come true. I was one of those artists for many, many years. I thought, “If I just write great songs, someone will hear them and I’ll make it.”
Like any industry, music is always changing. With the time I get now, I make sure every moment is spent learning something new about both the artistic side and the business side of my career. Although it’s still hard at times I try my best to not dwell on the time behind me, or in front of me, but use the time I have now to push my career to the fullest. If a person is truly passionate about something they will immerse themselves in every aspect of that passion no matter what obstacles stand before them. So, as creatives we must use every moment we have now to make the most out of our music careers.
Tim, 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?
Born on June 17th, 1986 to Henry Angsten, a steel industry entrepreneur, and Beth Angsten, an obstetrician, Angsten started his pursuit of music at a young age. Growing up in Oconomowoc, Wisconsin he took piano lessons in the second grade but it wasn’t until he was 10 years old that Angsten found his true passion for music. It was after watching the movie “That Thing You Do”, written and produced by Tom Hanks, that Angsten knew he found his true musical calling. Motivated by a whole new outlook on music, Angsten taught himself how to play drums and soon asked his father to teach him to play guitar. After learning a few chords and listening to records his father recommended, which included The Beach Boys, Buddy Holly and Jerry Lee Lewis, Angsten immersed himself in songwriting.
Alone in his room, Angsten would write and record music on a four track digital recorder hours on end. By the time he was 14 he was performing with his brother, sister and father in their family band American Pie. With music blaring through the smoky bars, Angsten would continue to chase his musical dreams for years to come. Throughout his high school and college years he formed numerous bands and made many achievements including performing at Milwaukee, Wisconsin’s Summer Fest, one of the Midwest’s major music festivals. Angsten also played bass for singer/songwriter Jon Troast where he got the opportunity to open for the band America in Whitewater, Wisconsin.
After graduating from college Angsten worked as a recording/production teacher at a local music conservatory, but knew he wouldn’t be satisfied if he gave up on his personal pursuit of music. So in 2011, Angsten left home to chase his dreams in Austin, Texas. For 5 years Angsten worked on honing his skills. He had the honor of working with many amazing Texas artists, including Sonny Burgess and the now Nashville based pop/country singer songwriter Abby Anderson.
In late 2015 Angsten moved to Tennessee and now lives just outside of Nashville with his wife, four children and dog working hard to establish himself in Music City. He performs weekly on Lower Broadway and plays short tours nationally year round. He has also performed at The Bluebird Cafe, The Listening Room and Whiskey Jam with some of Nashville’s hottest up and coming hit songwriters. Aside from performing live, Angsten runs his own audio/video production studio and he always looks for opportunities to co-write with singer songwriters from all over the world.
Music is Tim Angsten’s true calling in life. He looks forward to seeing where this journey leads him. With all the ups and downs, nothing will ever put out the musical flame inside his heart.
Is there something you think non-creatives will struggle to understand about your journey as a creative?
I believe the most important factor “non-creatives” struggle to understand about artists is that what we do is a job. I perform on Lower Broadway in Nashville, TN five times a week. I tour year round all over the United States. During the Covid-19 lockdowns I had to live stream on Facebook, YouTube and other sites. It always amazes me how many folks treat us like what we do is not exceptional, and anyone can do it.
Case and point is, and it always makes me laugh, but on Lower Broadway listeners will come up to the stage and make a song request. When I don’t know the song I will apologize and ask if there is anything else I can perform for them. Their response often is, “Just google it!”. I equate that mindset to me walking into a dentist’s office and asking if he can do brain surgery on me. When the dentist insists it’s something he can’t perform I tell him…”Just google it!” Now in no way is playing a song the same as the medical field, but in those terms I think it’s easier to understand. The world of art, like any industry, takes a lot of passion and endless hours, days, months and years to hone your talent and become the best you can be.
As performers we don’t just wake up, jump on stage and pick a few songs we’d like to perform that day. I work endlessly to get better at what I do, just as any professional does. Whether it’s songwriting, performing or audio/video production I’ve spent years of practice and study to become the best I can be. There are about 15 to 20 percent of listeners who understand that what we do is more than a hobby. It’s our livelihood! For the vast majority of music and art consumers it often feels like there is a lack of respect for what we do.
So from an artist’s point of view, and I don’t think I’m the only one, I would ask “non-creatives” to always try to keep respect for the arts community. Music and art play an important role in the wellbeing of our society. I couldn’t imagine a world without music or art, and that includes not just music but also movies, TV shows and podcasts. Could you imagine your day without that relief to turn to?
And I know times can get hard so it’s not just respect in the form of monetary value! I’m the first to say, when I listen to live music there’s times where I can’t tip the band or artist what I think he or she deserves, but I will clap after every song they perform. Just a clap from the audience is sometimes enough to put some hope and fire in an artist’s heart.
Can you share your view on NFTs? (Note: this is for education/entertainment purposes only, readers should not construe this as advice)
I believe that certain technological advances, such as NFTs and the blockchain will, in time, change not just music, but society for the better. There’s been studies built upon the premise that an artist only needs 1,000 true fans to support a healthy financial career. Meaning, 1,000 people are so invested in an artist that they’ll purchase/consume everything that artist creates or releases. However, in my opinion, due to current economic uncertainties for individuals and our cultures overall view of art in general, artists need a much larger group of fans, closer to tens or hundreds of thousands of fans, in order to achieve success through what I’d call the old music industry model.
In the old music industry model, which is still dominant today, a label will fund 5 to 10 upcoming acts. They find who they think are the top of the industry, pump those acts with huge amounts of funding for marketing, tours etc., with hopes that one or two of those artists will “take off” and earn back the profits the record label needs to call their investment a success. Due to the vast amount of music people are able to find now, most of it free, it’s nearly impossible to make a living off of streaming music, unless you’re one of the chosen superstars backed by a major record label, which are essentially just banks.
The largest problem independent musicians face today is the fact that music has become severely undervalued. The average amount earned by artists through streaming platforms is .004 cents per play. This is where the idea of NFTs comes in. NFTs can potentially act as a vehicle for long term fan engagement. In a nutshell, NFTs work like this;
1 An artist sells an NFT to a supporter.
2 That supporter joins an exclusive fan/artist community
3 The supporter, along with the artist, can now receive up sides to everything they create and promote together.
The unique utility of NFTs lies in the fact that the supporter becomes a much larger part of the artist’s journey to success. The listener or fan is no longer a passive music consumer. They, in effect, have skin in the game and can personally gain from helping an artist they believe in reach success. In other words, the fan, through NFTs, becomes a new breed of record labels.
There are endless options for using NFTs, but what I’m most interested in is using NFTs to sell portions of royalties from singles or albums to supporters. This is just amazing to me because it’s a true way for artists to be funded upfront, kind of like crowdfunding, but if the supporter and artist work together towards the success of that single or album, each party involved earns a return on investment for that project’s success!
In the end, the most important thing that not only the art community needs, but society worldwide, is more transparency and a stronger feeling of community. I believe technology like NFTs and the blockchain will take power away from the shadowy controllers that dominate so many industries and give that power back to the people who create and work hard to keep our economies thriving.
Contact Info:
- Youtube: youtube.com/timangsten