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

Alright, James thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. When did you first know you wanted to pursue a creative/artistic path professionally?

I’m from a family where everyone sings or plays an instrument, so I’ve made music for most of my life. Growing up, I always thought it would be great to be able to make money playing music, but never thought it was an option I was allowed to take seriously. Eventually after taking a few semesters of basic english and math at San Jacinto Jr College, and working my way up through fast food jobs, I realized I could pick almost any path and work hard and I would be able to pay my bills and live a comfortable life. I could even work really hard and put in 40-60 hours a week and work my way up through a company and have a life my family, friends, and even strangers would think was successful. But I knew I didn’t really care if other people thought I was successful, and I knew putting in 40+ hours a week at a company I didn’t care about would make me miserable. I also knew I was a smart, hard working, talented musician. And if I put the time I would have invested into a “regular” job into making music my job, I would eventually be able to pay my bills, live a comfortable life, and not have to be miserable.

Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers.

My name is James Nissen. I’m 29 years old. My brother Ben and I make up the Houston based rock band “Eucalyption.” We’ve been putting out music and playing shows around the Houston area for several years now. We’ve both played music our whole lives and made the decision several years ago to make music our careers, and even if it took us 20 years of grinding it out before we found financial success it would still be better than giving up and settling for more traditional jobs we wouldn’t be happy at. We both have a wide taste in music, so we pull inspiration from lots of different genres and have a unique sound of our own. I’ve always thought the best bands had a way of sounding like themselves no matter what genre they played, so I hope Eucalyption has it’s own distinguishable sound when you hear one of our songs.

What can society do to ensure an environment that’s helpful to artists and creatives?

I don’t think it’s society’s responsibility to do that. It’s nice if they can, but I think it’s the artists’ and creatives’ responsibility to create and inspire regardless of their environment. The creatives are the ones calling out society’s hypocrisies and injustices. They’re the ones inspiring others to show them what’s possible. If those people wait around for society to help them, nothing will ever get accomplished.

What do you find most rewarding about being a creative?

The most rewarding aspect of being an artist is knowing that if I do my best, work really hard, and really make something great, somebody else out there will like it and it will inspire them to go do something great also. You never know what your work might mean to someone else, but if it means a lot to you and inspires you, somebody else will like it too. Everyone’s “special” but we’re not as unique as we like to think, so if I love my work someone else will like it too. And who knows what amazing things they may go on to accomplish, partially because of the inspiration they got from your work.

Contact Info:

• Instagram: instagram.com/eucalyption
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCMfrZIKHS5ZU0xTcR6ZqNVg
• Lintree: https://linktr.ee/Eucalyption