We recently connected with Aaron “Servaun” Williams and have shared our conversation below.
Aaron “Servaun”, appreciate you joining us today. Can you share a story about the kindest thing someone has done for you and why it mattered so much or was so meaningful to you?
The kindest gesture I’ve ever received was someone GIVING ME A CHANCE!
For me, money will come and I’m not obsessed with likes, so all I really need is a CHANCE! A chance to prove myself, a chance to showcase my skills, a chance to show why I feel like I am the best person for the job!
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.
I started my creative career as a drummer. I started playing drums at the age of 3. I got the bug sitting in my church and being glued to who ever was on drums. My elementary schools didn’t have the capacity for me to be able to play drums, so I ended up picking up the saxophone. I finally got to play for my home church the I was 13/14 years old and have been playing at my home church since then. When I graduated elementary school, I was fortunate enough to play in the jazz band and concert band (orchestra), directed by Kevin Carroll, at Saint Patrick High School in Chicago.
I truly believe the “musical” portion of my creative career began towards the tail end of my high school years leading into my college years. My initial college choice didn’t work in my favor, but the circumstance and secondary plan DID. I had to change my college choice to Triton College the WEEK BEFORE school started. Even though it was unexpected, it turned out to change the trajectory of my now blooming career in a MAJOR way!
At Triton, I got to perform in an AUTHENTIC jazz band. Although it was populated by older community members, the spirit of jazz was present. Led by trumpeter James Davis, I got the chance to add a skill to my repertoire that I didn’t realize would be so essential to this day, DISCIPLINE. While doing so, I started my first band, a jazz fusion band called PA3 Quartet (Odd Collaboration) and performed our first few shows around the city, which considered many DIFFERENT venues.
After college, I worked at BUILD Inc., a non-profit organization based on the West Side of Chicago, where I taught music production, performance, and creative writing classes for 6 years.
During that time, my creative career began to blossom even MORE, as I ventured into both live sound and DJ’ing. I also began performing on drums on bigger stages with Chicago artists and started Impact Open Mic, an open mic showcase that would provide a platform for up and coming artists and creatives to learn from more experienced creatives while still showcasing their incredible skills.
Nowadays, I still play drums for many artists, including Erthe St. James, Keya Trammell, Aaron Gunn, Mikey Everything, Tukki Man, CallMeIsrael, Logan, Alysha Monique, Daniel Lamar, and many others. I also do live sound for Funktastic Productions, amongst many other live events. I DJ for many events, weddings, and with Alysha Monique & The Family Divine. I am a production manager for many of the above listed artists as well as a well known show series called The House Chi.
What do you think is the goal or mission that drives your creative journey?
My goal as a drummer is to be able to travel the world performing with artists. My goal as a creative educator is to be able to educate artists about the live music side of the creative world that they might not know about. I believe that without understanding, it’s hard for creatives to appreciate someone else’s craft that they’re not knowledgable of. I want to experience as much as I can so I can past this experience on to my children and the younger, up and coming musician & creative community.
What can society do to ensure an environment that’s helpful to artists and creatives?
I feel society is designed to make creatives hunger, if not BEG for support and it’s disheartening at times. I’ve seen creatives’ careers and motivation live and die by social media because they don’t feel the support that they should. However, this concept in itself is a double edged sword. As much as us creatives appreciate support, there is sometimes a lack of motivation to put ourselves out there. Reasoning can vary from insecurity, a want to be mysterious, fear, vices, too many opinions, or not enough. There has to be a mutual effort from creatives to be vulnerable with their craft to show the world AND from the world to support by SHARING, RECOMMENDING, LIKING, TAGGING, and utilizing the power of WORD OF MOUTH!
Contact Info:
- Website: https://linktr.ee/servaun?utm_source=linktree_profile_share<sid=0d8573d3-45c1-4bed-97c0-61aa622cc5c0
- Instagram: https://instagram.com/servaunmusic?igshid=YmMyMTA2M2Y=
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/servaun/
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/servaunmusic
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCJQticxtZuDsoo5Y5owLGYQ?view_as=subscriber
- Other: https://tr.ee/L4w02luyNZ
Image Credits
Kiefferoflix BLS Unlimited LLC Navy Pier Mansa