We were lucky to catch up with Daniel Speer recently and have shared our conversation below.

Daniel, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. Can you talk to us about a project that’s meant a lot to you?

Currently, I’ve been working on a video series that highlights poets I’ve met through queer spaces or art scenes in and around Long Beach. I wanted to create a series where I could apply some of the other aspects of art that I’ve been honing in on for the last four years, be that music, video editing, sound design, etc. It’s been rewarding, synthesizing my diverse skillset and giving the words of other creatives a time and space where the impact of their art can be felt very directly.

Daniel, 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?

I’ve been making music since I was 14, starting out by playing bass in a punk band and now, in my early 30s, producing and mixing music for myself and other artists.

In the last four years, as a result of trying to become as hirable as possible, I’ve become a multi-hyphenate creative.

I co-host and edit a podcast about local politics with my boyfriend called “Long Beach Chisme” and have worked on podcasts projects for Maximum Fun and local non profits, I do video work for non profits in the area including Long Beach Forward and the Long Beach Community Design Center, I’ve directed a couple music video projects for local musicians and have produced for some musicians as well, and I’ve been getting into generating more short form creative video work.

Music’s always been my primary means of expression, but as I get older, more and more often I find myself wanting to make art with others, bringing their voices to the forefront and finding out how to best actualize someone else’s vision. It’s gotten me to be healthier about my approach to art, to be less neurotic and precious about what I create or contribute to. Part of that is having my personal work be more separate from the art I create with others. I think in my 20s I was overly concerned with having my art be “good” that I bristled at the thought of anyone contributing to it in a way that I didn’t think elevated it. Now I’m much more relaxed, and I approach all collaborative projects with a sort of “this isn’t mine, it’s ours” kind of head space.

What’s a lesson you had to unlearn and what’s the backstory?

You cannot have a dogmatic approach to art, in any capacity.

The first type of music that appealed to me was punk, because there’s this sort of “you don’t have to be good, you just have to mean it” approach to music. I think there’s a lot of joy and beauty to be found in music like that, and an approach like that, but at a certain point there were diminishing returns. You start to draw yourself into a corner when you’re a creative that focuses on art that “matters” and “doesn’t matter.” It’s the sort of film major adjacent snob stuff that makes you really off putting at parties.

Also, a lot of those distinctions of what “good” and “bad” art is, are conclusions that I didn’t come to in a vacuum. They were put there by “best of” lists, or algorithms or music journalists or film nerds – my taste isn’t completely constructed by these things, but they’re drawing from a certain pool of art – art that isn’t necessarily made by the most marginalized groups.

Anyway, all that to say that I think it’s a lot healthier to approach art with an open mind on what “good” and “bad” is. I try to make every new thing I do different, and if I’m always pulling from the same canon of artists, I’m going to run out of ideas pretty quickly. Approach things differently, try to understand why others might enjoy something, never write off a full genre/style without understanding where it came from.

In your view, what can society to do to best support artists, creatives and a thriving creative ecosystem?

We need socialism, and we need to subsidize the arts.

Did you know in Canada, they have grants for musicians? We have grants for artists and directors here in the states, but in Canada they’ve got music grants that rock bands can apply to.

Give the state of this country and how much we’ve privatized everything, I really doubt we’re going to be seeing any sort of influx of capital for the arts any time soon.

In the US (and in the western world at large) there is such a mindset of scarcity and individuality that is detrimental to the creation of art as a whole. In lieu of a revolution, I encourage artists to be there for each other – we need collectivism. We need to be here for each other and we need to raise each other up, be it financially, breaking bread with each other, making space, showing genuine love, doing things for each other without expecting anything in return.

I create art to carve out a space in the world that can actually be for myself and for those that I love. Something that isn’t feeding into the pursuit of capital. I find a lot of joy in the creation of that space.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://danielaronspeer.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/danielaronspeer/
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/daniel-speer-652a4aa4/
• Twitter: https://twitter.com/danielaronspeer
• Other: https://linktr.ee/aronspeer

Image Credits
Photo by me photo by Arielle @oceaninadrop Photo of my boyfriend by me final photo of me by Len @lenixview