Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Amelia McLean. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.
Amelia, appreciate you joining us today. Earning a full time living from one’s creative career can be incredibly difficult. Have you been able to do so and if so, can you share some of the key parts of your journey and any important advice or lessons that might help creatives who haven’t been able to yet?
I have worked as a performing musician for 6 years now. As anyone working in the creative/entrepreneurship field would know, getting started is not easy and often requires stringing together a couple of part-time jobs in order to provide for yourself while you work towards the full-time piece. When I first began to pursue performing as a career, I started by playing a couple hours at a local sandwich shop for $80+tips. Outside of those two glorious hours of singing and playing my heart out, I worked 14-18 hour days stringing together a plethora of part-time jobs, working retail, nannying and babysitting for a couple different families in the early mornings and late nights, working at a local florist shop, always interviewing for a new job opportunity and saying yes to every odd job I could. Looking back now I can see that I had a deeply embedded fear of failure; failure to thrive, failure to provide for myself, failure to make my goals happen. That fear drove me to live with a ferocious hunger to meet my goal of making music a full-time source of income. All of my free time went into cold-calling venues, building a contact list, networking with other local musicians by playing at open mic nights and establishing a social media presence. Sometimes I think about the bars I would go to by myself late at night to play a couple songs, and I can’t help but laugh and shake my head with gratitude that I’m still alive in one piece. I was a naive 20 year old who chose the path of entrepreneurship instead of institutional education, and I wouldn’t trade it for the world. Eventually, one gig led to the next, and open mic nights led to employment at more local Venues, until eventually I was noticed by some local booking agencies and I worked my way up to playing at the most historic and prestigious resorts and country clubs in Arizona. I am so proud to say that I let my love for music lead the way, trusting my gut/intuition to stick with my path and believing in my dreams. I have met incredible people along the way. I now book for myself and play select venues and mostly private events as I pursue my next phase of goals. If I could give younger self a few words of advice, I would say this:
Take the time to KNOW your worth and decide your value, because everyone doing business with you will only estimate you according to their needs and best interest. A little fear will help you stay fed, but your love for your craft is what will keep you nourished for the long haul – let your love lead the way. Listen to your gut. Your time is precious, be fiercely protective of it. Get comfortable working towards your goals without all the answers and without having a fail-proof plan – learning entrepreneurship is messy, imperfect, different for everyone, and an incredible time to develop your interpersonal skills and
Being brave isn’t doing things once you feel confident, it’s doing things with your knees shaking and a head full of insecurities.
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 grew up sitting under the piano playing legos while my older siblings played Chopin, Beethoven and Mozart, sitting on top of the piano while I learned how to sing harmony and finally sitting on the piano bench when I decided to learn for myself. I come from three generations of music-loving family, from my Great-Grandfather Sauceda the mariachi band leader, to my Grandpa Paul who played piano in his family band, to my mother and her rich alto voice, and to my siblings and their variety of instruments, and me; I can truly say I was born into my craft. I grew up in a small town in a mostly rural part of southern Michigan, listening to, singing and playing a variety of classic jazz standards, gospel music, bluegrass/folk music and classical music. I was trained classically on piano for 10 years and taught myself guitar in my young teens. I have always loved creative writing and would write stories, poems, and journal entries everyday during my formative years. When I discovered that I could bridge my love for writing and my love for music by writing songs, the dream of a career in music was born. I moved to Arizona when I was 19 in hopes of finding opportunities to begin my career. For six years I have enjoyed a prolific career of performance in the Valley. Most recently, my goals have shifted even more directly towards growing a career from my original music, and I now take on private events and venues as time allows, while I transition out of the gigging world, and pursue different angles of work in the music industry, specifically songwriting for other artists, and syncing opportunities in film and tv. I also love doing session work for other people’s projects! My goal is to make songwriting the new “gig” and continue to support and fund myself as I pursue my own music independently.
What do you find most rewarding about being a creative?
I jokingly refer to myself as a social anthropologist because every night I sit at the piano surrounded by dining tables of different cultures, life experiences and people at variety of socio-economic status. I get to people-watch, observe, meet and talk to some incredible people and connect with them in a way that only music can do. From celebrities, to politicians, to neighborhood locals, I have the privilege of playing music that sets the tone of the room, changes the mood and conjures emotions, expressing my heart in a way that is so life-giving to me and also benefits the people around me. To me it is a way of helping people in an area of their heart and mind that only music from the soul can touch. That is a gift that I will never take for granted. It is my life’s purpose.
Do you think there is something that non-creatives might struggle to understand about your journey as a creative? Maybe you can shed some light?
Oftentimes early on in my journey, my aspirations were dismissed, questioned, poo-pooed and not taken seriously. I used to share my dreams openly, but I quickly learned to tighten my circle as I found myself spending precious energy trying to help people see my dreams the way I did. It makes me smile now at how far I have come by the strength of my own determination and the support of the people that did believe in me. A career in music is not often respected and is often seen as a cute hobby and an impractical career, but the job of an independent artist in the industry requires so many skill sets. The actual act of playing music is the only thing people in the audience see, but behind the curtain we wear a million hats when it comes to running the business, marketing, accounting, communications, traveling, scheduling, etc. It is the most dynamic job I know, and requires you to be great with people, organized, strategic, yet also creative, expressive, and flexible. I am so grateful that I chose this crazy and incredible life path! It is an everflowing adventure.
Contact Info:
- Website: ameliamclean.com
- Instagram: @ameliamcleanmusic
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ameliamcleanmusic
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/ameliamcleanmusic
Image Credits
Austin Gavin