We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Anthony Caulkins. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Anthony below.
Anthony, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. It’s always helpful to hear about times when someone’s had to take a risk – how did they think through the decision, why did they take the risk, and what ended up happening. We’d love to hear about a risk you’ve taken.
Success in music, the arts, and really any work where you are your own boss is all about risk. Failure is pretty much guaranteed to happen, and happen again, and again, and then one more time on your path to success or even just eking out a living. One of the biggest risks I would say that I took as a musician was choosing to move to Austin with no friends, no contacts, no work lined up, in the middle of the pandemic. My wife and I had been living in L.A. for years and I had been working the musical theater circuit and teaching. When COVID started all of my work disappeared literally overnight. In many ways I had nothing to lose, but at the same time, relocating to a new city as a musician can be really difficult, when all of your work is so dependent on contacts and reputation. I had to rebuild from square one. It took me almost a year of grinding and working the open mic and jam scene before things took off here, playing four or five nights a week without pay, making connections, getting to know the scene in town. Starting over like that was a little scary and was a huge time and money investment, but the payout has been so rewarding. I’ve been able to develop my music career here in Austin in a way I never could in L.A. The friends, connections, and opportunities to perform have been incredible, and the best part is that there is so much more to come. The door is wide open to new opportunities for collaboration and music creation down the line.
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 am a composer, musician, and music technologist based in the Austin area. I started, like most guitarists, in rock bands in high school, cutting my teeth on music ranging from grunge and metal to classic rock. Growing up there was always music playing in my house. With my mom it was classic country and showtunes, with my grandparents it was Joan Baez and folk music. I fell in love with Bach in high school and studied classical music and composition in college, and then attended a specialized improv, composition and technology program in graduate school. Despite my highly technical musical training, since leaving academia I have found myself gravitating back to my musical roots. Along the way I picked up some banjo and that led me back to some of the country and folk music I grew up listening to. I think the music I create is a real reflection of the breadth and depth of my musical background. A little folksy, a little funky, with a lot of fast grooves and dark themes. A lot of my music explores themes like love, loss, depression, and identity.
When I’m not performing my own set, I play with several fantastic bands around the Austin area (Ruthie Craft, Carly Wascom, Myk & The Mics, Candace Bellamy, Rubi Groove, and more). I take pride in my work and apply many of the principles I learned in my classical music studies to my approach playing as a lead or rhythm guitarist. My classical guitar instructor (Javier Calderon) would always emphasize playing heavy on the bass when performing with singers, for example. Whether I am playing lead or rhythm, my goal is to make the lead singer sound amazing and put on a killer show for the audience. I’ve gained a reputation around town for being a “do your homework” kind of guy. What this means is I show up ready to play, I know the riffs, I know the hits, I know what keys the singer prefers. I hold myself to the same standards I expect from musicians I hire to play my set in town. When everyone shows up and is ready to work, I’ve found the experience to be so much smoother and successful and just makes for a better experience for everyone.
Though music is my bread and butter, I love deep conversations with friends and colleagues. I get my fill of this with my podcast, a project I am working on called Plausible Deniability AMX. An old college friend and I read a chapter each week from a philosophical or historical text and discuss it. Though I love talking through heady topics I’m not always the best at understanding some of the denser stuff. So if you’re ever in the mood to hear me scratching my brains out over topics such as consciousness, wealth, individualism, and so much more, feel free to give it a listen.
What can society do to ensure an environment that’s helpful to artists and creatives?
I like to operate on a system I call “value for value”. I learned about it from a podcast I listen to, where they ask the listeners to donate whatever they think the podcast is worth to them. Building a relationship directly with your audience, encouraging your audience to consider the value that your art is bringing to them. Did it make you feel something, did it enhance your evening, did it get you out of your seat and get you dancing? You can’t put an exact price tag on something like that, it’s not like ordering a slice of pizza. But I want my audience to understand that for them it’s just an evening out, for me it’s my livelihood. I’ve had a lot of success by appealing to this idea of value for value among my audience. Music is so easy to consume today. For a few dollars a month you can listen to almost any song you want, any time, any place. But I think the public is discerning enough to appreciate the benefits to engaging directly with the artists they love through financial support.
Is there mission driving your creative journey?
I think my goal is both lofty and pragmatic. I want to perform my music, the way I like it, with the people I want to play with, and I want to make a living doing that. I think ultimately the only way to do that is to be undeniable. Be you so hard and so perfectly and breathtakingly that no one can look away, all eyes are on you, to the point where everyone in the room wants you, or wants to be you. To be successful as a musician you need to be able to cast a spell on your audience, captivate them. Be the only thing in the room. I think when you have that kind of power and hold on your audience, the pragmatic side tends to follow pretty quickly. People want to pay money for things when it has value to them.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://anthonycaulkins.com/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/anthony.caulkins/
- Facebook: https://facebook.com/anthonycaulkinsmusic
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/anthony-caulkins-923974114/
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/Anthony_C_Music
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@anthonycaulkins
- Other: Spotify – https://open.spotify.com/artist/2zZw7ctpzHdIye5atlY8T2?si=Oh2QqbTsTlqeL5qUKkc1DQ
Image Credits
Photo Credits: Eric Booth