We recently connected with Atticus Roness and have shared our conversation below.
Alright, Atticus thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. Are you able to earn a full-time living from your creative work? If so, can you walk us through your journey and how you made it happen?
I am very proud and fortunate to be able to say that I am able to make my living on my creative endeavors, albeit not comfortably. but that’s the whole point of being a creative; to push yourself beyond what’s comfortable. to stretch yourself and challenge yourself and to also enjoy being young and grinding for what you want. For me, that may mean giving up on some things that i desire, to pursue the dream. and even then, it has taken me over 7 years to be able to even scrape on by in this way. It took building my artistic brand, saying yes to side opportunities and creating a booking agency that helps other artists do the same. On top of this, there is no shame in the “day job”. I am a part-time server at a restaurant and the part-time head of the records department at a third party record store. I do these things so i can live more comfortably and help further sustain my career. I say all of this to say: don’t be afraid to take some side gigs utilizing your talents and expertise. things like bar gigs, session work, booking and managing are what allow me the freedom in the pursuit of my artistry, which is my primary focus.
Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.
I started as a songwriter as early as 15 years old. my brother & i, along with a childhood friend formed my first project ‘AQUASHADE.’ this was a little alt-pop outfit that started as a high school hobby. But i felt and still feel that i was born to write and perform songs. This, along with my innate drive to succeed, propelled the band from playing high school dances to regional festivals and iconic stages in the southeast. After a few lineup changes, a global pandemic & a feeling of burn-out with this band’s sound, there was a rebrand in 2020. With the remaining members just being me and my brother, Luke Roness, we decided to create a new band with just the two of us. We would hire musicians live, but this core partnership was now named ‘The Corduroy Blue.’ TCB as we called it marked a departure from the modern indie pop sound and an entrance into a classic 70’s sound that proved to be successful. My brother and I toured places we have never been, made a debut album, pressed vinyl and made radio appearances. It was looking like this band was our ticket from obscurity to notoriety. However in 2023, after 7 years of being band mates and being brothers for 2 decades, we decided to creatively part ways. This led to a pause for me. I had never been on my own in this way before. So this led to me wanting to create a community for musicians to get gigs and meet people, as well as a great outlet for me at the time. This led to the creation of Mockingbird Talent Agency or MTA. It was a great pause on my artistry and allowed me to see my prowess on the administrative side of the industry. Fast forward to now, i have official released my debut solo album, and am more involved in booking with MTA than ever.
Learning and unlearning are both critical parts of growth – can you share a story of a time when you had to unlearn a lesson?
There are so many, but one that stands out is “it’s ALL about who you know”. yes, there is validity to this. Meeting the right people at the right time is instrumental for getting lucky as a creative. However, it diminishes the importance of working on the craft itself. I used to give myself excuses for lack of success because i would believe that the “right” people weren’t discovering me. The reality is that, maybe i just wasn’t good enough. Maybe i was too young. Maybe i needed maturing. Well, im here to say that “maybe” was DEFINITELY. and i could have grown faster if i would have accepted those truths, instead of waiting for the perfect person(s) to sweep me off my feet and take me into the stratosphere (occupationally speaking). It’s a good thought, to connect and meet people with the intention to utilize their connections for your benefit, but I have found that hard work and excellence attracts people. Work hard and work smart, and people will take notice.
We’d love to hear the story of how you built up your social media audience?
I love talking about this. So many artists “hate” social media and selling themselves. I used to also, but then I had a perspective shift. i noticed that people like the hype almost as much as whatever is itself being hyped. People like a flex, and people like good content more than they like getting in their cars and driving to your show. So to capitalize on that is to view the promotion not as something you have to do, but rather an extension of the art itself. Make it fun and make it pretty to look at. Make it genuine and make it match the art. This will create engagement and cause people to support you and you will enjoy it more.
Contact Info:
- Website: AtticusRoness.net
- Instagram: @atticusroness
- Facebook: @atticusroness
- Linkedin: @atticusroness
- Twitter: @atticusroness
- Youtube: https://youtube.com/@atticusroness?si=yYskS1RV3QyYAZJm
- Other: https://linktr.ee/atticusroness?utm_source=linktree_profile_share<sid=a79f0390-385b-4c9e-94e5-68cd3e4e669d
Image Credits
Gabby Fenimore Thrashbear photos (Tess) Casioflux (Alex) Skinny Norm (Aiden Lyerly)