We recently connected with Becky West and have shared our conversation below.
Becky, appreciate you joining us today. Do you feel you or your work has ever been misunderstood or mischaracterized? If so, tell us the story and how/why it happened and if there are any interesting learnings or insights you took from the experience?
When I decided to pursue my career as an artist and authentically express my creative visions, I was entirely misunderstood. The vision for the music I produced was not visible to the people in the industry I was already working with, the concepts I envisioned were challenging for other creatives in my field to translate musically, and the content of my writing was confrontational on a soul level. True to the nature of art, it was reflective of my own personal journey through trauma, actively grieving my mother’s illness and her subsequent passing, as well as socio-political realities of the time. Today, my artistic vision has developed into multiple mediums of creative expression- through literature I write and cards I make, through my clothing brand Jesus Loves Sluts (clearly controversial on multiple levels), and my music. Through years of mental battles and development of my creative process as my tool for survival, and my unlearning of certain societal expectations as well as religion vs. relationship- the fullness of the creative vision was born through Safe & Sound, which is my creative production house. Through Safe & Sound we hold workshops for all ages, exploring the the very methods of creative expression I used to birth my creative voice, which was and is often misunderstood, yet fully seen by others who share similar traumas and are also searching for their creative voice. Because the heart of Safe & Sound is to be “Safe to find your sound”, we work with other young creatives who have also learned a sort of hidden language because of life’s trauma, and are struggling to articulate it to the world outside of themselves. Through this whole process I’ve learned how to translate this vision to people who would otherwise misunderstand or judge, and through watching the creative process of our students, what is unknown suddenly becomes known, unseen suddenly becomes seen.
Becky, before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?
Have you ever come to the end of yourself- broke, feeling like a failure, embarrassed to even ask for help? Have things fallen apart in your life in such a catastrophic, bridge burning way that there is no possibility of you existing in the life you lived before the bridges burned? That is how I came to exist in my craft. I spent my life building careers and relationships as halfway houses to hide myself in so that I could comfortably disassociate from the terrifying beauty of what I knew my creative gifts were. I got my grit from my mother Stephanie, and from my hometown of Elizabeth, New Jersey. I worked within organizations which valued conformity to the company identity and culture, but in order to conform it would mean collapsing into myself and losing my identity all together. Generations of my paternal family were musicians and artists, but my mother’s side were all business owners, as well as the dominant voice in my life journey. I was first misunderstood and rejected by my maternal family for pursuing art, and shamed for the message my art speaks- likely because it reflects my personal life story.
However, rejection is exactly what propelled me into my current phase of life. One of my goals in building out the creative vision was to use one aspect of my business to support the other. My clothing brand “Jesus Loves Sluts” has produced the revenue I need in order to not only sustain the brand, but reinvest into other creative “rooms” of the Safe and Sound House.
Since moving back to California, Safe and Sound has seen it’s first wave of students. Our students have the opportunity to explore their personal story through multiple methods of creativity. They have access to music production programs (Abelton and Logic), and learn the basics of how to use each program so that they can play with sound as a tool to express their emotions, whatever that looks or sounds like. We aim for raw expression as the goal for each student.
Another creative medium we delve into is trash journaling (collage making) on canvas, painting, written journaling as a way to form and articulate inner language, and collaborative design planning for Jesus Loves Sluts. All of these expressive tools are beautiful, however, I believe what sets Safe & Sound apart is the environment we foster for a new kind of creative methodology to reveal itself, rather than forcing it to be what we think will be profitable. Jesus Loves Sluts has become the “brand” that holds physical and digital space for people to dig into why they hate men, why they love porn, why they hate the church, why they despise women, why they feel disconnected from their inner child, how institutions have abused them. It encapsulates controversy and truth, holding rage and peace in a sort of balance. We stand apart because many of us have stood alone. Beyond my business being a “business”, it is a movement- a renaissance of self, a space in which you are safe to ask dangerous questions of the world, and take the courageous risk to fight for your inner voice.
If I’m being completely honest, I am most proud of myself for surrendering and unlearning enough, because if I didn’t, I would have not only been depriving the world of my light and gifts, but I would have been depriving myself of a fulfilled and beautiful life. I would have sacrificed my freedom for comfortability. I am proud of myself for facing my own inner demons, my own vanity and self-righteousness, my own failures and my own shame. If I hadn’t done any of these things, the vision I’m sure would have passed onto the next willing visionary, but I believe that this is in fact my life purpose and calling. I am proud to see what my pain has produced in the lives of others, and am eternally thankful for every single one of my weaknesses. And in being proud of myself, I credit each one of my friends and family members who have championed me, who often times have carried me to the next leg of my journey because I was too emotionally devastated to carry myself.
This life is full of choices, of “this way or that way”, “this job or that one”, “this truth or that lie”. My brand and my work is the process of learning my inner voice, of championing others on their path to know how to authentically learn their voice and chose their way in this life, one creative decision at a time. It is giving people the personal power to be proud of who THEY are, and recognizing the power they themselves hold. We sell clothing, books and music, but we CULTIVATE identity, stories and voices.
In your view, what can society to do to best support artists, creatives and a thriving creative ecosystem?
I believe that, in order for society to take action to support artists and creatives, society must first question what it has been taught about the creative. So many artists fail to thrive because they are struggling to survive. If we take into consideration society as it stands today, I think many of us can see that consumerism and industry have formulated a packaged, branded product and marketed music (for example) as such. If we begin to reform our thinking of the importance of the arts throughout history and recognize the power which art possesses, we will come to understand the urgency of investing in our artists. We hold vision for the future, for an evolving global society and way of thought. I believe we need not only funding, but education on financial literacy, and real estate as space for artist residency and community.
We’d love to hear the story of how you built up your social media audience?
I built my audience on social media by facilitating conversation around church hurt, which I experienced as a pastor’s daughter. I’ve had a lifetime of involvement in the church and continue to learn many valuable lessons through developing an authentic faith and community through healing. I have always also had an element of sharing openly about my relationships and dating culture. The common theme of all of my content today is literally just complete honesty and transparency when it comes to my personal life, and how I learn to exist in relationship with the world. When a relationship fails, I share what I learned in the nitty-gritty of the relationship. I unpack the complexities of narcissism, illuminate how our own personal traumas bind us to cycles, how we are socialized to perceive ourselves and our worth. I also built my following through singing. I’ve been underground for many years now, and I’m thankful for the progression of my musical journey. Years ago I wouldn’t have been prepared for the sort of visibility I’m receiving now.
If you want to build a brand, post content. If you want to build a following, post presence. Post YOUR presence, your real story, not just the achievements but DEFINITELY the failures. Be known. Be seen. Just be visible and real, and better yet, be CONSISTENTLY visible and real. Your people will find you, and so will opportunities.
Contact Info:
- Website: jesuslovessluts.com
- Instagram: beckssswest
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@BeckyWestMusic
- Other: Tiktok- beckssswest Spotify- Beck West Bandcamp- https://beckywest.bandcamp.com/album/sad-girl
Image Credits
Image Credits- Rebecka Hoffman