We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Blaine Counter. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Blaine below.

Blaine, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. Can you tell us about a time that your work has been misunderstood? Why do you think it happened and did any interesting insights emerge from the experience?

Being misunderstood is a quality that has followed me for a long time. When I was younger I was this pale, lanky, mixed race teenager with shaggy natural dreadlocks who liked to draw and play guitar. I was two years younger than all of my friends because I had skipped a grade and my birthday was later in the year and my interests were all over the place. Friends would be shocked to find out I hadn’t seen certain popular movies or hadn’t heard certain popular music. I remember a band mate asking me “What rock have you been living under?” I wasn’t brought up in a household where pop-culture was an important focus. My Mother, who raised me, had very unique and eclectic tastes and therefore I had my own unique and eclectic tastes. Sometimes our interests clashed and sometimes it harmonized. However, I was always encouraged to be prepared for being perceived as different. It’s a lesson that I may have taken for granted when I was younger, but these days it resonates stronger than ever.

For a while I didn’t understand my work. It’s always been difficult for me to describe to others what type of music I make – especially in terms of genre. There have been a lot of times when I’ve told people who I’m meeting for the first time that I make electronic music where they’ll say something like “Oh awesome! I love EDM. Do you make music like Odesza or Skrillex?” The stuff I make can have similar parallels to the styles of artists at the forefront of popular electronic music, but it’s never my goal to emulate popular artists or to try to fit in. Every album that I’ve put out has had its own character and its own sound. So far, no two albums are alike and I like it that way – to me it feels honest to share what it is I’m currently interested in writing, no matter the style. Sometimes it’s crunchy hip-hop inspired beats and sometimes it’s upbeat electronica inspired by the sounds of Europe and the UK. I’m hoping that as I continue to release music this amalgamation of sounds and styles will tell a cohesive story, one that is easily approachable and understandable for anyone who’s willing to give my music a try.

As I’ve continued this journey of music I’ve realized that one of the most valuable practices one can have, as any type of creator, is the ability to understand yourself. For a long time I thought it was a problem that I couldn’t stick to just one style or music or art – I had all these interests and wanted to explore them all. After some soul searching I realized that it’s just who I am and the more I’ve come to accept that the more free I feel when it comes to creating.

Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.

My name is Blaine Counter. I produce electronic music and perform under the name Graffick. I started making electronic music at a young age, but started pursuing it as a career more seriously about 8 years ago. Before I started the Graffick project, I was playing guitar in a few bands, dabbling in the visual arts realm, and working various jobs in warehouses or retail spaces. Electronic music had always been something I did very privately and only shared with close friends, it was very much a hobby, but after a life threatening event where I got run over by a semi truck, I found myself writing more emotionally and realized that this was the direction I wanted to go.

As Graffick, I have released several albums and EPs, I have written music for commercials and ads for small businesses, and I have provided DJ services for various businesses across San Diego, including fulfilling the role of resident DJ at a few coffee shops. I am currently on track to release my fourth album “Spectra” due in early 2024. Writing music is my passion, I spend most of my time in my home studio playing with ideas and learning new tools and techniques. I like to bring this sense of discovery and exploration to all my projects, whether it be an entire album or a single track. I try to look for something new, even if it is subtle, and aim to tell a story with it. That sense of discovery also leaks into my performances as I like to leave room for improvisation and unexpected moments. As a DJ, my goal isn’t to play the most popular tracks, but to bring forward the lesser known energetic stuff that’s going around that may be slightly under the radar. When I DJ I like to harmonize with whatever environment I’m playing in rather than dominate it.

The music I create is very personal and often introspective, but being mostly instrumental, it allows the listener to offer their own narrative. I like to play with space and distance, tone and texture, depth and contrast. I very much borrow techniques from my visual art and apply it to whatever I’m writing in the studio. My upcoming album “Spectra” is a culmination of everything I’ve learned and is a nod towards what’s inspiring me lately. It’s a bit of an ode to creativity and honesty. I wasn’t planning on writing an album, but the music on the record is what I’ve been up to in the studio and represents an unfiltered look into my perspective on several genres.

Let’s talk about resilience next – do you have a story you can share with us?

My career in music has been like a boxing match with myself. I’m fighting this opponent who knows my every move, my every weakness, my every instinct. So in order to beat this opponent, in order to get anywhere, I’ve had to adapt – to change what I do and how I do it in order to give myself a win against myself. I’m naturally an emotional person, just sensitive in ways I sometimes wish I weren’t, and learning to not let my emotions get in the way of continuing to make progress has been a big effort I’ve had to learn to manage. I’m a totally independent musician and all the pressure, all the effort is on me. If I don’t perform, if I don’t execute, if I don’t take action, nothing gets done and no one hears the music. It’s one of the worst feelings to spend weeks, months, or even years on a project, just to put it out and see your view or listen count sit at zero. So, I make sure to take every success, every failure, every occurrence as an opportunity to learn how to improve. Learning to roll with the punches has been a very valuable trait I’ve cultivated, because I know that if something fails it’s fine, and if something succeeds it’s also fine. Being resilient in this way has shown me what’s really important to me in the moment and in the long run. For me, it’s creating a quality product that I’m proud of – I want to be a master of my craft.

What can society do to ensure an environment that’s helpful to artists and creatives?

Contact Info:

• Website: www.graffickmusic.com
• Instagram: www.instagram.com/graffick/
• Facebook: www.facebook.com/graffickmusic
• Linkedin: www.linkedin.com/in/graffick/
• Twitter: twitter.com/graffick
• Youtube: www.youtube.com/graffick

Image Credits
Kelly Dawn Noel