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

Brian, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. Can you tell us the backstory behind how you came up with the idea?

I was a professional drummer for 25+ years and was getting tired of learning so many tunes and being on the road. I started making drum gear review videos on YouTube in 2018-19. My wife and I bought a house at the end of 2019 and I built a studio in it, not even 3 weeks later after finishing it, the pandemic happened. At this point, I continued to make drum gear reviews but knew this wasn’t going to pay the bills and it was my sister-in-law that pointed out my videos are really good and I should look into doing wedding videography because it pays well.

I went out and bought all of the necessary camera equipment to get professional level jobs, did a crash course in learning how to use the cameras and lenses and I started hitting up certain friends on Facebook and offer free videos. Being a professional musician allows you to meet and know a lot of different people and having 5000 friends on Facebook gave me the connections I needed. So I asked a Real Estate agent, a men’s clothing store owner, a mechanic, a barber, a car dealer and a restaurant owner if I could make a video for them and they all agreed. I then used those videos to get more paying work which led me to a high end wedding videographer. She saw my talent and started taking me out as her 2nd videographer and it was tough but I learned so much about my camera and what to look for when I’m shooting.

During all of this, I never once thought I couldn’t do it…I just knew I could. Videography came natural to me, I did study how to do certain things on YouTube tutorials of course, but framing a shot, knowing what looks good and what doesn’t was easier for me because when I was growing up through elementary, junior high and high school I studied art (I wanted to be an illustrator) so the concept of “framing” wasn’t new to me. Editing was also easy for me because I love cinema and always paid attention how the overall movie or music video looked and flowed. I also would compare my work to other professional videographers continuously to make sure I was on par. I felt good about what I was creating and my only thought at that point was how do I get paid work?

Brian, 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?

After being a professional drummer for so long I wanted something different and videography just happened to fall into my lap so to speak. At 1st I did everything possible covering wedding videos, events, commercials for anyone, promo videos, real estate videos, short documentary style vides, corporate talking head videos, music videos and drone videos. This was great for learning everything I could and getting familiar with different settings but then I realized after a year I needed to put my focus into what kind of video and carve a niche. I learned that by putting my hand in every pot spread myself too thin and it also turned away potential clients. I learned it’s better to become an expert at one thing, be known for that because clients want to put their trust and money into a business that specializes in what they’re looking for.

One aspect about starting and owning a business is discipline, without that any idea or dream will never become a reality. I grew up in a military family and as much as I hated it then, it unknowingly cemented itself into the foundation of who I am. Discipline is what helped me go to the gym every morning for the past 32 years. Discipline is what helped me practice the drums everyday knowing if I wanted to become a professional drummer I had to get better. Discipline is what helped me start my 1st business manufacturing instrument cables, which I sold after 10 years, Discipline is IMPORTANT.

Another aspect I got from being in a military family was the ability adapt and socialize quickly because we moved around. I know this character trait helps tremendously with my business because it’s important that people feel comfortable with the service I’m providing to them. When I’m trying to film the CEO or spokesperson and they’re uncomfortable, it shows, the camera sees everything. I had a gentleman who just froze up as soon as the camera started rolling. He became stiff, jumbled up his words and was just unable to really deliver the message he needed to convey. Now this man is an expert in his field and was
happy to talk to you about it, so I sat next to the camera and told him “Talk to me like we’re at a bar and I just asked you about what it is you do and why you do it…” Everything started to pour out of him, he was happy and excited to tell me what is he does, what sets him apart, his 40 years of experience and why he loves it.

With video, it’s important that I tell a story, a story is something that everyone can connect with. I’ve found that’s one of my strongest skills in this medium. I realized this after a year of doing this from all of the feedback I was getting. All of my clients and viewers said the same thing, I really know how to draw emotion out of who’s watching. My 5th video was for a family that had 4 year old son that needed $20,000 for a seizure assist dog. This was for a GoFundMe campaign and one of the major suggestions was to keep the video short and sweet so people don’t lose interest. I shot this with the intention of making it more like short documentary, it came out to 10 minutes which was about 8-9 minutes too long by their recommendations. They were able to raise the money within a few days, that was a proud and very touching moment for me.

Have you ever had to pivot?

I’ve made some pivots in life several times, going from working at the Post Office to leaving that to pursue a career in music, having a career in music then starting an instrument cable manufacturing business then back to music after selling it, then having to pivot once more from music to videography because of the pandemic. Each time wasn’t easy but I made it easier by staying positive (for the most part, haha!) and knowing my vision is attainable.

I think it’s very important to realize what you do now doesn’t define who you are, it’s a part of you. During the pandemic, a lot of people, if not all in my line of work of gigging musicians, didn’t know if their way of making a living was going to exist moving forward. A lot of my colleagues saw no future for making a living but I truly didn’t worry about what I was going to be doing in the future, I did obviously worry about my immediate bills getting paid, but when it came to my future, I actually felt optimistic, I believed in myself…which is so important if you want to ditch the 9-5 and invest into yourself.

Where do you think you get most of your clients from?

I find word of mouth to be best source for new clients. I’ve had clients find me on Instagram, Facebook and Google but that’s a small percentage in the amount of work I’ve gotten from others talking about me and referring me.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.clearlensmedia.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/clearlensmedia/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ClearLensMediaVideography
• Linkedin: linkedin.com/in/brian-mendes-a72b80233
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@clearlensmedia3411/videos