Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Caroline Baker. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.

Caroline, appreciate you joining us today. What were some of the most unexpected problems you’ve faced in your career and how did you resolve those issues?

I have released 3 songs to date. I began releasing in 2020 and stopped early 2021. Those three releases were such a highlight in my life, and still are. I plan and hope to continue releasing music as it is something that brings me so much joy and connection with people. However, as someone who has written nonstop my whole life, the last thing I expected to struggle with after releasing was writers block.

I was doing everything that I had been working towards for such a long time in terms of music release. I got a positive response from all my music and rather than that creating more creative energy for songs, it scared me. I, unconsciously, began critiquing everything I was writing and working on to the point where I couldn’t complete a project. My mind truly halted my creative process.

The need and fear that my next release won’t top the last, was very very present. It was unconscious at first and as more time went on the more I became aware of it. It didn’t help too that it was in the middle of a world-wide pandemic where music connections and live events were few and far between.

Two years have passed now and it is something that I am still actively working on. I took time to work on myself mentally and physically. I started working out to push my body and mind farther than I thought I could. I started school and guitar lessons to keep learning. I made it a point to write everyday and do my best not to critique it.

The biggest thing I have done is share my struggles with other musicians. My guitar instructor has been a huge help because he listened. He encouraged and helped me through co-writing so I could at least complete a song. I now attend co-writing sessions with musicians every week so I can continue growing my skill and learning from others.

I’ve realized that this mental block is a common thing for musicians and artists to face. The response of the world on our art impacts us. I just wasn’t prepared or warned on how much it could, even when the response of the world is very positive.

My creative energy and ability never changed. I just had to prove to myself it didn’t. I’m very happy and excited to say that I have and am still working on my craft and myself. I look forward to sharing more music with the world soon!

As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?

My name is Caroline Baker. I go by the artist name JMES. I am a 22 year old artist from Dallas, TX. I began writing at a young age and have always wanted to pursue music. I started actively releasing music in 2020 with my first single, Hopeless Romantic. You can find my music on all platforms!

Any resources you can share with us that might be helpful to other creatives?

Certification programs are something that I did find very early on in my journey, but I think it’s something that goes unnoticed by a lot of artists.

In music and other creative platforms, you have to learn how to protect yourself and your art. Without the proper self education, you have to rely really heavily on other people. That can be both positive and negative. For myself, I experienced a bit of both.

I decided to begin a certification program shortly after I started releasing music. I did a Music Industry Essentials certification that covered everything from music history all the way up to self-management. This was by the far the best decision I could have made in my creative journey. Not only did I have more knowledge, I felt way more confident about my decisions and was able to redirect some of the previous decisions made for me.

Certification programs or certificates are so under recognized. They are such great resources. Mine in particular was quick and affordable, but not lacking any information. It’s definitely worth taking the time to educate yourself as much as possible, in every part of your industry. I’ve not only applied the skills and information to my music journey, but I use a lot of them in everyday life.

For you, what’s the most rewarding aspect of being a creative?

The most rewarding part about being an artist is connecting with people. I write music mostly based off my life and my emotions. I started writing music only from a place of processing emotion and it’s always been a very therapeutic experience for me. My process varies now the more I study writing and work on my craft, but songwriting at it’s heart is therapeutic for me. I use songwriting to process just about every big thing in my life or emotion.

When I write music, I know that someone out there will relate to the various topics of heartbreak, love, anger, etc.. At the end of the day, we all experience those emotions but we all connect with different songs. Hearing someone say they connected with the way I wrote my emotions out or the specific circumstance I write about, is very moving and very special to me still.

The most exciting part too is when someone I know, that I completely don’t expect to relate or have listened to my music, comes up to tell me they relate and loved it. It just shows how powerful music is and how far it can go beyond a single person’s reach. I can’t reach as many people on my own as my music can. That’s really freaking cool and very rewarding.

Contact Info:

• Instagram: carolineisabaker

Image Credits
Maia Art Media Jeremy Pesenia William Baker