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

Alright, Carter thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. I’m sure there have been days where the challenges of being an artist or creative force you to think about what it would be like to just have a regular job. When’s the last time you felt that way? Did you have any insights from the experience?

I wholeheartedly love what I do and I love being creative. I’ve previously worked in several regular jobs from data entry, pest control, Foodservice, Semiconductor, and call centers to the whole nine… I can’t sit here and say I hated them but I truly didn’t enjoy that as none of them fueled what I’m passionate about. I love being a father first, so having the power to dictate my time and be there for my daughter at any given moment is the best part about it. I love being a music artist to express myself, I love being a videographer to put words into a visual experience, and I love being a music producer because it is my safe space to zone out and create something dope. Anything involving those three things and ill be the happiest man alive.

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

I am D Carter. Professionally, I am a music artist first, but I enjoy most aspects of the art with everything that surrounds it. I began my journey as a music artist back in 2016. Where I started making music with a few friends I had known since high school. After my first show and making a few songs, the idea and dreams were born. I pursued music very religiously and tried to stay as consistent as possible dropping albums, participating in contests, and just being around music as a whole. When you begin a career like this, you quickly realize everything costs money and you don’t always have the funds for this type of career path… I was working a full-time job all while being a single father at the time and I knew I needed to save money but also have a way to consistently put out content. I invested in camera equipment so I could not only shoot my own content but also use it as a leverage tool to open up more opportunities to grow with other artists. I was immersing myself in music as much as I could. Before you know it, I was a full-time videographer shooting music videos, corporate videos, doing photoshoots, and more all while adjusting to the times and new forms of promoting content with not only my own work, but multiple other talented artists such as KMRN, Talika, Bag of tricks Cat, Whitney Peyton, Megaran, Murkemz, Yung Joc, Sincerely Collins, Cotton Mouth Kings, and many more… Back in 2020, I met my manager Daniella Ellis (Aka “D” The Matrix) and formed our team and company known as To The Top Music Management. Branching off of that “To the Top Visuals” was born. As a business, we are still growing and we have a lot to learn. But business has been good and every connection has led us to a new opportunity which I am grateful for. I am not the most disciplined person, but I know in order to succeed it is something I need to improve on every day, which I do my best at. I think as a team, what sets us apart is we are genuine people and we do this because we love it and treat others with kindness and respect. Kindness and respect have been a growing faith of mine because we live in such a negatively powered world and every person deserves the time of day. If we do business together, it will be a positive experience and we will work hard to provide the best quality product you need in a fast timely manner. What I have been most proud of, is how far our team has come. Through adversity and tough times, we managed to be a strong team force in the state of Arizona delivering sound, visuals, and good vibes. To The Top is the only way up for us.

What’s the most rewarding aspect of being a creative in your experience?

The most rewarding part of being an artist/creative is knowing other people like what I create. I would more than likely still create if no one cared, but it is a great feeling when people support what you made, that came out of nothing.

We’d love to hear the story of how you built up your social media audience?

This is a tough topic to explain because there is no solid formula for building an audience. There are many tips, tricks, and brilliant ideas to get you there, but they don’t work for everyone. The only thing I can suggest from all the time and experience I have is to put out content that you love and stay consistent with it. Consistency is probably the most important but just being you and not worrying about it being accepted is your key to growing an audience that will support you because it’s you. No matter how great your work is or how much time you put into it, there will always be somebody that doesn’t like it. Yet, there will also be people that love it. You just need to believe in yourself and the audience will come over time.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://linktr.ee/dcarterphxaz
• Instagram: Dcarterphxaz
• Facebook: D Carter
• Twitter: Dcarterphxaz
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCSKRLIGo1XquN_0j5cV2lyQ
• Other: Tiktok: Dcarterphxaz

Image Credits
To The Top Visuals, Isela Ortiz, Films By Ceesz, Jesse Motyka, Michael Nsane Felix