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

Alright, Charlie thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. To kick things off, we’d love to hear about things you or your brand do that diverge from the industry standard.

Sure. At Daydream Believer Creative, we don’t do anything cookie-cutter. There is no formula for success in the music business, and the most likely path to an individual artist’s success starts from looking at who they are and what makes them special. It all has to begin with a conversation with the artist. What do they want, for their career, for their life? What are their strengths, their limitations? What kinds of support do they need most? What kinds of situations will they thrive in? I don’t think this is an uncommon approach among artist managers — every artist is different, every artist/manager relationship is different, and managers are used to adjusting their approach to fit the needs of their artists. But in other areas of the music business, things can feel a little more formulaic. I would say at Daydream Believer we approach consulting, PR, and all of the work we do through a little more of an artist management lens, and that makes a difference for our clients.

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?

Well, to start, I am a lifelong musician, songwriter, and recording artist. I had a band called Charlie Faye & The Fayettes that did pretty well and got me a great publishing deal and certain experiences in the industry that can only come from being an artist yourself. But in recent years I’ve been more focused on using my decade-plus of experience to help other artists move forward on their paths. I started doing consulting for musicians in 2011, when friends began coming to me for advice on how to release their records effectively. Word spread, and soon there were musicians I didn’t even know coming to me for advice. So I started a small consulting business, a side-hustle to my own creative career at that point, primarily focused on helping other artists with record release strategy. Then, in 2021, I teamed up with Adrienne Lake to launch Daydream Believer Creative, to provide consulting for artists and music business organizations, in conjunction with PR services. We both felt strongly that PR without consulting was not as effective as it could be, so it was key to us to pair the two services.

Can you tell us the story behind how you met your business partner?

I met Adrienne Lake through a mutual friend in music when she was booking shows at a venue in town, and we hit it off immediately. She booked my band for a handful of shows, and we discovered that we both loved to brainstorm about how to help artists and make things better for our local music community. Fast forward to Summer 2021, and we were both doing a lot of consulting work and she was also doing PR. I suggested to her that we team up and create an agency that pairs those two services, and thus Daydream Believer Creative was formed.

We often hear about learning lessons – but just as important is unlearning lessons. Have you ever had to unlearn a lesson?

Yeah. This is an interesting one. One thing I’ve had to “unlearn” is the myth that you have to stay in one lane and do only one thing in your professional life. There’s a weird kind of identity conflict that comes with being both an artist and a business person in music, because people tend to have a hard time wrapping their heads around the idea that someone can be good at both. Like, if you’re an artist, they want you to be *just* an artist, romantically single-minded about the art — and if you’re a business professional, for some reason it de-legitimizes your creative ability in their minds. I’ve been a performing artist and songwriter for my entire adult life, but I’ve also always been good at the business side of things and really enjoyed it. These days I probably spend more time on the business side, but it’s still creative work for me. The business part can actually be very creative, and I think some people don’t get that. Also, I have the benefit of being able to understand the artists I work with in a way that a lot of business people probably can’t. Being on both sides (creative and industry) is actually a huge advantage, so I’ve learned to dig into that.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.daydreambelievercreative.com
• Instagram: www.instagram.com/charliefayeandthefanimals

Image Credits
(photo with dog and records) by Eryn Brooke the rest uncredited (selfies or unknown)