We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Christian Higgins-Hernandez. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Christian below.
Alright, Christian thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. What was it like going from idea to execution? Can you share some of the backstory and some of the major steps or milestones?
During 2020 when we were going through a shutdown, my long time friend and guitar player of Driven Out (Ryan Alzina) had found himself with extra time on his hands. He used that time to put together a few recordings of different songs. We love creating so we dove right into it as a passion project.
It was at a time where no one knew what was going to happen next. It put a lot into perspective. Have we really been living out our lives to the fullest and pursuing our passions? At a time where all things were unsure and we as a world lost a lot, what left did we have?
I believe those recordings and that time period ignited a spark that we had let go off for a while. We wanted to pursue our passions of being musicians and performers.
The next step was reaching out to friends that we had a former musical experience with. We reached out to our long time friend Jonathan Ricketts to help us with the drums. After that it was finding a bass player which we did successfully find in with a family friend Jay Lantz.
Since things were shut down it actually allowed us time to get the songs down and have our own practices. As things started slowly getting back, it was actually a lot easier to get opportunities as some groups were still being picky about where and when they were playing. We took it all on. I believe doing that allowed us to put a foot in the door that fortunately we still have as we no longer have to go out of are way to book gigs on our own. But rather with our relationships and connections built, we are at a place where we can rely on being offered an opportunity.
We made sure we created social media platforms. I developed our logo using canva and with Ryan’s help we were able to setup a merch shop with the company Bonfire.
We had our music recorded and used the help of distribution site Tunecore to place all our music on every streaming platform.
That also helped us as it allowed booking agents to hear us before we had any live footage. We also developed a podcast so that you can feel like you know us and are even hanging out with us within the episodes. Our YouTube currently holds our podcasts, music videos and live videos. We focused on having our YouTube with as much of us playing so that other agents can see what we have to offer and how we get the crowd reacting.
But like anything and all things, these practices are no good unless you keep at them every day. Once you build the momentum, you need to keep it going.
Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.
We’ve all just been very big fans of music since childhood. I think it’s something you’re born with. I feel alive and just different when the right song is playing. Melodies are so magical and lyrics can be so impactful. And how you even place these parts within a song can be so life changing.
Driven Out is a passion project with the mission of going out there with our hearts our sleeves and inspiring others to do the same with their passions.
I know that we are all proud of the people we have impacted thus far. From time to time we will get messages from our, I don’t want to say fans or followers, they’re more than that. Let’s just call them “our team of fellow dreamers” for now. Their messages of being inspired to pursue what they love means a lot. And we are rooting for them!
What do you think helped you build your reputation within your market?
The product we put out. We put a lot of time and thought into our music and I feel that it shows. When you see us live, you know we’re the real deal. You can feel it. Again, we wear our hearts on our sleeves.
I believe people can sense those things in their core. Real recognizes real. When you know, you just know.
How do you keep your team’s morale high?
Respect, love, and communication. Value the time you have with your team and show that. There will always be the practices and performances. All the little work that goes into it where you build your bonds but even doing things outside of the element of “work”. We love going to other groups performances together sort of as a band outing. It’s just about keeping the bonds strong with some R.L.C (Respect, Love, Communication)
Contact Info:
- Website: https://linktr.ee/drivenoutmusic
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/_drivenout?igsh=MzRlODBiNWFlZA==
- Facebook: https://facebook.com/profile.php?id=108091918132248&ref=content_filter
- Youtube: https://youtube.com/@drivenoutmusic?si=ZfloiNp0rbWNckNC
- SoundCloud: https://tr.ee/-DutS72Ktg
- Other: Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/artist/00A43z9gbuNig1yA75vSns?si=NnpoDOZPRXaDqhIcJnLGRQ
Apple Music: https://tr.ee/ojqsAeVBg1
Tik Tok: https://vm.tiktok.com/ZMe38SVeE/
Tidal: https://tr.ee/rNu4ausXXt
Image Credits
In photos: Christian Higgins-Hernandez Ryan Alzina Jay Lantz