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

Hi Cliff, thanks for joining us today. Can you talk to us about how you learned to do what you do?

My continued experiences at my favorite martial arts studio during and after college set the tone for my relationship with the arts. Having practiced there for the past 10 years, a lot of the mantras I heard stick with me to this day. The instructor always emphasized that practice will take you somewhere. It was my first time hearing that practicing for the sake of practice was a worthwhile endeavor.

This was a very striking idea as I had always perceived myself as having to gain something through the art which ironically kept me from being engaged and present in the art itself.

True art comes from connecting with our inner essence or awareness. Practice and discipline are the two components I found to be best to get into that space as a creative. If you can develop the habit of picking up your craft and practicing and creating regardless of whether you’re happy, sad, nervous, etc. something new starts to come out of what you make. There is a clarity with it. And I think when you’re able to see with that clarity, more serendipity comes into your life. It’s very renewing.

Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers.

Nothing like a strict, authoritarian White Christian dogmatic environment to get you started in your career in the arts. Just kidding!

The culture that I grew up in idolized money, “religion” and competition. It always felt like the adults I saw were sacrificing themselves to these unconscious effigies; there wasn’t any space for curiosity or intrigue if it didn’t increase power, status or wealth. Needless to say, I hated it, but I assimilated.

Music seemed for me the only place I could feel safe with my feelings and the way I viewed the world. I was very into the alternative music of Nirvana, Radiohead, DJ Shadow, etc. That art felt more real and impactful to me than any of my private school courses.

It took me a long time to become comfortable being creative and honest with myself–I only began really playing guitar my sophomore year of college. I’d had most of that “nonsense” scrubbed out of me with the overwhelming work loads I’d been subjected to, but I think when one has an inclination towards the arts involvement in it becomes an inevitability.

After receiving my undergraduate degree in Electrical Engineering, I felt more confused than ever. Within normal conventions, I had made all the correct choices and was set to have a predictable and stable career, but I couldn’t shake the feeling that I was betraying part of myself. I could only come up with one solution: travel.

After college I went on the longest road trip of my life–four months–starting in West Texas at Mount Guadalupe and making my way north through New Mexico, Colorado, Wyoming, Montana then crossing the border into Canada and making my way to Vancouver. From there, I traveled south through Washington, Oregon and California until I eventually made my way up north to Nevada for Burning Man.

Throughout the trip I was either camping or using this website called Couch Surfing to crash at people’s places for free. From staying with a Russian Sailor in San Francisco, an Italian Mathematician in Calgary to a guy who was part of the original Blue Man group in Albuquerque, my world was expanding at a rate I never thought possible. For a kid who’d grown up in a strict environment, all of this was quite an eye opener! People weren’t nearly as scary or cut throat as I’d been led to believe. Whew!

All things come to an end though and this trip was no exception. Soon I found myself back at home in a similar situation as to when I graduated college, though this time there were hints that were pushing me towards the direction of music.

Throughout my travels, I’d kept in touch with a childhood friend who had graduated from a Music School. Both of us had an interest in creating original music and so a partnership was formed. The humble beginnings were marked by playing at yoga studio openings, recording sessions at smaller music studios and a pretty consistent gig in Deep Ellum at a now closed bar.

The idea for the project grew larger through the years with us eventually playing shows around and out of state in Shreveport, Louisiana, Truth or Consequences, New Mexico and San Marcos, Texas to name a few. We even threw some field parties along the Trinity River in one of the more industrial areas–very memorable experiences.

Eventually, the music project came to an end. It became apparent that I was more interested in the live component of music and him the production side.

Foundationally, I learned everything that has made me the musician I am today through those post college years. How to start an original song, writing songs with a structure, producing, mixing, mastering, preparing a live set, setting up live sound, setting up lighting, promoting your material, figuring out who your audience is and understanding what your music represents were all sides of the music business that I am thankful for learning throughout that time.

One of the hardest parts of beginning as an artist is you don’t know what you don’t know, but with enough persistence, answers and clarity are bound to come. And I can’t tell you how many failures I had; however, each one represented an opportunity for growth.

I feel the most important aspects of music that I learned were the qualities it embodies, namely: freedom, expression and adventure. Now, I find myself going around the open mics of DFW and involving myself more in the alternative rock scene. I have been working on getting a new band together and would like to eventually tour around the country. If I can combine my love of travel with genuine music, I think I’ll have accomplished something that I can be very happy about.

My ultimate goal is to create spaces where people feel safe with their feelings the same way I felt with the bands I listened to when I was younger. Spaces like that are a gift and something to be cherished. But to do that the music has to be good!

I have quite a lot of writing to do this winter.

Learning and unlearning are both critical parts of growth – can you share a story of a time when you had to unlearn a lesson?

One of my most important lessons about art: It will never be perfect.

I can be a perfectionist by nature, but one of my biggest hang ups is feeling like I can’t go out and engage with people until I’ve made the perfect song, album, whatever the thing might be. I might spend a couple months writing an album and it’ll sound great, but I have no idea who the people are that would connect with it! Where does it belong? It can seriously knock the wind out of your sails when you spend all this time crafting your art and then no one is there who resonates with it.

It is just as important to engage with your local community as it is to be working on your craft I’ve learned. I wish I had known that sooner, but what can you do? Don’t let the hunt for the perfect sound, the legendary chord progression, etc etc. keep you from getting out and around other artists.

For myself, my ego hurt more than it helped. If you really want to work as an artist, you’ll have to value other people’s time, creativity and efforts as much as your own–it’s the only way to build a sustainable community that allows yourself and others to make a living.

Is there a particular goal or mission driving your creative journey?

My first powerful experience with music was the 2013 Bonnaroo Music Festival held in Manchester, Tennessee. I went there when I was eighteen years old. It felt like I had stumbled into a playground–six different stages of live music, a huge field, no curfew? Can this be real? I get to share this experience with tens of thousands of other people?

It felt like magic to me.

I guess that’s been one of the driving curiosities of my life since. What is it about music that brings people together? Why are all these people coming to the middle of no where? I wanted to understand that. I can’t say that searching for the answer will ever have a finish line, but sometimes the question is more important. If we knew how all the dots connect, then we would never get to have the journey.

And I do think I have achieved parts of my “mission” in understanding what it is about music that brings people together. There’s love and connection inside it, but the most profound part is understanding that you are a part of what’s making that love and connection happen. All you have to do is show up.

Contact Info:

• Instagram: @ritzcliffs