We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Cody Dear a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Hi Cody, thanks for joining us today. We’d love to hear about when you first realized that you wanted to pursue a creative path professionally.

I was very fortunate to get to play my first music tour with a jazz big band in Europe during the summer of my junior year in high school. During that time, I simply loved playing music and performing on the occasion, but I had never thought of it as a possible full-time career. This experience of getting to travel overseas to perform inspired a whole new outlook on music for me. I distinctly remember the joy and anticipation of stepping on those festival stages for the first time and really feeling a connection with the audience as we played through our set. These experiences were definitely the catalyst towards my interest in pursuing some sort of career in the music industry. I never thought that my love for playing the saxophone and piano at a young age would allow me to meet so many different people and to experience so much more that the world has to offer.

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.

I’m mostly known for being a saxophonist, pianist, and songwriter based in Los Angeles. As a songwriter and producer, my goals are always to help fellow creatives bring their ideas to life and to amplify their artistic vision as much as possible. I love to search for the impossible, and to go for things that seem much more unconventional.

What do you find most rewarding about being a creative?

As a full-time creative, the thing that continues to motivate and inspire me every day is the idea that complete strangers around the globe will have some sort of connection to your work. I love that every piece of music I get to work on will find its way somewhere in the world at some point, whether it turns into someone’s first dance song at their wedding, or maybe it’s the song they turned to when times were hard. Talking to fans after shows and hearing their thoughts about how the performance made them feel is always such a beautiful feeling. As a self-proclaimed introverted person, music has not only connected me to so many of my closest friends and it’s also introduced me to so much in the world that I never thought I’d get to experience.

What do you think is the goal or mission that drives your creative journey?

I’m always on a continuous journey to find what makes people most excited about music. My favorite question to ask people is “what’s your favorite song and why?” For how much music there is on the planet, it always fascinates me to hear what they’ve connected with the most. The feeling of someone’s music having a lifelong imprint on them is such a beautiful sentiment that I hope my art can be a part of as well.

Contact Info:

• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/cody.dear/
• Other: https://www.tiktok.com/@codydearmusic

Image Credits
Instagram: @elaintantra @deaniechen @tylerwrights @joestriff