We were lucky to catch up with DAN FARROW recently and have shared our conversation below.

DAN , thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. Have you been able to earn a full-time living from your creative work? If so, can you walk us through your journey and how you made it happen? Was it like that from day one? If not, what were some of the major steps and milestones and do you think you could have sped up the process somehow knowing what you know now?

I have been fortunate to make a living as a creative artist in the music business for decades. It started after I was done with business school and just could not see myself doing that for the rest of my life. I started playing organ when I was 3 years old and later added piano to that. As a teenager I learned about other electronic keyboards and added clavinet and synthesizers to the instruments I was playing.

I decided to move to London, England from Zurich, Switzerland when I was around 20 years old because I liked the whole Funk and Acid Jazz Music scene there. But the weather was the same like where I came from. So 2 years later I moved to the US, living in San Francisco, New York, and Los Angeles, the city that I have been living in now for decades.

Not long after moving to L.A. I was blessed to get called on by Mega Music Producer Richard Perry (Rod Stewart, The Temptations, Tina Turner, Diana Ross) to record with Michael Jackson’s band which included his musical director Greg Phillinganes, Paul Jackson Jr., Steve Lukather, Marva King and other, Toto with Jeff Porcaro, David Paich and Lee Sklar as well as with Eric Clapton, Billy Preston, Brenda Russell, Phil Perry, Mavis Staples, Steve Gadd, Vinnie Colaiuta, Abe Laboriel, Tata Vega, Maxayn Lewis, Oren Waters, Rose Stone, June Pointer, Chuckii Booker and others, doing Ray Charles’s Grammy Award-winning album “My World” on Warner Brothers Records. This record really put me on the map in America. I ended up working with the bands and the members from Prince to Stevie Wonder, from Quincy Jones to The Brothers Johnson as well as the 3 First Families of Funk, James Brown, George Clinton and Sly Stone. I toured the world numerous times with many artists as well as with my own music.

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.

The services me and my company Soulstar Productions provide include, composing, songwriting, producing, musical direction, keyboards in the studio, live and on tours, mixing, mastering, sound design, synth programming, master classes, consulting, branding and more.

The music business is not an easy business. If you want to succeed these days you have to be skilled in a number of areas otherwise it will be difficult to make a living at it.

What sets me apart is that I always give an artist or client more than they expect. By going the extra mile they will not only come back but refer you which is the best way to get new clients.

Can you share a story from your journey that illustrates your resilience?

Sure. When I first started playing music, I was just playing Hammond organ. By adding acoustic and electric piano, clavinet and many different synthesizers to the instrument I was already playing and becoming an expert at it, I got a reputation in the industry for knowing everything about many keyboards and how to program and play them. That’s how I got a lot of calls to work with many of my musical heroes.

As time went on I learned how to become a musical director, how to mix and master music for broadcasting, learning other instruments like electric guitar, bass, drums, percussion and others, and how to compose music for television and film. So whenever things slowed down in one area I was always able to work in another.

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

The most rewarding aspect about being an artist is that I met so many people from around the world that I would have never met if I would not have been in music.

To know that at any given time, people are listening to my music somewhere on earth that I composed for either television and film, or my own catalog of music as a recording artist that is not only played on all streaming platforms but also music that I played live to enthusiastic audiences live on stages and tours for many years.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://danfarrow.com