We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Donovan Patterson a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.
Donovan, appreciate you joining us today. It’s always helpful to hear about times when someone’s had to take a risk – how did they think through the decision, why did they take the risk, and what ended up happening. We’d love to hear about a risk you’ve taken.
What is a risk? We spend every day of our lives just following the norm. Anything out of the ordinary is seen as a risk and at one point it made life unbearable for me. I was afraid of failing in life but even more afraid of settling for a life I didn’t want. So I stood at the edge and I jumped… Here I am 3 years later alive and well about to drop an independent album that I invested everything into. I’ve dealt with rejection, lawsuits, and long nights not knowing what the next move would be, but now I’m crossing into the next phase of my life and I couldn’t be happier.
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?
Music is a form of expression… I turned to music when I didn’t feel like I could turn to anyone else and it allowed me to cope with the loss of my mother. As I delved deeper into the artist I related to I started expressing myself in the form of writing poetry, songs, and stories as well. Little did I know I would develop the skills and passion to choose it as a career. Now my goal is to be a beacon to the lost children of this generation just like music was to me. Someone somewhere is going to need a little motivation to keep going the least I can do is tell my story. Your life is yours to live… Live it how you see fit.
Any resources you can share with us that might be helpful to other creatives?
People will work for money… Don’t overthink any part of the creative journey, you can get almost anything done for the right price. If you have a vision organize it and do as much as you can and find people in other areas to pick up where you lack. It makes the process easier to manage and you meet like minded people along the way.
What do you think is the goal or mission that drives your creative journey?
I honestly think I have the potential to win a grammy and I’ll do what I can to get there. Skill wise I’m as good as they come so I’ll figure everything else out as I grow.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.nvnddon.com
- Instagram: https://instagram.com/nvnddon
- Facebook: https://facebook.com/nvnddon
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/nvnddon
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCxi_K9IOI_6cY1MPMF_dJpQ
Image Credits
Album Cover done by Amirah Barrows