We were lucky to catch up with Eric Hammell recently and have shared our conversation below.

Hi Eric, thanks for joining us today. Are you happier as a creative? Do you sometimes think about what it would be like to just have a regular job? Can you talk to us about how you think through these emotions?

Happiness is a hard thing to wrap your head around as a creative. There’s no such thing as stability as an artist, your self worth, and other people’s worth of you seems to rely on what you create. There are times when there is a surplus of imagination and drive and there are times where there is a brick wall in front of you. There’s something beautiful about being able to create and something haunting about knowing you have the ability to and aren’t producing. It’s a beautiful and weird “push and pull” way to live that has high highs and low lows.

I have had the pleasure of working labor and restaurant jobs before diving fully into the deep end of writing music for a living and although I have a deep respect for the people that choose to do those things for their careers I realize that a regular job would never be something that would be fulfilling to me personally.

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.

My name is Eric Hammell and I am a songwriter/band leader and a friend you haven’t met yet. I am the singer and guitar player of a band local to Nashville named “Go Away Gray.” My love for music started with my father blasting Black Sabbath and Led Zeppelin on car rides. Those early influences led to a love of more guitar driven music and eventually I traded metal and hard rock genres for more easy going acoustic bands such as Slightly Stoopid and Jack Johnson. I was born a New Jersey native and spent sometime studying audio engineering in Philadelphia but ultimately decided to leave the Northeast after my father lost a long battle to brain cancer. I spent a lot of time thinking about the things in the past that brought me joy and the childhood imagination that so many of us seemed to grow out of. Closer to recent times I’ve taken a comfortable liking to bands like Built to Spill and Modest Mouse which are still heavily guitar fronted bands but with introspective lyrics and somber moments. I think there’s such a beauty in nostalgia and being able to conjure it in people. That’s a feeling I want to capture in Go Away Gray. I want to capture the same inspiration that some of these amazing artists have provided me when I needed it most and pass it on to others. Go Away Gray started with myself and my longtime friend Joseph Cosaluzzo who is the lead guitar player. We wanted to take the scars left from family and relationship issues and replace the sad parts with songs that resemble and pass on happiness to ourselves and others.

We’d love to hear the story of how you built up your social media audience?

My least favorite part about being an artist is having to self promote. It comes more naturally to me to create a song that I’m proud of, but when it comes time to tell the world that they should listen to it because I’m proud of it makes me feel gross. I thought it was “icky” to expect people to listen to a song or watch a video because I made a caption that said “GO CHECKOUT OUR NEW VIDEO.” I’m learning more recently that there can be really fun and creative ways to make content, you just can’t lose your authenticity to yourself and your business. There will always be deadlines for song releases and videos for example, but you can create a video or photo that captures who you are or what that release represents in a fun way that is still authentic to you without “selling your soul” to shameless self promotion.

That being said, try not to let anyone rush you into getting your creations out at the wrong time. Build a nest egg of things that you want to release so you’re not pressured to create at the last second and aren’t unhappy with what you produce.

Also consistency is key. The more you post the more people will see.

What do you find most rewarding about being a creative?

The most meaningful thing music has done for me is help me get through times that I didn’t think I could get through myself. So when someone reaches out and tells you that your art has impacted them in a helpful way is easily the most rewarding feeling I could ever receive by doing this.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.goawaygraymusic.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/goawaygraymusic/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100084352112203
• Twitter: https://twitter.com/GoAwayGrayMusic
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@goawaygraymusic
• Other: https://open.spotify.com/artist/7GNOrjBJcKKT8T4Ehrps5J?si=p-rZ1Zd1TKuTXUef_n-byw https://www.tiktok.com/@goawaygraymusic

Image Credits
Claudia King Camille Jones