We were lucky to catch up with Evie McNeil recently and have shared our conversation below.
Evie, appreciate you joining us today. Let’s start with a story that highlights an important way in which your brand diverges from the industry standard.
When it comes to blogging, influencing, or simply sharing content online there are many avenues to digital “success”. This version of success being expanding your reach to users and garnering more online engagement. It’s easy to go viral these days. That’s sorta the anticipated outcome most social media influencers or bloggers hope to reach. With my blog, my overarching goal is inspiration, humanness, and connection. These themes have presented me with asking myself questions on social strategy and content creation. Questions such as, “How do I scale such a project in a genuine way that inspires less online usage and more in-person experiences? This a question not only for those that follow me, but for myself. A paradoxical goal for an online blog, I understand, but a question I’ve thought much about as I devote more or less time each month to my endeavors.
I say this to say, I don’t want to expand my pages in the traditional way. I want my content to be a reminder of the real world and what it has in store. Raw. Mostly unedited. Filled with background noise, interrupted by people walking into the frame. Limited cheesy editing. No gimmicky messaging. Just straight to the point. Which doesn’t really stand out in the mix of sensory overload content you receive scrolling online.
If I capture someone’s attention with a new music recommendation or place to check out then great. That’s all I could really hope for. However, I do hope to keep reaching more people because there are a lot of stories, talents, and adventures I want to inspire others with.
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 moved to Austin in 2017 to attend The University of Texas and have stayed ever since. Music has always played a major role in my life. I’ve dipped my toe in various music industry sectors such as being a musician myself, a bandmate, working in broadcast, doing marketing, and working in other various industry roles. One thing that’s always come as second nature for me is being an avid live-music attender. I’ve always enjoyed sharing clips of these eccentric or unique shows on social media. In an effort to no longer bombard my personal Instagram followers with loud electric guitar solo videos or the latest weird small-town dive bar I’ve visited, I decided to dedicate an Instagram page for this sole purpose. In December 2021, I created the Instagram account @LiveFromTheAudience where I share snippets of the live shows I attend around town (or where I’m currently traveling) to shed light on upcoming or talented artists. In January of this year, I launched a website that houses my long-form blogging that more extensively reviews the shows I’ve attended. As of late, I’ve been experimenting with long-form video reviews that will be featured on Youtube or other video-forward platforms.
The motto of my pages is #KeepLiveMusicAlive – this especially rang true emerging out of Covid where venues and musicians were struggling to make ends meet financially. This original motto still remains true but an extension of my original goal was to also share and inspire my experiences connecting with communities and creatives by means of music or some other art form. The purpose of my blog is to first, raise awareness of talented artists or deserving communities and second, to inspire others to go out and create their own memories.
What do you find most rewarding about being a creative?
In creative fields such as music, oftentimes the people you meet are unique, eccentric, independent, and a little rebellious on the outside. But deeper down, their beliefs and perspectives are often just as intriguing. You don’t pursue the arts full-time to make money. You pursue these careers because you have an insatiable desire to creatively express yourself. These are people that willingly reject societal expectations because they go after what their heart wants. Listening to artists’ stories, backgrounds, and life perspectives is really enlightening. Like a breath of fresh air.
Are there any books, videos or other content that you feel have meaningfully impacted your thinking?
As a true Gen-Z, my medium of choice has always been video – most especially when in the form of a documentary or journalistic style. I’ve always been a curious and explorative person so I draw towards series that cater to those desires. For example, The Cosmos series (old and new), Anthony Bourdain: Parts Unknown, any exposè the Vice channel does, Netflix’s Dark Tourist, the YesTheory channel – just to name a few. All of these shows have certainly influenced my own desire to explore the world around me in an appreciative way.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.livefromtheaudience.org/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/livefromtheaudience/
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/evie-mcneil-/
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@livefromtheaudience/featured
Image Credits
Elizabeth Garabedian