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

Gabe, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today How did you learn to do what you do? Knowing what you know now, what could you have done to speed up your learning process? What skills do you think were most essential? What obstacles stood in the way of learning more?

I learned to do what I do through experience. As a musician, especially a musician in an intense music program, there is a lot of pressure on my studies and the academic side of music. Don’t get me wrong, that is extremely important, and something I enjoy. However, compared to the real-world musical experiences that I have had, in my opinion, I believe I have learned much more. The most essential skills were partly my talent, drive, dedication, and hard work towards the craft. However, respect and genuine kindness towards other creative people around you, have taken me further and to more creatively beautiful spaces than talent alone. The ability to show others your passion and desire to create and have kindness, openness, and empathy for others is huge. I definitely could’ve, and still could, speed up my learning process by remembering that more often.

Gabe, before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?

I am originally from Chicago, Illinois, and I started getting into the Chicago music scene around the age of 15. As I progressed, I learned an insane amount from my peers, and many people already deep into the roots of the music scene. They showed me what it would take to honor and hone my craft of music, authentically. I still try to synthesize these lessons to this day. As I began to take music more seriously, I started taking lessons and writing my own music. Now, I have music released under multiple different projects, ranging in many different genres. I want people who listen to my music to just genuinely enjoy it and hear the message that I want to convey to them. My music often starts as poems or an idea that I have been thinking about. For example- my recent release – called “Just Whatever: Live Session” is a live-tracked, jazz, funk, and hip-hop-inspired record. The songs I have written are about the moments in between change, that moment right before you know something is happening, the intense in-between feelings. As an artist, I believe I have to create moods and feelings that will inspire the listener and take them to that space with me. I also just really love playing music, and sometimes that’s all it has to be.

Do you think there is something that non-creatives might struggle to understand about your journey as a creative? Maybe you can shed some light?

I think people who are not creative cannot understand how, if even for a moment, your craft can take over your entire being. I don’t know what non-musicians think about musicians, because I don’t have that perspective. However, people definitely don’t understand the hard work that goes into the craft, as well as the random inspiration that can happen. Sometimes, music just takes over your entire being, and you have to either get that song out, get the riff/solo ideas out, or just ride that creative wave until it passes. People who don’t have that creative mindset I don’t believe can understand this phenomenon.

How can we best help foster a strong, supportive environment for artists and creatives?

I think society needs to realize the value of all artists within their life. Whether it’s music, visual arts, dance, or theater arts, they inspire so many parts of our lives. I love the phrase “everything feeds everything”. As an artist, everything I experience on a day to day basis inspires my art, whether I know it or not. And in people’s day to day life, they have no idea how much of the world is inspired by the songs they hear, the art and flyers they may walk by every day. Art is all around you at all times, and if you want, you can choose to be inspired.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.linktree.com/gabekuchan
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/gabekuchan?igsh=djlmMXc4dTB2Y3hw&utm_source=qr
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/share/15etPxt1Za/?mibextid=wwXIfr
• Youtube: https://youtube.com/@gabekuchan?si=_csdBLcz6M6STEfo
• Other: Spotify – https://open.spotify.com/artist/4YHVPY952kL0dH5UaGv17a?si=ypADad4cTqyScGkeYsomsQ
  Apple Music – https://music.apple.com/us/artist/gabe-kuchan/1658481985