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

Gary, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. Are you 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?

it’s really hard to even bring this topic up with anyone who isn’t already directly involved in it. there are many commitments and subsequent resignations that are really necessary in order to make a go of it. i know a great many (i’m hesitant to use the word ‘artists’, because we’re more like ‘craftsmen) people in my line of work and they all have different attitudes and circumstances but, as is so often relayed by my industry, we all have the love for it. if i had to put together a list of ‘job requirements’ they would go as follows:
1, know your audience. your well being and success depends on the timely and often fickle tastes of the ‘punters’.
2. know the mechanism that in between you and said audience. there’s usually and agent, manager, band leader or band member you’ll have to either work with or contend with before you can even get TO the gig.
3. if you can’t be great, be prepared. if you show up for first rehearsal without a hitch on your line you’ll be asked back.
4. respect the music you’re doing even if it doesn’t light up up artistically. don’t do inappropriate things that are ‘you’.
5. practice like a college kid with a bag of weed. if you’re BOTH better than the next player AND easy to get along with you stand a much greater chance of getting the call, and then next and the next.

Gary, love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?

nothing special here. how i got into it is completely incidental i happened to have fallen in love with Duane Allman and i was never the same. i bumped around all kindsa stuff after he died but the love of music was always there. the onus about how to make a living within the circumstances that i have encountered were entirely up to me and my history will be of no asset to anyone else. everybody is different. some are good promoters and mediocre musicians and they do just fine, maybe better than someone who has the reverse skills. i refer to myself as a ‘trout’. i lurk at the bottom of the stream, facing into the current. i wait for the food to come down. if i don’t get it first the next trout will. sometimes there’s a hook in it, you never know. you’re on your own and the next trout may or may not be able to help you if you get hooked.

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

interesting question. first off, if i don’t like something about a gig, i can usually ride it, back out using some unrelated excuse and be called again. the less said, the better. lemme say that another way…. THE LESS SAID THE BETTER!! move along to another gig that is more acceptable to you. the same unacceptable situation may come along at another time and miraculously be acceptable. do NOT talk trash either to nor about an unacceptable situation unless you’re prepared to let that tasty insect float downstream and let another trout get it permanently. i get to shut up, move along and remain happy about my job, my income and my coworkers. that’s really one of the top aspects for me. i almost never go to a workday i hate. maybe there’s a detail that is like a pebble in my shoe but it’s over soon and i can decline the next invite. nobody has to know why when ‘i’m booked’ is always a perfectly acceptable answer.

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

i don’t think society has any obligation of any kind to support, contribute to, participate in nor acknowledge the existence of art, craft or labor. it’s one for all and every man for himself :=)

Contact Info:

• Website: https://onehitwonderers.com
• Instagram: oleyargary (i do NOT post or participate. i don’t even know why i did it in the first place)
• Facebook: i quit facebook years ago and miraculously, the day got 90 minutes longer.
• Linkedin: i have an account, but i don’t use it and i don’t kwow what it is.
• Twitter: i quit twitter with the tsunami of quitters a couple months ago
• Youtube: SonomaBeachLive @sonomabeachlive6895 i don’t know if this is the addy but this is all i got
• Soundcloud: never heard of it
• Other: i might be the wrong person to talk about some of the things you need talked about :=) i’m perfectly happy both not being manipulated nor manipulating. i have my own philosophies about the angry and vengeful atmosphere on platforms so i don’t participate. i AM a success in my career AND my life because i have declined participation in so many modern affectations and i remain perfectly happy in doing so. i have accepted my circumstances, appreciate my solitude and have cultivated my relationships on a personal basis. consequences be damned.