We recently connected with Heart of the City and have shared our conversation below.
Heart of the City, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. I’m sure there have been days where the challenges of being an artist or creative force you to think about what it would be like to just have a regular job. When’s the last time you felt that way? Did you have any insights from the experience?
There are always moments that have us questioning if we’ve chosen the right path. A life based on creative endeavors is not an easy one, but then again, nothing is. Regular jobs have massive drawbacks as well. Many of us in the band hold jobs, and the creative/musical side of our lives always wins out in the life enriching department.
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?
We are a Dallas based supercharged soul band. We write and record our own songs and perform regularly both regionally and locally. The band was started by our singer (Paco Estrada) and bass player/backing vocalist (Brandon Callies) when Brandon was living in Austin and Paco was living in Dallas. The idea was that starting up this project with two singer/songwriters in different cities would help us cover the markets consistently. The band was started as a sort of side project, but it gained legs fairly rapidly. It is now a focus for us. The discipline that we have to practice is getting together to write and record. At this moment, half of the band in in Dallas and the other half is in Austin. Logistically, it can be trying at times, but when you love something, you make it work. The writing style coupled with Paco’s voice sets us apart from the rest. Paco is a strong singer/songwriter/front man, and that is such a valuable thing to have.
We’d love to hear a story of resilience from your journey.
Early on in our band’s life we were on a tour of the Midwest that was pretty grueling at times. Some of the shows were great, but others were not. It was difficult to play for only the other bands and bartenders some nights, but we made the most of it. It ended up being a good time, and it drew us closer as a band and as friends. Paco’s phone flew off of the vehicle one day and there was a considerable amount of negativity on that run, but we were able to find the good in it. At the end of the day, we love playing music, and that’ll never change
In your view, what can society to do to best support artists, creatives and a thriving creative ecosystem?
The best thing to do to support artists these days is attend shows. It was not very long ago that the world was shut down, and people would have given anything to go out to see a performance. That feeling fades over time, and it is understandable, but a band cannot thrive unless it’s fed in some way. We have been lucky to have people care about what we are doing, and we are extremely grateful. Artists need to support other artists more as well. Building a community is the way to go.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.heartofthecitymusic.com
- Instagram: www.instagram.com/heartofthecityband
- Facebook: www.facebook.com/heartofthecitymusic
- Linkedin: www.linkedin.com/in/heartofthecitymusic
- Twitter: www.twitter.com/heartcitymusic
- Youtube: www.youtube.com/HeartOfTheCityMusic
- Other: linktr.ee/heartofthecity
Image Credits
Robert Chickering Johnny Govea Jillian Duguid Callies Amy Autry