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

Hershel, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. 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?

Yes, I am currently a full-time artist, musician  and producer. My creative journey started as a childhood musician to a manifested reality through discipline and consistency. Nothing good is easy and nothing easy ever lasts. I spent years submitting music to record labels, performing for pay-to-play gigs throughout the west coast and the mid-west, submitting music to radio station, music supervisors, playing county fairs and looking for exec’s outside of music award shows to share my demos with them. Every closed door either led me to an open door or caused me to regroup and revise my approach. I’m a firm believer that your gifts will make room for you and slowly but surely I started getting radio spins and music placement for television and film. From there more public and private performing opportunities revealed themselves and I was not going to let any of these opportunities pass me by. I believe all of the challenges and rejection helped prepare me for my current reality. I wouldn’t change anything because everything happened as it should have and I am much better off today because I learned how to fail forward fast without giving up.

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 am a band member of the music group Vassal States. We create tribal, electronic/pop and house music. We have an unorthodox sound in how we like to arrange our songs and we aren’t afraid to create outside of traditional music structures. We are simply creating music that moves us, inspires us and challenges us. I am honored and proud to be creating some of my best work now! I could sit here and list a bunch of great things from my past but I’m focused on the here and now. I would be honored to have you follow our music journey as we embark on releasing 1 new record every month for the next 2 years. Will you join us on this adventure and following Vassal States on IG @vassalstates, Tiktok @VassalStates, FB @vassalstates or join our mailing list www.vassalstatesmusic.com.

What can society do to ensure an environment that’s helpful to artists and creatives?

As an artist, my goal is to help you feel known and understood through my musical expression. Some may choose to escape during our musical performance and some prefer to feel deeply as they hold on to each melody. Society can help artists and creatives by first encouraging our art and celebrating it on a local level. Music should unite us all and inspire each other to continue fighting past the challenges we all face in life. I believe music has a place in every establishment big or small!

Is there mission driving your creative journey?

My mission is to inspire someone out there to believe in their creativity even if they feel like they are standing alone. Be courageous during your uncertainty and watch your progress increase before your eye’s.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.vassalstatesmusic.com
• Instagram: www.instagram.com/vassalstates
• Facebook: www.facebook.com/vassalstates
• Other: Tiktok: @vassalstates

Image Credits
Photographer: APOLLO REYES