We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful ILLY MUSE. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with ILLY below.

ILLY, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. What’s something you believe that most people in your industry (or in general) disagree with?

Something that I believe in the most, that my fellow Industry Comrades might disagree with is the absolute necessity to have media training. When it comes to crafting the ideal artist exposure agreement; being well rounded and professionally trained is top tier. From engaging via LIVE interview, maneuvering networking events, and especially during live performance. I believe the value of the now modern day artist has less to do with overall refinement, and more to do with artist visibility as it speaks to social media presence.

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?

For the Readers who are new to my journey I am a Music Performer who took their love for art and expression and married it with my enthusiasm for wellness. When your career depends on you taking care of your instrument; which for me is my body -it is important to hone in on that relationship with self. One of the biggest lesson I have learned as an artist is to work every day on my craft; be it vocally, listening and learning new music, enjoying works from other indie artists, just overall staying inspired and motivated in the field.

I am most proud that I have continued to stay relevant both on and off of the stage. After the world shifted in 2020, and the level of consumption for music went from Billboard to TikTok -I knew there would be a true demographic I could reach: The Artist looking to Share Their Stories. From there I hosted curated events that took advantage of the Indie artist looking to spread their creativity from being isolated in 2020, and how that changed their artistry completely. I am proud to have allowed artist to better harvest their motives and channel their creativity in new ways! And learn to monetize them in the mean time.

How did you build your audience on social media?

I decided to take my social media more seriously after realizing that sharing detail of my Solo travel journey as an Indie Artist resonated with my followers. Initially I felt in my ego about sharing such early on, of my vulnerability while coursing through day to day challenges of celebrating artistry and sustaining financially. I found that many Indie artists are in the same boat! Having the freedom to explore and be honest with my followers in the real time, was paramount for me. My advice in building a Social Media presence is to be consistent; I am telling that narrative to myself as well! And I would say to lean into relatable content that might seem to be out of your comfort zone; your followers and your future self will thank you!

Learning and unlearning are both critical parts of growth – can you share a story of a time when you had to unlearn a lesson?

A lesson that I had to unlearn was getting out of my own way. At times as a creative, I can become too hard on all of the potential outcomes -as opposed to living in the present moment. The more I release expectation and enjoy the ride in expressing myself and supporting my joys -I often thrive.

Contact Info:

• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/illymuse/?hl=en
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/iLLyMuse/
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/illy-muse-1692651ab/
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@ILLYMUSE

Image Credits
Dre Morris