Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Jack McCain. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.
Jack, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today What’s been one of the most interesting investments you’ve made – and did you win or lose? (Note, these responses are only intended as entertainment and shouldn’t be construed as investment advice)
The best investment I ever made was investing in recording gear for my music to ensure that I would never have to pay for studio time again. As a musician, as well as in other industries, it is crucial to make investments in yourself and your own gear, so that you do not have to pay other people to do something you could do yourself. When I first started out as a musician, it was hard for me to get into a studio that I could afford and what I could afford often didn’t do very good work. I can’t believe it took me a couple years to realize that instead of throwing $500+ away every time I go to the studio, I could be putting money towards buying my own gear and learning how to record my music myself.
Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.
My name is Jack and I’ve been writing music for over ten years now and playing music professionally for about nine years now. The industry, I am most active in would be the live music industry. I am first and foremost, a musician and performer, but recently have invested in equipment to provide live photo and video for bands in my local area and just started my own music studio, with plans of expanding it into a boutique, independent label this year or early next year.
I began playing music around the age of seven years old learning piano and drums first, but it wasn’t until I started learning guitar and singing that I felt inspired to pursue music as a career. Following high school I immediately moved somewhere with a good music scene and began playing shows with bands around California and even toured all the way up to Seattle and back multiple times from my hometown of San Diego.
When Covid hit, I had to cancel a month-long tour and thus began a long game of hurry up and wait for musicians across the world. Covid brought about many challenges for all of us, but I chose to look at that time as an opportunity to stop, breathe and really take inventory of what I wanted from music and why I did it.
Since the beginning of my musical career I have had the opportunity to open up for some cool artists and headline some cool venues, but none of that is really the motivation for me…after all I actually hate public speaking (believe it or not). But the power music has to unite people and transcend any barriers between concert-goers of different races, religions, and political beliefs is the real motivation behind why I create.
The world has enough negative energy in it that I strive to add positive energy wherever I can and the best way I have found that I can do this is by creating music.
What’s the most rewarding aspect of being a creative in your experience?
For me, the most rewarding aspect of being an artist or creative is what you end up learning about yourself. It is important to take personal inventory and take care of your mental health in all creative processes, as some can be pretty strenuous on top of a creative life, especially when you have to work multiple jobs and put in weird hours. I always find it super rewarding when I am able to learn new things about myself throughout my own creative processes that I otherwise wouldn’t have realized or processed.
Let’s talk about resilience next – do you have a story you can share with us?
As a creative, it is often hard to juggle all of the things that life throws at us. It is hard to pursue a creative activity that takes up a lot of time and often yields little to no income. The few years before Covid I had spent 50 to 60 hours a week at dead end jobs, and could barely afford rent while living with multiple housemates. It is extremely hard to engage in creative activities when you barely have the time and are lacking the physical and mental strength that being creative requires.
I think back to the year before Covid, when I had gone on my first tour and used the little income I made from that tour to buy a beat up van and my best friend, Rose, a German shepherd/husky puppy. Immediately following this purchase, I decided to live in my van to save money on rent and worked part time while touring up and down the West Coast multiple times. There were a lot of nights where I wish I could afford to live in a real home, which I could have, had I chosen to go back to working multiple jobs and many hours, but the music I created in that time is some of my best I would say.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://linktr.ee/russblvd
Image Credits
Ty Fox Photo