Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Jake Hicks. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.
Jake, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today Have you been 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? Was it like that from day one? If not, what were some of the major steps and milestones and do you think you could have sped up the process somehow knowing what you know now?
Embarking on the narrative of my creative journey, my name is Jake Hicks, a photographer, creative director, and studio owner based in Downtown Cincinnati. The genesis of this traces back to 2015, when I acquired my first DSLR camera during an 8th-grade trip to Washington, DC. This experience, following a nascent exposure to photography and film, sparked a fixation for travel, capturing new places and candid moments, etching the cornerstone of my life since.
In the wake of this transformative trip, my newfound passion propelled me into a creative whirlwind. Armed with my camera, I aimed at everything – friends, cityscapes, vacations, and every nuanced moment in between. This formative phase served not only to hone my creative prowess but also to illuminate the paths I decidedly did not wish to tread.
The turning point in my direction unfolded on a summer day in June 2017, just a few months after my 15th birthday. It was the weekend of a local music festival boasting nationally touring bands and top rappers. Armed with audacity and a camera but lacking a ticket, I persuaded my mom to drop me off, invoking a “school project” ruse. Without hesitation, I stepped out of the car, navigating the outskirts of the festival grounds until an unexpected opportunity materialized. An ice delivery truck, destined for the backstage catering area, became my gateway. Concealing my camera beneath my hoodie, I tossed two bags of ice over my shoulder, seamlessly strolling through the backstage entrance, invisible to prying eyes.
What transpired backstage was an electrifying revelation, an energy unlike anything I had ever witnessed. The day, however, concluded on a note of adversity – a police officer, a missing wristband, and a narrow escape from trespassing charges. Yet, from that fateful day, a spark was ignited, a relentless passion that has fueled my journey ever since.
For the subsequent year, I snuck into any festival and show I could within a three-hour radius of my house, a deliberate endeavor to unravel the intricacies of live music and the music industry at large. Through many awkward introductions, which some call networking, I found myself in rooms and conversations that transcended the boundaries of my age and experience, connecting with artists, managers, publicists, editors, and music fans.
As my skills, confidence, and network grew, a career began to start taking shape and I stopped executing free work. Out-of-state assignments from publication editors and a rapid increase in calls from local Cincinnati artists marked the snowballing of my career. The expansion saw me traveling at a rate higher than ever before and enjoying a stable income for the first time in my life, fueled by evolving expertise, creative prowess, and an obsessive hunger for experience.
The transition that followed next was a decrease in publication assignments to more direct work with labels and artists. It was during this period that I first experienced a pocket of life I never could have imagined, getting the opportunity to spend time around artists at the top of their respective genres. These years were some of the most formative of my life thus far, teaching me how to live on the road with a touring musician and many values I will hold with me for the rest of my life. Many of the experiences I imagine I will be bragging about to my grandkids came from this period.
After a few years of touring and various one-off jobs with full focus, I began to double down on expanding my knowledge of finance and business practices to aid my career going forward. This led me to move to the UK at the end of 2022 to study at the University of Birmingham and attempt to get a grasp on the music industry in Western Europe. I dove headfirst into the European club scene and got the opportunity to work with signed DJs across England and the Netherlands, which is a genre I previously had no experience in. Upon returning from Europe, I was a senior in college and had motivation unlike anything I had felt before.
In my search for what’s next, I had a profound conversation with a longtime recording engineer friend that led me to decide to double down in the city where it all started. Noticing a rapidly growing music scene in Cincinnati, with very little infrastructure or individuals with real industry knowledge to support these upcoming artists, I saw an opportunity to make a change. Within 40 days of this revelation, I signed my first commercial lease at the historic Longworthall in Downtown Cincinnati. Within 70 days, we had a full professional music recording and creative studio built out and open for business, ready to provide industry-quality sound and creative assets to any artist who stepped through our door. Within 250 days, we outgrew our space and expanded to a much larger and more central location. Now, at the time of writing this, we are about a month away from our one-year anniversary and have had hundreds of talented artists and creatives walk through our doors and trust us with their art and vision. Despite the accolades of working with chart-toppers and touring across 47 states and multiple countries, my proudest achievement to this day remains building this company with friends in my hometown. The journey, a symphony of highs and challenges, echoes the resilience of a dream that spawned in my mind almost 7 years ago.
Jake, 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?
Touched on a lot of this in my previous response. As an individual, my work consists of photography, video, social media support, and marketing assets for labels, artists, publications, and brands, mostly in the music industry and subcultures of music. I conduct this work on a national and international scale, which usually consists of traveling to major markets for shows or embarking on full national concert tours documenting musicians’ day-to-day routines. Outside of this, I am the owner of If We Die We Die Studios in Downtown Cincinnati, a full-service music recording and creative studio. The name If We Die We Die stems from my experiences with artists who chase their passions like their life depends on it with no plan B. I am the most proud of the fact I have seen the world, started a business in my hometown, and have had the opportunity to work with artists across a wide variety of genres.
What do you think helped you build your reputation within your market?
The ability to relate with anyone has proven to be the most important skill I have worked to improve since my career started. In the music industry especially, you will encounter individuals who come from all walks of life and experiences, and this requires you to build genuine connections with people you may think you have nothing in common with at first glance. Through working to build this skill, I have grown to truly believe everyone in this world has a common ground in one way or another.
For you, what’s the most rewarding aspect of being a creative?
There really is nothing more satisfying than paying rent every money off money made from your own art. This is something I will never take for granted or stop feeling deep gratitude for.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.jakehicks.com
- Instagram: @jakehicks