Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Joseph Lekkas . We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.
Joseph , thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us 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?
I’ve been able to earn a living from a combination of different facets of the music business for over 20 years. I’ve never been able to make a living wage from JUST performing music, but through a combination of different freelance jobs in addition to performance. First by teaching guitar, then by booking shows, booking tours, learning record and helping others make records. It’s always a hustle, but a fun one
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?
I am the bassist and singer of the band Palm Ghosts. I also record and mix all of our music in my home studio. We have 6 full length records and 6 EPs / Compilations including a slew of singles. Our music is a cinematic mix of 80s new wave music with touches of 90s britpop and shoegaze. I also work as a booking agent for Bonfire Music Group, routing my clients on national tours. I started in the business side of music as a talent buyer in Philadelphia in the early 2000s. I’ve recently become the talent buyer for The Eighth Room in Nashville, one of the most beautiful and artist friendly small sized venues in the country, to my knowledge, and I’ve played many clubs in my years of touring.
Let’s talk about resilience next – do you have a story you can share with us?
In order to work in a creative business you need to be resilient. Honestly, most people look at creative artists pursuing their careers as unrealistic or foolish. That may have changed a bit since the pandemic, since people seem to be reevaluating their lives, but in general, if you aren’t working toward a “sensible” or “safe” career, people tend to look down upon you. When you work in the creative arts as an artist or business owner, or for any freelancer for that matter, you need to roll with constant financial changes. You also have to stomach criticism of your work. You have to play for empty rooms, expect thousands of unanswered emails from record labels, booking agents, clubs, play-listers, publicists and music journalists. You aren’t doing this for the glory, you have to really believe there is no other life for you than this and go for it. But that doesn’t mean you have to live in squalor. You just have to find creative ways to pay the bills so you can also work on your art. I’ve luckily been able to do that, with varying degrees of success for about 20 years now.
How can we best help foster a strong, supportive environment for artists and creatives?
First of all, people should stop looking down at creatives as unrealistic or as lesser-than themselves. Just because a person chooses a creative life over a financially secure one doesn’t mean they aren’t doing equally important work. Think for a second a life without music, art or movies. Would that be a tolerable life? For most, no.
I think if people love and respect art in their own lives and have some financial stability, they should support an artist who may not have the same degree of stability directly. There are so many ways to do so these days, through crowd funding, services like etsy and bandcamp. Pay more than an artist wants for a record. If your life is too busy to go see a band live, at the very least buy their records, support them on Patreon or simply send them money. Show your appreciation through financial support. It will mean so much more to that artist than you even know.
One other important point is that most artists you like, unless they are a label-backed pop star, are making much less money than you think they are. Much less. It’s much easier to connect with listeners than just 10 years ago, so you may think a band traveling around and playing clubs or even theaters are doing well financially. 9 times our of 10, you’d be shocked at how little they actually make. So, if you like them and their music means something to you, support them financially. If you don’t, most won’t be around in 3 years.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://palmghosts.net/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/palmghosts/?hl=en
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/palmghosts/
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/PalmGhosts
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/user/palmghosts/videos
- Other: The booking agency where I work: https://www.bonfiremusicgroup.com/touring/ The venue I book: https://www.eighthroom.com/