Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Joseph Rusnak. 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 happy as a creative professional? Do you sometimes wonder what it would be like to work for someone else?

I find myself asking this question quite often. I believe that I’m happy with my work. Over the past few years I’ve heavily indulged my “fun” music project, Glo Phase, which in doing so can make work music really seem that much more like work. For me it definitely requires a constant discipline in balancing the two. Because of that I’ve wondered about that exact relationship; art for art’s sake vs. art for money, and how they might negatively effect each other. For some they’re essentially the same thing and I’ve found myself to be jealous of those with that mentality. To answer more concisely, I am extremely fulfilled creatively but do ponder if my life would somehow be simpler if I weren’t combining the two. Honestly though, even with regards to my work music, I’m not sure what else I would want to do.

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’ve always heavily emphasized and prioritized creativity with my music, really from day one. Others might gravitate more toward mastering an instrument but the entire musical arrangement has always been my focus. Because of the two, moving into writing music for libraries, etc., was really pretty organic occurrence. Currently I primarily write for a handful of these libraries, and earn royalties, mainly from quite a bit of television. I’ve also done a little bit of film scoring and hope to move into that a bit more.

I’m extremely proud of my ability to efficiently hone in on emotion through music and elicit the desired effect for my clients. I’m also proud of my music versatility and what I believe is a keen ability to communicate complex musical ideas effectively in basic language.

Is there something you think non-creatives will struggle to understand about your journey as a creative?

It’s always flattering to be told “you’re very talented, etc.”, and I think some may certainly have more of a natural ability with music and art, but by in large, for both the large majority or creatives and the strength of their work there’s a serious amount of time and devotion that we put in. The idea of 10,000 hours to achieve mastery is a bit arbitrary and certainly skill relevant. With regards to all things musical I was likely around there by my mid 20s and certainly not even remotely close to a master of anything musical. In short, time and effort are paramount with creative pursuits.

How can we best help foster a strong, supportive environment for artists and creatives?

Oh wow so much but I’ll just name a single concern I’ve been fixated on more recently; social media algorithms and content vs art. In a sense, you might say that social media algorithms have replaced major labels as a sort of gatekeeping with what reaches our eyes an ears. That’s fine and I suppose there might always be some sort of barrier with that, the issue more so lies with how artists create and how we consume art. There’s an ever increasing disposability with music; furthermore attention spans are driven down and songs reduced to sound bites. I’m absolutely not a tech savvy person nor do I may more attention to social media than I’m not exactly sure who’s to blame here. To a degree we shape the algorithm I suppose so we ‘re in control to a degree? There’s maybe some sort of feedback loop there that seems to be intensifying. A counterarguement could be that technology has always influenced how we consume and therefore create art.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.josephrusnakmusic.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/glo_phase/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/glophasemusic/
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/josephrusnakmusic/
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@GloPhase
• Other: https://glophase.bandcamp.com/

Image Credits
Ryan Michael White, Luiza Sarbu, Kirsten Lowe-Rebel