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

Hi Joshua, thanks for joining 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?

Making a living off of my music has always been a huge goal. Unfortunately, that hasn’t happened in my nine years of making music, but I’m continuing to pursue it. Sometimes it can be demotivating not seeing the numbers go up much over time, but that’s just a part of the grind for most artists. It’s rare to blow up out of nowhere. I’ve been focusing recently on trying to gain even just one new fan a day. I think having that mindset helps you stay on track as the days go by. It’s been working for me so far but we’ll see how it goes.

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’m an independent artist from Arizona. I’ve been making music since I was 15 and I’m hoping to continue to do it for many more years. It’s always been the easiest way for me to express myself as I’ve never been very good at talking to close ones about my thoughts. I think people who are looking for someone to relate to during lower moments of their life, my music might be for them. I simply write about my life and turn it into music. Personal/storytelling rap has helped me through many stages of my life so if I can provide that same comfort for others, that would be extremely fulfilling.

For you, what’s the most rewarding aspect of being a creative?

Initially, the relief I get from putting my feelings and thoughts onto paper and turning that into a song I can listen to is extremely rewarding. However, posting it and seeing others comment about how it’s helped them through their situations is probably just a step above it helping me. Nothing makes my day more than seeing the positive impact my music has.

Looking back, are there any resources you wish you knew about earlier in your creative journey?

Understanding the business side of music and having access to resources related to that early on would have provided more opportunity for me when I first started out. However, my music wasn’t as good as it is now, so it’s possible that not having as much reach earlier was a good thing!

Contact Info:

• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/jay140music/
• Youtube: https://youtube.com/@Jay140Music?si=oVpAkhUIEDcKsUZ_