We recently connected with Justin Kaleb and have shared our conversation below.

Alright, Justin thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. I’m sure there have been days where the challenges of being an artist or creative force you to think about what it would be like to just have a regular job. When’s the last time you felt that way? Did you have any insights from the experience?

I guess that depends on what day it is. I get great fulfillment from having written something that I find meaningful, and an even greater fulfillment when someone else finds it meaningful. But the lows can get pretty low. The hardest part of being an artist for me is finding ways to play and write even when I don’t feel like doing it.

Justin, 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?

I got into music by being born into it. Both my parents and all my siblings are musicians, so it was a big part of our upbringing. I started touring with various bands as a teenager with the full support of my family, which is unbelievably cool.

I’m not sure if proud is the right word, but I’m grateful that I’m able to pivot and change course creatively when working with folks that I trust. I’m very particular about working with people who know me well, and I take their ideas and criticisms very seriously. I don’t tend to take their suggestions personal because I know their intent. It’s helped me create songs that I’d never thought I could. Songs that would never have been written if I’d had let stubbornness get in the way.

What’s a lesson you had to unlearn and what’s the backstory?

I had to unlearn responding and reacting to everything that heightened my senses in the moment. I would end up responding irrationally to situations because I thought it was the right thing to do, but a little patience would have showed me there was more to the story. Social media and text messaging is a death wish for people who struggle with this. My anecdote was to write out my response, sleep on it, and if it still felt good in the morning I would send it. What ends up happening is almost none of my responses ever get sent, and certain bridges are able to be mended instead of burned to the ground.

Any resources you can share with us that might be helpful to other creatives?

I wish I would have read more fiction growing up. The moment I started reading fiction in my 20’s my songwriting improved. There’s too many fences in the real world, and only having that perspective really stunted my creative growth.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://justinkaleb.com/
• Instagram: @justinkalebmusic
• Facebook: @justinkalebmusic
• Twitter: @justinkaleb_
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@justinkaleb

Image Credits
Katty Driggers