We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Lisa Febre a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Lisa, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. Are you happier as a creative? Do you sometimes think about what it would be like to just have a regular job? Can you talk to us about how you think through these emotions?

From my very first memories, I knew that I wanted to be a musician. It was mostly about the performing aspect of the path that drew me–as a child I was a “show off” who loved to dance and sing in front of family at gatherings, and stepping onto the stage for my first piano recital at the ripe old age of 4, I felt like I had found my calling. But it wasn’t just performing that excited me. As my music education progressed, I discovered I also loved to write music, whether that was little piano pieces or pop songs that gave me a chance to write lyrics.

When I was 8 years old, my mother gave me her old manual typewriter. She taught me to touch type, probably thinking this would just give me something interesting to do. But what actually happened was she gave me a physical way to transmit the thoughts in my head to the paper in real time. The barrier of holding a pencil and trying to write legibly was removed, and I could type nearly as fast as I could think. Suddenly, a whole new world of creativity opened up to me. I was sitting in my bedroom typing stories nearly every single day. As a teenager, I was doing several creative things all at once–I was performing on stage as a musician, writing songs which I could sing and record, writing short stories for myself, and articles for the school paper. When it came time to apply to college, I had choices. Some teachers were encouraging me to major in critical or creative writing, though I had already set my heart on studying music.

As my life has progressed, I found success on the stage as a musician, and found it very edifying to teach music as well. All along, I have continued to write both music and words. In the early 2000s, I was doing quite a bit of blogging (I had a vegan food blog) and was “discovered” by a Canadian Online Publication called T.O.F.U.. I was recruited to write articles for them, and it was through this work that I learned that I really did love to write just as much as I loved music. So why should I choose between the two? Why not do both? Being able to pursue both creative outlets has been absolutely satisfying and I truly love what I do. Put me on stage, and I’m full of smiles and joy; ask me to write about a particular topic, and I will sit at the computer and immerse myself for hours.

Sometimes I do think about what it would be like to have a regular job. As a freelance musician, I spend a lot of time “between the trapeze swings”–a term coined by my husband, who is a composer for tv and film. We get a job, we perform, we get paid, and then… we wait for the next one. We spend the majority of our time between jobs, which can be precarious, scary, and frustrating. It would be great to get a paycheck every two weeks, a steady amount of money that we know we can count on. But that’s not the life I chose.

I had excelled in math and science in high school. So of course there were some people who thought the “correct” path for me was to become a doctor. Other than being curious about the science aspect of it, I had no interest in doing this as a career. I would be lying, though, if there weren’t times when I am anxious for another performing gig when I think how different my life would have been if I’d actually gone to med school. Sure I would have a bigger house, a fancier car, and more exotic vacations. But would I be happy? Would I truly love my job? When I play out this parallel reality in my mind, I just can’t see myself being as happy as I am right now. I can’t see a way that more money would ever make me happier, and certainly the stress of having a regular job is the nail in the coffin.

Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.

After graduating from college, I went to work right away as a performing classical musician. It wasn’t full-time work, it certainly didn’t pay the bills, so I also started teaching private music lessons four hours a day, six days a week. At first, teaching was just supposed to supplement my income, but I quickly discovered that I not only enjoyed imparting musical knowledge on the youth of my community, but I loved getting to know all the kids and knowing that I was a safe adult in their lives. To this day, many of my former students stay in touch with me, sharing their wedding and baby photos with me. I taught lessons for almost 30 years before taking a break during the COVID lockdown.

Unfortunately, it was during the lockdown that I was diagnosed with Stage-4 Colon Cancer. I had planned to get back to work after the lockdown ended, but instead I had to take time off from working to focus on my treatments. It was during the first round of treatments, in 2022, that I spent much of my time writing. Those essays became my first book, which was published in 2023. After the publication of that book, I began to question my professional path. I had always loved performing on stage, but I was also enjoying writing, and whenever I was feeling well, giving talks to audiences of other cancer patients and survivors. Standing behind the podium and speaking was very much like performing music. I instantly fell in love with it.

So how do I picture my professional life moving forward? With metastatic cancer, there will never be a time when I’m “cured,” so getting back to work might always be a stop-and-start affair. Can I be ok with this? That’s the question I’ve had to ask myself multiple times. Can I find a way to balance the things I love and forge a new career path with cancer always in the background?

Because I have to quarantine often during treatments, I spend that time doing proofreading and editing work for other writers. In a strange way, this combines my love of the written word with my love of teaching. I’ve met so many interesting writers thanks to this work, who I probably would never have met if I’d just been focusing on music or my own writing projects.

The opportunity to speak to audiences is high up on my wishlist now. There are people who need to hear my story, not just because it’s about cancer, but because anyone who has been through trauma can find something to relate to in it. I see myself helping others through their difficult times by showing them how I did it. Sometimes people don’t need to be told how to do something, they just need to see the example and take away what they need from it.

Last year, during a period where I was between treatments, I spoke to an audience at my hospital. There were 100 people listening to me–patients, survivors, caregivers, hospital administration–and afterward I had a chance to speak to people one-on-one. Although everyone heard the exact same speech, not a single person mentioned the exact same line or moment or photo. People were touched by very different aspects of my experience, and I was astounded to see that the reactions to my story were as varied as the people listening to me. I learned a valuable lesson not to make assumptions about what people are “supposed” to get from my story. Just tell it, and the rest will fall into place.

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

Often, those who don’t work in the creative field tend not to understand the value of what we provide. Too many times someone who wanted me to play a wedding acted surprised that I would ask for money for my service. Sure, what we do is “intangible,” but that does not make it any less valuable. I can’t think of a single expert in their field who hasn’t spent hours learning and perfecting their craft (whether they are doctors, electricians, car salesmen, or musicians) to be the best that they can be. We don’t think twice about paying someone large hourly fees to fix our car, but we question paying a musician significantly less to teach our children.

What we do as creatives is not a hobby or something to pass the time, it’s our life’s passion, and ultimately our livelihood. Expecting a living wage for what I do is not unrealistic. The consumer/audience, is in a strange position where they love what we do, but undervalue the worth.

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

When the audience thinks of “classical musicians,” they picture an orchestra on stage. They purchased expensive tickets, got dressed up, and spent a fancy evening enjoying a high-quality performance. They may assume that those on stage are being paid well, or maybe they assume the musicians have other jobs. Whatever the case, the general assumption is that all classical musicians play with an orchestra. But this is not the case.

There are a large number of us working “in the trenches” of the freelance world. Here in Los Angeles, we are lucky to have many smaller orchestras to perform with, even if many of those orchestras don’t pay, or pay much. Many of us make our own opportunities, using word of mouth and referring our colleagues for smaller jobs. I spent a lot of time in my 20s as a “decoy musician” in college orchestras–when schools didn’t have enough students to fill seats, they would hire young looking pros to sit in and play. My point being, that most of us piece together a living with various jobs that have no resemblance to what most concertgoers see on stage.

It’s by buying tickets to these smaller orchestras, hiring live musicians for personal events (i.e. weddings, graduations, retirement parties, etc), and attending music in your community, that people can support the art going on all around them. Understanding that our society is not whole without music and the arts. Putting the value on not just the product, but the skills needed to perform to these standards. Respecting musicians (and artists) for what they do, just as we accept doctor or lawyer as a worthwhile career path, let’s celebrate those who choose a less traditional path as artists.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://lisafebre.com
• Instagram: @lisa.febre
• Facebook: @lisa.a.febre
• Linkedin: @lisafebreauthor

Image Credits

All photos by Lisa and Louis Febre