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

Megan, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today Do you think your parents have had a meaningful impact on you and your journey?

My parents used to let me experiment artistically with absolutely no boundaries. I remember making a smoothie out of milk, Otter Pops, chocolate syrup, and bubble gum. It sounds disgusting, but the point is, I was creatively unrestricted. I used to build castles from cardboard boxes and egg cartons, and my dad would actually bring home recycled garbage from the grocery store for me to use! I would get in trouble all the time at school for making inventions with school supplies while I was supposed to be learning. My mom would buy me Barbies and let me cut their hair into Mohawks and then dye it with Kool-Aid and lipstick. Even when I visited my grandma, I would sew outfits together, and she would let me use anything in her sewing room.

I hit some rocky roads by the time I was a pre-teen, but through it all, my father has always been full of wisdom. Just the other day he told me, “Megan be a warrior, not a worrier.”

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

I’m a singer-songwriter and a director. I knew I wanted to be a singer since I was old enough to walk. My mother said I had the loudest, deepest, most bellowing voice in the newborn room in the hospital, and that hearing me cry down the hallway was haunting. I started making stop-motion animation films when I was about ten years old, moving around magnets on the refrigerator.

I put my singing ambitions on hold to go to film school. I got a job working for Jerry Bruckheimer Films and then Warner Bros. Television soon after graduating. I was very fortunate to have worked for the biggest pilot director in Hollywood for six years.

I wrote songs and performed them all over Los Angeles to keep my creative fire burning. I started a band called Stalker Kitty which performed up and down the West Coast, but eventually decided to focus my energy on being a solo artist.

I started directing psychedelic music videos for indie bands and R&B acts around Los Angeles, and I produced my first video album, where I got to combine my two passions: music and film.

I was getting restless in LA so I bounced. On a whim, I got in my car with no job lined up, no contacts, and no plan, and drove around the country until I settled in Austin, Texas. I highly don’t recommend anyone ever try that. But somehow I landed on my feet. I started doing executive social for Microsoft. The writing part has been really fun. I write screenplays and writing for an executive is no different than getting into the mind of any character. I’m currently putting the finishing touches on my dream script “The Outlaw Symphony.” My hope is to raise a $200,000 for this low-budget rock-doc mockumentary.

Playing live, recording music and creating video albums are my passions. You can find me playing venues around Austin, Texas and occasionally Los Angeles. I just finished demoing my second full-length album and I have filmed one music video for it so far. I plan to make it a full-length video album. It’s called “I’m Here Now.” Somebody asked me one time while I was driving around the country, “What are you running from?” I decided then and there that it was time to stop running and that I would commit to seeing the beauty and opportunities all around me. “I’m Here Now” is a reminder of that. Look out for it early next year!

What’s the most rewarding aspect of being a creative in your experience?

It’s in the doing! It’s the only time I’m ever fully turned on like a lightbulb. And you have those pieces of art forever, to have and to hold. They keep you warm when you’re sad and continually reignite your fire.

What can society do to ensure an environment that’s helpful to artists and creatives?

People should place higher value on creativity and less on production value. Radio stations should be playing all kinds of music from all kinds of people. Music shouldn’t be a rich kid’s game. We should value the heart, the mind, and the artists’ vision more.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.meganlynnblanchard.com
• Instagram: @meganlynnblanchard
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/meganblanchardmusic
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/meganlynnblanchard/
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCKl0vvY1lHuto-KI5m6hlrA
• Other: SoundCloud: https://soundcloud.com/megan-blanchard-3

Image Credits
Divine Light Photography Zachary Culbertson