We recently connected with Mitchell Brown and have shared our conversation below.

Hi Mitchell, thanks for joining us today. Learning the craft is often a unique journey from every creative – we’d love to hear about your journey and if knowing what you know now, you would have done anything differently to speed up the learning process.

I’ve had the opportunity to learn from incredible teachers and amazing players. Learning at first is slow, it can be overwhelming, and for me felt a little tedious. Most of the songs I listened to at the time had pretty simple bass lines and I just didn’t have fun with it, and that’s the most important thing. I discovered jazz and the freedom that came with it in high school. Bassists are often given chord changes and nothing else, challenging the player to create something that fits into the song. Jazz was a big tool in learning how to play the things that I play now as well as developing my personal sound. I would recommend any musician take time to study jazz as an essential skill and learn the basic ideas and patterns in the music as it’s applicable in many other genres.
My second biggest tool was surrounding myself with people that were passionate about music. I found an entire program full of people that gave me inspiration, lessons, ideas, and opportunities to prove myself. Time with them over the years instilled proper practice techniques, introduced new ideas and perspectives, and provided collaboration opportunities. I was lucky to go to school, but it’s is not required! You can find musicians at open mic nights, gigs, even on social media, and there’s a good chance that they’ll be willing to talk to you about their craft. Absorbing all the knowledge I can find and distilling it into my own creativity make me feel like I grow as a musician faster.
During college, my downfall was comparing myself to other musicians. I was under the notion that music is a competition, and I was jealous of my peers that sounded better or had more theory knowledge. I fixated on others instead of fixing the issues I had in the practice room. Not only did this make it impossible to learn from my colleagues at times, but it made it really hard to make lasting connections. I had convinced myself that I was seen a bad player when in reality, we were all students on individual journeys with unique strengths and weaknesses. Everyone is learning at their own pace and the idea of it being a competition creates a toxicity that poisons the greatness of music.

Mitchell, before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?

I’m Mitchell Brown and I am a musician and sound engineer in Lansing, Michigan. I was introduced to music at a young age by my dad, Lou. Some of my earliest memories are tagging along to band practices and gigs while he played. I always loved low instruments so I found my way to the bass guitar after trying trombone and tuba. I fell and love with the bass during my time at Laingsburg High School. My senior year of high school I won award at an academic music festival and decided to study at a collegiate level. I picked up the double bass and bow and studied for four years at Central Michigan University; graduating in 2018 with a Bachelor’s of Science in Music. I joined Lansing-local band, Tangelo, in 2019 where I met a group of people that would become close friends and refuel my love for live music. While working full time as a cannabis professional and part time musician, I obtained a Masters of Science Administration in 2020.

2021 was the year my life changed when my mother, Tricia, was diagnosed with multiple forms of terminal cancer. She was given five weeks to live with treatment. I was blessed to have much longer than the original five week period, but unfortunately she passed that year. She was my biggest fan and would stop at nothing to support me. I’m crushed to this day and it’s been the hardest period of my life while pulling together the pieces. One of her biggest lessons was to follow my heart, and it’s for her that I’ve decided to do just that.

Music is my passion and I want it to be my career. I used one of the last gifts my mom got me to record Tangelo’s EP in 2023. While doing this I learned the basics of sound engineering as well as mixing/mastering so we could produce the album. During this time I also recorded and released a number of single tracks in a few genres to increase my production knowledge. I then began to do live sound at local venues in Michigan. In addition, I’ve joined a number of new projects playing the bass including The Rupple Brothers & Company. With them, I’ve picked the upright bass back up and have remembered why I loved it in college.

Though I’ve had to go through a lot in the last few years, I truly believe this is the path I’m supposed to be on. Cheers to fulfilling things and new beginnings.

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

Pay them.

In my experience the best way to support artists is to do just that. There are hundreds of bands and thousands of people playing for $5 a person and a pitcher of beer. Exposure has never been a valid currency and as much as I love the idea of bartering, I can’t pay my mortgage with it. We’re living in an age where a 15 second sound clip can get more exposure on an app in 20 minutes than you can get in an entire night at a local bar.

For people who don’t own venues or book musicians, purchase you friends’ their music and merchandise. It sounds simple, but Spotify doesn’t pay well. Ask a musician how you can support them, or subscribe to them on a service like Patreon. Lastly, come out to shows and fill the tip jar. Covers don’t always go to the musicians and is sometimes split with the staff. We just want to survive while doing the things we love!

Can you tell us about a time you’ve had to pivot?

I’ve recently had a separation from a previous hostile work environment. Anyone in a hostile environment can attest to the things it can make you feel. After six years I felt like a different person after the constant screaming and threats. It drained my will to the point where I became deeply depressed.

I’ve been without employment for the first time since I was in my undergrad since February. It’s been incredibly different and I’ve had to change my life quite a bit. Time away from a place like that has allowed me to focus on my health and goals, and I’ve been able to find my creativity and inspiration again.

Through adversity we find strength and that’s what I’m hoping to take away from this experience. I may not be able to control every day but I can control the general trend. Doubling down on my music career has already paid off in ways I couldn’t imagine. I’m so proud of myself and the things I’ve accomplished and I can’t wait to continue down the journey I’ve begun.

Contact Info:

• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/mitchellbrownmusic/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/mitchellbrownmusic/
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/brown9m/
• Other: https://soundcloud.com/mitchellbrownmusic https://mitchellbrownmusic.bandcamp.com

Image Credits
Cover+1: Amber Ottarson 2: Tricia Brown 3: Cam Varner 4+5: Travis Valentine