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

Myles, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. Earning a full time living from one’s creative career can be incredibly difficult. Have you been able to do so and if so, can you share some of the key parts of your journey and any important advice or lessons that might help creatives who haven’t been able to yet?

I do earn a full-time living in the industry of music. It is my belief that my past, as well as the rest of our paths are forged before we are birthed. I am a follower of Christ therefore I believe that God had in his plans for me to be not just a performing musician, but a music educator. The problem was I did not think so. I remember my band director from high school, Mr. Robert A. Cross (RIP) asked me in the last semester of my senior year what my major would be. I told him “Performance.” and he responded, “No.” the look on my face was of confusion. He told me that I need to be a music education major because teaching would keep a paycheck on my table every two weeks and prevent me from financially struggling. What he did not say was that the majority of performance happens at night and on weekends anyway, so me being young and stubborn I disregarded what he said. When I got to college I made performance my major. And then one day I looked at my schedule and saw that my major had been entered as music education. I went to my dean Mr Brian Schilander (RIP) and told him that my major was entered wrong. He said “No Myles, you need to be a music education major. It is in your best interest.” So I rolled with it because obviously somebody knew something that I didn’t. However, I still was against it.
As I began progressing along early in my teaching career, it dawned on me that the aforementioned men understood that I was a performer, but having a day job as a music educator would allow me to be choosy about what performances I decide to engage. This is the problem with young people, they know nothing but think they know everything lol. Once I got Hitt to the fact that I could teach during the day and pay my bills with that money while performing at night making extra money for the clothes that I wanted to wear for the vehicle that I wanted to drive I was OK. Now again, I say this was my path. I have colleagues such as trumpeter Corey Wilks, or drummer Lawrence Leathers (RIP) who make/made their living by performing only.
Once I submitted to being a Music educator, I found happiness not only in plane but also in teaching. When I teach, I pull out my horn and play along with the students so that I get practice time in on my horn.. piano with my piano instrument so I have to use my own time to practice piano but that’s OK. I would’ve been doing that anyway if I were strictly performance..

Myles, 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 have been in music all of my life. My first memory of life is me sitting next to the B3 Organ that my father was playing at our church in Chicago. I was born in the church, raised in the church, and will live in the church for the rest of my days. I play the organ every Sunday at church and have been since I was a child.. I attended Roosevelt University in Chicago, Illinois as a music education, major with an emphasis in jazz. My teaching career started while I was in college because my junior high band director Mr. Walt Skocz hired me in Park Forest District 163 to teach fifth grade band. I was 19 at the time. I learned more in the classroom as a teacher than I did in the classroom as a student. The working classroom will teach you how to teach the same concept multiple ways because everyone does not learn the same way. I’ve learned how to think on my feet and take other influences in my life and communicate one concept. When I’m teaching Jazz, I often reference food because I like to cook. So when I am teaching about harmony, I talk about seasonings. Or I will use colors… I will take different color dry erase markers and draw to communicate what different harmonies look like in my eyes. I am a composer and arranger. I wrote my first piece in eight grade. I competed in the composer’s contest for the Illinois Music Educator’s Conference and won third place. I won first place for improvisation and sat 3rd chair jazz piano my junior year(1995-1996). I sat first chair jazz piano my senior year(1996-1997).
I am proud that my music began in the church and allows me to touch the hearts of my listeners being it in the church pew or at the bar of the jazz club. Music allows me to give back to people. My viewpoint is that I get to take my listener on a vacation from their problems as longs as I’m playing. It is the ultimate universal language.

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

I believe most non-creatives don’t understand that the mind is a creative is in perpetual motion. I often say it jokingly, but I do mean it when I say that there is a DJ in the back of my head constantly spinning records. There’s always a song playing in the back of my head. Sometimes I can’t sleep because of it. The music consumes me so much that I have to break myself away from it so that I can be a husband and a father. By me being a natural introvert plus a creative I can sit by myself for hours and work.. my wife and my son are very extroverted and I have to pull myself out of my own world in order to engage them. My wife is a total opposite of me, she is a corporate woman and soul. Sometimes she doesn’t understand my plight as a creative.. That’s not to say she doesn’t support me but sometimes she just doesn’t understand. Early in our marriage it befuddled her to see me teach all day and then go somewhere and play all night, come home and sleep for about three hours and get up and do it all over again. This is the spirit of the creative. We do what we have to do so we can do what we want to do. If I had to advise the non creative of anything it would be don’t take it personal when the creative spends more time with the art than with you. It doesn’t mean that they don’t love you or don’t care for you, it means they are consumed.. It’s really hard to explain the consumption….. you just have to be in the craft to understand it.

What do you think is the goal or mission that drives your creative journey?

The current goal driving my mission is to teach disenfranchise, underprivileged, and underserved children how to play music. College is expensive, some kids have aspirations of going to college. If I can teach, you know how to proficiently play their instruments, they can take it to school and audition to play in one of the ensembles and kids scholarship money as a non-music major. That of course, is the teaching aspect that I speak of. What drives my performance mission is simply putting out great music to touch the hearts of anyone who is willing to listen.

Contact Info:

• Website: under construction
• Instagram: theofficialmylestateiii
• Facebook: Myles Tate, III also Myles Ahead Music
• Linkedin: Myles Tate, III
• Youtube: Myles Ahead Music

Image Credits

Brian Seay
Mike Dorn