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

Ralph Michael, appreciate you joining us today. What’s been the most meaningful project you’ve worked on?

As an actor and musician, I’ve supported myself between shows, working on fellow artists shows as a stage technician and audio engineer. Over 20 years, I was really blessed to work stages large and small from CBGB’s to Woodstock 99. Things got really scary during the pandemic when everything shuttered and the entertainment business came to a grinding halt. I became deeply concerned that his creative career, was over. He may never get the chance again to experience live entertainment again. I was to nervous to wait for things to “return to normal”.

Depressed I began using skills like mindfulness and journaling that I learned from my psychologist. I began going through my old journals and poems for some inspiration. As I was turning pages from the past, I rediscovered an old tune I wrote called, ‘I Remember Those Times.’ I knew I could work with other musicians remote, regardless of the coronavirus. We each could play our own parts in our own home studios. So working with Grammy nominated producer Fabrice Vignati, I recorded the song “I Remember Those Times” to share with the world.

Since starting the project, I’ve started recording other songs in hopes of completing an album of original music. I also perform for audiences in live streams and at socially distanced live shows. By harnessing fear and anxiety and redirecting that energy, I achieved a goal of sharing my message of hope and happiness with audiences during a difficult time. In addition to recording and releasing music, under the stage name Buddy Greenbloom, recording remotely has allowed me to branch out into voice acting and singing roles on an animated television show called The High Life, streaming on Flow1 Jamaica and ALTRD.tv.

Ralph Michael, 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 got into the industry in 1992 playing in a band called the Aprils, which opened for popular Tempe bands, I graduated from Conservatory of Recording Arts & Sciences in 1996 which led to me joining IATSE in 1998 to work on “Three Kings” as a set builder and assistant to the art director.

The type of creative works I create are mixed media art, motion pictures, television programing & commercial phono records. I also provide I help clients actualize real world creative solutions for their multimedia productions and live events by providing production design, multimedia development and stage production services to clients. My authentic voice and unique experiences set me apart from others.

I’m most proud of putting myself out there for the world to see and still being available and present for friends and family.

The main things I want fans to know about me are I appreciate their love and support for my projects. I do it for you!

Do you think there is something that non-creatives might struggle to understand about your journey as a creative? Maybe you can shed some light?

It’s hard to quantify the value of creativity, the creative process, and the net value of creative works. I think many logic-based non-creatives struggle with spending time, let alone money, on what appears to be a luxury “want” and not a primary “need” for survival. When the needs are met, most humans will opt to purchase a functional designer item with household brand name recognition, like a car, purse or shoes, before investing in a creative endeavor or purchasing an original work of art. Unless the non-creative is urged by the need to keep up with a colleague, their next stop is to purchase pop culture entertainment, which by the nature of commerce has been a race to the creative bottom, as studios and producers progressively eliminate originality to produce commercial results predictably and consistently. The net effect is that non-creatives lose faith in creativity when they assess its cash value versus the intrinsic human value of sharing thoughts and ideas.

The link between time and creativity has been well researched in academia: one of the largest studies, Creativity ‘Under The Gun’ by Teresa Amabile, Professor of Business Administration at Harvard Business School, found that people were least creative when they were fighting the clock – and that when people are working under great pressure, their creativity reduces not only on that day but the next two as well. The three pillars of any creative endeavor are time, resources and quality. The perfect outcome is when all three are balanced, but rarely are creatives afforded the time, and resources to create something of quality, thus the casual non-creative observer can deduce the process is inefficient and commercially non-productive, thus not worthy of additional time and resource allocation. One thing is clear, creatives did not create the economic system we are coping with today.

Then there’s the dilemma of ex nihilo; something from nothing. To the casual observer a creative comes up with something from nothing, and since it didn’t “cost” the creative anything but perhaps time and minimal resources, why should the non-creative pay the creative? Creativity appears ethereal and “free.” This trends human logic to assume creativity and the creative process is not “real work”, but merely play. In the eyes of most non-creatives, painting, acting, and/or singing are hobbies that one should pursue as an adjunct to a “real” job, like teaching a hobby. The sentiment I’ve experienced from non-creatives is the more you enjoy the process of work, the less value there is in your work. It’s true even in a day job. The barista who is humming along smiling is usually the first one to be demerited for petty corporate policies, while the one who appears to hate the job gets promoted.

I can’t provide much insight to non-creatives. I undervalue their Beemer and boring country club luncheons, as much as they undervalue my creativity. Creatives are in a gross minority and we need to accept ourselves as outliers and renegades and not delude ourselves into believing we have the power to change non-creatives into creatives. The best you can do is create good work and be satisfied with your work.

What do you find most rewarding about being creative?

Of the U.S. population participating in personal creativity activities such as music-making, painting, drawing, and photography (surveyed from 2002 to 2010) only 18.5 percent of the population participated in personal creativity activities. Not even professionally. Personal creative activities. Only 2% become professional creatives. Given that less than 1/5th of the US population engages in creative activities as a hobby, it’s truly remarkable I’ve eeked out a living and a name for myself.

Not only as a fine artist, but as a SAG actor, and ASCAP songwriter as well. When times are slow and my accounts looking lean, I have to remind myself the greatest reward is being able to create. To get paid for something most people see as a hobby is really rewarding, like being a pro ballplayer. Growing up, almost every kid plays in a little league team. But how many make it to the major leagues? The most rewarding part of my career is realizing I’m in the major leagues. My fine art is collected internationally, housed in museums and private collections, my face has appeared on national television in shows like ‘NCIS’ and ‘For All Mankind’, I’ve collaborated on TV pilots with JJ Abrahms as a set decorator, and my songs are receiving commercial radio airplay. The reward is realizing I’m doing something rare and exceptional, no matter how normal it seems to me, I do not lead a normal life.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.BuddyGreenbloom.com
• Instagram: https://instagram.com/buddygreenbloom
• Facebook: https://instagram.com/buddygreenbloom
• Linkedin: https://LinkedIn.com/in/BrekanArts
• Twitter: https://twitter.com/buddygreenbloom
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC2g0Xy123Ls96zpK25I_szg
• Other: FINE ART: www.MyAwesomeArt.com ART DIRECTION/PRODUCTION DESIGN: www.BrekanArts.com MUSIC: www.BuddyGreenbloom.com I have an album coming out later this year so I’m heavily promoting my singer-songwriter persona, Buddy Greenbloom, gothic cowboy, this season.