We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Rob Janicke a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.
Rob, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. Alright – so having the idea is one thing, but going from idea to execution is where countless people drop the ball. Can you talk to us about your journey from idea to execution?
It was early April 2020. I was in my backyard watching my dog play and thinking about how bizarre life was at that moment. We were living through a global pandemic, the likes of which we hadn’t seen in over a century, and no one knew how to act or what to do. Most of us were prisoners in our own homes, and with nothing to do but think, the mind tends to wander.
Earlier in the day, the year 1991 was said on the radio and caught my attention. As a music fan, writer, and at the time, a record label owner, that specific year wields immense power in my mind. For myself and most of the Gen Xers out there, 1991 changed the world as we knew it forever. I was a freshman in college and before my first semester was over, Nirvana had exploded onto the scene, with Pearl Jam, Alice in Chains, and Soundgarden not too far behind. Music and popular culture would never be the same again. Upon hearing 1991 on that day, it made me go back to those times and I realized that the following year (2021) would be 30 years since that pivotal time in history began. It blew my mind that nearly three decades had passed and yet I still listen to and love that music and that so many aspects of my current life and personality were shaped all those years ago. If I felt that way, I knew millions of others had to as well. I went back into the house and began writing down the thoughts, feelings, and emotions this revelation had conjured up inside me.
Months had gone by and those thoughts that were initially scribbled down on pads and scraps of paper, then eventually a Google doc, had somehow grown to over 30,000 words and was starting to take the shape of a book. Up until that point in my life, I had written countless articles, essays, reviews, and interviews about music and culture, but not once did I think I’d write a book. I decided that this was indeed a book though and since I’d not seen one like it already out in the world, why couldn’t I be the one to put it out there? But how? I knew nothing about writing or publishing a book so where do I begin? I began looking for a publisher to work with and sent out queries that largely went unanswered. On the rare occasion that someone did take the time to reply, the answer was always a polite “no thanks”.
One day, while I was at a coffee shop with my cousin who had just had her children’s book published, I revealed to her that I was also writing a book. She was probably the first person other than my wife to hear me say those words. She would go on to send an introductory email to her publisher about me and that too went unanswered for at least a month or so. Just when I thought this book would never materialize, my cousin’s publisher wrote me and we scheduled a meeting. They loved my idea and after sharing my “book” in its current form with them and some back and forth on ideas and creative directions we all had, we struck a deal. Just knowing other people understood and had faith in my vision for this book and what it could mean to music fans around the world was overwhelming. It added a layer of confidence to the project that I didn’t know I had. I was going to write this book and it was going to be in the world.
Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.
As I said before, I’m from that misunderstood generation known as Generation X. We are the last generation to have grown up in the pre-digital, pre-internet era, and the first generation to have had to straddle the line between the pre and post-digital world in real-time. We are largely the product of divorce (my dad left when I was five years old) and had to grow up figuring many things out for ourselves. We were taught that going to college and/or getting a city or state job was the best path to success and anything else was a pipe dream. If you were into music, writing, painting, acting, or anything creative and “out of the ordinary”, especially in a place like Brooklyn, NY where I’m from, you were laughed at if you wanted to pursue any of those disciplines as a “real” career. So, stupidly, I followed suit with that line of thinking because that’s what was all around me and I kept my musical and writing aspirations mostly to myself. I got the college degree, and the 9-5 New York City job in corporate America, and suppressed my true dreams and desires for other people’s ideas of who and what I should be.
I have been writing poetry, song lyrics, and short stories since I was about 13 or 14 years old but kept that secret to myself. I knew I wanted to write for a living and be involved in the music industry from a very young age. I just didn’t have the support from anyone in my life back then who could help me travel down that path. After getting laid off from yet another corporation in 2015 I said, “Screw this, I’m never going back. I’m a writer and I need to do that for the rest of my life.” I was a married father of a baby girl then and had a son on the way. Not the best time to lose a job with good pay and go after some “pipe dream”. But what kind of father or husband could I truly be, what kind of example would I be for my children if I couldn’t even be true to myself? It was difficult and my wife and I made sacrifices, but for my mental well-being and the long-term benefits for our kids, we made it work. We agreed we wanted our children to grow up knowing that if you’re passionate about something you have to follow your heart, work like hell, and live the life you know you’re meant to live. I didn’t want them to wait until they were in their 40s like I did before they figured it out.
So, I re-started a blog that I had created years before, which led to the creation of an independent record label where I released both digital and vinyl music for artists from different musical genres, and ultimately to becoming an author with one book finished and close to publication, and two more in the works as you read this interview today. I’ve been asked to speak at different events and institutions to show people that believing in yourself and changing the trajectory of your life and livelihood is very possible. If I can do it, I know anyone can. This is the message that I feel is most important and what sets me apart from other writers or authors. I’m a regular person, I’m passionate and genuine. I’m not the smartest, didn’t have the best grades, and didn’t go to Ivy League schools, I just know what I love and it comes across to those who read my work or listen to me speak.
Are there any books, videos, essays or other resources that have significantly impacted your management and entrepreneurial thinking and philosophy?
This is a very interesting question for me because the answer is yes but it doesn’t come from a traditional source. I’ve read many books written by people I admire or about the lives and careers of artists I like. I love watching documentaries that inspire me, usually about musicians or writers. But the answer to your question is a YouTube channel.
Rick Beato, who is a musician and producer, and is about 10 years older than I am, created a YouTube channel that highlights and discusses the music I love from the point of view of a fan. Rick is a brilliant musician and a great producer, but what makes me watch his videos (including all of the interviews he conducts with some of my favorite artists of all time) is the pure passion and joy he gets from doing it all. He’s a regular guy, just like me.
Neither one of us are 20, 30, or even 40-something-year-olds who grew up with all of this technology. We didn’t live in a world where talking to our musical heroes was even a thought in our heads, People growing up in the age of social media do not find it astonishing to interact with their idols but we do. Rick is a fan, first and foremost. His genuine love for the music and the creation of music shines through in each video he releases and I identified with him and the reasons he does what he does from the very first time I saw one of his videos. If he could do the thing he loves the most and make a living from it, why couldn’t I? Watching his channel grow and seeing the people he now gets to interact with is a pleasure and it’s a beautiful reminder of what the power of music can do.
For you, what’s the most rewarding aspect of being a creative?
Being a creative person has so many rewards, that it’s hard to say what the most rewarding aspect is. If I have to choose just one though, I’d say it’s the ability to be and express who I really am. No filters, no masks, no fake persona for the benefit of others. True art is meant to satisfy the artist. It’s an expression or even an extension of who that person is from the inside out. I wasn’t able to fully appreciate that or if I did appreciate it, I wasn’t able to let myself be it for most of my life.
It takes courage to be an artist or a creative person. You have to shed the comfort of pleasing those around you. You need to live in vulnerability and know that it’s perfectly fine to do so. Since I made the decision to switch gears in my life back in 2015 and pursue what and who I’ve always known myself to be, it’s given me the ability to not care about what others think of or say about me, and it’s allowed me to be the person I know I’m supposed to be. It’s not a selfish thing either. I believe that if I’m true to myself I’m better to and for those around me as well as those who read my work. I hope I can inspire other people to be themselves completely, even if that person has been hiding for decades like I was.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.robjanicke.com/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/rob_janicke/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/rob.janicke
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/robjanicke/
- Twitter: https://x.com/RobJanicke
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@robjanicke
- Other: https://medium.com/@robjanicke
Image Credits
Bridget Helene Photography
Rob Janicke