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

Hi Rohan , thanks for joining us today. Can you talk to us about how you learned to do what you do?

Aside from classical+jazz piano lessons that I took when I young, I am an entirely self taught producer and designer. I learned most of what I know through two methods: Youtube and self exploration. When youre attempting to teach yourself a craft but you suffer from being impatient like I do, it can be tough to follow in depth tutorials or commit yourself to really diving into one specific topic – what I did find endless patience for though was the process of exploring creation softwares on my own and coming to my own conclusions, while developing my own approach. In retrospect, I think I could have benefitted from learning foundational knowledge with a little more discipline so that I would not have wasted as much time learning basic features of my softwares, and so that I would be creating in a more efficient way. The skills that have been most essential to me are deep focus and patience. When you first start out learning to use new mediums to create art through, theres a huge gap between what you would like to make, and what you are actually able to make. The frustration that comes from this divide can definitely discourage artists and convince them that maybe things should be coming more naturally to them, but by remaining endlessly patient and committing to closing the gap between ideation and execution, I slowly but surely found myself feeling more and more in tune with my brain. The obstacles that most often stood in the way of learning more was school & work. As a student in a major completely unrelated to my passions and a worker in a position that didnt fully leverage my creativity, I found it difficult to balance getting my essential work done and still finding time to create from an inspired place.

As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?

My name is Rohan Mudgal, and I produce music and create visual designs under the artist name ROHO. I dove into the world of art at a young age through my involvement with learning the piano and taking photographs. As I grew older and my tastes grew more refined I worked my way through different areas of music and design until I found the fields that resonated with me most: hip hop production and 3D design. I’ve had the honor of collaborating with some of my favorite musical artists and brands by offering a wide variety of artistic services including: production for albums, visual design for music projects, immersive 3D visuals for shows/events, graphic design, UI/UX design, architectural renders, and more. Im most proud of the way I have been able to develop a unique style between both of my main mediums. By paying little attention to trends and always emphasizing the act of creating from inspired places, I’ve been able to find a voice for myself within everything that I make that has started to become quickly recognizable to onlookers.

In your view, what can society to do to best support artists, creatives and a thriving creative ecosystem?

I think the absolute best thing society can do to encourage artists and a thriving ecosystem is to support a wider variety of art and artistic visions. The funneling of creativity into narrow channels that are deemed “popular” by mainstream media or that are more likely to make you go viral, has ultimately resulted in a dilution of popular art and a demotivating factor for artists who are looking to experiment with their work while still supporting themselves off of it. I think the allocation of funds (by those with the most money) towards more underground artists and the creation of opportunities (collaborations, festivals, sync licensing) for communities outside of popular culture can do amazing things for the health of the creative ecosystem.

What’s a lesson you had to unlearn and what’s the backstory?

One of the biggest ideas I had to unlearn was that I am owed any soft of attention or love for the work that I make. Though its definitely an important part of an artists journey to be able to validate their visions by having other people engage with their work, at the end of the day that is not at all what actually determines the value of your work. I had to unlearn the concept of being owed any type of success for my work, and rather pivot towards a mindset where I focused on making work that I love and am proud of, while trusting that creating regularly and with a high degree of consistency would ultimately land my work in front of the right eyes.

Contact Info:

• Instagram: rohan.jpg
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/rohan-mudgal-64a498b2/
• Twitter: @notROHO
• Other: Spotify: ROHO

Image Credits

First image (of myself) taken by Takeo