We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Ross Collins a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.
Ross, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today What’s been the most meaningful project you’ve worked on?
I feel like meaningful projects have become a lost art in today’s music. Everything seems to be catered to playlist, viral trends and algorithm’s. I couldn’t see myself falling in love with modern music the way I fell in love with album’s like, The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill, Drake’s Take Care, Kanye’s Graduation, Marvin Gaye’s What’s Going On, Kendrick Lamar’s To Pimp a Butterfly, Alicia Key’s The Diary of Alicia Keys and the list goes on. If I had to have any goal within music, it would be to bring the substance and meaning back to the forefront.
Ross, 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?
My name is Ross Collins, I’m 28 years old and I’ve been making music now for four and a half years. Life’s struggles led me to music. I started off writing poetry and I eventually moved to California in 2017 to attempt to get a book I wrote off the ground. It didn’t work out, to say the least and for a year and a half I worked at a bookstore in West LA. A friend of mine, who is a music producer came to visit and he introduced me to an engineer who has become one of my closest friends. We made a project together called Sounds Like Summer in 2019 and I’ve been in love with the craft ever since. I never saw myself making music, but once I started, it felt like I found my reason for being on this earth. After Sounds Like Summer, i got the opportunity to work with other artists as a writer. I believe that skill stuck with me from writing poetry and short stories. Writing for other artists gave me the freedom to use my imagination, like I would when i was writing books.
What I believe sets me apart from others is my work ethic. I write every single day. I’m a big believer in being better than I was the day before – mentally, physically, spiritually, and musically. For that to be so, I know I have to continue to practice my craft day in and day out.
What I am most proud of so far in this journey of music is the release of my first album, Ross is Lost. It’s about me tuning the world we live in out and focusing on the world within me. I was able to be vulnerable and honest with myself, which is something I’ve always struggled to do. This album showed me versions of myself I didn’t know existed and really pushed my creativity as an artist and writer to another level.
What I want people people to know about me is that I am just like them. I’m no different, in fact, we may have a lot more in common than one might think. I’m an open book, I love conversations with people I never met and I truly believe we are all one big family. That’s what I want people to know and feel when they listen to my music – that we are in this journey together.
Is there mission driving your creative journey?
The particular goal and mission that’s driving my creative journey is freedom. I haven’t felt the feeling of freedom ever since i was a little boy. Age 6 being the last year I remember being free. Freedom is joy, and the only time I feel joyous in this life is when I’m in a creative state. Of course I want to be financially free – not having to worry about what bill needs to be paid and how I’m going to pay it would be a huge relief. But I also mean free in the sense of self. I feel we as a society restrict people from being who they are. We often have to hide ourselves from the world to fit in or feel accepted. As a creative I have the confidence to have zero fear, zero care about what others think or say about me or my creations. I have a true desire to live that way, both when I’m creating and when I’m not.
Have you ever had to pivot?
The first time I feel like I had to make a real pivot in life is when I had my daughter. I was 25 years old and living in Los Angeles at the time. I had finally gotten a grip on the lifestyle of living in LA and was balancing my work/music life perfectly. When my partner told me she was pregnant, I knew immediately we would have to move back to our hometown of Indianapolis, Indiana. It was bittersweet because I really created a life for myself in LA. From the artists, producers, and friends I made along the way, I felt like i was leaving my dreams behind and moving as far away from them as I could. However, I was fully invested and excited about being a father. I grew up without a father and I always told myself if and when I got the opportunity to be a father, I would dive in head first. I took the entire year of 2021 off to be a dad and get the hang of my new life of putting my child before everything. I got back into music in the middle of 2022 and it felt like I was starting from scratch again. It was a frustrating, but I knew if I built a solid foundation once, it could definitely be done again. Now I have an organic fan base along with a beautiful family who supports me in every step I take along this music journey.
Contact Info:
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/_rosscollins_/?hl=en
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/_rosscollins_?lang=en
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCmFQTXmUkmWqB5aVLRF5DTA
Image Credits
Brendan Baar J’lyn Smith Sam Rowan