We recently connected with Ryan Clure and have shared our conversation below.

Ryan, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today Are you able to earn a full-time living from your creative work? If so, can you walk us through your journey and how you made it happen?

I have finally been able to make that transition where I earn a living off of my work. Since 18 I have pretty much worked in the restaurant industry somehow. It’s one of the more efficient ways to make money so I could have more time to pursue music. I started to make the transition when I started having more than one form of income in music. It’s not just my own project. I work as an instrumentalist for a few groups. I run a trio that plays restaurants and/or private parties. I do freelance songwriting for a company that has us write for anniversaries or birthdays what have you. Only through doing all of this have I been able to make that transition. It’s tough, it still feels very much like a grind. However, it’s the grind I want to be on. In regards to speeding up the process… I’m not sure. I think knowing what I know now I would have branched out to work with more people earlier on. Of course my skills weren’t as sharp as they are now, so maybe everything has happened as it needed to.

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 project is called XNK. Pronounced ink just like in a pen. I’m called this because when I was a kid I used to write short stories, poetry, and song lyrics. I felt like it is a cool point of origin to use for my music. I am an artist, composer, and entertainer. I host my own events that I organize and produce so that the experience given to my guests is unique to my vision and mission. I love hosting parties. I love caring for people and making sure everyone present is in the moment and feeling that good juju. It sounds corny, but my mission is to create a world that I have made just for my guests, and together, we will remind the world that love and humanity stand as the strongest premises of live. There’s just so much hate in the world we need some rock n’ roll to help combat it.

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

Yes. To create and inspire change in our communities. There is so much pain, hate, and contamination in this world. We are all lost and a lot of the music/art out there nowadays is instigating and glorifying these topics. We as artists/entertainers have the ability to inspire people, and are given a lot of power to do so. When an artist uses that to advocate hate and selfishness, I think it gives a bad name to what we are out here trying to do. Which is to be that beacon that someone needs, be the change we are trying to make happen in our world. My mission is be that example that reminds people that we need love and humanity more than ever. Not to say we can’t have fun every now and then :)

How can we best help foster a strong, supportive environment for artists and creatives?

Don’t be shy. Engage with artists and creatives. Comment if you want to. Like, share, be social on social media. Go out to shows. Both local and your favorite group. If you really like the music/art, buy it! Vinyl collecting is crazy popular. You get the physical copy, artwork to boot and you are supporting artists way more than what Spotify streams will do. That being said, saving and downloading the songs wherever you stream music will never hurt.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.xnkmusic.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/xnkmusicofficial/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/xnkmusicofficial
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ryan-clure-37a711183/
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCwb98FPbrnq4flzhA1UwFtw/featured
• Other: https://open.spotify.com/artist/7opUU7bwmoMoQUFnhVvpsR?si=SufW4bSgQw6J279PmTi4bg

Image Credits
Mr. Joe Hoto