We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Sam Gucwa a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.
Sam, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today Can you talk to us about a project that’s meant a lot to you?
For the last year I’ve been working on ‘Legacies Whisper,’ a celebration of the accomplishments and contributions Miles Davis’ romantic partners made on the jazz industry. I was a bookworm as a kid, so when directors and band mates acted out of sexism towards me, I tried to cope by reading the biographies of famous jazz musicians. Most of them, though, also have problematic histories of abuse and misogyny. Jazz books tend to present the women in these stories as victims of abuse without their own stories, and I knew this wasn’t accurate. I researched all the women Miles Davis names in his autobiography and found that many of them were artists, social critics, performers, and huge influences on Davis’ music. I presented my research at TEDxMSU 2024 (you can find the video online!) and I’m in the recording process for an album of original music that musically expresses these women’s accomplishments. This work has been personally very healing for me. It’s helped me see that my worth comes from me, and that strength and legacy come from within. I hope this project also inspires a social change in how we discuss survivors of abuse and of spouses in jazz history.
Sam, love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?
I am a saxophonist, woodwind doubler, and bandleader. On a regular day you can find me practicing sax, flute, or clarinet, writing compositions, rehearsing my or in someone else’s band, and performing around Michigan. I’ve performed with Brian Vander Ark of the Verve Pipe, Rodney Whitaker’s Gathering Orchestra, Michael Dease, and Walter Blanding. You can follow my work on @sams_saxophone on Instagram or my website, www.samgucwasax.com.
What can society do to ensure an environment that’s helpful to artists and creatives?
I firmly believe physical music media is about to make a comeback. I’m sure you’ve seen that musicians make $0.007 per music stream, but we’re quickly running into a problem where music is removed from streaming platforms without warning, leaving listeners to never hear their favorite songs again. Purchasing CDs, cassettes, vinyl, and merch are both the best way to get money in the hands of artists, allowing them to release more music more often, but also guarantees you own the music you love to listen to. Don’t give Spotify and Apple Music the power to take the music you pay for away from you!
We’d love to hear the story of how you built up your social media audience?
In the five years since I started posting business content on instagram I’ve built a following of around 12,000, made multiple brand deals, and supplemented my income with exclusive content and product endorsements. The biggest mistake I see people make is believing that success on instagram is a goal. It is not. Instagram is one of the many tools in your toolkit you can use to create real world success. Think of instagram as an interactive business card; you want people to see it and think positively of you, then reference it when they reach out to you for work. This means making your website or booking clearly available, having consistent messaging that’s true to your real life person, and posting often enough that people think of you when they think of businesses like yours. I offer coaching to new brands and typically I tell them to aim for 3 grid posts a week to start out.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.samgucwasax.com/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/sams_saxophone?igsh=MWYyYTVzM3pkbWE4eA%3D%3D&utm_source=qr
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/share/XRquUboZGQfu1qfn/?mibextid=LQQJ4d
- Linkedin: Check out Sam Gucwa’s profile on LinkedIn
- Youtube: https://youtube.com/@samgucwasax?si=J5ZSv0T2Agz51YfX
Image Credits
Alirna Korieva
Demetri Zervos