We were lucky to catch up with Samantha Moon recently and have shared our conversation below.

Samantha , appreciate you joining us today. Have you been 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? Was it like that from day one? If not, what were some of the major steps and milestones and do you think you could have sped up the process somehow knowing what you know now?

I believe that I am making a living in music many levels up from my prior years but not full-time how I would like it to be. To see my band and I grow as a touring band is one of the goals we have for us. Could it be better? things can always be better. I don’t complain about it because I know that my team is working for me and doing all they can and as a singer, I’m working on consistency and much more content. Getting to that point of making a good enough living in music wasn’t always easy, I really had to put all my fluctuating emotions in check because it was hard to get shows much less to even get paid good enough to pay a full band but I always felt as well as my team, that quality should be exalted and nothing less than that. We pick and choose shows to play at because that is the quality of the brand. We felt like I had to have respect for my image and not play every and anywhere just because I wanted to perform. To any artist reading this story, there’s a time you have to do this, and don’t settle for less, or else there will never be growth. Respect your image hold your head up and know that will mold your image the way you want it, especially when you know that you’ve put in the long hours and you sound great and have the content to match while taking great advice when needed.

When we don’t get shows at the moment it’s always ok because when you don’t see me, I’m in my studio working silently and peacefully. We were never worried about not being called on at events or not being called on events. Instead, we pick and choose. Not out of disrespect for others, but respect for myself as a singer. This also creates a quality artist if you think about it. I know what we are doing is successful and worth every bit of time I spend perfecting my style and also giving thanks for all of my accomplishments.
I noticed that anything of longevity takes time. Anything of good quality also takes time, and I always look for quality over quantity. From day one I remember being in my country of birth Dominica and I made my first fifty dollars performing for my community. I was in my very early teenage years at that time. Looking back it makes me want to laugh, cry, reflect, and appreciate every emotion I went through on that day and I want to say how thankful I am for where I am now. What a journey that I can positively look at and say wow look at me now. So it wasn’t always this way for me to get paid the way I do now for an event. I’ve been through so much stuff sometimes I wonder how did I do it but it’s just hard work, focus, and working smarter too. Now today it’s all about the business part of it for me, not just the creative process. I love learning the business part so much, it makes you wiser in the craft and you never cease to stop learning new things.

Another thing I remember clearly is my manager constantly trying his best to get me shows when I first moved to the state of Minnesota. Let me tell you, that was one of the hardest things because at the time yes I have a wonderful voice but at that time I didn’t have a lot of music distributed and so the promoters would say well I can’t pay you for a show but if you would like to perform I would give you the opportunity and space to do so, or some would plain out say no but over the years of learning everything cant be personal I knew what I had to do and it was creating more music and I did, until one day I manifested that we won’t be making any calls to promoters for shows anymore but instead they will reach out to us and that’s exactly what happened. I wasn’t surprised that my words hold power because of my passion and my vision toward the music and where I came from as an island girl I had to fight hard for what we needed. Every day is still a working progress for me and my team and I trust the process.

What a challenge it was to get full support as I’m in a state where people are just finding out about me. All over the world people are finding out about me and what I do. The work doesn’t stop. There’s still so much growing to do in that area but I feel the breakthrough and I see it when I’m not working taking a step back and looking at all the work that has been done.

A continual push from supporters who wants to see me thrive can do wonders together with consistency as an artist or singer, There are times I tell myself if I knew this and if I knew that at the time things would be better, but I’ve come to realize that there is no rushing the process to real growth that will last a lifetime, especially as an independent artist. I’m just so thankful to all the people who also had a part to play in pushing me as an artist taking a chance on me and seeing for their selves that I can deliver and I make it a special delivery and I’m just gonna smile on that one.

Samantha , 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?

Since I was a child, I just love music. Growing up in my family on both my mother’s and father’s sides love music and there are so many singers on my dad’s side of the family. I believe that my gift is natural but while it is, I was highly influenced by the music scene around me as well as listening to the radio a lot. As I was growing older as a teenager, I joined a band called the natural Vybz international from my place of birth, the Commonwealth of Dominica, West Indies. I then went solo traveling the world, meeting new people, and even working on the Carnival cruise lines which lead me to move to the US sometime later with my husband where I continued my journey through music. I’ve played at a lot of well known venues, events, and festivals. On my website SamanthaMoonmusic.com there is so much more to learn about me in my bio.

I’ve had the honor of playing at the State Fair in Minnesota on the International Bazaar stage, the Pablo center for the arts, the Minnesota music cafe, the Minnesota music coalition, the Dakota and there’s just so much more. I’ve been on BET Soul with the help of my management and team. I’ve been on many blogs like THISISRNB, Hiphop1987, hype magazine, StarTribune volume one, on the St. cloud times newspaper, I was voted as part of the top 15 best songs on the current radio and local current in Minneapolis, I won sing St.Cloud in 2019 and so much more.

At this moment, I’m back in the studio and releasing more music soon, as well as new music videos. I’ve worked with grammy award-winning producers and also some of the best-gifted local producers and musicians in the world. I’m pretty excited and looking forward to all the great energy and opportunities that are currently in my life and what is about to come. I can say I’m thankful for a team who rides with me genuinely and keep believing in me and my hard work and dedication.

What can society do to ensure an environment that’s helpful to artists and creatives?

I think the creative ecosystem that is needed for any gifted artist to flourish is the playlists, the crusaders who will stream the music, sales of music, blogs, marketing, promotion, and attendance at events in other to make it unforgettable not just for us the artist, but also the people. The music is healing, you can’t go wrong since you’re doing three things at once which are, healing, enjoyment, and supporting us as an artist because we need the love from the fans to also grow and heal. Contributing towards merchandise helps, and leaving reviews for artists about what you think of their performances. following, sharing, and subscribing to our platforms will help the growth of the artist. Imagine buying one song for 0.99 cents to help your artist on iTunes that is a big push. This is also a key to growth. To be a supporter early on is better than being one when I’ve already made it. These actions you will be performing are you building the artist you say you love and want to see blossom. The right to say I have helped in that department and stage of our careers is a beautiful thing.

That is why I interact with my audience not just on stage but in person showing my appreciation,
Performing live in the presence of an audience has to be practiced over and over again so there’s so much energy to feed at once. it’s a job that I take pleasure in especially when I entertain my audience.
Let us as a society give the positive vibrations that will create a thriving creative ecosystem for gifted musicians or singers

Can you share a story from your journey that illustrates your resilience?

A lot of struggles and setbacks came my way. I’ve been through loss, pain, and a constant reboot to rebuild my brand while going through the learning process of getting to know myself and who I am as a person, plus the daily trauma of losing my sister to cancer and just so much more like not having my dad in my life at that moment and seeing my mother work hard to make sure that our day to day needs was met. I can say that affected me in some ways but I’ve done so much healing and therapy. It molded me and made me strong. It also made me hurt and some days I cried but I gained courage and strength which lead to amazing changes in my life I didn’t make my circumstances become me and so I choose the path that was fitting for me. My team and our creative process started to see expansion which lead to my first perfume line which is called “Chanje Late’ Parfume by Samantha Moon which you can find at dmoonshop.com. The resilience as a team made it possible.

I always felt like music saved me as an individual and made me appreciate life even more and what I do as a creator, and an artist or musician. The people around me helped build positive energy and that’s what I want to do for my supporters who love me and contribute to my businesses and my music. I also learned that some people could also bring negative to your life and that’s where you learn your soundness. I learned to do many things through the storms. One of them I loved doing that many people are not aware of that I can do is play the piano and the guitar. Another thing is I love being in my studio engineering myself.

Through everything, my purpose was clear I was built for this. The music that I do today makes me so proud of myself for knowing there’s nothing that you can’t do once you are focused and know exactly what you want.
You learn faster and absorb the right energy that is meant to lead your path on the right road to your happiness. Course and focus are everything even in challenges on the road to achievement. I never said I can’t. As always I will get it done!

Contact Info:

• Website: http://www.samanthamoonmusic.com/
• Instagram: www.instagram.com/isamanthamoon
• Facebook: www.facebook.com/isamanthamoon
• Twitter: www.twitter.com/isamanthamoon
• Youtube: www.youtube.com/mssamanthamoon
• Other: https://www.dmoonshop.com/

Image Credits
Anthony Harlin Photography The Artist Productions