We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Scott Mclean. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Scott below.

Scott, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today Learning the craft is often a unique journey from every creative – we’d love to hear about your journey and if knowing what you know now, you would have done anything differently to speed up the learning process.

I mostly learned how to play guitar by listening to records over and over and learning chords, solos, etc. Constantly dropping and re-dropping the needle on records. Today, there are YouTube videos showing how to play almost any song and any style of music, as well as theory, but back then, pre-internet, it took a bit more work and motivation to learn to play. The motivation was a good thing though; it wasn’t handed to me or spoon-fed. You had to want to learn. Today, that motivation keeps me learning. The most essential skill I think I learned was how to learn by listening. That is a valuable skill in any endeavor.

Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.

I grew up hearing Johnny Cash records and country music from my Dad, and pop/classical music from my mom. The country/roots stuff had the most influence on me, but when I discovered the Beatles on my next door neighbors VW bug car radio, I was off. A music fan since then, took piano lessons for a few years, but I realized it was not really my instrument. When some surfing/skateboarding friends started a band, my friends and I decided we should do that too. So we went to the local pawn shop and bought guitars. It took a while and a mentor or two to point us in the right direction, but after a few years we started to figure it out. But even at the very beginning, we were writing our own songs. I feel that is what sets me apart from other roots/rock/rockabilly/Americana artists: I have always written a lot of songs, and I perform them, as opposed to playing cover versions of others’ songs. The Roots Music community seems to be fine with endlessly recycling cover songs, but that always seemed to be a dead end to me. All those cover songs were brand-new at some point! My main point is that for music to continue to inspire and bring in new fans, there needs to be new songs. I hope people will listen with that spirit in mind.

What do you find most rewarding about being a creative?

To me the most rewarding part of being an artist is the creative process, from the germ of a song, to the finished recording. Yes, It is fun to perform those songs for people, and I do enjoy that part, but as far as what really floats my boat, it is seeing songs whipped into shape and then recorded. I love when people tell me they enjoy my work I get the reward from actually doing the work, and satisfying my artistic urges. The same thing when I’m painting: It is the process I enjoy.

How did you build your audience on social media?

I’m terrible at building an audience on social media haha! I post on Instagram, Tik Tok and Facebook a lot, and I think my posts are creative and fun, I just don’t seem to be able to grow an audience. Like I said though, and the older I get, I’m not as interested artistically in spending the time it would take to expand the audience, as I am in creating work that I believe has value.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.seatbeltrockabilly.com
• Instagram: Scotty_Seatbelt
• Facebook: Scott McLean; Seatbelt
• Other: Tik Tok: @scottmclean240

Image Credits

Seatbelt band members: Scott McLean, Jim The Kid” Matkovich, John “Lenny” Lenkeit.