Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Seth David Branitz. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.

Seth David , appreciate you joining us today. Did you always know you wanted to pursue a creative or artistic career? When did you first know?

I have a cassette tape recording from sometimes during my earliest eight years where I can be heard saying, “I’m Seth and when I get older I’m gonna be an artist….an artist and an actor and a musician, like Hal Linden!”. He was the star of 70’s tv show Barney Miller and I came to find out he was also quite the dancer and singer. I loved the idea of expressing my multiple gifts and hadn’t yet been confronted with any challenges to these root aspirations. I’d draw, sing, write stories, do skits with my friends, and as soon as I learned a couple of chords on the guitar, I’d write songs one after another. There was no boredom, no self consciousness and time passed without me noticing.

Seth David , 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 always doodled in school (I would have gone insane without it) to pass the time and drew/painted at home. Painted denim jackets was a thing when I grew up in the late 70’s and 80’s and kids paid me to paint the back of theirs with band logos and album cover art.
At fifteen I began working and have been employed doing non-art things ever since, mostly with food which I’ve always found fun and creative. First as a baker’s assistant then as a bagel baker, a cheese-meister (I may have made that word up), pastry chef at the worlds most beloved vegan resturaunt (Angelica Kitchen [r.i.p.] in lower Manhattan) and then in the small vegan restaurant my partner and I opened in 2007 in New York’s Hudson Valley.
Through all of it—adolescence, addiction, mental illness, loss, recovery, fatherhood, working at jobs that were not making me happy—I was a performing songwriter, made records, wrote creative non fiction and personal essays, and made visual art. It was/is while engaged in these activities that I feel most alive and in synch with what I think of as my “purpose”.
I wrote and published a memoir in 2021. During Covid shut down, then while recovering at home from a bad accident in 2023, I found myself in a deep creative flow painting daily, making music, performing readings of my essays to full rooms in New York City, Woodstock, NY, and beyond.
It’s extremely gratifying to be doing precisely what I always thought I “should” be doing, especially after being so unhappy for so much of my life. The best part is the complete disappearance of self incrimination and feelings of urgency. I just make stuff.
I want to do more and am actively transitioning from my “day job” to generating revenue from art.
I hang my visual work on a large wall at our shop, I have an online gallery, and I use social media to share my stuff.
I record and self-produce music just as much for posterity as in hopes (but not need) that others will enjoy it. Some do.

We often hear about learning lessons – but just as important is unlearning lessons. Have you ever had to unlearn a lesson?

I was told that one can’t make money from being an artist (from certain frustrated artists who had my best interest in mind/didn’t want to see me starve.
There are at least two things wrong with that:
First, of course you can. Many people do and if anyone with a marketable product or skill markets it correctly, it’ll probably earn money,
Secondly, making money is beside the point. I have always been at my best…happiest, most helpful, most valuable to others…when I’m engaged in back to back creative projects. Making stuff is the way. Making stuff is the point.

What’s the most rewarding aspect of being a creative in your experience?

Right now, it seems as simple as “I’m me. Here’s what I do. I enjoy it, I hope you will, too.
I’m under the impression that one of the great sources of suffering is artists who don’t make art. NOT those who can’t support themselves with art. NOT those who aren’t recognized for their artistry. Sufferring is created by making excuses for why it’s a good idea to cease doing what comes so naturally.
I’m happy to say I’ve broken out of that belief-trap and life is rich and fascinating.

Contact Info:

• Website: Sethmadethis.com. Sethdavis.com
• Instagram: #sethdavidbranitz
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/sethdavismusic/
• Youtube: @sethdavismusic2 @sethdavismusic
• Other: Www.karmaroad.net
  https://sethdavidbranitz.hearnow.com/