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

Shannon, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today I’m sure there have been days where the challenges of being an artist or creative force you to think about what it would be like to just have a regular job. When’s the last time you felt that way? Did you have any insights from the experience?

I’m more than happy to be an artist, I’m fulfilled by art. It’s more than just a job or hobby to me, it’s a way of life. Which, as I’m reading that back, sounds incredibly corny, but it’s true. There isn’t really a time when I felt I couldn’t express myself through my art. When words failed me, music was there. Creativity is the way in which I navigate the world. Now, with regard to this age-old concept of living the “artist’s life,” versus having a “regular Job,” I think most artists you ask these days know that there really isn’t a choice anymore. It’s not A or B, it’s both. Given the particular economic direction our generation has had to endure, artists know better than most that in order to sustain making our art, we also need to cobble together one or more means of income. I think the better question would be: “Would you rather support your artistry through means of several ‘gigs’ and part time positions, never really knowing month to month what you’ll earn? Or, would you rather accept a full-time position, and hope that you have some creative energy left at the end of the day to then work on your art?” I work as a resident musician for a baby and toddler music studio, and when I’m not doing that, I’m songwriting, recording, and tackling any other freelance work that may come my way. Even so, I recognize that I’m extremely lucky to even be able to say that my full-time work is music, because for many, that feels like a pipe dream.

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?

I’m a singer / songwriter based in Los Angeles. I also work freelance as an American Sign Language interpreter. For me, music was a part of my everyday life in my household. Both of my parents were creatives, but my mother, given that she was a career music teacher, had an emphasis on music as a way of moving through the day and through life. I feel very blessed that despite our financial hardships, that my parents always prioritized the arts for myself and my siblings. Aside from on-campus music and theater classes during the day, my parents signed me up for as many extra-curricular community programs they could find to allow me to have as much creative output as I could. I have many fond memories of spending several years on the CalArts campus as part of their Community Arts Program (CAP), where middle and high school students are invited to hone their musical skills on the CalArts campus with CalArts students as their instructors. Community programs like these and others really allowed my skills to develop and my personality to thrive so that I could continue to improve as a vocalist and musician. Eventually, I was able to accept an internship with the Santa Clarita Master Chorale for two years in a row, before taking a short break from singing in order to pursue my degree in Deaf Studies. Now, I get to center my day around all of my passions: music and ASL. I really enjoy being able to song write for and with other artists, release my own music, and basically spend the majority of my day in a musical capacity as a profession. I recognize that this is not something that every artist can say, so in this way, I’m incredibly lucky and grateful to call myself a full-time musician. Lastly, to answer your question about my brand or who I am as an artist: there are two things. The first, is given my background in American Sign Language, I make it a point to make all of my content accessible. Captioning content is now easier than ever, and FREE, but most people don’t bother to do the bare minimum of turning captions on before they post their content. I want to use my platform to not only have accessible content, but to also encourage other artists to do the same. It’s also a goal of mine to co-create and collaborate with Deaf and Hard of Hearing musicians. A misconception about the Deaf community is that there are no Deaf/HoH musicians, but that’s not true. Music, in more ways than most hearing people recognize, transcends our basic understanding of how it can be consumed and utilized. Secondly, I speak a lot about mental health on my instagram page (@meskemusic). I think that normalizing neurodiversity, and speaking plainly about my experiences and struggles with my own mental health, and encouraging others who feel comfortable to do the same, can only create a more inclusive and inviting space on the internet. Which, these days, feels more important than ever.

What do you find most rewarding about being a creative?

I think one of the most rewarding aspects on being an artist is the way that it connects you to the broader world around you. To me, my songwriting has always been a way that I navigated through the world, especially emotionally. The majority of my songs under my artist portfolio, are autobiographical. In my song “Find My Way Home,” I write about my journey in grief after losing my father, the way in which is permanently impacted how I view the concept of “home,” and the ways in which I still feel connected to him nearly a decade after his passing. Grief is a human experience, and something all of us will have to encounter in this lifetime. I’ve had many conversations and messages with folks who have resonated with my music in that way, and it brings me such joy to be able to have connected with other people through my art. More broadly, and this has already been said so much that it’s practically a cliche but, art is something that rises above all language and culture barriers. Art makes us feel something, it moves us. I find incredible satisfaction from connecting with other humans in this way, and again, feel very lucky to have my work allow me to do this almost daily.

What’s a lesson you had to unlearn and what’s the backstory?

I think one lesson I had to unlearn about my field is that a musician has to *be* a certain way. I think coming into the profession after nearly 15 years of training, I had a very unclear idea of what it would look like to be a professional musician. I started to create all of these imaginary roadblocks of reasons why I couldn’t pursue a particular avenue of music. Now, more than ever, music and music production is more accessible than ever to people. I thought that I needed to be able to do everything and do it perfectly. Over the years, I’ve come to realize that one of the best parts about making music is relying on the talents of others to amplify my own talents. For example, rather than languishing over my own guitar skills, which, while not terrible, are not particularly advanced or unique. Instead, I can spotlight other artists who are far more skilled than me in that area. Not to mention, the opportunities I have to learn from artists more skilled than me in the process. I think the big takeaway for me in all this was that like any skill, music is a life-long journey that doesn’t have any particular end goal. This was one of the most freeing realizations I had about my craft.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.voicebyshannon.com
• Instagram: @meskemusic
• Other: Spotify – https://open.spotify.com/artist/0OisQkPXfVytpgcucaOq7z

Image Credits
Love Me So – Photo Credit Alison Parsons Photo (@akparsonsphoto on instagram)