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

Alright, Stephen thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. The first dollar you earn is always exciting – it’s like the start of a new chapter and so we’d love to hear about the first time you sold or generated revenue from your creative work?

The year was 1996 and I was 14 years old. It was the golden era of JNCO jeans, tape decks in every car, and the birth of the internet as we know it. My buddy Wink and I started a two man band called ‘Prink’. He played drums while singing lead, and I played guitar and some bass. My Father, after watching me attempt to record my guitar for many months, bought us a four-track Tascam tape recorder. I spent the summer obsessing over it between trying to learn to skateboard and smoking weed in a drain ditch behind the house. We were pretty lucky kids.  We wrote a bunch of silly original songs and recorded them in Wink’s basement.

Using the newly available world wide web, I researched some basics about recording and mixing and got to work. We used a high-speed cassette duplicator I found in my dad’s office to make four or five copies of the tape in just a few minutes. I researched designing covers for cassettes, downloaded a template for Microsoft Paint and created the album art for “Prink’s Magical Neighborhood”. Using our allowances to buy blank tapes, we made over 200 copies of the album and sold them for $3 a piece to all our friends and at parties. That’s when I learned I could hustle my creativity while connecting with my peers in ways I had never been able to do previously.

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

I am a musical and visual artist based out of southern Indiana. Music is a source of joy and healing for so many of us. It has literally gotten me through the darkest times. My hope to create, or help others create, works that connect with people the way music and art have made me feel. As artists, we get to manifest dreams into reality, and I am honored to be a part of that tradition.  A lot of what I do exists between technology and music. I currently provide various services related to music performance, education, live/studio production, and marketing. My relationship with being a working creative has definitely evolved over the years. While I love working with clients through my small studio, aka The Dojo, to bring their musical or marketing visions into fruition, lately my primary focus has shifted back to my own projects. The main outlet for my personal creativity is a musical endeavor called ‘Big Ninja Delight’. I write, produce, record, and play most of the instruments on the tracks. I also perform Big Ninja live, using an extensive setup built around the popular software Ableton Live. I put a lot of energy into the latest E.P. entitled “Between The Spaces”, released mid-2023, and really hope it resonates with some folks.

In addition to Big NInja Delight, I also play guitar, co-manage, and act as production lead for a band called Cynthia Murray & The End Times, which is a relatively new project that is gaining some local traction. We are currently recording original songs for an upcoming release and play live multiple times a month, which has kept us pretty busy.

Both of my parents had masters degrees in music and were very technologically inclined. My mother was an elementary school music teacher, presiding over multiple schools in rural Kentucky. She played many instruments proficiently and took side gigs with churches, choirs, and giving lessons while making sure I had plenty of opportunities to experience music through whatever activity or program I was interested in. During the late 80’s, the schools had a computer on a cart that would be pushed around to each class for introducing kids to tech. My mom, having ample foresight, was able to secure funding to have the first computer lab installed in a Kentucky school, and took on the role as technology supervisor in addition to her musical responsibilities. I helped her install and maintain the computers.

My father was a professional trumpet player and would serve as minister of music at various churches. He had a small live p.a. system and would take gigs running production for small events in town. Helping him taught me how to hook up sound, use mixing consoles, cable wrapping techniques, and how to deal with clients during productions. Years later he would also buy me my first multi-track audio recorder which helped further my obsession with making music with technology.

During the early days of the internet, one could look at the source code for websites and actually learn how to build a site. My desire to create a webpage for my band at the time lead me to teach myself basic web design. Later, I started digging into graphic design and learned Adobe Photoshop and Illustrator so I could create marketing materials. At some point, people started offering to pay me to create branding and marketing materials for their projects, and I decided to actively seek out clients. I was able to carve out a niche with the local entertainment venues, particularly, one of the more popular establishments which catered to the market my own music targets. I took over as their production manager and live sound engineer while also managing their website, social media content, and print marketing materials. This gave me a lot of experience needed in various aspects of the industry and provided chances to network with out of town musicians while building a reputation.

Gig life has always just been…life.

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

My mother passed away in a car accident when I was 14 years old. We were very close and she was an inspiration to lots of people. My father died when I was 23 and we weren’t on great terms. These things have heavily affected my development in certain areas of my life. And for some long periods of time, my executive dysfunction was overwhelmingly in control. On my next birthday, I will be 43 years old. However, its only been in the last few years that I feel as though I could potentially be healthy enough to see my goals through. I see how my past has led me here and a clear path forward. I have bad days, but I am grateful to have the tools to understand and work through those, and will continue to ensure that everyday is one I don’t take for granted.  For anyone struggling, you are not alone and there will be light again.

Have you ever had to pivot?

Honestly, I have had to pivot so many times it becomes part of the process. Every time I have, whether it be for my career or for life, I learn a lot about how to improvise and find creative solutions to problems. This, in turn, teaches me more about myself. Some notable pivot points include: my band of 12 years fell apart, I went to jail for 9 months for marijuana, my kid was born, my marriage of 18 years ended, Covid, I got lucky on some crypto “investments” and purchased the commercial building my studio is in…just to name a few.  I currently find myself at yet another juncture forcing me to reevaluate my priorities. But, my end goal has always been to make original music and play it live for folks. I find that as long as I continue focusing on how to be the best version of myself, doing things from a place of love and accountability, while connecting with folks as much as possible through music and art, then my only need is to appreciate the journey.

Contact Info:

• Instagram: www.instagram.com/bigninjadelight
• Facebook: www.facebook.com/bigtonytheninja
• Youtube: www.youtube.com/@bigninjadelight

Image Credits
Alex Morgan Imaging Livin Imagery LLC Marta Goedde