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

Stephen , thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. Do you feel you or your work has ever been misunderstood or mischaracterized? If so, tell us the story and how/why it happened and if there are any interesting learnings or insights you took from the experience?

I’ve often felt that to explore the themes which are important to me as an artist, I had to be willing to be misunderstood. Especially given that much of my work deals with spiritual themes, sometimes darker or unfamiliar subject matter or musical styles which are foreign to our Western ears.

I jokingly tell people that Makers & Mystics podcast may be the only podcast in the world which has interviewed both the pop-star Kimbra and the evangelical writer John Eldredge.

One of my personal values is cultivating the art of listening and giving space for my guests to share their perspectives without critical commentary. I find it to be a troubling tendency for us today that we only give voice to those who think the same as we do. Part of my creative discovery is learning from those who see the world from a different vantage point.

In music I have performed everywhere from bluegrass festivals, new age spiritual retreats, conservative churches, Muslim tea houses, Greek weddings, indie-punk garages and a millionaire’s mansion. (A much abbreviated list.) Through it all, I have made some of the most unlikely friendships as well as faced the pain of mislabeling or pigeon holing. In some settings, I have been “too” spiritual and in others settings, not spiritual enough. I’ve been too traditional or too innovative. This taught me that as an artist, we must cultivate an abiding commitment to authenticity and excel beyond the expectations of an audience. The audience will disappear at the end of the night but you have to live with the art you make. And I have also found that when we are true to the vision we carry, our “tribe” will find us because they are out there having the same experiences with being mischaracterized as we are.

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

I have been a musician most of my life. I came from a large musical family in North Carolina. My father was a third generation fiddle player from the Appalachian mountains and my mother was a flatfoot dancer and singer. She had fourteen siblings, most of whom were bluegrass musicians, banjo pickers and songwriters.

I performed my first public musical gig at the age of thirteen and went on to explore poetry and theater throughout high school. In my twenties and thirties, I toured internationally with my group, Songs of Water and created collaborative performances with filmmakers, visual artists, poets and choreographers.

In 2014, my wife Sarah and I started The Breath & The Clay creative arts organization which was a community of artists and creatives exploring the intersections of art, faith and culture. My podcast Makers and Mystics was born out of this community and continues to explore these same themes. As a part of our community offerings I began to work as a creative coach to other artists and went on to form our marketing business, Brightbell Creative which helps businesses think more clearly and creatively about their marketing and helps artists define and refine the way they talk about their work.

I have published several books on creativity and am currently working on a new book on art, individuality and the need to belong.

In your view, what can society to do to best support artists, creatives and a thriving creative ecosystem?

For society to create an ecosystem which truly support artists, we, as artists have to first help the general public understand the value art brings to society.

It is easy to view art as ornamental or non-essential in comparison to the more pragmatic needs of society. But I think we’ve learned through the past few years of living through the pandemic that music, dance, poetry, movies, paintings and the like are essential to our mental and emotional health.

The value art brings to society is often found within the emotional, the aesthetic, and the spiritual, not so much in commerce and commodification. Art puts language to emotions and experiences we couldn’t otherwise understand. Art helps us to see clearly or to heal. Art enables us to express the inexpressible and put form to facts. Likewise, the arts can contribute to the preservation of history and lead the way in innovating new ways of operating. The arts bring people together from different cultures and tear down walls of division and separation.

If we as artists can leverage our creative works in these ways, to beautify, to serve and to heal society, then more and more people will get behind the support of art and recognize the inherent need we have for the work artists bring to society.

Is there mission driving your creative journey?

I have long been fascinated with how the artistic and the spiritual overlap. This has taken many different forms and expressions throughout my creative journey even my own beliefs have morphed and changed over the years. But one thing has remained constant for me and that is the inherent nature of art as an overflow of a deeper spiritual quality of life.

Part of the mission behind my own art, my poetry, my music, my podcasts is to highlight this relationship between the creative and the spiritual dimensions of our human experience.

Alongside of this drive, I love helping others who don’t consider themselves as artists to recognize the creative impulse inside of their own life. I think that art is what it means to be human. Helping others see this is one of the greater joys of my life.

Contact Info:

• Website: http://www.makersandmystics.com
• Instagram: instagram.com/makersandmystics
• Other: I have a business tailored for helping artists and creatives “create meaningful marketing that rings true to their brand.” The business is named Brightbell Creative – and in some ways I think I could have focused solely on this aspect of what I do given your audience and focus. But nonetheless, I would love to share this with your audience. Through this business I create and produce podcasts for clients – many of whom are entrepreneurs and artists. My wife and I write the language for websites and other marketing collateral. http://www.brightbellcreative.com Also, our creative community is http://www.instragram.com/thebreathandtheclay

Image Credits
Nate Allen