We recently connected with Tony Domenick and have shared our conversation below.

Tony, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. 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 am in the middle of this balancing act right now. For years I was officially self-employed, working for different music education programs, making music in churches, singing with professional choirs, teaching private music lessons. After a move from Denver to Oakland and back again 4 years later, I was struggling to make as much money as I wanted to be making now that I was married and getting ready to have a baby. I took a job as a choir teacher at a middle school, which provided benefits, a salary, and a reliable schedule. But I began to be so stressed out by the work of teaching—the planning and management of classrooms—that I was becoming more anxious in all areas of my life. I started to think all the time, “surely there’s a job out there that will pay me double for this amount of stressful work!”

I started taking sound engineering classes at a community college and saw a career counselor, who pointed me in the direction of instructional design and UX design. I’m now oscillating between online courses in these more tech oriented professions and voice over skills. I remain torn between wanting a job with tons of security and wanting a work-life balance that’s more gentle than the 40 hour cycle. One conclusion I’ve reached is that I need to be working with other people—left alone, my mind eventually gets locked in anxious spirals of indecision, and I enjoy serving others, whether they be at a traditionally structured company or an independent music cooperative that I’d like to build.

We’ll see where I end up next!

Tony, 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 made my way from saxophone in elementary school to trombone in high school, to singing, playing piano, and composing in college. All along the way, I have written songs and performed in bars, concert halls, parades, theatres, street corners, and living rooms. I love to provide music for people who need it; singing and organizing music for weddings and funerals is very fulfilling for me. I get such a high out of teaching people music one on one. I’m most proud of the performances I’ve participated in and helped create—dance centered funk bands, classical solo voice recitals, children’s choir concerts, variety shows, improvised musicals.

Are there any resources you wish you knew about earlier in your creative journey?

When I was in college, I wish I had taken advantage of more student services in the library, career department, and mental health department. Once out of college, I wish I had taken online courses more seriously. For many years I had an idea of education that it had to be part of a formal institution, or else it was suspect. But you can just try out an online course and see what you think! I’ve found every course I’ve taken so far to be immensely clarifying—just the experience of seeing how someone else presents ideas motivates me to create and show my creations to others (instead of keeping them locked away on a hard drive, out of sight and unknown). LinkedIn Learning, Udemy, and many other sites are offering really cool information. I got access to these courses through a community college, making me wish I could deliver a message to my 19 year old self: “There’s more to learn. For free! Go do it!”

How can we best help foster a strong, supportive environment for artists and creatives?

We’ve got to practice understanding other people’s preferences. Such a huge amount of money flows to so few creative people, the “blockbusters” at the top of the food chain. It can make it seem like that art is somehow better than art that makes less money, or is less widely known. If each individual could start with the assumption that other people like what they like with exactly as much passion as you like what you like, and avoid deriding someone else’s preference (you like Nickelback? Why, bro?), it could lead to a more equitable distribution of wealth throughout the creative sphere.

If we believe that art can change people’s perspectives, we should allow for the more equal dissemination of radically varied art, so our diverse society can find the art that makes them feel the best. Stop using the words “best” or “worst” when talking about music, books, videos, any of it. There’s going to be art that is best FOR YOU for particular moments or moods. But there’s no art that is THE BEST for everybody. Acknowledge this fact, and see how it opens your mind to the equality of all people and their preferences.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://tonicdominant.wixsite.com/tonydomenick
• Instagram: @tonicdominant
• TikTok: @tonicdominant

Image Credits
Courtney Huffman, Chelsea Pas