We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Travis Roig a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Travis, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. Earning a full time living from one’s creative career can be incredibly difficult. Have you been able to do so and if so, can you share some of the key parts of your journey and any important advice or lessons that might help creatives who haven’t been able to yet?

If I hadn’t had extremely patient and accommodating parents (also very understanding and loving incoming Chilean in-laws) and/or a wife who wasn’t in the showbusiness herself, then my life would probably look a lot different than it does today. I’d have to be much more reliant on those around me. But I was able to live long enough at my folks’ to save enough money so when the time came to get a place, I was able to afford one (taking on the worst loan ever given to any human). And now since I have a second income, that of my wife’s, to contribute to the day to day financial responsibilities and obstacles that keep people awake at night, what I do make is enough to remain both happily married and with the lights on, Also, not having kids is a great way to earn a full time living as a creative person. There are a very few people that have the support and opportunities to live the creative life. So don’t be ashamed if you have to prolong your childhood bedroom occupancy a little longer than anticipated. Don’t be ashamed if your friends are making three times as much as you are. If you’re able to do what you want to do, then you’re one of the luckiest mf’s around.

Travis, before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?

I stumbled in through the back door of a post production dubbing facility. Became a director then worked as both director and engineer for a time. Broke free of those roles and started taking on roles as a voice talent. All the while working outside the dubbing world, putting out self-produced singer/songwriter albums when the season strikes. And creating my most prized concoction, an audio fiction anthology series based upon the old time murder mystery radio shows of the past entitled, Terror On The Air. It’s a podcast you can find anywhere whereby I write it, direct it, cast it, record it, mix it, and do the music for it.

I’d like to say I’m very proficient in all these areas when really necessity has been the mother of my inventions. Anything I may have become good at I take no credit for. It’s literally a by-product of continuing to receive these incredible opportunities to get to do the work I get to do. I’m a particular person who can’t start something without finishing it. And sometimes that means taking some hits for the greater good. But there’s no better calling in life than making a few sacrifices to get a job done. Whether the end product is good or bad, I’ll have my opinions and you’ll have yours. But the fact we saw it through is what I believe separates the amateurs from the professionals. Of course, try not to suck.

Oh, btw, I’ve got two new albums coming out months of each other in a couple weeks wherever you listen to your musics, and a new podcast called Roig Rage. It’s about all the things you should be pissed about. Yes. I’ll tell you what those things are. You just click me on and let me do the heavy lifting. Then email me and I’ll respond on air. It’s a hoot. I’muh holler. And we’re all gonna be friends. If by friends I mean at each other’s throats, then yes, in fact I dare say we’ll be very good friends in no time at all.

For my final shameless plug(s), I’d like to suggest you clicking by my ventures The Miami Good Times, only the good of South Florida’s past, present, and future brought to you by me, a lowly local native who’s been kickin’ the can around this area code for four decades. And another identity I carry is that of The Good Reviewer (known as The REAL Good Reviewer on IG cuz of reasons). I only write good reviews. It’s that simple. Reviews on anything, really. These two outlets for writing I don’t see as separate from any other thing I do like voice stuff, music making, or script writing. They all feed each other. And in turn, they all feed me.

What do you find most rewarding about being a creative?

It’s a matter of mental health, really. If I don’t have something cooking, my mind tends to turn on itself quite suddenly and quite viciously and then effortlessly begins creating problems for my life. But when I give my brain a project to chew on, it merrily chomps away whilst everything around me aligns in a way that keeps me balanced. Art feeds the parts of me that need to be occupied, kept busy. The output itself is almost irrelevant. I think that’s why once I do finish something, I never go back to it. It’s the experience making it that I need, not that result. Crazy. I just figure that out while I half sit here naked in my half filled bath tub balancing this lap top on my lap trying to get these answers in on time. Wow. Good stuff.

Is there something you think non-creatives will struggle to understand about your journey as a creative? Maybe you can provide some insight – you never know who might benefit from the enlightenment.

It may look like I’m not doing fuck all. I may look like the laziest person to you. But I assure you. I’m traveling at the speed of the light, feeling things too big to almost contain, thinking of a thousand galaxies worth of memories, about to take the next step to start the next thing I’m gonna be obsessing about creating. You can perceive my inactivity as a form of meditation. My chant. My ohm. I’m buffering. Or rather, the “creative” is.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.themiamigoodtimes.com
• Instagram: /therealgoodreviewer
• Twitter: terrorontheair
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/c/TravisRoig

Image Credits
Paula Barros. Marcos Castro. Travis Roig.