We recently connected with Trevan and have shared our conversation below.

Trevan, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today Are you able to earn a full-time living from your creative work? If so, can you walk us through your journey and how you made it happen?

It is refreshing to be reminded, what a gift it is that I make my full living from music; primarily through performing, but also from sync-licensing and royalties and that has been and is a wonderful gift. I still remember five years ago, when I had quit a job as a full-time barista at a cafe in Malibu. Within a few months, I was offered my first paying cover gig ever and shortly, I was doing two to three gigs a week and making as much in one weekend as I would make for two weeks work full time as a barista. This was a huge shift and level up for me.

Trevan, 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?

My name is Trevan and my journey with music actually began before I was even born; when my mom used to go to my dad’s concerts while she was pregnant with me. I was even born to one of my dad’s songs playing in the delivery room. I grew up listening to his music on my cassette walkman, while also having a plethora of different genres of music playing at home or in the car; everything from the grunge era artists, to Earth, Wind and Fire, to Macy Gray, John Mayer, and everything in-between.
The first instrument I took an interest in was drums and I managed to make a drum set out of anything and everything around me. I didn’t get my first drum set until 8th grade and by high-school, I was playing in two to three bands at a time. I slowly learned guitar and singing, eventually starting my own band called 36 Alterations.
I eventually learned how to engineer and produce, and always seemed to have a collective of creative people around me; always expressing and exploring in multiple genres.
The main thing that seems to set me apart and is a core piece of my “brand” is my desire to bring goodness, joy, alignment, and encouragement wherever I am; whether that’s in my music or simply when I meet and interact with people.
The thing I am probably most proud of is my catalog, how many songs I have created or co-created with others, how I have managed to persevere in my musical pursuits, despite countless setbacks, challenges, and moments of doubt, and the fact that I can bring smiles to peoples’ faces wherever I go.

Have you ever had to pivot?

In early 2o18, I quit my job working full time as a barista in Malibu. After working there for eight months and almost coming to the conclusion that I had completely missed my chance in music, I moved to Simi Valley to live with my mom. I was in a deep depression and so lost about what to do and how to move forward.
“Out of the blue,” a musical friend of mine sent my info to a promoter looking for performers to do covers at the Balboa Bay Resort in Newport Beach.
I never had an interest in or ever considered doing covers, but with nothing else going on and no sense of what to do or where to go, the chance to get paid doing music in any capacity was such miracle. The truth is, I never thought my voice was strong enough to stand on its own with just a guitar. But after the first week of performing at the Balboa Bay Resort, suddenly I was in demand and being booked for multiple performances a week. Within a month, I was making more as a singer-guitarist in one weekend than I made for two weeks work as a full-time barista.
It was a pivot from what I thought I would do or where I imagined myself going, but a very wonderful one.

We’d love to hear a story of resilience from your journey.

One of the scariest and challenging experiences of my life was a near-fatal accident that happened in 2021 where I fell almost two stories. Through a sheer miracle of sorts, the worst injury I experienced was a broken ankle. The doctors said I was so lucky because they’d had people who had fallen from much shorter distances who were paralyzed or shattered bones.
What took place following this was a period of major healing and deep questioning of everything in my life.
Leading up to the accident, in the midst of covid, I had still been performing when possible and working as a writer/producer with other artists.
When the accident happened, I thought once again my journey with music could potentially be over.
As I was healing over the next few months, I spent a lot of time auditing my life over the past few years; what had brought me the most joy, what felt like it brought the most stress, where did I feel the most free, etc. I’d been involved on so many different levels with music in all of the capacities I was working that I had felt stretched thin and a bit overwhelmed.
When I sat back and thought about it, it felt like performing live was still the one thing that was most fulfilling for me.
Though I had my doubts about it, I stayed open and a few opportunities came for me to perform at private events.
One of them, I had to use crutches to get in and have a friend help me load in my equipment. This gig ended up being one of the highest paying gigs I’d ever done and once again, felt like a nice wink and nudge that music would still be my path.
As fate would have it, during the summer of 2021, I was contacted by another promoter who received my info from a very dear friend of mine. When the promoter said he was looking for singers to perform regularly at the Balboa Bay Resort (funny synchronicity), it felt like once again energetic support was guiding me towards where my focus should be.
I’ve had many moments of setbacks and forks in the road during my journey, and I continue to be grateful for the little serendipities and winks from the universe that have helped me stay the course.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://trevanmusic.com
• Instagram: https://instagram.com/trevanmusic
• Facebook: https://facebook.com/trevanmcclure1
• Twitter: https://twitter.com/trevanmusic
• Youtube: https://youtube.com/trevan
• Other: https://linktr.ee/trevanmusic

Image Credits
Albert Haleem Max McCoy Kevin He Nicola Buck Flip Cassidy