We recently connected with Vid Nelson and have shared our conversation below.

Vid , thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. We’d love to hear about when you first realized that you wanted to pursue a creative path professionally.

Well even at the time I was about 4 or 5 years old, songs used to make me cry. I would feel them immensely and would always go to my mom to hold me while I cried because I was so sensitive to it. Music has always affected me this way. I wrote my first song when I was around 8 yrs old. Just a little chorus melody with lyrics about skateboarding. So it’s always been in me. Played talent shows all through grade school. Wasn’t till I was 18 that it clicked. I had a profound spiritual experience that I needed to move out of this drug house I was living in and move back home with my mom and that I needed to pursue music because it was going to save my life. So I moved back home, got a blue snowball mic, cheap guitar and a Macbook with Garageband and began writing. I’m 34 yrs old now and I haven’t stopped since that day. I guess you could say it all came back full circle from the time I was a toddler being so drawn to it.

Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers.

My name is Vid. I’m a singer/songwriter and producer from Provo, UT in a constant almost manic state of searching for deeper meanings about myself and existence. There were a lot of pros and cons to being raised in a place like that, but I’m actually grateful for it. It shaped the artist and person I am today.

At the core, I’d consider myself a spiritual person. I’m not sure what I believe in but I believe in something. Every year I feel like I develop a new meaning. The one place I’ve felt that connection with the universe or God or both, is through music. I get really emotional about it, you know? The fact that there is something you can’t touch, taste, see or smell and it has this much of an impact on people… that’s very special. Very sacred. I feel honored to hear those melodies in the ether and bring them into existence.

I seem to be ever changing like the wind when it comes to songwriting. Every day I wake up and I want to do a new genre. I can’t help myself. I’ll watch a movie or a documentary, hear a song, see a painting, and something in me gets called to write. I live to serve the song, whatever genre it’s presenting itself to be. They’re like children with their own personality. I just try to find out who they are and what they have to say.

I’m feeling this pull lately toward the next movement in society. Something is shifting. I feel like a big portion of us are waking up and realizing who we really are and how much power we have. Vulnerability and gratitude are our ultimate power. I think a lot of us are craving that more than ever. I want to be part of the next revolution. Songs for the deeply human. If you’re reading this, you’re not alone.

What’s a lesson you had to unlearn and what’s the backstory?

That I’m not good enough. That I’m unlovable. And that I am doomed to a never ending cycle and reality that things won’t work out. I’ve worked very hard on myself for years changing that narrative. I’m getting a little better at it. I think we all have narratives that shape our reality. The one thing we all have to do is unlearn them. And there’s really only two paths a human takes. Face themselves, unlearn the negative narratives that have been lodged in their subconscious and grow, or don’t. The ones who do thrive, the ones who don’t, stay in a constant loop. And the universe will keep showing up over and over to teach them. It’s not till we surrender that we’re completely free.

I used to do Peyote with the Lakota tribe for a couple years back in 2015. Life changing to say the least. But I wasn’t ready. I think I was still too young to accept and become my true authentic self. It wasn’t until I did Sapo (Which is the most potent form of DMT) with a Doctor in Mexico in 2020. That’s when my life really started to change. For the better. It was as if I had woken up for the first time and took my first breath. Seeing my past as this dark, hallucination of lies I had been in my whole life. Shaping every decision I make. The doctor is there as a guide and she told me I need to work on my inner narratives. She taught me about ho’oponopono prayers. Which is a mantra you repeat to yourself everyday. It’s simple and I recommend it for anyone struggling. It goes – Im sorry, I forgive you, I love you, Thank you. I started small and I started there. I took her advice and said this out loud to myself every morning. I had all kinds of breakthroughs. Heavy emotional releases. Overtime, just from that alone, I started noticing huge differences in the way I communicate with myself and the people around me. My songwriting began to mature and grow in new ways I didn’t think possible. Beyond grateful for all those experiences.

Can you tell us about a time you’ve had to pivot?

After that journey to Mexico and that wake up call, I went back to Nashville and was only there a few more months before I left. I had been living there for almost 4 years trying to stick it out. But it wasn’t me. I wasn’t being my true self you know? In that short amount of growth from that experience in Mexico already made Nashville feel like an old version of me. So i left. I took a leap of faith to start over and I moved to Phoenix, AZ. I moved out there with the intention of maybe letting music go. I told the universe that if it’s not meant for me, and I am meant for something else, then I will leave it behind. I wanted my true authentic selfs path and nothing else. The whole “If you love something let it go” saying. So I did. I let it go. But it all came rushing back in a new and profound way. And completely naturally. Wasn’t forcing anything anymore. And I completely fell in love with it all over again. Which I was so desperately missing at the time. Everything started falling into place. I met some of my dearest friends as of today, incredible bandmates, and my now wife Jen whom I’ve been with for almost 5 years. Life’s pretty crazy if you can let go.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://worldofvidnelson.com/
• Instagram: @vidnelson
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/vidnelsonmusic/
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@vidnelson
• Other: TikTok: @vidnelson

Image Credits

Jen Dale