We recently connected with Will Buck and have shared our conversation below.

Will, appreciate you joining us today. It’s always helpful to hear about times when someone’s had to take a risk – how did they think through the decision, why did they take the risk, and what ended up happening. We’d love to hear about a risk you’ve taken.

I vowed very young that I would be a professional musician and there is almost no way of avoiding risk in that decision. I never wanted to look back on my life and say, “I’m glad I played it safe.” This has resulted in two things: 1) I’ve lived a very exciting and non traditional life and 2) I’ve paid for some serious mistakes. For me, number one outweighs number two and thankfully I’ve gotten a little wiser over the years so I’m grateful for this attitude overall. I’ve realized the difference between a calculated risk and getting caught up in the thrill of risk taking. I’ve lived both sides of this coin and as you can probably guess one has given me faith in the universe and the other has gotten me in trouble. Either way I wouldn’t change a thing and I’m thankful for the life I get to live.

As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?

My story is really about redemption and a second chance. My life and career were shattered in 2015 from a devastating loss. My dreams practically vanished overnight and my future suddenly went up in smoke. Internally, I began to slowly and painfully dig my own hole of quiet suffering while externally, I ran away. I ran so far away in fact that I ended up on the other side of the world for over half a year. After eventually making it to LA and slogging out another year of working a dead end job, I reached my breaking point. I had been denying who I was and what I wanted for too long and honestly I didn’t have much to lose. So, I announced myself as a solo artist, got a voice coach, learned music production and started to put myself out there. It definitely didn’t take off right away but I was hell bent on making it. Now, five years later I’m about to put out my 3oth song, just had my first release on a major label and not planning on slowing down anytime soon. The future is looking bright and if nothing else, I’d like to be a beacon of hope for people who are down and out. I know what it feels like to think you’ve missed your shot but I lived too many years thinking that and I don’t want others to have to do the same. I understand the pain of dreams un-lived and debating when you’re supposed to give up but I’m here to tell you to stick it out – even just one more round. If you can go inwards and turn that pain into purpose it will serve you and others. You might just be pleasantly surprised!

Let’s talk about resilience next – do you have a story you can share with us?

Our first tour ever we piled into a black F250 dubbed “Black Sabbath” and drove 17hrs overnight to Memphis, TN with only four shows booked. Somehow we managed to find a gig almost every night for three weeks. We saw a lot of sunrises that tour, got robbed in Savanah, narrowly missed a truck tire through our windshield and somehow survived all of our 4hr bar sets. That was my introduction to the road and I proceeded to spend the next three years of my life out there over 100 days a year.

For you, what’s the most rewarding aspect of being a creative?

The emotional connection with fans. I have moments burned into my memory of the first time I heard certain songs. When they hit you the right way at the right time it almost feels like divine intervention – there’s nothing like it and it sticks with you forever. The fact that people now do that with my songs is staggering. I honestly can’t really comprehend it and it fills me with intense gratitude every time.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.willsbuck.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/willsbuck/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/willsbuck/
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCsCcz40-gEooBmGWYdpXrSQ
• Other: All music streaming links: https://link.willsbuck.com/picamj

Image Credits
Raz Razak, Mathias Fau