We recently connected with Yosef Rosenfield and have shared our conversation below.

Yosef, appreciate you joining us today. When did you first know you wanted to pursue a creative/artistic path professionally?

I’ve wanted to have a career in music since I was six years old. I remember being given a prompt in first grade that asked what I wanted to be when I grew up. I wrote down ‘musician’ – it seemed like such an obvious choice at the time: both my parents were seasoned musicians who had been in a number of bands back in the ’80s, and by the age of six I was already whistling entire symphonies by Mozart, Bach, and Beethoven. I started writing songs when I was seven years old – initially writing new lyrics to previously existing melodies, later coming up with original songs from scratch. As an experienced songwriter, there’s nothing more fulfilling than seeing your musical creation go from the bedroom to the studio and have it be released for thousands of people to hear.

As a writer, I couldn’t have discovered a better outlet for myself than self-publishing books. I’ve been an avid writer since third grade, and I began publishing books when I was in high school. I’ve authored six books to date (under my pen name, Joe Rosenbran), covering a wide range of genres including children’s material, religious satire, and creative nonfiction. I’ve always had a passion for journaling, and chronicling my life has become a sort of therapy that unpacks the experiences I’ve had. If someone would have told my younger self that I would be publishing books as an adult, I would have thought they were crazy. But the truth is writing books has given me such a feeling of joy and accomplishment, I wouldn’t trade it for anything in the world.

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?

I am originally from Boston, MA, having been born into a very musical family, and grew up in Providence, RI. After writing lyrics to songs for seven years, I finally learned to play the guitar at the age of 14, and I taught myself how to play piano shortly thereafter. I earned some money writing custom-made songs for my friends when I was in high school, in addition to the dozens of songs I was writing about my personal life. In college, I decided to take my music to Patreon, where I have posted songs, articles, music podcasts, visual artwork, and lots of other cool stuff. I have also released audio recordings of my songs on SoundCloud, where I have a complete collection of my music portfolio. I am now the rhythm guitarist and lead vocalist of my family rock band, The Dorons- my brother on electric bass, my dad on guitar and keyboard, and my mom on drums. We are currently working on our debut album, which is expected to come out around the end of 2022. I even have my own YouTube channel, on which my highest-viewed video has close to 20,000 views!

I began writing in a diary when I was eight years old, chronicling fun and enjoyable days at school. In middle school, I wrote in a journal that included playful limericks, acrostic poems, fictitious stories, and other literary tidbits. As a teenager, I continued writing in what I called a “guidebook,” jotting down notes to my older self, along with health tips and marital advice. These diary, journal, and “guidebook” entries ended up becoming my sixth and most recent book, “Note to Self,” published under my long-time pen name, Joe Rosenbran. My fifth book, “Dear Mom and Dad,” is of a similar nature, comprised of my 11th-grade diary that I would send to my parents every day. My fourth book, “Drowning” documents my unique experience on a group trip to Israel, covering a wide range of topics including music, philosophy, and social dynamics. My second and third books fall under the category of religious satire, while the first book I ever published in a children’s book.

I am perhaps most proud of a single I recently released called “Baseball on the Weekend,” an anthemic song about growing up a baseball fan and joining a college team – and simply about loving baseball! You don’t even need to be a sports fan to enjoy the song – it has a great hook and a catchy melody, and its country-pop sound is bound to make it your new favorite song!

How did you build your audience on social media?

I started building my audience as a singer-songwriter and performer long before I had a presence on social media. As early as high school, I was playing biweekly concerts in one of the classrooms. Sometimes 10 or 20 kids would show up, sometimes nobody showed up – but I played just the same. I applied this same mentality when I was growing my audience on YouTube. I remember when I had only 20-25 subscribers and my videos didn’t get more than a few dozen views, and I struggled to see the point in uploading a video when I knew that close to no one would watch it. But I pushed forward and continued posting videos regularly, until it happened: I uploaded a cover of the song “Heat Above” by Greta Van Fleet, and it absolutely blew up – it has close to 20,000 views! I now have over 100 subscribers and my videos average hundreds of views. My advice to those who are just starting to build a social media presence is stay consistent and stay positive. It’s easy to question the impact you’re having when you’re just starting out, but give yourself some time to grow – nothing happens overnight.

What can society do to ensure an environment that’s helpful to artists and creatives?

The best thing society can do to support artists and creatives is spend money on art. Listening to songs for free and admiring visual art from a distance is nice, but that doesn’t do anything tangible to help the creators. Go purchase an album or record, go buy a piece of art, do something to help the artistic community grow and thrive. The artists will be forever grateful, and it will allow them to invest the money back into their art.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.patreon.com/YosefRosenfield
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/yosef_rosenfield/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/yosef.rosenfield
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/yosef-rosenfield-101473121
• Twitter: https://twitter.com/RosenfieldJoe
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCaT2hFL2AegYal1lUyGvy_Q