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

Zac , thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. 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.

Risk is often associated with danger and fear. Throughout my life I have found myself in many situations people would call “risky” and have had to find a way of dealing with these risks as well as the danger and fear that come with them. My childhood consisted of racing motorcycles, an activity flooded with risks. Growing up I knew that the sport I had fallen in love with was dangerous, that injury was almost guaranteed at some point or another, and that death was possible anytime I got on that bike. So since the age of three, dealing with risks was something that I had no choice but to become good at. But to “deal with risks” is somewhat vague. A risk is nothing more than a statistical chance for something to go wrong. Or is it a chance for something to go right? Whatever the option, FEAR is what stops majority of people from taking risks that can forever change their lives. I have been a musician for majority of my life. Singing and playing instruments since about eight years old. I have always been told I had amazing abilities in music. Playing entirely by ear and being able to pick up instruments and figure them out relatively quickly was something I feel I took for granted in my younger years. Now music is the focus of my life and I am learning the struggles and obstacles an independent artist has to face in order to get their name and their music out to people.
The risk I am taking? Sacrificing the “building years” of my life for something that is far from guaranteed success. Sacrificing weekends, evenings, and holidays to be able to bring my music to people live. Sometimes playing for empty rooms and barely making any money yet pushing forward with the hope of a better future. The only way to “manage” the risks I am taking is to fully understand both possible outcomes. To understand that I can fail easier than i can succeed and then learning to be okay with that. See my strength comes from being content with myself regardless of the outcome. I am perfectly fine with failing. Obviously I will give everything I have to try to achieve success, but if I fall short, my head will stay up because I took the chance. Everyday is a risk and the only way to beat a risk, is to take it.
“I’m perfectly fine with failing, but I can’t live with not trying”. -Zac

Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.

I like to call myself the “Zac of all trades” at the moment. I am a musician that began playing early in life. My first show was a school talent show where I played guitar and sang. Since then my musical interests have only grown, picking up new instruments and focusing my attention on not only imitating music, but recently, diving into the world of creating my own. I currently have released two songs and play all the instruments on the songs except the drums (have to practice that one more). My music floats in between genres and I take musical inspiration from all over. I grew up on 80’s metal and hard rock so I definitely feel there is a rock sound in my music. I also have become a large fan of country and southern rock which I also have put into my own music. Growing up in North Carolina the southern influence was always there and the simplicity of the lyrics paint a crystal clear image. I am trying to explore new sounds and techniques to find “my sound” but my style comes through differently depending on the song.

Any resources you can share with us that might be helpful to other creatives?

I feel like it isn’t so much about finding brand new resources. I think if creatives learned to truly maximize the resources they have now they would be amazed at the results. This goes for myself just as much as anyone else! Understanding what frequent and consistent posts on sites such as Youtube and Social Media can do for an artist is huge. If I had been uploading to Youtube since I was ten, I couldn’t imagine the results fourteen years later! The world is so small now and creatives have to embrace that and take advantage of it. No more stapling show posters all over town, if you take the time to learn how to maximize results from these platforms and create a following then you are going to be exposed to way more people than you could imagine. Its difficult to do, trust me I’m trying, but those that take it serious and make it happen tend to see results!

Are there any books, videos or other content that you feel have meaningfully impacted your thinking?

One of the most influential books I have ever read was “Can’t Hurt Me”, by David Goggins. If you don’t know who Goggins is I HIGHLY suggest looking him up online because wow, the guy is an animal. His book talks about the overwhelming odds he had to face growing up and into early adulthood. He talks about his insecurities and his weaknesses and how he let those aspects of his life shape him and define him. He then talks about how he recreated himself through hard work and grit. How brutal honesty with not only others, but with himself forever changed his life. This book isn’t your stereotypical macho alpha male book. He explains how being comfortable with the worst parts of yourself is the first step to changing them. The book made me take a look in the mirror and ask if I was truly making the most of my time on Earth and if I was doing what truly made me happy. This helped me chase ofter my music and make it the focal point of my life.

Contact Info:

• Instagram: @zacherrinmusic
• Facebook: Zac Herrin
• Youtube: Zac Herrin
• Other: @zacherrinmusic on tiktok

Image Credits
Chandler Kahler Photography