Makin Beats, Gettin Fired. The Crazy Journey to Follow My Passion
Diggin for samples, making beats and creating a musical getaway that’s chill, nostalgic and almost transcendental is what I live for. Every morning I sit down at my beat machine, fire up my camera and create content to share connection, creativity and inspiration with the world. Light piano melodies and entrancing drums rock speakers around the globe. It brings a feeling that’s somewhere between longing for the past and daydreaming about the future. I look up at my screen and comments roll in from the people watching.
“This is just what I needed to start my day”
”I love this vibe”
”This is so chill thanks for helping me relax”
I can hardly believe this idea of dusty lo-fi beats and futuristic soul sounds that only existed in my head is now real and helping real people. And to think if I never got fired from my 9-to-5 none of this would be happening!
Let’s go back a few years to the beginning around 2014. I was working as the graphics guy at a place in Indianapolis called PIP Printing. This was the latest in a string of short-lived graphic design jobs I had since college. Nothing like the big time high-profile ad agencies my professors gassed me up about back in design school. Just a bunch of basic post cards and brochures ad nauseam for local restaurants and dentist offices. [gag!]
My true passion was always music but I settled for graphic design. As a kid in the 80’s and 90’s I Ioved two things… hip hop and playing the bass. All the producers who were making lo-fi beats before it was cool to call it lo-fi were my idols. From Marley Marl, Pete Rock and RZA all the way down to Dilla, Madlib and Flying Lotus, my love of music is deep-rooted in beat culture. I wanted to be like those cats but like many people I let social pressure get to me when I was younger. I took the safe route and went for a field where I’d be able to get a “real job”.
So here I was, stuck behind a desk at PIP all day then using what little energy I had left after work to make beats or do gigs around town as a bass player. I tried my best to be content but each day at the job felt like pieces of my soul were dying. By this time I was married with 3 kids so I couldn't just up and quit but I also couldn’t shake the calling of music. Just squeezing in a few beats or a gig after work was not enough. I needed to do something meaningful and inspiring that would leave a legacy like my childhood idols had done.
Something HAD to give or I would regret it forever.
One thing that was cool about the job is there was downtime pretty often and I could make beats on my MacBook when I wasn’t busy. This helped me stay sane and kept the music bug at bay but as the months went on I started to notice longer and longer periods of downtime. I bet you can tell where this is going…
There was an afternoon when my boss pulled me aside and said business had been WAAAY too slow for months, they were losing money and he would have to let me go. That was it – FIRED. It was the straw that broke the camel’s back! I had been trapped in a loop of starting over at new jobs just to be fired. I was pissed off at the situation and at myself for being complacent. I was sick and tired of chasing a “real job” and not following my true passion.
That was DONE!
After all, job security was the whole point of choosing a “real job” over music. The more I tried to avoid my fear of no steady paycheck the more it kept happening. At this point I had nothing to lose and had to face my fear head on. So I decided to go all in on my music and not look back.
It’s been a crazy journey with plenty of rejections, let-downs and setbacks but the wins make it all worthwhile. In the years since losing my job I’ve gone from being a quiet, introverted 9-to-5 worker to becoming a bold, risk-taking entrepreneur pursuing my passion. I’ve been able to work and do shows with all sorts of dope artists like Thundercat, Robert Glasper and even appeared in a movie with Don Cheadle! Plus I have my own live stream music podcast called Breakfast Beats. Every time I go live for Breakfast Beats and see comments saying how my lo-fi beats ease anxiety or how people get inspired from my music I know I made the right move.
It’s likeminded people like you who keep me going. We understand the value of pursuing our passions and going after what we want in life. So thanks for being a part of this journey just by checking out my beats and even reading this blog. It’s a whole movement and the goal is to raise vibrations through lo-fi beats. If you want to take the next step with me please be sure to tune into my 24/7 music channel below. Enjoy the sounds and I look forward to meeting you on the next live episode of Breakfast Beats on Facebook.