Hi friends and welcome to another episode of Dream Life Club. This is Sumi and I am so excited to be back here with you guys. I'm just going to tighten my mic real quick. So today I wanted to talk about world building as an artist because it's been something that, you know, a lot of us have heard all the marketing advice for so long in terms of like, if you're a music artist, it's not just about creating songs anymore, it's about creating a world and creating a whole artistic universe that the listener can enter into when they're listening to our songs. And that is something that I will be totally honest with you guys, has been really challenging for me. I, you know, I started writing songs like 15 years ago. I started by learning the guitar and the piano and writing lyrics and singing and I, to be honest, couldn't even really hardly sing back then. So many years of developing my voice. I never really got great at the piano and guitar. I kind of just stayed at like beginner level as using those instruments as tools to help me write songs. And then, you know, when I was working and I was building my company in DC and I was really trying to figure out like, if this was something that I could do more seriously, more professionally. And when I moved to LA a few years ago, that's when I really decided to give it, go all in and give it a real go. And so I started releasing music, started releasing songs. And if you're in the field, you'll know that like everybody talks about, it's a singles game these days, right? Like that's the line that everybody says over and over again. Like it's a singles game. And basically so much advice out there is around not doing an album and just putting out single after single after single. Many people even say like every week or every two weeks. In fact, I was under management with somebody who I found just wasn't a right fit for me, who kept advising me to just do a single minimum every two weeks. Every week even better, but at least every two weeks so that we could find something that sticks, that finds something that takes off. And then you use that momentum to build. And as a creative, as an artist, what that did was so damaging to my sense of creative expression. It became a game of playing the algorithm. And I actually think that it was counterproductive because it didn't even take into account that most singles that hit don't just hit because you market them for one or two weeks. Like so much time and energy and money is spent marketing that single. So just because something doesn't hit right away doesn't mean that it's not a good song or that it won't hit with the right content around it. For example, there have been so many bands that I've seen that, you know, the whole content strategy on tick tock is do, you know, like the, Mouthing the lyrics to your song and various various outfits and various scenes. And you just have like a written hook on top of that video to see what written hook will get the most attention just like trying to go viral with that video depends so much on the written hook on top of your video, the visual hook, like what you happen to be doing in the first couple seconds of the video and the Sonics right like what they're listening to. But I was reading this anecdote of this one band who use the same exact video and tested. I think it was 65 different headlines written hooks on the top of that video. Nothing was taking off. Nothing was taking off. There were like 1000 2000 views on everything. And then all of a sudden one of the hooks she wrote that was like this is for all the bad bitches that refused to get given to something something something like it was just like Super direct and honest and authentic to her and that blew up and she had like 60 million views on that video and then therefore that song blew up. And anyways, I say all that because It proves to me the point that it's really like you could have so many good songs out there are going on noticed and they're going on noticed because of this really bad advice of keep releasing a single every one or two weeks until Something hits because actually if you just kept mark if you have a good song right and as artists and creatives with any sort of experience like we know when it's a good song or like We'll be able to you know if it's a quality song like there is a good to be there is going to be a group of people that fuck with it right like and so I am Just now like such a big believer of like not trying to be like desperately throwing spaghetti at the wall to see what sticks but instead focusing on creating really good art that I love that speaks to me that speaks to people in my circle and then and then and then taking enough care with that piece of art to actually put it out there into the world continually right and put all of the creativity behind now the world that it exists in so what I mean by that is not necessarily just making you know and it could include just creating 200 pieces of content behind it and changing up the written headlines like that story I was mentioning but also what's more exciting to me is focusing on creating Right music and a world around it visually aesthetically that gives like the listener a sense of what we're entering into a sense of the world that like involves my ethos as an artist that expresses the feelings that I want people to take away when they listen to my music and that part is the part that I had been ignoring not even really given giving a thought to previously and so I about a month ago started like going down this path and a friend of mine who is an artist in her own right came on board with me and decided to help me do this and we're so excited about what we're now creating because you know I have a visual aesthetic that really fits what I'm trying to say in my music and I've always known that my music is more than just being a fun pop girlie like I always knew that I yes I like to have fun and I want to and I do pop music but like I said on this podcast so many times like I do think that the role of an artist today needs to be also helping reflect the times that we're living in through our own unique point of view like the role of an artist is to reflect the times through our own unique point of view like to me that is what art is right and when I say the times that we're living in it doesn't have to mean politically socially culturally but it can't not include that because that is part of the world that we're living in right we're living in our personal experiences right with like our own aspirations and relationships and disappointments and love and you know all of that and we're also living in the outside forces that we don't have direct control over we're living in a society we're living together with people and right now we're living through really challenging times really challenging times and so it has to include that as well so the album that I'm working on right now so to kind of close what I'm trying to say is that I'm really what I was talking about is that instead of just releasing singles like I had been doing that didn't really have like a common theme or didn't weren't really tied together with any sort of project thesis or anything right like what I'm working on now and the songs that I've been writing over the past six months have been toward the album concept called American Dream and as the daughter of immigrants my parents came here from India I think that I do have a unique perspective of America and you know the kind of the kind of vision of America that had been sold around the world and also you know the evolving definition of what America stands for and look like I still believe in the best of what America stands for and I know that I truly see all of those values expressed in this country so many millions of people believe in the best of what America stands for and fights for those values right fights for actual freedom freedom of expression freedom of religion separation of church and state right like human rights all men are created equal right like these principles that the best of America stands for and that I believe we have always aimed to be I still believe in and I don't believe that as an American that any one of us needs to say like like you know a lot of people are just like leaving the country and exiting and and just being like well fuck you you know like we're not the country I want to stand for and I and I agree with that but I do think that like if we ever I don't I'm not giving up hope is what I'm saying and like my album American Dream is might be might be being called American terror and you know this is just like this is just like we're all behind the scenes guys I'm literally just like speaking stream of consciousness so don't hold me to any of this but I wanted to share I wanted to bring you into like what it really looks like right like as part of this podcast mission is to bring everybody into what it really looks like to build an artistic career a music career in L.A. and we're lining up some really amazing guests to in the field that I can't wait to share with you guys but like this at what I'm what I'm realizing is that is that if we fast forward 10 years and I look back over what you know my this part of my career has looked like I always I asked I I had I did this thought experiment with myself I asked myself the question what would I be more proud of like in 10 years would I be more proud of putting out a single every two weeks which by the way is a huge creative feat right like it takes so much work it takes so much energy and I'm sure just by the effort of like writing and releasing that many songs that I would get so much better and honed in on who I am as an artist and what I'm saying and my songs would be better and my song writing would improve and so I'm not taking away value from that or like the value that that has to offer but would I be more proud of that or would I be more proud of maybe say every year you know I release a project whether it's an album or an EP that I'm super proud of where every song says exactly what I want it to say where I've created a world around it visually you know aesthetically representing myself in videos and photos and other fun artistic concepts that we get to create as artists like I said this album might be called American tarot right like we're thinking creating our own unique tarot deck that goes along with this album we're thinking of doing that and doing so many like just just fun pieces that create a true world around the message that I'm putting out there and so comparing the two options ten years from now would I be more proud of a single every two weeks trying to chase the algorithm to see what hits with no aligned theme or project right or would I be more proud of every year having a project that had all of these creative aspects included into it that was really connected to a specific message and what I'm putting out and it was so clear to me and this is not right answer wrong answer for everybody it was so clear to me as an artist which lane I wanted to land in and it was this lane it was the lane of putting out a cohesive project every year because you know I think chasing fame this way almost feels like chasing fame and while part of what obviously as artists we want our music to be heard we need our music to be heard right if no one's going to hear my music like okay it's great as like self expression but there's no need to put all this effort into it if it's just for self expression right so we need and we want our music to be heard and therefore we need and we want platforms but it comes from a different energetic when we're chasing fame versus doing it really thoughtfully and putting out a single every two weeks to see what hits and trying to write a hit every time is is chasing fame and I did not want to do that it was just so clear to me that that was just not the path for me and you know no shame on anybody who does choose that path but it just is not the path for me so anyways that is what I've been working on over the past many months and we're going to have it looks like or we have about five songs on this upcoming EP and you know I've written a lot more than that to kind of whittle down to the these five it's like the old school like when you know artists over the you know in the 70s 80s 90s 2000s even like people would write 40 songs to then get 12 songs that would end up on an album right like you don't just like release every song you write everything is not great and that's that used to be the mentality right but now I think it is being looked at as a lot more disposable and it's just like right and release which which again nothing wrong with that not my path and so anyways I think world building around your message and around the art that I'm creating has been a real challenge for me so so much like I was saying my friend came on board to kind of help me because because one of the hardest parts is like and all the artists who break through like you'll notice that's like all the artists who break through have a specific aesthetic sound message ish that they've decided on and stayed consistent with it's like one laser signal that then breaks through and Lana Del Rey 2012 everybody can remember that album and and now I'm going to be able to and and it was very cohesive right she sang in a certain way she dressed a certain way she represented herself in a certain way and she's been pretty she every album she's put out has been has been Lana right like Florence and machines same way like Billy Eilish same Charlie XTX same way like you know what I mean like every artist who's broken through is has been identifiable and I remember when I first started doing this like one of my producers said to me like there's a difference between being a singer and an artist and I honestly like and it seems so naive now that I would have said this at the time I can't I can't even believe I said this but I did I said to him what's the difference what's the difference between a singer and an artist and to me now that is just so comical that like I didn't know I didn't think through that I didn't have an understanding in my bones about what the difference is like it's so obvious right now but I didn't and the difference in case you may not know and now it's like you know it's it's not obvious if you're not in in in this on the daily right like if you're an aspiring musician or you know have a different career and want to launch this like like let me explain like the difference between an artist and a singer is that is that being a singer is is literally only like I would say like 30 to 40% of being an artist like being an artist is standing for something is is is a is a vibe that you're putting out there in the world it's your personal expression that's cohesive and consistent with who you are as an artist being an artist is representing something for people it's being it's being a representation of something that people can connect with it honestly has pretty not much to do with being a singer because there are really amazing artists that range from zero to 100 as good vocalists right like you do not need to be a good vocalist in order to be an artist and by artists I specifically mean you know a music artist that performs their own music okay so I know there's tons of types of artists out there but that's the the context that I'm using the word in right now so like and I have so many friends who who don't focus on great vocal genius they don't focus on that where I mean I do like a part of my artistry involves improving as a singer because it's just it's a tool that I want to have to help me express in all different ways and like God some of my favorite singers are those who can like you know really belt out some emotional heartfelt stuff that I love that I connect with and I I like that type of art and like that's the type of art that I I want to offer into the world and I have I want to keep getting better as a singer and a lot of my friends are more storytellers with their voices they you know they have a character that they embody with their voices and they don't need to have you know Whitney Houston voice to tell their story and create their artist project that represents something for so many many people right and so I don't know like it's it's really really cool like once I really like Selena Gomez like listen to her voice like she's not a singer right she but she represents something for people same with like Charlie XEX I mean nothing no I'm not trying to knock people right now I'm just trying to like the difference between Whitney Houston and Selena Gomez is huge right in terms of their voices so like I just found it really interesting that I didn't even realize that because my passion was like my passion was singing and I wanted to be a singer and then I realized I actually want to be an artist and that is so much more involved in so much more challenging because you're not just standing up there being a salesperson for a song that somebody else wrote and the label is telling you how to dress and what songs are going to work for you and if you do that you're you're kind of just like a tool right you're like a you're like a salesperson you're selling the song that somebody else wrote that somebody else told you how to dress for that somebody else told you how to express but you're not I mean you're not creating this artistic expression and universe for people to fall into with you and that to me is like the next level challenge so that's what I've been working on and we did a photo shoot out in the desert two weeks ago getting clear and clear on the you know how this music is going to sound how it looks how it feels and it doesn't just it's not just one mood I'm not saying it has to be stuck to one mood the whole time for a project you can have many different moods but they have to be connected and and I think that you know this first attempt at this is going to be exciting and I'm sure it'll just keep getting more and more refined as I go along so that's what I got for you guys today I think you know no matter where you are in your process of artistic development I think it's so important to just keep having fun with it like keep having fun with it remember why we're doing this in the first place and and we're doing this in the first place as self expression because we love it and because we want to move people with our art right and like and like if we're not having fun with it and like what's the point what's the point we could be doing something a lot easier right like people think that you know I left my career in DC and now I'm just having fun out here in LA trust me like yes I'm having fun but it would have been a lot easier to have stuck to what I was doing in DC a lot easier right like so choosing the more challenging path it's like this weird irony that like often choosing the more challenging path where you have to overcome things that you wouldn't have had to overcome before that path is going to be the path that's more fulfilling and that's exactly how I feel about you know doing art here in LA right now so so I think that wherever you are in your artistic journey like there's so many times where I think like oh my god I should be further along by now and blah blah blah blah blah blah and like all the voices in my head all the imposter syndrome just remember that like if you have imposter syndrome that's probably a good thing because remember that the people that really can't do anything the Dunning Kruger effect like they don't know how unskilled they are at the thing they're trying to do or unknowledgeable they are right like that's the Dunning Kruger effect like the more you know the more you realize you don't know so if you have imposter syndrome like that's a fucking good sign right it means that you're you're not a complete idiot so I just I just want us all as artists to have fun keep going and not give up and like really honor every point of the process that we're at like I may not be where I want to be right now but I'm trying really hard to honor where I am because this point deserves to be celebrated remembered embraced romanticized like every point in our life deserves that and we'll always look back to these we can never get this moment back right now we're never gonna get this moment back and you know the moment before I launched my first EP is going to be a moment that I will never forget and wherever you are in your process right now is going to be a time and place that you will never forget and how can you make this moment more juicy how can you make this moment something that like you remember having so much fun with even if you're frustrated but you're exploring that you weren't giving up you know I mean you're not giving up you know you're not giving up you're not giving up you're not giving up you're not giving up you're not giving up you're not giving up you're not giving up you're not giving up you're not giving up you're not giving up you're not giving up you're not giving up you're not giving up you're not giving up you're not giving up you're not giving up you're not giving up you're not giving up you're not giving up you're not giving up you're not giving up you're not giving I mean the best memories in life are the times where we've had to go through something hard together with people you know and how can we make this moment more like that get the people together that you want in this moment with you right not isolating and pushing through together with people that you love and that you're excited about being with working with creating with like all of these things keep us going and keep life worth living right right that's what I got for you guys today sending you so much love and we'll be back real soon
