We sat down with Basha (Artist) and talked about authenticity through music and life
A conversation about being authentic through the eyes of an artist
Question
What 5 tips would you give to your younger self?
Basha
Number one don't rush. Do not be in a hurry. Everybody is on their own path and it takes different times for everybody. You can never mimic someone else's path and you just have to stay true to yourself and follow your gut instinct.
Second, never underestimate the importance of a great team. Once you start getting into the music industry, you realize how important it is to have people who are executing their roles at a high level.
Third, always be true to yourself. Especially when you're just getting started in the industry. It's easy to get veered off into different paths and different people. Saying you should do this, but this is what I like. So this is what we're doing in this session. When you're young and naive and just getting started it's hard to sometimes go against that or stay true to yourself. So I would say always just trust your gut and do what you want to be doing.
Fourth, if something seems too good to be true, chances are it is. There's a lot of people especially today with social media to pitch you something and get you all excited making it seem like they're someone that they're not. If you have that feeling that this might be cap, chances are it is.
The fifth one is doing it yourself. In the last year and a half, two years, I really just, put that on and the forefront of my mind. And it's really gratifying in a lot of ways, cause you're not waiting on people and you're not relying on, other people's schedules. If you can do it yourself, you eliminate so many possible areas of disappointment and expectations.
Question
What are 3 things you do to help develop who you are?
I would say listen to as many different genres and types of music and different eras as you can. I feel if you're just listening to one thing all day long or one artist it's hard to get different ideas and different concepts to make something unique. You're ultimately just taking in the same sound the whole time. I listened to a lot of old music as well. A lot of old jazz. I love sampling music. That's a big thing to me. So I'm always looking for stuff that I can sample from old jazz records and stuff. Expand your palette because then you can say, okay, I like this from this era. And I like these drums from this song and I like how his vocals were mixed here. Let me put all that together and see what I can make. Ultimately, you would hope that will be something fresh and new.
Two, try to work with people who typically work outside of your comfort zone. A lot of times I work with collaborators, whether it's writers or producers that aren't specifically in my field, but I can take certain things from that and add to what I know and love. You're always learning. The minute that you stop learning is a minute that you stop being an artist because it's all about learning and growing. I want to be a sponge, so I'm just looking to take as much as I can from different people.
Third, I would say is put in the time. If you're not really doing this every day, and not doing it as a chore, but doing it because you love to do it. Like if you're not doing that it's going to take you a lot longer to develop yourself or to find yourself. You get what you put in. I truly believe that. If you're putting in all these hours and all this time, you're going to get something back.
Question
What are 3 things you do to help improve yourself?
I'm very much a person that I have to do certain things throughout the day to maintain my focus and, you know, good mental health. I enjoy eating healthy it always makes me more on point. I need to work out every single day and read. If you can read 10, 20 minutes, a half-hour, a day, workout and eat clean you're good.
Question
How do you stop the creative block?
For me what causes the creative blocks is when expectations are there. Then you're creating from a different place because then you're mindset is, okay, I need to do this certain thing or this, or at this certain time being creative is not about that. If it were easy everybody would be doing it and it would be a 9 to 5 job, but it comes and goes. Remove as many expectations as possible and create from a free place. For me personally, the best and exciting material that I'm making always comes when I'm just creating without expectations.
In summary, remove yourself from comparisons to others and expect nothing, but pure joy when it comes to creating the life you want to live. You can view Basha's work on his website, instagram, Spotify and Apple Music. Be on the look for his new project coming out March 2022.