Before diving into this article, I want to shout out Giovanna, Keep Ya Nose Out and Becca Roth for sharing their insight as I researched this topic. You can find links to their music, social media and Substacks below - I highly recommend you check them out.
I’ve been to a few art festivals and conferences recently, and there’s been a lot of conversations around how young creatives can break into the industry.
The barriers people face are very similar across all types of art, and are a big reason why the arts as a career feels so inaccessible.
A common piece of advice you’ll hear, is “it’s who you know, not what you know”. This has been said to me hundreds of times over the past 10 years, and the speaker always ends that thought there, as if I’m supposed to suddenly know who I should go and find, and that mystery person is going to unlock my career.
In reality, social media has kept people isolated and those small pockets of art communities have been dwindling. It almost feels like we’re in a “chicken and egg” situation - we need to be actively working in the relevant industry to meet the right people who can help further our career, but we can’t get our foot in the door without those people.
But how do I know if I’m ready to bring collaborators in?
I spoke to three independent artists who seem to have a good foothold on this, to see what insight they can give.
Whilst this insight is coming from myself (a video creative) and three indie artists, I believe it’s applicable across most art-based careers.
Keep Ya Nose Out - Mates With My Demons
“I feel like you should always be working with other creatives from the start, and I feel like the way you get better is by working with other people.”
Keep Ya Nose Out
As mentioned by dark alt rock duo Keep Ya Nose Out, a good rule of thumb is to start collaborating with others as early as possible - but you need to have already established your own creative vision first.
Understanding your vision is crucial before you get other people involved, it allows you to know when to flex on ideas as well as giving you the confidence to clearly communicate your ideas to other creatives.
🍏 Check out this blog post to get a better idea of your creative direction.
A common fear I hear from artists when it comes to working with other creatives, is feeling like their creative vision can get derailed in the collaboration process. Indie singer and songwriter Giovanna touched on this briefly:
“I think most of it is a leap of faith. By watching people and seeing how they work/play and how open they are, you can get a sense to see if they would be good for on a project. But mostly it’s trying to not be nervous and see where it would go with this person.”
Giovanna
Giovanna - Poppy Fields
The creative process, even when working with yourself, is never linear or clear cut. There’a always a trial and error element to it, and working with someone who understands that is going to make the whole process feel a lot more seamless.
However, as Giovanna mentions, working with someone new will always be a leap of faith. You can do you due diligence, you can have prior meetings with them, but ultimately (especially at lower budgets), people will do what they will do. You need to be comfortable with the idea of things not working out, or when it does work out, for the project to take a slightly different form to what you’re envisioning.
Because, ultimately, of the main benefits of working with other people is having access to different points of view and opinions, which can often take your project to the next level.
Keep Your Nose Out shared a story about how they’d spent a lot of money on creating a short film with a production company, without fully understanding their own direction, and having to scrap it all when it didn’t turn out as planned. They mentioned how they had lost a lot of time and money due to this.
I’d argue that the experience they gained has outweighed all of that.
They recognised the issue for what it is, and took the time to go back to the drawing board to work on fleshing out their vision. When they came to film and edit, they were much happier with how it was turning out. The resulting short film attracted 80,000 potential new fans. It’s wonderfully made, and perfectly encapsulates their vibe - I’d highly recommend for you to check it out.
So who’s the right creative for me, and how can I find them?
Finding the right people can sometimes feel like a big wall blocking you from progressing, we don’t always have immediate access to new contacts, nor do we have unlimited funds to take too many risks. For this reason, a good place to start would be your immediate circle.
A huge part of collaboration is energy based - if you already get on with someone as a friend, you already know that you’ll have an easier time working together.
“It doesn’t matter how talented you are, if you don’t get back to others or come through on commitments, you’ll be missing out on opportunities.”
Giovanna
The emphasis here is on building long term relationships with creatives who are invested in your journey. There are options such as agencies or freelance platforms, where you’ll get a lot of exposure to a variety of different talents, but there is a downside to this.
“You get a lot of people applying for your job, but it doesn’t really create long-term relationships”
Keep Ya Nose Out
There was another emphasis here, from all three artists I spoke to, of meeting people face to face. You want to make sure that you get on with someone, that they’ll be reliable and you want to know that they are passionate about not only their own art, but yours as well.
“When you bring a project to someone, they should understand that at the end of the day, it’s your vision. If you need to remind them of that, do so… If it isn’t working, you’ll feel it.”
Giovanna
It’s important to trust your intuition, if you’re not sure about someone or if you spot some red flags early on, it’s worth bringing it up with them, and if it’s still not working, know that you can walk away.
Even the most talented people will miss out on opportunities and referrals if they bring bad vibes to their projects.
“Follow your gut. It’s okay to not get on with everyone, it doesn’t mean you’re a bad person. It also doesn’t mean they’re a bad person.”
Keep Ya Nose Out
However, this goes both ways. Whilst you want to find someone you can rely on and trust, you also want to make sure you can be that person for other creatives.
It’s also worth noting that going into this journey, you may not already have friends in creative spaces, so there are other options available, as singer/songwriter Becca Roth mentions.
“Younger college kids, or people who are starting out and building their reel are great people to collaborate with. I’ve also had people reach out through instagram who wanted to work with me, but you really need someone who is a go getter.”
Becca Roth
Becca Roth - Supposed to be
You can also reach out to arts workshops, conferences, open mics, professors, or sometimes even social media.
Giovanna takes these approaches and has found a lot of success, evidenced through the quality of her music and the visuals that sits alongside it.
t’s also worth remembering that if you’re on social media, anyone can find you - and you never know who’s watching.
For example, I had a connection request from someone on LinkedIn who didn’t have any posts, or any personal info in their “About” section. They’d been liking my posts for 2 years before they messaged me out of the blue to offer me a job editing for Burberry (!!!). I’ve also in the past done some of my best work with musicians I’ve scouted at small local gigs.
So take this a sign to show your face in as many relevant spaces as possible, and to keep shouting about your work online - especially when it feels fruitless - because sometimes, the person who can help you the most, is usually the one lurking quietly waiting for the perfect project to bring you in on.
“You never know who on social media or even at a random live show might bring around to you too, and you’d be surprised how eager people would be to connect and make something with you.”
Giovanna
Skill-wise, Keep Ya Nose Out mentions that you should be aiming to work with creatives who are at similar stage in their career as you. You want to find people with whom you can build alongside, learn and grow as artists. A good long-term collaborator is someone who’s been with you from the start - think Law Roach & Zendaya.
At the same time, you want to find someone whose knowledge fills in the gaps of what you don’t know.
“I try to find someone who knows more than music (or areas that I lack) than I do, is able to bounce ideas off of me, is communicative/honest, and is open to messing around and seeing where things go without pressure”
Giovanna
Finding someone with different areas of expertise or a different cultural perspective will allow for a more well-rounded view of your project. This is where a good trusting working relationship will really come in handy, and you can hopefully fill those knowledge gaps for each other as you continue to work together.
What can I do to make people excited about working with me?
In my opinion, one of the most important aspects of a collaboration is how you conduct yourself. Being self-aware, and understanding what you’re bringing to the table.
The more you work with other creatives, the more you may have to have difficult, or even awkward, conversations. It forces you to see yourself from an outside perspective and acknowledge your weaknesses, as these are the things that can slowly creep in and disrupt a good creative working relationship.
Stay reliable, open minded and transparent. Respect the other artists’ time and craft and be curious. This may sound over simplified, but it’s something I’ve seen echoed time and time again as the reason people will receive more bookings and referrals - more so than their skill level! It’s amazing how much you can learn from people when you approach life with a curious mind.
I’ll leave you with this quote from Keep Ya Nose Out, who I feel have summarised this whole topic beautifully.
“You also want to have fun when you create, like it’s not brain surgery where we’re actually saving someone’s life, we’re actually just doing something really fun.”
Keep Ya Nose Out
Thank you so much to the three artists for taking the time to share their insight. Please check out their music below!
Keep Ya Nose Out: Dark alt rock
Giovanna: Indie singer and songwriter
Becca Roth: Indie singer and songwriter
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