Aaron English— Singer/ Songwriter, Producer, Band Leader

What is your creative mission?

I always think of what The Pet Shop Boys’ Chris Lowe said, when asked what genre of music he likes: “I like ecstatic music”. Me, too. Ecstasy is a powerful word. I don’t want to stop at writing a catchy melody or clever lyric,

[bctt tweet=”I want to transport someone to another state— of meditation, mysticism or ecstasy.”]

What do you love about what you do?

Artists are the holy fools of our society.

We can move between social classes, between economic classes, we can get away with being obscure, or intellectual, or raunchy, or peevish, or aggressive, or stand-offish, or perverse…you get the idea. We have license to explore the extremes of human emotion, personality, or behavior, without the usual social norms having to apply – we’re somehow exempt or immune because we’re artists.

What have you learned from your successes/ failures?

Art is chaotic, and the music business is chaotic. So I’ve learned to take risks – there is no map to success, and you never know where a new direction is going to lead.

How do you keep pushing ahead after a difficult challenge?

The flush of victory after conquering a difficult challenge is exactly what keeps me pushing ahead!

[bctt tweet=”It’s complacency you have to watch out for. “]

It’ll kill your momentum faster than facing challenges will.

Have you ever encountered resistance from family, friends or the world in general? How did you overcome those kinds of blocks?

It’s important to remember to own your own story. Plug your ears when people say “It’s really hard to make a living doing what you do”. That’s their story, why let it become your own? Believing it will just cause you to doubt, which will just make your job harder.

How has your art and creativity healed you?

Stories create our reality. I create stories for a living. So being a professional artist means you’re doing fundamental self-work all day, because you’re processing your reality and spitting it out as stories.

What are your NFA bullet points? What steps would you recommend for anyone who wants to kick some ass and get their creative dreams off the ground?