We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Stephen Lear a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.
Stephen , we’re thrilled to have you sharing your thoughts and lessons with our community. So, for folks who are at a stage in their life or career where they are trying to be more resilient, can you share where you get your resilience from?
Oh, man! That’s a great question. I feel like I owe a lot of that to my upbringing, the people who’ve guided me and many of the things that have happened or I’ve seen in my life. My parents were separated from a very young age which means I lived through everything that came with the single-parent life. Watching my young-adult parents struggle to keep their own life’s in check during a recession, housing crash and all the other disastrous things that were going on in the early 2000’s, along with having to raise a growing child has always shown me that life is about more that just yourself. They always pushed through and made sure I was always taken care off. One person I’ve always had an amazing respect for regarding resilience and hard work is my Mom. She’s one of the hardest working people I know and was never shy to face new obstacles in her life.
Along with having single parents came lots of time at Grandmas and Grandpas houses. I spent a lot of time with my grandparents as a kid, on both sides. This is something I’ll always be grateful for because they have all been so influential on my life. They all have endured so many different hardships, some that I don’t know if I could ever make it out of myself. But if I’ve learned anything from them it’s to never give up and to always push on because it’ll all be worth it someday.
All of my courage, dedication, passion, stage presence, you name it is all because the people who raised me taught me to always be myself, do what I wanna do and always push through.
Appreciate the insights and wisdom. Before we dig deeper and ask you about the skills that matter and more, maybe you can tell our readers about yourself?
There’s been lots of new things happening with The Stephen Lear Band. We’re currently finishing up our debut album which will be available for everyone on all streaming platforms this fall. We will also be rolling out a few singles in the coming months leading up to that!
Since our last interview with Voyage, we’ve really been working on trying to grow our name, find our fan base and figure out the best possible plan for the path we are currently in. With these ideas in mind we decided to recruit an amazing hand to join the TSLB team, Ms. Josie Meere has come aboard to help with management, engagement, PR and the overall success of the band.
There is so much advice out there about all the different skills and qualities folks need to develop in order to succeed in today’s highly competitive environment and often it can feel overwhelming. So, if we had to break it down to just the three that matter most, which three skills or qualities would you focus on?
Looking back I’m very glad to have grown up going to live music. It’s something I did with my pals through the early years into my late teens. But now that I’m thinking about it, it never really stopped. I learned a lot being exposed to the live music scene at an early age and it made all the difference when I was ready to join the scene myself.
Referring back to my family, I think a lot of it has to do with how I was raised. I wasn’t allowed to give up. Most of things in my life I was always taught to see through even if the current circumstances aren’t great. That’s a big quality to have in this industry. Amongst so many artists, so many songs, this and that it’s so easy to get discouraged. But all I can do is keep making music for myself, doing what I love and havin’ fun while I’m doin’ it!
I think the greatest advice I would have for people just starting out playing live shows and trying to build your fan base is to just trust yourself. Do what you wanna do. Make what you wanna make! It doesn’t matter what others think, just make sure you love it. And the other people that love it will find it too.
How can folks who want to work with you connect?
Always! There’s a lot of moving parts that goes into being in a successful band and having people to count on is always a good thing. I’m always looking for new musicians to collaborate with, people to help us grow, and new people who just wanna get to know us and hear our music! That’s the one thing I love about being apart of this community is all the cool cats I get to meet on a daily basis. We all support each other and that’s how it should be! Best way to reach out to us or get to know us is through our Instagram @Stephenlearband
Contact Info:
- Instagram: https://Instagram.com/stephenlearband
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/stephenlearband?mibextid=LQQJ4d
- Youtube: https://youtube.com/@thestephenlearband?si=6f1WG6JWIg05ixTM
- Other: https://www.tiktok.com/@stephenlearband?_t=8nNE5SC6aLR&_r=1
Image Credits
Jason Reschka
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