Meet John Lix Feliciano

We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful John Lix Feliciano . We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with John Lix below.

John Lix, appreciate you making time for us and sharing your wisdom with the community. So many of us go through similar pain points throughout our journeys and so hearing about how others overcame obstacles can be helpful. One of those struggles is keeping creativity alive despite all the stresses, challenges and problems we might be dealing with. How do you keep your creativity alive?

I’m a musician influenced by flamenco, Caribbean music, and jazz. These are my top three sources of creativity when I’m looking for inspiration. I enjoy listening to these genres on Spotify or learning a new song or piece as part of my daily routine to keep my creativity flowing. I’m a strong believer that while you can be a creative person, it’s important to also train that creative part of yourself.
On the other hand, when I feel my playing is becoming too similar and I’m not coming up with anything new, I let my creativity starve. I disconnect by neither playing the guitar nor listening to music. This helps me drain my brain, so when I return to creating, I “binge-eat” all the creativity I was missing.

Thanks for sharing that. So, before we get any further into our conversation, can you tell our readers a bit about yourself and what you’re working on?

I’m John Lix Feliciano, a Flamenco-Caribbean guitarist from Puerto Rico, based in Spain since 2016. I move between flamenco and Caribbean music without leaning completely to either side. My most recent project is my latest album, “Por Borikén,” which mixes flamenco with Puerto Rican music and repertoire. This album was awarded the 10th best album of 2023 by the Fundación Nacional para la Cultura Popular (National Foundation for Popular Culture) of Puerto Rico. I’m currently working on my second album while playing in festivals, recording material for social media, and collaborating with other artists such as Víctor Guirado, Ariana Lorén, and Pablo Hernández Mejías.

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?

I’d say persistence, communication, and thinking ahead.
Persistence is the most important for me. I have many friends who I believe are much better musicians than I am but became frustrated along the path to becoming full-time musicians. Any line of creative work requires persistence because you never know when a great opportunity will arrive.
Being able to communicate effectively and in a friendly manner has helped me make great friends in this industry and appear (and be) professional. I’ve always had the ability to speak in public, which always makes a great impression. I’m not just an ordinary musician who plays well but someone who can help book gigs, sort out details for the band, and get out of trouble.

Thinking ahead has helped me remain persistent in this field. Sadly, being an artist is never accompanied by a steady salary, but if you plan accordingly, you’ll never find yourself with empty pockets. It also makes you appreciate all the opportunities you are presented with because there will be times when you are offered none.

We’ve all got limited resources, time, energy, focus etc – so if you had to choose between going all in on your strengths or working on areas where you aren’t as strong, what would you choose?

My advice is, if you’ve found what you’re really good at at a very young age, then go all in on your strengths. You have what it takes to become the best at what you do, and if you don’t need to rely on anyone else to do it, even better.
If that’s not you, then focus on what you’re good at and also work on the areas that will make you better as a whole. I identify more with this option because I know I’ll never be like Paco de Lucía or Yamandu Costa, but that doesn’t mean I can’t live as a full-time musician. For me, it means I need to offer other things to stand out as an artist.

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Image Credits

Gloria Veredas
Bryan Rodríguez
Giuseppe Costantino
Danielfico

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