Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Lorin Drexler. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.
Hi Lorin, thank you for joining us today and sharing your experiences and acquired wisdom with us. Burnout is a huge topic these days and so we’d love to kick things off by discussing your thoughts on overcoming or avoiding burnout
While living in Phoenix in 2015, I produced two LPs, one EP, one single, and wrote and published my first book. I didn’t have a social life and took only short breaks when I ate. My life was highly unbalanced. Only after moving to the Big Island of Hawai’i a year and a half later did I realize I’d experienced burnout. I started a few new projects after that period, performed a reasonable amount, and focused on growing my business, but for the most part, I was creatively spent. It took me years to get back into the swing of things.
During the pandemic, I started to regain some of my creative mojo. I made it a point to live a more creatively balanced life. That can be tricky for me, considering I have severe obsessive-compulsive disorder, but I’ve managed to work through that and add a little more balance to my current routine.
Great, so let’s take a few minutes and cover your story. What should folks know about you and what you do?
This interview portion is an excellent opportunity to share my creative story. It is best told through my third-person biography, which I pulled from my website:
Lorin Drexler (aka Loryn) is an American poet, musician, songwriter, performer, music producer, teaching/coaching artist, and author. Rooted in the windy city of Chicago and currently residing in Mesa, Arizona, he has worked and lived in various US cities coast to coast. Experimental in nature, provocative in metaphor, and mellifluous in sound, art truly is the ritual of his practices.
Writing free verse poetry at 15 began the footwork of his projections and aspirations to create sound. Having an interest in lyrical poetry, his desire progressed to songwriting and learning guitar. At 18, Lorin formed his transitory first band, The Screaming Poets. Shortly after, he organized another project called Satori while attending Columbia College Chicago for creative writing. This group featured an accouterment of musicians and styles throughout its existence. From indie-folk to punkish hard rock to downtempo electronica, it was its own versatile caravan.
Post-Satori and a plethora of songs later, his interest in engineering and electronic music production began while working with a friend producer/DJ. He became acquainted with various elements of music software and hardware and started building his production suite. The electronica artist Loryn (www.loryn.net) was born within this process. Over the years, this method of designing music developed into a unique cohesion of computer production with organic guitar songwriting. Furthering his advancement in the technological arts, Lorin attended the SAE Institute in New York City and graduated at the top of his class. After completing the program, he continued on his path as a music artist, writing, performing, and publishing four original studio albums and one single.
Under Loryn, in 2011, he began releasing monthly newsletters to his fans and subscribers. In addition to artist updates, his passion for writing became part of the newsletters. In 2015, he compiled the newsletters into a novel anthology of poetry, prose, and flash fiction called Re-edit (available on Amazon: www.amazon.com/author/lorindrexler). Shortly after, he began receiving publication for his work and was inducted into Poets & Writers, the nation’s largest organization serving creative writers: www.pw.org/content/lorin_drexler.
Continuing his creative journey while freelancing as a music teacher and music producer on the Big Island of Hawai’i in 2017, Lorin began developing a blog website. He decided to name his blog Gen Society (https://gensociety.com/) based on a series of experiences affiliated with a collaborative project he has in the works called X GENESIS. After many trials trying to figure out what to do with Gen Society, resorting to his first love, Lorin finally settled on it being an art space blog for poetry & visual art collaborations.
Most recently, after moving to the Mesa Artspace Lofts in Mesa, Arizona, in 2018, Lorin has been offering independent teachings of his creative skillsets through his business and a series of classes/workshops at various institutions in Arizona. To name a few, he has been working with the Mesa Arts Center, Virginia G. Piper Center for Creative Writing at ASU, Mirabella at ASU, Writer’s Center, Edna Vihel Arts Center, North Valley Regional Library, Bookmans Entertainment Exchange, Arizona Empowerment Scholarship Program, Arizona Friends of Foster Children Foundation, and Music & Arts.
As a performer, Loryn has played alongside artists such as Local H and Rusted Root frontman Michael Glabicki. He has played multiple music festivals and parades, venues like the extravagant Art Institute of Chicago and the Double Door, and worked with avant-garde theatre giants, Collaboraction, as outsourced musical talent. As a music producer, Loryn has released four studio albums and one single, all currently distributed worldwide. In addition to his repertoire as a music artist, Lorin has produced other artists such as Chase Makai from Nahko and Medicine for the People, Ammon & Lia out of Utah, and the Beach Road Band in Hawaii. As a poet & fiction writer, Lorin’s work has appeared in tNY Press, LitroNY, Vine Leaves Literary Journal, Apocrypha and Abstractions, Maudlin House, and others. Lorin was also an awarded recipient in the 2019 Tempe Writing Contest.
Looking back, what do you think were the three qualities, skills, or areas of knowledge that were most impactful in your journey? What advice do you have for folks who are early in their journey in terms of how they can best develop or improve on these?
Diligence. Persistence. Heart.
Knowing what it is that you want to pursue is half the battle. Follow your heart; it will point you in the right direction and help you find your path. Once you figure out that part of the equation, diligence and persistence are the crucial next steps. If you can bring those qualities to the table, you can achieve just about anything you want. At that point, it’s really just a process of putting the time in and not giving up. So, if you love what you’re doing, let me repeat: Do. Not. Give. Up. Especially when it gets complicated, and doubt creeps in. That’s when it’s most important to demonstrate your strength. Those challenging times will come, but know that in those moments when what you’re trying to accomplish feels unrealistic or impossible, you’re closer than you think to something special.
What do you do when you feel overwhelmed? Any advice or strategies?
Journaling and meditation are two vital parts of my day. These essential practices help me approach any situations that might be overwhelming. I’ve noticed they help lessen the overall drama of life’s obstacles. They also give me a more grounded perspective behind my decisions and approaches to what life throws at me. My tribulations don’t go away; they just become more manageable.
Adding these elements to anyone’s daily schedule would be my best sound advice. If you’d like to go deeper and learn more about the practical aspects of these exercises, below are two excellent books on the topics:
1. The Artist’s Way by Julia Cameron
2. Breaking the Habit of Being Yourself by Joe Dispenza
Contact Info:
- Website: https://lorindrexler.com/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/lorindrexler/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/lorinwdrexler/
- Twitter: https://x.com/lorindrexler
Image Credits
Performance Photo: Bruce Moore
Album Cover Photo: Ron Ruanphae
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