Meet Richard Huempfner

We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Richard Huempfner a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Hi Richard, thank you so much for making time for us today. Let’s jump right into a question so many in our community are looking for answers to – how to overcome creativity blocks, writer’s block, etc. We’d love to hear your thoughts or any advice you might have.

Id like to clarify that I am a writer first, and creativity flows in different ways depending on what you are creating. With that in mind I write songs, stories, poetry, contracts, etc. and when I struggle with one, I switch the other. For example if I’m struggling with the direction of the song, I’ll write a short story about the topic of the song and use that the trigger the creative process. If I’m struggling with the story, I’ll write a synopsis or maybe switch to a song that has nothing to do with the story…sort of “reset” the creative process.

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 take pride in being “self-made” but my version may not fit the “standard”. I’ve always loved music and writing, I wrote sevveral stories before I graduated high school, but as a young man I was involved in pretty much the same illegal/illicit activities most rappers/musicians experience; drugs, gangs, violence. I graduated out of Washington County Jail when I was 17 and when I was released…my “street cred” went through the roof. What makes me different is *how I got past it, and was able to put it behind me. I felt like it was only a matter of time before I was jailed or killed so I moved halfway across the country with nothing but 2 bags and high hopes when I was 18. My aunt and uncle were the only ones living here, so I had very little family and no friends which meant it all came down to me to avoid the temptation I was surrounded by. With my history, finding a good paying job became extremely difficult (more so as time went on), and I was often working 2 or even 3 jobs at a time to pay my bills. Regardless I would not let it break me…I knew I was on the right path but to what, I was still unsure.

In this time is when I really started writing music. I had a few stories I’d attempted to publish but I realized that writing songs were like mini-stories with sound effects. I didn’t take it seriously until about 2018 and that’s when “AntiFamouz” was born. For the next few years I struggled with getting exposure, booking shows, creating a brand that was marketable – and I am ANTI-Famouz s that’s not exactly the goa l – but how could I get I get my music out there without being famous?! And then I had the idea to create a collective of artists and performers, and utilize the various skills from each of them to help the others. By creating a team of talented professionals who do this for the love of what they do, WE created AntiFamouz. Today that team has expanded to nearly 100 people, and we are able to host shows almost every month, providing not just opportunity, but also quality services for the performers while putting on a great show that entertains the patrons.

My focus is primarily with this business, to promote (the right way) local talent and change the way art and music is marketed. These artists and performers dedicate hours upon hours to create something that you can feel and get paid far too little for it. This “make it” game is destroying the creative process and we see this in film, on the radio, and in basic marketing. So my focus is to create a system where artists and performers can come, express, get paid, and do so doing what they enjoy doing. In 2023 we had our first Summer Buzzz Outreach Event, gathered roughly 60 attendees. In June of 2025 we are estimating 500/day for 2 days. AntiFamouz Entertainment isn’t about avoiding fame, it’s creating for the love of art – ars gratia artis.

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?

1.) NEVER let someone influence your work. I don’t mean don’t collaborate or take advice, but I mean if YOU don’t like what you’re making then don’t make it. Stay true to yourself, and never let someone else be your biggest critic. That’s YOUR job.

2.) Be honest and transparent. If you tell your best friend his painting looks like a Mona Lisa and it’s a stick drawing, tell them it looks like a stick drawing. Don’t be mean or rude, but be honest. The only way that artist can grow is by knowing how his work is received. And vice versa if you do this, you will encourage honest feedback from your own work which helps you in the same way.

3.) Have fun. Whether it’s on stage or in front of canvas, if you don’t enjoy doing it (similar to #1) don’t do it. When it’s not fun anymore, you lost your passion. That doesn’t mean throw in the towel, that means MAKE IT FUN again. Art is a feeling made tangible…a feeling you can share and come back to…so if you lost that feeling then it is no longer art – its just noise/paint.

Before we go, any advice you can share with people who are feeling overwhelmed?

It is easy to get overwhelmed in this line of work. When you step on stage and begin to perform…you get a rush and your almost constantly chasing that feeling, that high…but when you’re in-between shows or struggling with a song/piece you get equally low, and your worse critic (yourself) gets very loud. On top of this, I am trying to create something that’s never been done before, and do so in a time frame that is a bit optimistic at best. This can get very stressful, very quickly. My solution?

More writing. Sometimes there’s so much on my mind I just need to get it out. I have a journal I keep specifically for this reason, and a recorder I use when I’m too flustered to write. After which I make a cup of Lemon Ginger or Peppermint Tea, and do a 10-minute guided meditation. This helps me to relax my mind and body simultaneously, and when I’m done I can re-address what I wrote/recorded and usually see it more clearly.

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Image Credits

Photos by Robert Villena @ Robert Villena Photography

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