Meet McHale & Justina Hodgson

We were lucky to catch up with McHale & Justina Hodgson recently and have shared our conversation below.

Hi McHale & Justina , you’ve got such an interesting story, but before we jump into that, let’s first talk about a topic near and dear to us – generosity. We think success, happiness and wellbeing depends on authentic generosity and empathy and so we’d love to hear about how you become such a generous person – where do you think your generosity comes from?

Our generosity comes from former mentors of ours. They were generous to us as we grew up, guiding us to become the musicians we wanted to be. Their time and patience with us was generous; how could we not be generous ourselves as we developed into adults?! We want to perpetuate this generosity of time and love to generations after us. It feels good to honor our mentors’ legacy in this way. We continue the cycle for eternal generosity for as long as we can.

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?

We are Indie artists. Collectively, McHale is a plumber by day, and Justina is a private music teacher.

We play in a band called
“McHale & Justina” – currently, we’re searching for a name when we play with our full band. We started out as a duo of vocals, guitar, piano and violin with “drummy feet” – McHale’s feet would drum a bass drum and snare. We’ve expanded into having a drummer with full kit, bass guitarist, and rhythm guitarist to join our fold!

Our passion is to create music videos to every original song we have released. We are in the habit of releasing singles; this enables us to dedicate time to creating the music video as well. It’s a lot of work to DIY music videos, coming up with the story line we’re featuring from our original song, but it’s a lot of fun as well!

We like playing live music with our full band when we can. The area we live in has a lot of breweries and wineries that love featuring local bands at their venues; we’re blessed we have this opportunity to play our original music at these stellar establishments.

If you had to pick three qualities that are most important to develop, which three would you say matter most?

We would say:
1. Being dedicated to our art by refining the knowledge received in said art.
2. Receiving quality education from other artists in the field we were passionate about.
3. Remembering that what we do in art is up to us – it can be our way to show dedication and love to others; are we dedicated and love it enough to persist at it? A lifetime of art isn’t for the faint-hearted.

We acknowledge that art in general is not something that is perfected overnight. It’s a long game. A lifetime of dedication to your chosen craft. If you don’t mind honing in a skill over a lifetime, then this lifestyle is for you. Don’t be in the arts if you’re wanting instant gratification or a regular paycheck. Do what you love and hone in those skills if you’re dedicated enough to it. It’s up to you whether it’s heaven or hell for your art.

Thanks so much for sharing all these insights with us today. Before we go, is there a book that’s played in important role in your development?

“Big Magic: Creative Living Beyond Fear” by Elizabeth Gilbert (same author of “Eat Pray Love”)

In this particular book, she discusses living a creative life beyond your own fears of it.

Nuggets for you:

“Everyone is panicking these days, for instance, about how much the Internet and digital technology are changing the creative world. Everyone is fretting over whether there will still be jobs and money available for artists going forward into this volatile new age. But allow me to point out that – long before the Internet and digital technology ever existed – the arts were still a crap career. It’s not like back in 1989 anybody was saying to me, “You know where the money is, kid? WRITING!” They weren’t saying that to anyone in 1889, either, or in 1789, and they won’t be saying it in 2089. But people will still try to be writers, because they love the vocation. People will keep being painters, sculptors, musicians, actors, poets, directors, quilters, knitters, potters, glassblowers, metalworkers, ceramicists, calligraphers, collagists, nail artists, clog dancers, and Celtic harpists, as well. Against all sound advice, people will stubbornly keep trying to make pleasing things for no particularly good reason, as we always have done.

Is it sometimes a difficult path? Sure.

Does it make for an interesting life? The most.

Will the inevitable difficulties and obstacles associated with creativity make you suffer?
That part – cross my heart – is entirely up
to you.”

-Elizabeth Gilbert, from her novel “Big Magic: Creative Living Beyond Fear” best selling author of “Eat Pray Love”

Contact Info:

Image Credits

Lauren Moye and Hoe Down Music Festival

Suggest a Story: BoldJourney is built on recommendations from the community; it’s how we uncover hidden gems,
so if you or someone you know deserves recognition please let us know here.
Resilience
Portraits of Resilience

Sometimes just seeing resilience can change out mindset and unlock our own resilience. That’s our

Productivity
Perspectives on Staying Creative

We’re beyond fortunate to have built a community of some of the most creative artists,

Confidence
Kicking Imposter Syndrome to the Curb

This is the year to kick the pesky imposter syndrome to the curb and move