Rich Bullock on Life, Lessons & Legacy

We recently had the chance to connect with Rich Bullock and have shared our conversation below.

Hi Rich, thank you so much for joining us today. We’re thrilled to learn more about your journey, values and what you are currently working on. Let’s start with an ice breaker: Are you walking a path—or wandering?
I mostly feel like I am walking a path, albeit a fairly wide one, with no specific destination in mind. Since I am in semi-retirement mode from my day career of many years and fortunate to have a good income stream from it, I consider it to be a path consisting of activities I enjoy simply for the experience without regard for any specific monetary rewards…but if that comes my way, I shan’t say nay! It is also a path consisting of new vistas…but I find I am abandoning old paths that sustained me for most of my life up until recently.

Can you briefly introduce yourself and share what makes you or your brand unique?
My name is Rich Bullock, and I have several areas of pursuit. First, I am a low brass musician specializing in bass trombone with performance and recording credits across all genres of music and with many well known performers. I have been at this for 50 years, but I find that my opportunities in this area have been declining steadily the last several years. Whether that’s a good thing or not (I’m still trying to decide if that’s the case), it frees me up to pursue a couple of other interests of mine, VoiceOver and singing. I guess I could be considered a “dabbler” in VoiceOver since I have not come close to having it be a viable career financially, at least not yet. But I take it seriously and always seek to do my best and try to learn what I can in all the VO niches. Virtually the same could be said for my singing pursuits despite having “dabbled” for about 50 years again. But lately I have been taking it much more seriously to the point of studying with some very reputable teachers here in the LA area, and I have begun to pick up more singing work lately. It is for this reason I feel I have more to look forward to with my voice pursuits than with the trombone these days…but over the course of my life I will most likely be remembered for my accomplishments on the bass trombone. As to what distinguishes me in each of these areas, there is a common element…I tend to be on the low pitched end of the sonic spectrum in all of them!

Thanks for sharing that. Would love to go back in time and hear about how your past might have impacted who you are today. What relationship most shaped how you see yourself?
I would have to say it is the relationship I had with my very first trombone teacher, Jim Nelson. Prior to starting with him in 10th grade, I felt mired in mediocrity and poor self esteem despite being a fairly good student in school. But he was always very encouraging, and reasoned that I could have potential on the bass trombone based on the way I played tenor trombone…that’s the “regular” trombone for folks who may not know the difference. He encouraged me to switch…and it made all the difference in the world, it was as if the clouds parted and I was shown what I was meant for all along! And my skills were soon acknowledged via acceptance into several honor groups in high school, and barely two years out of high school I was accepted as a member of the Don Ellis Orchestra. This lead to all of the other accomplishments I had in music over the years…and it is all thanks to Mr. Nelson! He showed me that I could indeed achieve noteworthy things…no pun intended!

If you could say one kind thing to your younger self, what would it be?
Believe in yourself and act as if you matter…because you do! This attitude will help you listen to your inner voice or conscience and help you to pick the things and activities that you can enjoy and/or excel at…hopefully both!

Sure, so let’s go deeper into your values and how you think. What’s a belief or project you’re committed to, no matter how long it takes?
I would say it is my vocal pursuits, both in singing and VoiceOver. Financially it does not matter at this point in my life, but I acknowledge these are both areas where there is upward growth potential, although I do not have expectations of great career success…but I would love to be wrong in that! It is the pursuit in this and the experiences gained that matter most to me. This is a bit different from my trombone pursuits in that over these 50 years and what I have accomplished there, even though I did not accomplish nearly as much as I would have liked, quite a bit of my ego has been invested in it. I’ll admit, seeing the steady decline in my activity and standing, whether it is due to age related declining ability, a changing of the guard and/or circumstances or some combination of both, it has been a bit hard on my ego. But it is simply the way things go, I need to look back in gratitude in what I have accomplished there…and I do. My vocal pursuits are much newer and fresher for me, and those realms are much more wide open and the competition is much less acute than in the instrumental music world. I think this helps me sidestep the ego trap to the point I can simply enjoy the pursuit for the rest of my productive life regardless of visible success or the lack thereof.

Thank you so much for all of your openness so far. Maybe we can close with a future oriented question. What do you understand deeply that most people don’t?
That you can be among the best at what you do, even if it is not your primary job or career. Even though I had a 31 year career combined at Rockwell International and Boeing, I managed to maintain a fairly lofty reputation as a bass trombonist during those years. The fickle nature of the performing arts world causes me to believe that the vast majority of people pursuing a full time career in these areas will not achieve that objective, even if they are highly competent or talented. I do not mean that to be discouraging, because even if that is the case it can still be a lucrative side pursuit if you are talented enough and can manage to navigate the inevitable conflicts that can arise with your main employment. And even if your talent level doesn’t bring much if any side income, it is still something that can enrich your life. My ability to provide for my family and my future retirement was (and is) much more important to me than the ego gratification from being full time at my main creative pursuits.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.richbullockvo.com, www.bassbonevoice.com
• Instagram: bassbonevoice
• Linkedin: Richard Bullock
• Facebook: Rich Bullock
• Soundcloud: Rich Bullock