We recently connected with Andrew Dixon and have shared our conversation below.
Andrew, so great to have you with us and we want to jump right into a really important question. In recent years, it’s become so clear that we’re living through a time where so many folks are lacking self-confidence and self-esteem. So, we’d love to hear about your journey and how you developed your self-confidence and self-esteem.
I think for creatives, confidence and self-esteem are both something that are on a spectrum and vary daily. I don’t believe it’s something that most people are gifted with, I think it requires constant attention and nurturing. For me, confidence has always come with building tangible experience and tackling my weaknesses head-on in periods of self-doubt.
Like most people, I’ve had self-doubt and imposter syndrome creep in as I approach new opportunities where I’m unsure of what the outcome may be. It’s extremely hard to feel confident about something you’ve never done before, especially when working as a hired professional in a creative field. But when I tackle those limiting beliefs head-on and the outcome turns out better than I thought it would be, I get an enormous amount of confidence as a reward. Not just in myself and my abilities, but also in building trust within the unknown. The unknown has always been my biggest enemy, but once I became friends with the idea it began to pay dividends in my self-growth.
Lately, what has benefited my mindset is recognizing in third person when these moments self-doubt and limiting beliefs are building up. I mindfully prioritize them and will literally force myself into the exact scenarios that reflect those fears and doubts. When I do this, it almost always turns out to be a completely positive experience, and even if the outcome doesn’t go exactly as planned I find that I come away with new perspective. I think finding that positive source of fulfillment despite the outcome is key and relieves a lot of the pressure that’s stacking up against our confidence.
Like any skill, I believe confidence can be built and earned when you work at it. So, I am constantly putting in that effort and learning more everyday what people mean by enjoying the process and not hyper-focusing on the final outcome.
Let’s take a small detour – maybe you can share a bit about yourself before we dive back into some of the other questions we had for you?
I’m a Music Producer and Mixing Engineer. This can mean a range of things, but simply put I help artists in all stages of creating and finishing songs. I help people take what they hear in their heads and actualize it while offering my experience in songwriting, producing, and mixing to create the best version of their music that we can together. It’s absolutely a team effort and I love that aspect of bringing together two completely different minds to create something new – like mixing colours on a blank canvas.
It is the most incredible and vulnerable job. People trust me with their art, personal experiences, and expression. I never take it for granted and I also realize there’s a great responsibility with that. Allowing people to feel comfortable, excited, and vulnerable while creating together are all parts of the job that shouldn’t be overlooked.
For me, the best part is the connections I form through doing what I do. I surround myself with the most interesting people who all see the world differently and they reflect that in their art. I am constantly evolving as a person by just getting to work with all of these different types of artists and learning about myself and the creative process with each new person I work with.
My goal moving forward is simply to make things that I’m undeniably proud of. I want each new project to feel more exciting than the last and that I’m pushing myself forward with each song. I love the idea of helping build an artist’s sound and musical vision from the ground up, treating each song like it’s own new puzzle that we have to carefully solve is so fun and challenging to me. I’ve always been obsessed with the craft which is why I’ve stayed focused on being in the studio and sharing that experience with other artists. It’s really just so much fun, and I’m constantly surprised by the music that comes out of it.
If you had to pick three qualities that are most important to develop, which three would you say matter most?
Three qualities that were impactful in my journey were community, patience, and adaptability.
Community – I could never have gone through this journey alone. Since day one I have surrounded myself with people that are better than me and helped push me forward. I think surrounding myself with likeminded people that I can learn from and feel accepted by is a sure way of building confidence and purpose, especially when you know little to nothing about what you’re trying to do. It also helps to stay committed in those times when we just want to give up. These connections can help us discover new approaches and opportunities that we wouldn’t have found on our own.
Patience – simple but so important. A producer named Kato On The Track says it best: “overnight success is 10 years in the making”. Being great at anything takes a ridiculous amount of time and patience. For me, my number one rule has always been to never give up, and if I do so, it’s inevitable that I’ll find success. I think this applies generally to life but also in micro-scenarios like creating a song or problem-solving anything. I’ve never been concerned about being “fast”. In fact, I’m better when I don’t.
Adaptability – I am constantly thinking of new ways to be valuable and doing what I can to build those skills. Through my career I’ve had a diverse resume which at times felt random. However, looking back I am able to see that those experiences have all cultivated into the well-rounded value that I bring today. I’ve taught myself new skills when needed, (almost obsessively at times), but always with the idea of wanting to bring more value to what I do and the people that hire me. My toolkit has been building with each new experience and I’m proud of how it’s accumulated.
Advice that I’d give to folks early in their journey to develop and improve their skills is to constantly put themselves in uncomfortable situations. Find your limiting beliefs and challenge them. If something makes you feel nervous, then go do it and be better because of it. Surround yourself with people that you can learn from. Study them, and adapt their processes into something unique and personal to you. Be vulnerable and allow yourself to make mistakes while collaborating. We’re all so focused on being the “best”, but what people really resonate with is authenticity and trying our hardest. If you’re giving it your all and unapologetically being yourself in the process, you will go very far. Don’t overthink everything. Just go out there and try.
Alright so to wrap up, who deserves credit for helping you overcome challenges or build some of the essential skills you’ve needed?
Without question I’d have to give this to my man Conan (Aka. Con The Artist).
We’ve been bandmates, business partners, and collaborators for over a decade. This fits perfectly within the topic of surrounding yourself with likeminded people, when Conan and I began making music together we knew absolutely nothing. But being able to share the vulnerability of not knowing how to make music, operate a business, etc. made it way more of a fun and approachable journey. Even if things didn’t work out, it was always more about the fact we were building life long memories and experiences so that it didn’t matter where we were in our journey, we were always content. Luckily for us, we have always been extremely driven and set high standards for ourselves and each other. So, our journey has been able to continue to this day. I think it’s also valuable to have someone to lean on when you are feeling at your lowest. Having a close friend or mentor to talk through the periods of hardship is an important aspect of continuing to push forward, I’m positive I wouldn’t be where I am now without a partnership like we’ve had and I’d recommend it to anyone. We still to this day work together on projects and share things we’re struggling with to get each others’ feedback. Having people you trust in your corner is a secret to success! It’s the first line of defence, not to be taken for granted.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.andytheproducer.com
- Instagram: @andytheproducer_
- Other: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/1zTj9zX0gEbWsrrzMLGJKe?si=c3b8ff6e2bbb4770
Image Credits
Meaghan Gipps. Aka. Gipps Media, @gippstagram
