We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Aqeel Aadam. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Aqeel below.
Aqeel, 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.
When it comes to building confidence as an artist and entrepreneur, I think there’s a couple of really important elements to look towards. The first, which might be obvious, is just plain old hard work. Putting in the hours when nobody’s watching, when there’s only yourself to satisfy and yourself to impress. In all likelihood, you’re always going to be your own biggest critic, so once you’ve satisfied yourself, the public reception of whatever you’ve created will probably be far beyond what you might expect. Nobody’s going to listen to what you have to say and sit there thinking how much better it could be – that’s your job. Once you’ve honed the skill of satisfying your own critiques, the result will not only be all the more better, but all the more authentic.
While internal satisfaction is incredibly important, it can’t be the only ingredient to your stew. Personally, I’ve been fortunate enough to have many teachers and peers along the way that were incredibly influential in my development as an artist, creative thinker, and person. When you’ve gained the respect of those that *you* respect, you’re very likely on the right track, and I’ve found that this is some of the most powerful validation you can find. Nobody makes it on their own, and having the right people in your corner will do wonders for your confidence *and* the quality of your output.
I’ve found that these two factors are intertwined, as well – when a potential teacher or peer senses that you’ve put the work in and are speaking from the heart, doors tend to open.
Thanks, so before we move on maybe you can share a bit more about yourself?
My path to where I’m at now has been a little meandering. I’ve been a musician for as long as I can remember – my grandfather was a Philly jazz musician that got to share the stage with legends like Charlie Parker and John Coltrane, and he gifted me my first guitar. Since then, music has been my lifelong passion. It flows out of me constantly.
In college, I took as many music classes as I could manage, but ended up shy of a degree – instead, I emerged with a degree in Computer Science. From there, I went on to be a software engineer at Google for five years, before deciding it was high time to venture into a career in music.
Pursuing “music” as my job has come to mean a variety of things. I’ve been composing for film, video games, and libraries, as well as using my software skills to build my own music software. I released my first product, Weeping Wall (a VST plug-in – https://aqeelaadam.gumroad.com/l/weeping-wall/), in late 2023. I’ve been absolutely loving producing my own software (as well as my time working on video games, which also require a marriage of artistic and engineering skills). As a musician *and* engineer, I’ve been able to conceptualize and build tools that I feel the world could benefit from. My mission is to take the lessons and techniques that I’ve learned from a lifetime of music-making, and help disseminate them to my fellow composers of all skill levels.
If you had to pick three qualities that are most important to develop, which three would you say matter most?
In no particular order, I’d say that the first quality is diligence. Putting in the time to develop your skills is never time wasted. Since becoming a full time composer, I’ve held a commitment to writing and recording something every day, and I haven’t missed a single day. At best, I’ve written something to be used for a current or future project, and at worst, I’ve sharpened my skills a bit more.
The second quality I’d say it being genuine. I’m incredibly fortunate to have a network of folks who were willing to offer guidance and knowledge, and I think this really put me on the fast track to figuring out my own journey. This network was formed from nothing else but real friendship and respect – from creating and sharing things that are mutually enjoyed. When you’re putting yourself out there and being true to yourself, ears tend to perk up. And always make sure to do the same for others, too.
Lastly, I’ll say that flexibility is important as well. Oftentimes, I don’t know what the next quarter, month, or week will look like. When you’re working in a creative field and/or entrepreneurial endeavor, you have to do a lot of juggling. Being open to the possibilities and embracing the variety of things that come across your desk is the best way forward, I’ve found. But importantly, this needs to be combined with diligence as well. Freewheeling might work sometimes, but I’ve found that the best combination is to be open to the possibilities, while also committing to specific goals and making sure they get done.
What would you advise – going all in on your strengths or investing on areas where you aren’t as strong to be more well-rounded?
As somebody who wears a lot of hats, I think versatility can be one of your strongest suits as an entrepreneur. For starters, if you’re tight on cash, doing as many things as possible yourself is a completely valid approach. The benefits are immediate (saving expenses and gaining experience) and the results will be long-standing – if you eventually hire something out, or work with a client or collaborator in that field, you’ll already know how to speak the language and know exactly what you’re looking for.
Secondly, there’s incredible value in being able to see things from different angles. If you think of a talent, there’s an innumerable amount of people who possess that skill. But what’s unique to all of us is the combination of talents we have. Even if you aren’t confident in that skill – maybe you haven’t played piano since 8th grade, maybe you’ve only taken one coding bootcamp – lean into it! Understanding something at all is infinitely more powerful than leaving it entirely to the side. From a business standpoint, being able to see and interpret these cross-sections are going to yield the best ideas, too.
Finally, I want the hark on the power of simply “putting something on the page”. When you don’t know where to start, it doesn’t matter where you start – the importance is starting at all. Copy-paste a template project and change the title. Record three notes of a melody. Literally – make a new folder on your hard drive for your project and call it a day. Something that you start is imperfect, but something that you don’t start doesn’t exist. Breaking things down into the smallest possible chunks turns mountains into molehills, and before long you’ll be shocked at the level of expertise you’ve developed in something you had no clue about a year, month, or even week ago.
Contact Info:
- Website: aqeelaadam.com
- Instagram: instagram.com/aqeel.aadam | instagram.com/aqeelaadamsound
- Youtube: youtube.com/aqeelaadam
