We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Brandon Allen a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.
Brandon, so excited to have you with us today. So much we can chat about, but one of the questions we are most interested in is how you have managed to keep your creativity alive.
I feel all my best ideas come to me while I am hiking in nature or jogging on a trail. Connecting to the outdoors is one of the best things you can do to fuel creativity and cultivate positive mental health. These activities let me reflect on whatever issues or dilemmas I am facing, and what my next actions should be moving forward. Many times it is easier to generate creative ideas after you have taken the first steps of the task at hand. Momentum can be a big factor in creativity. Often, the hardest part of any project is getting started, and one will find their creative juices start flowing after pushing through the initial effort. As a musician, I think it is important to appreciate other art forms such as literature and movies, as they are a deep wellspring of inspiration for me. Reading fiction is one of the absolute best ways to keep the creative senses sharp, as it lets your imagination wander as you mentally construct the images of the story. Lastly, listening to many different kinds of music, from all eras, is paramount for creativity. You never know when something from the past will inspire your creativity in the present!
Thanks, so before we move on maybe you can share a bit more about yourself?
I have been a lifelong musician and work full-time as a performing, touring, and recording drummer based in Nashville, TN. I was also the primary drum teacher at Orange County Music Academy in Anaheim, CA for over 10 years, teaching 50-60 students each week. I have been fortunate to perform and tour with a diverse list of amazing musicians and artists, some of who include members from the bands Train, Smash Mouth, Third Eye Blind, Goo Goo Dolls, Panic At The Disco, OneRepublic, Sugar Ray, The Wallflowers and others. I worked heavily in the Los Angeles and Las Vegas music scenes before relocating to Nashville in 2023. Since moving to Tennessee, I have been very fortunate to tour with many different groups, ranging from up-and coming artists, hit songwriters, and legendary country rapper SMO. I fell in love with the drums at age 7 and never looked back. I specialize in playing country, rock, and pop music, and also am highly skilled at running various backing track playback systems. When I’m not touring or in the recording studio, I enjoy preforming in downtown Nashville’s vibrant scene of music venues. I love to take my music to people at venues and stages of all sizes. Nothing is more satisfying to me than seeing smiles on people’s faces from my drumming, and watching them get swept up in my groove!
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?
Most important is passion for what you do. Working in the entertainment industry can be challenging to navigate, and one must really love what they’re doing to keep moving forward after a door closes in your face. This is true of any line of work, and we have all experienced this. However, passion is the engine that fuels us to keep chasing our dreams and goals, whatever they may be! Another important quality is the willingness to be a life-long learner. No matter how long we have done something, whether it’s one’s career, art form, or hobbies, there is always room to grow and improve. We must be open to learning new skills and ideas, and see this as a life long process. For someone who is younger, or earlier on in their journey as a musician, I would absolutely recommend working with a teacher. A good teacher can spark the desire to continually be learning, and striving for improvement, for years to come. The last trait that comes to mind is flexibility. The music industry changes so fast that we must be willing to adapt to its changes. The type of music and gigs I currently play is different from where I started years ago, but I see that as a great thing, and this growth has been extremely rewarding. An example of being flexible in my own career path was the decision to relocate to Nashville from my home state of California, as it’s the town the music industry has largely moved to. I was willing to take the risk of moving across the country, and the benefits and work opportunities I’ve since found have been amazing! It’s important to stay flexible while keeping focused on how to achieve goals while always keeping the bigger picture in sight.
We’ve all got limited resources, time, energy, focus etc – so if you had to choose between going all in on your strengths or working on areas where you aren’t as strong, what would you choose?
Personally, I’ve chosen the path of committing to one’s strengths, and focusing on developing them as best as possible. We all want to be well rounded people, in business and in life, but I think it’s most valuable to find the skills we are best at and amplify them to the highest level we can. Over time, this can lead to a greater expertise and a competitive advantage in one’s field of work, if we put in the effort to refine and expand upon our natural talents. For me that has been my lifelong work of cultivating a deep level of proficiency in rhythm, drumming, and music. I discovered this talent at a young age and, since then, I’ve never stopped working on growing my abilities as a drummer. This choice of staying true to my goals and talents in music has lead me to some pretty amazing places and experiences, and I don’t think I would have gotten here by pursing music as a part time job. Looking back, it seems important that I went all in, and wholly committed to my goal of being a full time musician. I was so passionate about playing music I couldn’t see myself doing anything else. I think focusing on specialization within your niche, whatever that may be, can create a strong professional reputation within your field of work and lead to many great opportunities!
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.brandonallendrums.com
- Instagram: @ballenrocks
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ballenrocks/
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@beatsbyBA
Image Credits
Photos by Mike Kindel
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