Meet Bruce “allone” Pandolfo

Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Bruce “allone” Pandolfo. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.

Hi Bruce “AllOne”, thank you for being such a positive, uplifting person. We’ve noticed that so many of the successful folks we’ve had the good fortune of connecting with have high levels of optimism and so we’d love to hear about your optimism and where you think it comes from.

Optimism has always seemed like the only way forward. If you’re pessimistic there’s no reason to progress, and that’s just now time works. Even when I am full of doubts and at my lowest, the light through this (Aside from the catharsis of art and the sanctuary of community) is the notion that the only way to forge ahead is to believe there’s a reason to do so, even if you can’t see the destination, there’s intrinsic value in the journey. My most recent mantra and epiphany has been “There’s no such thing as false hope” Hope is self-affirming. We hold onto it no matter how unlikely, warmed by the hearth of its vulnerable insistence on triumph over anything, and we keep living and loving.

Great, so let’s take a few minutes and cover your story. What should folks know about you and what you do?

Although my creativity expresses itself in so many ways (singing indie-folk tunes I write with Almost Elijah, writing custom poetry for people at street fairs, farmers markets and private events with Write Through Me, writing journalistic articles and short stories) my longest running, primary project is performing and recording left-field rap and poetry under the moniker AllOne.

In my AllOne projects, I collaborate with musicians and producers to bring my lyric-centric visions to life. I do a lot of layered poetic writing in my introspective and often impressionistic storytelling songs. I’ve been releasing projects nearly every year since I released my first album in 2010 and performing dives, radio shows, cafes, libraries, art galleries, backyard parties and living rooms on a grassroots, independent level.

As of 1/21/25 I released a short, healing project with producer Conscious Robot called Four Maras, which is streaming everywhere now.

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?

1. My curious hunger to learn and experiment has been a hugely entertaining and fulfilling asset in my artistic journey. I rarely get stuck, I am never bored. Boredom or getting stuck is a lack of imagination or openness to try something different and potentially fail. By consistently having an attitude of curiosity as an artist, you’re always viewing your world and your internal experience, seeing it for its potential, synthesizing and processing that into some new creative outlet.
Cultivate this. Imagination is a muscle and a landscapes that grows stronger and more expansive with repeated use and exploration.

2. An innate belief that creation and sharing is inherently valuable. Sure we would all love a huge audience and a huge paycheck for our work, but we’ll never get there if we don’t first love the work so much that we are willing to work extra hard to get there. In the inevitably dark times, where the money isn’t there, when the downloads and views are sparse, when only two people showed up to the gig, it will be your affinity for your craft that will tow you out of these doldrums. If you don’t love your work and get something out of it, you can’t expect anyone else to. If you don’t feel excited and enriched by the work you’re doing, then no one else is likely to either. If you wouldn’t make art without getting paid, then you’re not an artist, you’re a profit-driven art business. If your work doesn’t heal you, you won’t turn to it when you’re hurting, and that is when you make some really human, vulnerable outcomes that the world needs.

3. Finally, I think fostering a desire to only make what I want to make and how I’d like to make it. I have maintained a stubborn vision to follow my heart and my intuitions creatively. This hasn’t always served me commercially, as I’m not a chart-topping artist, but it has allowed me to never compromise my work to the degree that it doesn’t feel like mine anymore. Art by committee isn’t art. It’s a product. I’m not saying don’t take constructive criticism, or don’t bounce ideas off of people you trust as you work on things and see where you can improve. What I’m saying is, if you have an honest aesthetic or visionary intention for a work, outside opinions should only impact that in a way that will improve, and honor that creative intention. The most unique thing you have to offer is your genuine perspective and the confluence of aesthetic inspirations and influences that come to you. I think it’s the artist’s job to sincerely share themselves how they see fit, in order to best represent the ideas and feelings they feel called to process and provide the audience with. Be very skeptical of internal or external voices forcing you to bend to conform to their understanding or their worldview and aesthetic preferences. If art is subjective, don’t you want to honestly represent YOUR specific subjective effort and experience?

As we end our chat, is there a book you can leave people with that’s been meaningful to you and your development?

Jonathon Livingston Seagull by Richard Bach and The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho pair nicely and are indispensable for their pithy, well articulated message of having unwavering belief in your vision for your life.

Both of these books are lovely narratives that you can read in a weekend that really establish a hopeful ethic in an open-minded reader that if you have an intention for your one precious, fleeting life, you ought to pursue that thing despite the costs, and the pain of ignoring all the promises of the sirens of comfort and conformity.

They are also reminders that love and passion and open-hearted, earnest authenticity are sure paths to a meaningful life.

Some gems from these invaluable texts:

“We can lift ourselves out of ignorance, we can find ourselves as creatures of excellence and intelligence and skill.”
― Richard Bach, Jonathan Livingston Seagull

“Don’t believe what your eyes are telling you. All they show is limitation. Look with your understanding. Find out what you already know and you will see the way to fly.”
― Richard Bach, Jonathan Livingston Seagull

“When we love, we always strive to become better than we are. When we strive to become better than we are, everything around us becomes better too.”
― Paulo Coelho, The Alchemist

“There is only one thing that makes a dream impossible to achieve: the fear of failure.”
― Paulo Coelho, The Alchemist

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