We recently connected with Dante Nottoli and have shared our conversation below.
Dante, thanks so much for taking the time to share your insights and lessons with us today. We’re particularly interested in hearing about how you became such a resilient person. Where do you get your resilience from?
Inspiration — I am a musician, but my inspiration takes various forms, many being non-musical. I might find inspiration through meeting new people, travel, exploring other cultures, immersing myself in nature, spending time with people I care about, or admiring other artists’ work. Inspiration is my creative fuel that encourages me to continue on my own path and keep being my own thing.
Thanks, so before we move on maybe you can share a bit more about yourself?
I am always looking to experiment and explore what it means to be a musician and an artist. I am currently in college studying jazz and contemporary music, and have played with several different groups through that experience, but my main project is my own 6-piece band, Luscia Jane.
Luscia Jane plays a unique style we call Forest Funk. We are mixing jazz, psychedelic rock, world, folk, soul, and funk together in a big stew with a passionate seasoning of organic nature-inspired poetry, best enjoyed from the grounding embrace of the forest or whatever your preferred natural landscape may be.
Our debut album Zariana comes out this fall, and we have a plethora of upcoming shows in Chicago which we will continue to promote on our social media. Our next one will be August 28th at Chop Shop!
If you had to pick three qualities that are most important to develop, which three would you say matter most?
Leadership, Grounding, and Kindness.
Leadership encompasses many other sub-skills such as vision, passion, organization, understanding, and people skills. There is a lot to juggle when being a leader, but it has been a thoroughly fulfilling way for me to experience music. The burdens of leadership, like balancing different people’s personalities and schedules, carrying the responsibility of organizing rehearsals and answering everyone’s questions, and needing to be the engine that keeps the whole thing going, for me are outweighed by the joy it provides — having the freedom of creative direction, feeling the pride of achievement, and, most of all, bringing people together and seeing how the experience impacts and inspires them.
Grounding involves both zooming in and zooming out of yourself. Zooming in involves connecting to your truest passion, your heart of hearts, and reminding yourself what it is all for. For me, that is earth, love, community, and harmony. Taking time to be alone in your thoughts is important for staying grounded. Zooming out involves placing yourself in the universe, the grand timeline of existence. Nobody is excluded from the ever-flowing cycle of matter and energy — life, death, and new life — and nobody is greater than anyone else. There is no “better than”, only “different than” — this is a mantra that helps put me in a place of creativity and intention.
Being kind is one of the most important things you can do as a person, but will also never hurt your case as a professional. If you are kind to each person you come across, you will find that it comes back around for you. Your kindness may leave an impression on someone, making them more likely to support, or even recommend or reach back out to you in the future.
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?
A tree’s roots and branches grow simultaneously. As an artist, it is fun to be able to do your job really well and with total confidence — but, it is also fulfilling and exciting to branch out, experiment, and dig into something new. This mindset can be applied to any career, field, or activity, but for me I think about discovering different genres of world music. When I heard Fela Kuti for the first time, I was blown away and completely inspired by the kaleidoscope of all new sounds — the same happened when I first heard Cuban Timba. Those styles then found their way into my musical identity. However, when I get back to my roots jamming on a funk or rock groove, I have full faith that my hands will know what to do. So, I think it is important to do a healthy balance of both in order to prosper as an artist.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://lusciajanemusic.com/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/luscia.jane/?hl=en
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/p/Luscia-Jane-100083948971425/
- Youtube: https://youtube.com/@lusciajane?si=AP-M1f-zXqnMLgg6
- Other: https://distrokid.com/hyperfollow/lusciajane/wood?fbclid=PAZXh0bgNhZW0CMTEAAab9M365eUxQY8DIIgJrLqLBxYV1D9Op3koc0VMUYLNt9liUKECj3WECmiU_aem_lH8NdQOQbj6njl6TW-eaeg
Image Credits
Aaron Williams
Logan Neill
EmmaJane Bauer
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