Meet John Paul Grigsby

Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to John Paul Grigsby. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.

John Paul, first a big thank you for taking the time to share your thoughts and insights with us today. I’m sure many of our readers will benefit from your wisdom, and one of the areas where we think your insight might be most helpful is related to imposter syndrome. Imposter syndrome is holding so many people back from reaching their true and highest potential and so we’d love to hear about your journey and how you overcame imposter syndrome.

A lot of imposter syndrome comes from projecting what we think other people are thinking.

Sometimes people can be mean or jealous, often because of their own insecurities, or even their own imposter syndrome. If we let those people get into our heads, or start speculating about what’s going on in theirs, it can be distracting and make it harder to do whatever it is we’re trying to do. Thinking hypothetically into the future, or even too much about the present, can create a mental block. We start imagining what others might be thinking, even though none of those thoughts are necessarily real.

That being said.. our ability to determine what other people might be thinking is definitely useful for many things. But, if it gets to the point of negativity, stifling our creativity, or ability to be and do who and what we want, then take a step back and try to just watch those thoughts while not taking them too seriously.
Don’t necessarily force the images or thoughts out of mind, just observed them as they happen as if from an outside perspective. Just looking at them like they’re part of the passing landscape. A large part of nature and the present moment Is our thoughts. So sometimes, rather than forcing those thoughts out, we can also just allow them to be part of the nature that is happening.

Also, if those hypothetical negative people actually do want us to fail, then screw them.

In simpler terms, it’s about not worrying too much. If negative thoughts arise, try to notice them, but let them pass without giving them too much power. If we’re genuinely struggling with something though, it’s important to be honest with ourselves and work to improve.
But if we’re enjoying what we’re doing and feel good about it, there’s no need to get stuck in self doubt.

Truthfully, I’m even feeling a little imposter syndrome just being asked to do this interview. Ha. But at the end of the day, it’s about enjoying what we’re doing and trying to have as many positive thoughts as we can along the way.

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 musician and sound designer who also paints, makes films, and creates critically acclaimed multimedia animations. An Introduction to Lucid Dream Exploration (an intricate stop-motion animation made entirely on an Etch A Sketch), and other pieces of mine have been featured in film festivals around the world.
In recent years, when I’m not working with other artists or recording/ touring as the long time bassist for, Gregory Alan Isakov, I’ve been focused on developing a new album concept experience called PALINGENESIS. It’s a 10-song album that I wrote, recorded, mixed, and mastered. While creating a primarily CGI music video for one of the tracks, I had the idea to expand it into something more interactive.. a music-video-game that encompasses the entire album. I wanted to explore different ways people could engage with music, and this is what I came up with. While traveling through an interesting sci-fi storyline, you discover new rooms soundtrack by each of the songs from the album. I handled the game development, story line, and animation entirely solo. Currently, I’m working on a handful of other animation, music project that I will be releasing soon. Within some of these new works, I’ve been working with immersive 360-degree video environments and spatial audio.
You can find my music, art, animations, phenakistoscopes, and the video game on my website:
 https://www.johnpaulgrigsby.com
The game is available for download on the App Store and Steam.

There is so much advice out there about all the different skills and qualities folks need to develop in order to succeed in today’s highly competitive environment and often it can feel overwhelming. So, if we had to break it down to just the three that matter most, which three skills or qualities would you focus on?

I’ve had a lot of different jobs in my life, from stone mason to electrician, milkman, and handyman… All the while, I was studying music and animation mostly on my own, while also being influenced by my very musical family. I played my first bar gig when I was 15. For many years, I worked side jobs to help pay the bills while slowly carving out my musical career.
Working in the trades actually taught me a lot about collaboration. I saw similarities to music in that you have to work as a team to complete something cohesive. I learned that respect, empathy, and an understanding of all the different roles and people involved in a performance or production are essential. We’re all working together, and that dynamic can make or break a great show.

I actually got into animation before I started learning music. As a kid, I was inspired by two flip books that I got at the nature and science museum. I really liked them, so I started making flip books of my own. Later we got a camera, so I started taking pictures of the frames which eventually turned into all sorts of different styles of animation, including claymation. The deeper I got into it, the more I realized how much patience is required in that art form. That same patience has helped me in music, and in a lot of other areas of life too. I’ve heard some people say things like, “I tried guitar once, but it hurt too much.” And yes, it does.
But if you’ve got the drive and passion, you push through. You know the feeling when you find something that’s right. For me, the practice of staying focused and present tends to create real progress and often leads to these gratifying moments.

Another quality I’ll probably always be working on is just being myself as often as possible, while trying not to worry what other people might think. That being said, it’s always important to be considerate and kind. I just mean, I strive for the ability to do things that might be out of the ordinary and not feel bad about it. It’s also something I’ve experimented with when trying to overcome stage fright.
I guess my best advice is to find the time to do what you love and be patient. If you can find a way to make a living doing what you love without loosing the passion, then that’s pretty great too!

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?

It’s good to get to know your limitations. It can be overwhelming working on with too many projects at once. If you feel like you can take on a lot of things at once and pull it off while staying positive and not letting it negatively impacting your life, then that’s great. It’s fun to learn a lot and be well rounded. But if your interests are vast, just be patient with yourself and try to avoid getting burnt out. I’ve definitely started too many projects at once before. If you start ten things simultaneously, just know it might take a while to finish them all, and that’s okay. Unless you’re on a deadline.. then start freaking out. Ha.

In my experience, it’s about trying to keep things balanced and doing what’s right for you. What can you say yes and no to? Try to know your strengths and weaknesses, and if things start to feel overwhelming, take a step back and learn from that in the future.

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Image Credits

Kendall Rock, Glenn Ross, John Paul Grigsby

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