We recently connected with Justin Toland and have shared our conversation below.
Justin , we’re thrilled to have you sharing your thoughts and lessons with our community. So, for folks who are at a stage in their life or career where they are trying to be more resilient, can you share where you get your resilience from?
My resilience has always been driven by my need to feel passionate about things. When something terrible happens to my life or in my musical journey, I really feel like I have no option but to keep going. I can’t explain why, but it’s always been there like a religion. There are times when I was younger where I could so clearly see my purpose, and I cling to those moments forever.
Growing up I did most of the things that people do like play sports and dabble in different artforms but I never really felt passion for anything like other people did. The only thing that could keep my attention for any amount of time was music. My parents were international school teachers. I lived overseas in Bangkok when I was 11-17, and english language radio was very limited but there was 1 BBC station that would play all kinds of music from Oasis to the stooges. I would record the tapes of the radio and listen to them in my bedroom until they stopped working. That is the flavor of my obsession. I immediately started playing my dads guitar all the time when I wasn’t at school. That turned into bands, more music and more instruments.
So once I was thrown out into the real world after high school, I kept going back to music. Every day after my day job I just wanted to create and perform. The hardest part of creating is the fact that everything seems so far away when you start. The songs you are meant to write seem distant, the resources seem to not exist and the right musicians seem like they must live on the other side of the world. You form bands, and break up. You pour all of yourself into every song, then never play them again after the musical project ends. There are so many points at which I saw people stop making music. Many of them were the best musicians I knew, as well. It just didn’t seem like an option for me.
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 am, and have been in the band Dirty Streets since 2007. I’ve gotten to record and release 6 albums with them, as well as tour nationally and internationally for over a decade. Through that I’ve been fortunate enough to write many songs on my own as well, and have been collaborating with other artists. Since 2019 I’ve been composing original soundtracks for film with the start of the feature “Jacir” released earlier this year. Since then I’ve worked on several short films and am currently creating for some more projects to be released in 2024. I’m really enjoying the creative work I’m being able to do with directors and it has me very positive about future projects.
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 pretty much treated every let down in my creative life as just another event in the midst of my experience, and not as a failure. Much of my early time as a musician was spent studying the beginnings of bands, artists and composers. I was really fascinated with how people got to become the respected artist more than the mythos that sorrounded them at the peak of their story. In doing so I realized that almost every single one of them was plagued by the same pitfalls and setbacks. I finally found a group of guys 16 years ago that I’ve been playing with every since.
I practice the attitude of reslience through the daily excercise of creating. No matter what is happening in my life, I am writing or composing something. Doesn’t matter if its for the band, if its a classical arrangement, if its pure noise or nonsense. If I’m doing, I am being. I only know how to be me successfully, and I’m not sure where that will take me, but it’s kept me happy so far.
One of our goals is to help like-minded folks with similar goals connect and so before we go we want to ask if you are looking to partner or collab with others – and if so, what would make the ideal collaborator or partner?
I am constantly looking for other creatives to collaborate with. Obviously I’m always looking for more filmmakers who have a true passion for their craft to work along side. I love the art of film and the proccess of creating it from the ground up. I’m also looking for more collaborative songwriting efforts. If you want to hear some of my work or connect for either of these, visit my website at www.elmbrookmusic.com and reach out to me via the contact info there.
Contact Info:
- Website:www.dirtystreetsmusic.com www.elmbrookmusic.com
- Instagram: @justintolstoy
- Youtube: youtube.com/thedirtystreets
- Other: https://www.mandy.com/us/c/justin-toland
Image Credits
Photo of me sitting Solo is Austin Stuart All other photos are Bob Bayne other than Getty photos by Jason Kempin as per watermark
