Meet LeeSon Bryce

We caught up with the brilliant and insightful LeeSon Bryce a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Hi LeeSon , appreciate you sitting with us today. Maybe we can start with a topic that we care deeply about because it’s something we’ve found really sets folks apart and can make all the difference in whether someone reaches their goals. Self discipline seems to have an outsized impact on how someone’s life plays out and so we’d love to hear about how you developed yours?
Thank you for interviewing me!

Truth be told, I can’t really pinpoint exactly where my self-discipline came from. When I was younger, my parents used to REALLY get on us (putting that lightly) about having bad grades in school. “Us” as in me and my four older brothers. Every time I would bring a bad grade home, such as a D or an F, it would just end tremendously bad. So, to prevent that from ever happening, I would always get my homework done. Always. No debate on it. I’ll procrastinate, but I would always make sure to get it done by the end of the day.

Following some years later, I would continue this trend, even to this day. In my mind, I always tell myself, “If it can be done today, then I better do it now.” As a result, I try to squeeze as many tasks in a day as possible. If I have to work out, I’ll go work out. If I have to get a song done, I will get a song done. Etc. Over time, it just became a habit. I tend to prioritize my own health, income, and creativity daily, so I mainly focus on those three things as much as I can. Everything else is secondary unless it’s family, and even that varies sometimes.

After about a year of refining, I now know what I usually do in a typical day; it’s a repeated cycle. Gym, run, walk, job, music (or side project), repeat. Gym, run, walk, job, music/side project, repeat. I wouldn’t even say it’s self-discipline at this point, it’s a habit now. I even tried to take a day off recently and still ended up going to the gym. It feels like I wasted a day if I don’t now.

Appreciate the insights and wisdom. Before we dig deeper and ask you about the skills that matter and more, maybe you can tell our readers about yourself?
Most definitely!

My name is LeeSon Bryce. I have been in music and doing music vocally for over 6 years now. However, I’ve been a church drummer for way longer. I grew up in a Christian household. My dad is a pastor of his very own church, and my mom is a software engineer. Even to this day, I still play at my dad’s church from time to time. But I’ve been fairly busy as of late, so I don’t play as much anymore.

I’m from Kansas City, Missouri, but I mainly grew up in the Metropolitan area of the southern part. Growing up, I always always around people who were musically inclined, so naturally, I wanted to be apart. I worked a management job to afford the production costs for an EP I released back in 2017. Later, I would continue to work 3 jobs to afford the studio I now have. After nearly 130 songs released, I’m still going. Not because I want to oversaturate the already saturated market, but mainly because I really like making music.

As of now, I’m focused mainly on cash flow, my health, my creativity, and my impact. I recently joined up with a group based in Kansas City that focuses on helping kids, the blind, and others who are in need. I haven’t officially announced it yet, but this is the first time I’m actually mentioning it. Besides that group (and the other 4 mentioned prior), those are really my focuses. I also plan to release more music this year but I don’t have ANY specific dates planned yet.

In pertaining to my brand, I’m mainly more in the “self-help/educational” realm. Every now and then, I switch it up and show my goofy side. I have to. If I’m not feeling motivational, then I tend to show my more authentic side. I recently started a string of series of videos using “motivational quotes” for my social media, And now, I might even change that up, because I don’t feel like it’s showing who I really am. I’m actually pretty shy, awkward, and goofy in person. I try to hide it, but now I’m starting to feel more comfortable in how I represent it.

As for my art, I’ve been told I’m melancholic. I actually don’t mean to be, it just comes out that way. I grew up mainly as an outcast and a nerd, and I was picked on and bullied occasionally, so that could be a reason. I also had plenty of relationship problems in the past, so maybe those old wounds haven’t truly healed yet. I use music as an artistic expression, it’s my therapy. I never visited or had an actual therapist, so I use the gym and music as mine. It can range from R&B vibes to hard rap, but I always try to change it up in some way. Whether it’s a boom-bop style, rap-rock, pop, or jazz; I try to change it up. To those who listen, I seriously thank you. But I will say this; if you are looking for street music, then my music is not for you.

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?
As a musician, I picked up some skills over the years. There’s plenty that comes with learning everything on your own. From website building, to funnel building, to know how to produce and correctly write a song, etc But in my honest opinion, these are the most important skills to have as an indie artist;

1. Networking – In all honest opinion, this is the biggest skill to have. You don’t know who knows who, or who has connections to what. The music world is actually a very small place in your city. It can seem like everyone knows everyone. Be careful how you move and represent yourself. You don’t know who is watching. Treat people with respect. If they do something shady or unusual, cut them off (or at least keep them a distance away). Don’t post hateful DM screenshots, don’t blast people on social media, don’t do any of that. I sincerely would not recommend it. Someone who could potentially make your life change for the better is watching you. Don’t ruin it.

2. Cash Flow – I hate to say it, but it’s going to be very hard to grow and excel without cash flow. You need money to eat, to live, to invest, to grow your music beyond certain audiences, etc Very rarely does anyone give you a free ride to their destination. Even though it’s against the cultural norm for an artist, I sincerely suggest you keep a job for the duration of your musical journey until you are AT LEAST making $2,000 a month consistently from music alone, or some other cash flow business. Even then, I would still suggest keeping a part-time job. The job will help you build a work ethic while the side cash business will help you build discipline (if you choose to do the side business). Plus, you’ll always have money to live off of and invest with. Accept the fact that you are not going to be the 0.1% of making it big from one song randomly. You are the 99.9% who will have to put in all effort. Cash flow is a great way to make you stand out and show that you are serious. It’s a message that screams this; “you know how to get it”.

3. Learn the basics yourself – You don’t have to become a pro videographer, a master sound engineer, or a Grammy-worthy producer. You just need to know the basics to get by. Early on, you might not have much money to invest in your career. It will be 10x easier on you financially if you just know the basics. Most studios will run you $35/$65 an hour. Say you put 20 hours into an album. That’s $1100 out of your pocket for a studio session at $55/hr. Use that money, invest in your own setup, learn the basics, and make it on your own. It will save you loads of money with your own equipment. This goes for video editing, basic website building, graphic design (which you can use AI now!) etc. Save as much money as you can early on to put back into your musical growth. Practice these skills regularly, so you can get better at them. And then later make and develop better content. You don’t have to do this forever, only until you can afford other people to do it for you.

If you knew you only had a decade of life left, how would you spend that decade?
A challenge that I am actively facing right now is pure burnout. Burnout as in not wanting to do music as a “job” anymore. I like to make music and release it whenever I want and be free to create whatever I want. It seems now in this modern day of music, you have to keep releasing a new song every month or so just to stay relevant as an indie. Indie artists do not get the promotions or marketing like the major artists do, so we always have to be in front of the audiences repeatedly. This can mean new music bi-weekly, multiple social media posts daily, always finding new ways to stay engaging, etc. It can get exhausting after a long while, especially when you are doing it all yourself. I do plan to hire a team soon, but I do not envy the Indie artists making it happen out here completely on their own. I applaud y’all

Contact Info:

Image Credits
Cheyanne Sullivan

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