We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Lionel Scott a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.
Lionel , thank you so much for joining us. You are such a positive person and it’s something we really admire and so we wanted to start by asking you where you think your optimism comes from?
I’m a big believer that optimism and choosing to be hopeful in the future is an act of resistance in the face of a world that is affected with so many problems. For me, I’m not trying to be “blissfully unaware” of the world around me, that’s something that I can’t afford to do or believe is right in any way, instead I try my best to acknowledge my issues while still not letting them keep me down so to speak. Being an optimistic person is hard, and every once in awhile something will happen that sort of knocks you out of it. But choosing to get back up and not only deal with your issues head on, but do it with as much hope as you can gather is something I believe is really important to do. It’s a belief that I try to put into my art whenever I can and is a mindset I really subscribe too.
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 a 21 year old Pop Artist and Music producer from Ohio, ever since I began to make music I haven’t been able to take a break from it. I’m always pushing myself to make sure everything I make is a good as possible and to try to push myself into making new things all the time. Music is incredibly exciting to me, and I try to put that excitement back into my music. I’m always creating and always experimenting. My most recent release, “Hide Away” felt like a departure from my other releases, but I think it shows that there are more sides to me than anticipated. I think that’s going to come across in my first project, “Partying By Myself” that I aim to release this year. I love music, I love sharing and talking about music, and I love making music.
If you had to pick three qualities that are most important to develop, which three would you say matter most?
One trait of mine that I’ve been able to benefit from is my obsessiveness. I’m afraid that can sound bad at first, but once I get an idea for something I drop everything to pursue it. Once I’m able to “direct” that obsessiveness into something creative and positive, I’m able to make something I’m really proud of. I also try my best to be self aware, the only way you can really better yourself is if you face yourself while still being able to grow and be proud of yourself. It’s something I really started to keep in mind when I started college as a film major. For a large part of my life I was planning on going into film. Taking those experiences and that knowledge and putting them into things like making music has let me take on my own way of doing things.
All the wisdom you’ve shared today is sincerely appreciated. Before we go, can you tell us about the main challenge you are currently facing?
I’ve really been struggling with letting go of the expectations for myself. Whenever I attempt to start something new I haven’t been able to just “create” without overthinking everything about it, and eventually throwing whatever it is away. I guess it’s really just weird writers block, and this isn’t the first time I’ve encountered this problem, but its frankly annoying nonetheless. It’s something that I know I will eventually work out, I suppose I just can’t wait until it does.
Contact Info:
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/lionel_scott_/
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@lionel_scott
Image Credits
Jay Hubbard, Robin Oldaker
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