We recently connected with Spencer Berger and have shared our conversation below.
Hi Spencer, appreciate you sitting with us today to share your wisdom with our readers. So, let’s start with resilience – where do you get your resilience from?
I grew up surrounded by several older relatives who had survived horrific circumstances during World War II. Witnessing their optimism and joy for life, despite having endured the worst possible experiences imaginable, instilled a belief in me from an early age that humans can go through absolute hell and still manage to come out the other side.
Thanks for sharing that. So, before we get any further into our conversation, can you tell our readers a bit about yourself and what you’re working on?
At the moment, the creative focus of my life is my music project, Auditorium. On my recordings, I perform all the instrumental and vocal parts by myself. Why by myself? Certainly not because I think I’m the best musician. It stems from the fact that I find it both a thrilling and humbling experience to explore what I’m capable of when I don’t have the assistance of others. Yet, outside of Auditorium, I have always deeply enjoyed collaborating with other artists. Nothing is more exciting to me than working with someone whose brain is talented in a way that mine isn’t.
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?
Each year, I feel as though the list of areas I’d like to improve in keeps growing. But if I had to boil down the most important creative lessons I’ve learned to three, I’d go with accepting, embracing, and exploring. When I first started singing in bands as a teenager, I did my best to hide the natural tone of my voice, which was more on the theatrical side than the singers I admired at the time. I suppose I felt that my idiosyncrasies were flaws, so I did my best to fit into the sound that I thought others wanted to hear. But, over time, I began to accept the fact that my voice differed from my own cookie-cutter vision of what it should sound like. But it wasn’t enough for me to simply accept my voice. I had to embrace my voice — to no longer try to hide the qualities that I considered flaws in the shadows, but instead to shine a spotlight directly onto them. Once I embraced my voice, it began to shatter other barriers I’d unknowingly erected in my mind. Suddenly, I felt freer not only as a singer, but as a composer and lyricist as well. I found myself exploring music in ways that I’d never considered before, which resulted in songs I never expected to write. So, I would say to artists just starting out, if there’s something about you that you think doesn’t fit in with what others are doing, not only shouldn’t you be worried about it — you should be proud of it.
Who has been most helpful in helping you overcome challenges or build and develop the essential skills, qualities or knowledge you needed to be successful?
I have been fortunate to have some remarkable teachers throughout my life. At times, the teachers I learned powerful lessons from had nothing to do with music. For instance, I grew up thinking of myself as a mediocre math student, but my eighth grade teacher taught me that if you pour yourself into something with enough grit and determination, you can truly shock yourself with what you’re able to accomplish — though I don’t think Pythagoras has to worry about any serious competition from me.
But I’ve also been fortunate to have music teachers who went the extra mile. My first guitar teacher saw some potential in me as a songwriter and took it upon himself to teach me how to use a 4-track; to this day, the lessons I learned from him come in handy. In college, my classical guitar teacher would spend most of our lessons talking about everything except guitar — he would ask me about my life, and we’d have long, rambling, heartfelt, hilarious conversations. I think he must have recognized a need in me to have those conversations. I think the best teachers aren’t afraid to leave the road to go on scenic detours — it’s often those detours that have the most impact on the student.
Contact Info:
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/auditoriummusic/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/auditoriummusic
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/auditoriummusic
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@AuditoriumMusicOfficial
- Other: Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/artist/5CScznWBHByeDfTgHjAEl7
Image Credits
“Personal Photo” image credit: Jonathan Rae “Additional Photos” section: Photo of me in blue sweater and the photo of me shot through the window: Liza Boone Photo of me wearing green jacket: Jonathan Rae Auditorium, “Life Changer” album cover: Benjamin Barnes
