We caught up with the brilliant and insightful The Sidleys a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.
The , thanks so much for taking the time to share your insights and lessons with us today. We’re particularly interested in hearing about how you became such a resilient person. Where do you get your resilience from?
The dictionary defines resilience as “the capacity to withstand or to recover quickly from difficulties.” As artists, we’re consistently being tested by various obstacles and challenges on our path to see how resilient we are. We’ve been professional musicians for many years and at a basic level it’s just hard to make a living in the arts. Most working musicians have multiple jobs to make ends meet and getting paid fairly for our music has only become trickier in the age of streaming. So, as an artist it can be difficult enough to create good work in the first place, but that doesn’t take into account how hard it can be to get your music heard, reviewed, and broadcast. Although the internet has made it easier to self-publish your work, with all the other millions of artists out there doing the same thing, it can be hard to make your music visible in the marketplace.
The business model has changed so much since we’ve started, that we’ve had to respond to these changes by adapting quickly to new environments and technology. Being independent artists without a major budget, we’ve had to learn to do all of our own promotion, marketing, recording, and booking. We’ve even had to learn to make videos just out of necessity. Being resilent has paid off for us in terms of learning so many new skills and also being able to guide our career in the way that feels the most true to us.
Great, so let’s take a few minutes and cover your story. What should folks know about you and what you do?
We’ve been together so long that we’ve basically grown up with each other as musicians and artists. Over the years we’ve studied and performed in so many different genres from classical to rock, soul and jazz, and all of these influences have filtered into our songwriting, which is constantly evolving and progressing. Between us, we have created over a dozen albums in the past, but since 2013, we’ve been performing and recording together as The Sidleys. The most important thing to us is to make music that audiences can connect with on an emotional and visceral level. With powerful vocals, songwriting and musicianship we’ve created songs that are passionate, compelling and universal.
We’ve just released the new single “Green Light” from our upcoming album “Sugar Kingdom” due out in Spring 2024. Although the track has only been out for a short period of time, radio stations across the country have already starting playing it in regular rotation. We’re lucky enough to have become a fan favorite in the DC region, playing prestigious venues including The Warner Theatre, The Fillmore, The Hamilton Live, The Barns at Wolf Trap, Bethesda Blues and Jazz as well as festivals and outdoor concert series in the Mid-Atlantic region. We’ve previously released three critically acclaimed albums, “Bittersweet” (2013), “The Love You Make” (2017), and “Breathless” (2020).
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?
The first quality that has been really helpful to us is diligence. To continue pushing forward on your path and growing even through adversity, criticism, lack of funds and other obstacles. So many of our peers have left the music business because it can be so difficult and disheartening. So above all, it takes a love and willingness to keep going and believing in yourself, especially when others don’t.
The second necessary quality is to learn as much about your craft as possible and to hone it as much as you can. Learn everything about your art, practice it diligently, and don’t be afraid to pick up new skills. Having a thorough understanding of what you’re doing, along with the ability to adapt to different situations, will allow you to thrive in any environment.
The third and possibly most important quality is your ability to make connections with people and be supportive of other artists. Be interested in the work of others and also be the person that others want to be around. We all need each other and we’re only going to make this work through cooperation and kindness.
As we end our chat, is there a book you can leave people with that’s been meaningful to you and your development?
“The Four Agreements” by Don Miguel Ruiz has had a huge impact on our values and in the development of our art. Being impeccable with your power to create, not taking things personally, not making assumptions about others or situations, and always doing your best, given a specific situation, has been valuable wisdom that we have put into practice many times.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.thesidleys.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thesidleys
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/thesidleysmusic
- Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/thesidleys
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/thesidleysmusic
- Other: https://www.reverbnation.com/thesidleys
Image Credits
Image 1: Pedro Blanco Image 2: No credit (Canva) Image 3: Pedro Blanco Image 4: Brooke Lowe
