We were lucky to catch up with Tyler Lee Frush recently and have shared our conversation below.
Hi Tyler Lee, 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 think there comes a point in most artists lives where they have to make a decision, what does it mean to create, and how much of yourself are you willing to sacrifice to bring your art to the world? I found myself asking that question. One night, as I was getting ready to finally sleep, I saw myself in the mirror. I saw my ribs, my collarbones, my hips. I saw my face, my cheeks that were now gaunt, and I asked myself if it was worth it? Am I willing to give it all up just so I can create something? I remember praying, asking God to “Let it be faith. Remind me.” And since that night I keep coming back to that prayer, that moment of almost being completely hopeless. And to answer the question, my resilience comes from the reminder that all the suffering, hard work, and self doubt, It can’t be all for nothing. I won’t let it be.
The next part of the interview is where we’d love to learn more about you, your story and what you are focused on professionally – whether it’s a business, nonprofit, artistic career etc.
Please tell our readers about what you do, what you feel is most exciting or special about it, as well as anything else you’d like folks to know about your brand/art/etc. If relevant, please also tell our readers about anything new (events, product/service launches, expansion, etc
I am an artist, I love to create. Music is the avenue that I’ve been blessed with the ability to express myself through. I love to tell stories, whether it be how I did in my album “State Of Mind”, which tells the story of someone’s slowly decaying state of mind, or in my upcoming album that I’m working on now titled “5-30-1993” which takes non-linear screenshots of my life at different points culminating in an overall portrait of myself. There’s something to creating an emotion through sound, and having not only the lyrics guide the listener through the story, but using music as almost a counter melody in an emotional aspect. Maybe a lyric says “you love something” while the music is played in a way that makes you uncertain if the artist truly loves that thing. In the end though, I am just an artist, and I create things that I hope allows the listener to feel something.
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?
I think one of my most helpful attributes would be my own understanding of how music affects me. Not in a lyrical sense, but how the music itself has an impact on me, for example when a song abruptly cuts out or builds towards a moment but never quite resolves into a payoff. Listening to film scores like “Lord Of The Rings” by Howard Shore is a great study in this area. Another attribute I’ve learned in my relatively short time is understanding song formats and not trying to write a “hit” song. There are so many people that will tell you what does or doesn’t belong in art, and music especially. “It has to have a catchy chorus”, or “the song structure should have a verse, into a chorus, into another verse……”. I believe that if you are creating something, everything should be in service of the creation. To elaborate a little more, if I have two songs that have vastly different tones, but in terms of my artistic intent they need to be played one after the other in the overall scheme, instead of compromising a song by changing it to fit a mold, I might take the time to add what I call a “transition” song in between them. Something that isn’t necessarily a fully fleshed out “verse, chorus, verse, chorus” song, but maybe a 30 second clip of sounds that help the listener understand what they can expect emotionally from what’s coming next.
As for advice for other folks who are on a similar journey, my main advice is to be yourself. If you are trying to be what someone else is, or trying to sound or create what’s already been created , I think, you can lose what makes you genuine. So never forget where you came from, instead draw on that. Draw on the emotions (good or bad) and define them without words. No one but you can define what something means to you.
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?
This question caught my eye, it’s very interesting. I love finding other peoples’ art, especially in the realm of visual arts. I’ve worked with local artists before, for example Mary Howard did the artwork for State Of Mind. One my favorite ways to collaborate with others is to show them my work, and to give them complete artistic freedom to interpret it how they choose. I can’t tell them what my song “San Antone” means to them, and I wouldn’t want to tell them. Just to see how art inspires art is exciting. And if you would like to collaborate (no matter what kind of art you create) the best way to get in touch with me is through Instagram @tylerleefrush.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.tylerleefrush.com
- Instagram: https://instagram.com/tylerleefrush
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/tylerleefrush
- Youtube: https://youtube.com/@officialtylerleefrush
