Meet Winterfresh

We recently connected with Winterfresh and have shared our conversation below.

Hi Winterfresh, thanks for sharing your insights with our community today. Part of your success, no doubt, is due to your work ethic and so we’d love if you could open up about where you got your work ethic from?

My work ethic stems from my passion. From the first day I started learning to DJ, I’d spend hours practicing without even realizing how much time was passing. Once I got into music production, I could spend over eight hours a day just working on my beats without noticing – at the end of a long day, all I could think about is what I’ll do the next day. It doesn’t even feel like a “work ethic” – I can’t see myself doing anything else, and it’s all I think about at all hours of the day. It’s not like school, where I had to force myself to do just enough to pass and get a decent enough grade. When I’m not interested in what I’m learning, I’m not a model student. When I’m as interested in what I’m learning/doing like I am with music, I live and breathe it.

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?

My teenage self got into DJing because I love making people dance and have fun with my music. While I was getting my degree and working on my business, I was always dreaming about the day where I could focus full time on music. The more gigs I did in LA, on college campuses, and around Europe, the more fun I’d have performing live and vibing with my people.

Today I’m living my dream by being able to work on my art nonstop, every day, all day. I wish I could tell my teenage self how much fun it’ll be, getting better and discovering new things about myself and my vision every session. I’ve been at this grind full-time for a while and by now, I’m releasing music consistently on all platforms in multiple genres. That’s why I’m starting up a concert series called Wintercamp. I’m ready to bring everything I’ve learned to the global stage, where every Wintercamp event will feature my musician friends and myself throwing down an incredible vibe. Wintercamp will be more than a party, it’ll be a journey. It’ll be a meeting place for the Wintercamp community. If you want to join me, stay tuned on winterfreshmusic.com.

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?

The first important skill is resilience. In this industry, you will be told that you should give up. You’ll deal with gatekeepers and labels rejecting you every day, no matter your previous success. You’ll have writers’ block. I have seen so many talented musicians give up and never reach their full potential because they let external factors/noise get to their head. You have to be resilient enough to look past these obstacles and keep pushing towards your goals.

The second most important skill is taste. When I first got started, I only had two decks, a broken mixer, and no headphones. That meant that I had to rely on my song selection, my knowledge of the songs themselves (shout out Hot Cues), and my feel for the crowd. Once I got better and learned more about actual production and more advanced techniques (and upgraded my equipment), I was able to express my taste in new dimensions. But without that sense of taste getting so much development, it’d be a lot harder to be as resilient… When you know how your taste is setting you apart and making you unique, it makes it that much easier to believe in yourself no matter what.

The third most important skill is balancing that self-belief, that should be coming from your own hard work in developing your originality, with being really honest with yourself. It’s a tough needle to thread, because it’s easy to go to the extremes of either “my song is terrible” or “my song is amazing” and that’s when the excuses start. When the excuses start, the learning stops, and you end up never scratching the surface of all that you can do. If you’re able to keep that self-belief without losing that self-honesty, you’ll be able to challenge yourself to constantly get better, and that’s what actually leads to success: sticking with it long enough, working hard enough every day, not reacting too much to external factors like rejection until your music starts speaking for itself.

Okay, so before we go we always love to ask if you are looking for folks to partner or collaborate with?

I’m so serious about my career and making good music is so important to my life. Any time I get to work with somebody who’s similarly passionate and sees it the same way I do, we both level up from the experience. If that sounds like you and you’re in EDM or hip-hop – please reach out on Instagram! I’m also looking for performers for the Wintercamp event series.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://Winterfreshmusic.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/winterfreshmusic
• Soundcloud: https://on.soundcloud.com/UcdrHps9D8eTnA7H6
• Other: Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/artist/5CEQDOtEb9UftqMWwoJXrL?si=ryDry1R8TjKvuxBqfJsDFw