We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Jonah Mancino. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Jonah below.
Jonah, so excited to have you with us today. So much we can chat about, but one of the questions we are most interested in is how you have managed to keep your creativity alive.
You keep creativity alive by sidestepping the desire for perfection in your work. Trying to make creative work perfect implies that there is a state of perfection in that artform—which is a lie. No art is objectively perfect. The best way to enact this and ensure that creativity is put before vanity is to trust the subjectivity of art, and be confident in yourself. I trust my creative gut because it’s what got me here in the first place; as long as I keep relying on it, it’ll keep pushing me forward. We’re taught to be so humble that we question our own judgement, that state of mind programs you to doubt yourself.
Thanks, so before we move on maybe you can share a bit more about yourself?
I’m a DJ and Producer and I’m deeply immersed in the Electronic Music production scene. Aside from my regular music drops and show performances, I’m very active in showing my work to my online following. I regularly put out production videos on Youtube, I’m the social media content manager and tutorial creator for Dropgun Samples, and I run a Patreon community with resource and tutorial drops for Producers every week. Giving back to the community has ended up being the most beneficial move for my career. I have lots of releases and shows scheduled for 2024, so stick to my social medias @itsproppa to stay tuned!
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?
1. I think it’s really important to hold not only yourself, but your network to a high standard. I truly only work with people who I believe are authentic, genuine, and hard-working. I don’t work with people who have a purchased following, paid engagement, shortcutted musical methods, or who overall make sub-par business, promotional, and artistic decisions. This is a standard held in every single non-art related industry; and I think if more artists did this, we’d see a lot more accountability. In the same aspect, if I’m going to be exlcusive in that way, then I better be working damn hard myself too. Steering clear of connections that would impact me in a negative way, or not bring anything to the table, has been huge for my growth. 2. Self-care is important, but if you think you can’t work that extra hour—often times you can. The amount of amazing creative work that has come from me holding off on chilling for the night nearly outweighs the work I’ve done during my normal hours. Ironically, athletes’ best gains are made at that moment where they feel they can’t push anymore but they do; our brains are a muscle and the same could be said for creative work. Often times, I say “just try to push one more hour” and I hit a stride that keeps me working for much longer.
3. Ira Glass said it best, when you’re doing creative work you have to make a lot of bad things before you make good things. If you want to get good at something, you have to practice a lot and not be afraid to sound or look bad. Making bad art is important for understanding why it’s bad and how you can improve. If you don’t make bad art, you’ll never make good art.
What has been your biggest area of growth or improvement in the past 12 months?
For the longest time I worked without collaborators, or any outside help on branding and promotion. This year I started branching out, collaborating with other great producers and creators. If you work with the right people, your strengths shine and the growth is exponential.
Contact Info:
- Instagram: @itsproppa
- Facebook: /itsproppa
- Twitter: @itsproppa
- Youtube: @itsproppa
- SoundCloud: /itsproppa
- Other: https://www.patreon.com/proppa
Image Credits
Spencer Stuttrup JoeCreate
