https://www.instagram.com/macgee22/
1.) What elements and/or characteristics made you say to yourself that you wanted to do music for a living? Who are your influences/heroes/role models?
Well with me starting to do music at a young age (8 years old) and having everybody in my family from my grandmother mom dad brother and cousins doing music it was only right that I jumped in and do music as well. Some of my influences are my dad who is a DJ and also had a career in radio, my grandmother who was a singer in a group as well, in the church choir, my brother who has traveled the world touring and I would have to say Lil Wayne just because of the work ethic and the way he always, strives to accomplish new things musically.
2.) If you could compare yourself to an already established artist, who would that be and why? If you don’t like to compare yourself, then music-wise, what separates you from other musicians?
A lot of people don’t like to compare themselves to other people because they feel they either have to live up to those expectations or they want to be seen as their own kind of artist but personally I love being compared to my idols because it fuels me to strive to be just as great as them so if I had to compare the kind of artist I am to someone already established I would have to say Lil Wayne, reason being like I said before the work ethic is outstanding he has crossed boundaries with his creating different kinds of music in all genres, and he always stay true to himself no matter what and these are all things I strive to do within my career.
3.) Everyone in life goes through adversity of some sort. Is there anything in your life that has any influence on the kind of songs you write? What is the most difficult thing you’ve had to endure on your path to becoming a musician?
Well I have endured a lot that is heavy in my music, from love, being heartbroken, death, the not knowing how you will survive being broke everyday, early childhood trauma, things like that I put in my music to help me vent but also to help the next person going through those same situations so they know it is away out. I think the number one thing most artist struggle with when becoming a musician is the lack of support which can also be the lack of knowledge or having someone to guide you thats always been one of the things that has held me up as an artist but I’m starting to understand more now.
4.) How do you prepare yourself to write certain songs? What is your song-writing and recording process?
My song writing process is super simple most of the time I have my producer send me some production and I will sit in the studio and go through the beats and the one that sticks to my brain the most is the one I go with first then I just start to freestyle, once I freestyle for at least 10-15 minutes to the beat I grab my phone and start to write the most memorable lines I freestyled and go from there. Now if I’m working on something original I take my guitar and just start to play once I play a certain pattern of chords that stand out to me then I just start to build from there, I lay down the guitar then send it to my producer and have him arrange the drums and bass, while waiting for hime to get back to me I start my writing process playing and freestyling again.
5.) Unfortunately the music industry is full of talented individuals who just don’t get any recognition for their talent and/or hard work. What do you plan to do to make sure you stand out and get noticed? Would you rather be on a major label or would you rather stay independent? Why or why not? In regards to the music industry itself, do you think that the traditional music industry model as we know it is dead?
The only thing I feel I can do to stand out is continue to be myself and surround myself with people that can feed me knowledge and information thats truly the only thing you can do and it also takes a certain amount of luck mixed with consistency so I just have to keep making music and dropping music as much as possible. When I was younger I always wanted to be signed to a major label it was my biggest dream and to be honest it still is being independent is cool but being able to have a major label push behind you is super dope of course contracts would have to be correct first and foremost because I’m not going to let a label just take everything I built away from, and to be honest as far as the industry and the traditional ways being dead I don’t feel so I just think that things have opened up a lot more for people to be able to get out there without having to be seen by an A&R or any other record executives but labels will never die out and the traditional ways won’t go anywhere.
6.) Are you able to make a living with your music? If so, how were you able to attain a career doing what you love? If not, what do you do in order to fund your music career? What advice would give to someone who’s interested in pursuing a career in music?
Well I don’t make a lot of money off my music I was working for a company for almost 10 years but unfortunately I got terminated so I have been collecting unemployment and doing little side jobs for people to make extra money but the best advice I can give to someone is to understand that if you want to be a musician and make money you have to go through struggles right now I’m probably at the lowest that I have been at in a while but the circumstances that you are going through right now will get better as long as you keep pushing even when things look dark, also have someone to talk to and vent to when you feel like things are getting to heavy for you.
7.) How do you think the internet and social media affected the music industry and how musicians are able to market themselves? Social media is obviously an extremely important element in today’s world, especially when it comes to business, branding, marketing, etc. With that being said, do you think an artist will be able to survive in today’s music industry if they’re not social media savvy?
Social media as affected the music industry a lot it use to be about getting a buzz in your own city first and pushing to other regions but now with the power of social media you can put up a video or post on your story on IG and millions of people can view it from around the world which is dope and now A&R and labels are looking for the person with the most followers or most streams on Spotify so social media has changed the game in some ways. You absolutely have to be some kind of social media savvy especially starting out like its ok for artist like Lil Wayne and Kendrick Lamar to not be on social media like that because they have very established careers but for a artist starting out yeah you need to know all the trending social media apps and post regularly to keep your engagement up.
8.) Artists who try to make music for the general public and make more money are usually seen as “sell-outs.” Do you see it that way and if so, what do you plan to do to make sure your music stays true to your brand and make a good living at the same time without having to “sell out”?
I feel that term “Sell Out” is over used for example one of my favorite bands Green Day, back when they first came out with their debut album “Dookie” their die hard fans said they sold out because they signed to a major label and that was and isn’t considered the punk rock way but thats a matter of opinion, so we fast forward to today and Green Day is one of the biggest punk rock bands in the world and they still have a message in their music, and thats the rule as long as you make music but keep the same message while it will evolve and mature over time thats how you don’t become a Sell Out. I love all kinds of music so I will create all kinds of music but I will always have that music for my day one fans so they will never call me a sell out.
9.) Professionally, where do you see yourself 5 years from now?
In 5 years I see myself living my dreams becoming a artist that is know globally and has impacted millions of peoples lives won some awards but most importantly made my parents dreams come true and give them everything they deserve.