On June 10, 2021 I am turning 30! I have always wanted to put together some of my favourite quotes from the interviews I've done and now seemed like a good time to do it. It was hard to only pick 30! A few years ago, I started looking at these quotes. At the end of each interview, I always ask, "What advice would you give to someone wishing to follow in your career path?" But some of the best quotes were not always about advice. I like to think of them as life lessons or words of encouragement. I hope that you can find something that speaks to you or something that makes you laugh. If you do, please consider revisiting the original articles or making a donation here.
Thank you,
Annette
1. "Don't do it (just kidding)! …It’s about the drive and who wants it the most. You have to sacrifice so much -- are you willing to do it?” –Chris Labelle
2. “After The Moffatts, Bob and I ventured out on our own. We had a couple of record deals, and sold a few records, but it wasn't who we needed to be. We were who the record company wanted us to be, and maybe more so who we thought we were supposed to be. But we never gave up and kept plugging away day after day, and kept making music. We knew that one day we would discover who we were and with that, the music would just naturally come. We never gave up and today we feel it's all come together.” –Clint Moffatt of Music Travel Love
3. “Listen to your heart and your gut. People everywhere will have opinions on what you should be doing, but your heart will always guide you down the right path. Trust yourself and create as much as you can as often as you can. Push yourself as hard as you can to create truly great work and everything else will come.” -Jesse Labelle
4. “I think that everyone needs to find the time to follow whatever breathes life in to them…. Believe in yourself and don’t take criticism personally. Learn every chance you get.”
5. “Find something you love to inspire you. Grind and be original…. It’s hard to get paid with just your art. That’s the end goal, but until then it’s grinding at a job and a dream…. Whether it be painting, photography or creating music, I just want to learn and grow with anything I take on.”
6. “I sometimes find it hard to be taken seriously, even in the art community. It's hard having your work put up beside badass, popular and sexy art and I'm like, ‘I draw gnomes!’ I've found that people I run into are very supportive of what I do. I'm lucky that no one has said (to my face, at least) that art isn't a real job and I should find one.” –Anthony Wallace
7. “I truly believe that everyone is an artist.” –Morgan Casey
8. “Find your thing. What are you good at that most people aren’t?” –Clark Beckham
9. “I grew up playing traditional fiddle with my family, not thinking it’d ever connect with someone in Australia, Estonia or California-- but it definitely does. There’s something in our bones when it comes to hearing an old instrument or tune-- and we’re just happy to spread that happiness wherever we go!” –Tim Chaisson of The East Pointers
10. “It's an ongoing hustle but it's like starting any business…. my business is music and I have to work hard to get my music out there. You have to be able to wear many hats. I do promo, graphic design, social media, video editing, book the band, apply for grants etc. It's a lot, but I love what I do and when I get to sing on stage it makes it all worth it.” –Leah Daniels
11. “I remember telling the band that this video could be of them pooping in the street for three minutes and it would still be a massive hit. The song is just so good that even a terrible video couldn't put a dent in it. ‘Country Thunder’ is just a titan of a song; a sure-fire, gargantuan smash.”
-Stephano Barberis on directing The Washboard Union’s music video for “Country Thunder”.
12. “I guess my advice to people that want to start making things is to not wait for the perfect scenario. You don't need to save up money for expensive gear. You don't need to hire an editor or a Director of Photography. You just need to have a solid idea. Every video I've posted in the past year has been shot on my iPhone 6 and edited in a crappy, free video editor I found.”
13. “People don't realize the years of work that goes into perfecting your craft and how much time and energy goes into even one video, and even after that one video that finally gets you there --even then-- you have only just begun! It's an amazing feeling, and although it may seem ‘overnight’ to those who just find me, it makes that long road worth it to have it lead them to finding my content.” –Kurt Tocci
14. “If you really want to get yourself out there and get noticed, don’t give up, because it does only takes a post, a photo, a video to get yourself noticed by so many people….It is important that when you do put yourself out there for the world to see, you don’t take people too seriously and don’t take yourself too seriously.” –Carl Bradbury
15. “Make sure you're always having fun and don't worry about what other people are doing. You can be aware of what others are doing, but don't use their success as a measure of your own success.” –Hunter Collins
16. “Sometimes if you’re doing your own thing, or what your heart desires, you may not get the greatest success or commercial success but at least you’ll feel good about what you’re doing…. Definitely, from personal experience, I would say that the most important part is to love what you do and make sure it’s true to your heart-- and make sure to have fun because sometimes you can get too caught up in it like it’s a job. It can be stressful just like anything else, right? So you have to definitely have fun and relax and love what you do. Just ‘keep on keepin’ on’, as Joe Dirt would say!” –Ches Anthony
17. “Believe in the process, know that there’s always a brighter day. Literally, if you’re going through Hell, you’ve just got to believe that it’s going to be okay. So, you know, it was hard for me. It’s easier said than done, of course. When I was going through my stuff, I didn’t see the end—the light at the end of the tunnel, but, you keep trucking along and you keep ‘doing you’, and just know that if it’s not okay now, it will be.” –JoJo Mason
18. “Do what you think will work for you…. Work hard, try your best to figure out who you are, and don’t be afraid to change your plans if they aren’t bringing you happiness. It’s okay to realize you are on the wrong path. I guess that’s something I’m still learning today.” –Trevor Dubois
19. “I have so much advice to give, but one of the biggest things I can say is ‘Try. fail. Try again. I’ve gotten far more nos than yesses and I have screwed up musically so many times. It’s important to learn from your mistakes and never give up. If you want to get really good at something, you just need to keep practicing." -Connor Morand
20. “I think people believe in magic because it opens the door to creativity, infinite possibility and imagination. Magic delves into mystery and the unknown. It sparks your imagination and makes you ask 'what if?’. Magic pushes the boundaries of what is humanly possible. Also, it’s fun! And let’s be honest, who didn’t want magical powers growing up? You have the ability to solve any problem and bring anything into fruition. The real secret is believing that you’re already capable of such things because we all are walking miracles capable of incredible things….” -Keith Brown
21. “It’s amazing, you know? Especially as a Canadian, we’ve got to stick together! All young artists coming out of Canada need to stick together because we have such passion over here. The world’s looking to our country to find out the next biggest thing or just to see what kind of music we have. There’s so much talent up here, you know? So, being immersed in the young artist culture, it’s super important that we help each other out….” –Tyler Shaw
22. “When I was younger, all I ever wanted to do was perform-- and now that I see so many other up and coming artists, I want to share that experience with them, and give them an opportunity to hone their craft and make fans along the way. Nurturing the next generation is very important for our business…. Without question, the biggest lessons I learned from both Garth Brooks and Brad Paisley were how to treat people ‘off the stage’. These guys are giant mega-stars on stage, but off the stage they are the most kind and caring people, and I want to make sure I treat my opening acts with respect and kindness the way they treated me.”
23. “I was told that my work was inspiring, that people could see how comfortable I am with myself from my work, that they hoped to push their personal boundaries with their work after seeing mine, and that I should absolutely refuse to ever censor [myself]! I could have cried! I never thought that anyone would feel that way about my work. It made me realize just what kind of impact I can have on people and that makes me want to do more and make people celebrate their oddities and just be free.” –Camille Porthouse
24. “I have a drive to be a reliable and genuine face that is properly able to represent the LGBTQ+ community as well as touch other musicians and people in general through talks and the music I write.” –Jasper Bakker
25. “We wrote and filmed that short in 2018 as the tide of hate was escalating in America. In a sad, prophetic way, the parallel of that crime and our film, foreshadowed the recent racial backlash and anti-Asian sentiment sparked by the pandemic.” –Lawrence Chau on creating the film, Justice for Vincent.
26. “Collectively, we need to change the way we look at people who come from different backgrounds and have different views on the world. Although this is starting to take shape, it will continue to be an uphill battle. I’m excited for the changes that are coming to this world!”
27. “I think we are in such a watershed moment in this world. We all are learning and unlearning. We are all tired some days. So many are struggling and are doing their very best. That's tough, and tough times can shift our confidence. Tough times can try to keep us down, but trusting in yourself and your capabilities goes a long way.” –Jaz Rodriguez
28. “You also have to be a good human being and support others around you. Being a good human being sounds so simple, but a lot of people don’t know how to do that. They don’t. But being a good human makes people want to hire you, work with you and be around you. It really helps your career. Don’t be full of yourself.” –Chad Price
29. “Visiting Children's Hospital was probably the most rewarding. They do amazing things for families with sick kids. Kids are so strong and I almost think they did more for us than we did for them. We also all love pets, so helping out the SPCA was a very rewarding experience. I think I almost get along better with animals than I do humans, so anytime we can help them out it's a good day.” –Ian Casselman of Marianas Trench
30. “The words I live by are to do your best to ‘be great and don’t go away’. This isn’t easy and it takes some time and commitment! Look at me! I was nominated for ‘Rising Star’ after 14 years in the business!” –Dan Davidson
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