Full Transcript- Allissa Hibbs- Guitarist Ethan Unknown Speaker 0:17 Hello, Hi Unknown Speaker 0:19 Thanks for sitting down with me. Okay hold on I got to make sure my phones muted. Unknown Speaker 0:25 Why do I feel like you're the one interviewing me? Because I know exactly what I'm doing. Did you ever think that we would be in this position? I'd be interviewing you about your music? No, not at all. Is it weird? It’s not weird for say? Just because you've heard by music for Forever Most of your life. Yeah. Allissa 0:46 That's Ethan Hibbs, Almost famous guitarist, social media influencer, a man of many talents. Oh, and my brother. He is 22 years old. And he's playing guitar for as long as I can remember. And that's not exaggerating. I don't remember a time when he wasn't playing guitar. He's been strumming his guitar since he was three. Well, that's how the story goes at least. Ethan 1:12 So I've played guitar for pretty much as long as I can remember, essentially how the story goes, at least with what I'm familiar with. Is that around when I was two years old, I had asked for a guitar. And my parents had got us a small, me a small blue guitar. Allissa 1:31 Yeah, not me. Ethan 1:34 That I used to sit outside and just play all day, it was never in tune, I didn't care, I would just sit there and play it like crazy. And then somewhere around the age of five or six, a family friend moved. 1:51 And in the process of moving gave me one of his guitars. And I had another family friend down the street around that time teach me my first chords. And it was kind of just like an ongoing process from there. There was a little bit of a hiatus for a while where I just like, I was young, still trying to figure it out. And 2:14 Obviously, motivation was all over the place. But as I got a little bit older into like, nine to 13, I had some proper lessons. And, and yeah, I left the lessons and started teaching guitar at 14. And it's just been like, kind of a journey of my own exploration into the craft since Unknown Speaker 2:38 I've never stopped loving it at all. Allissa I don't think you'd ever stop loving it Ethan No, at this point. It's kind of became part of who I am. Allissa The guitar guy, Ethan The guitar guy. 100 per cent. Allissa 2:53 Do you remember what your first guitar looked like? Ethan Um, well, my first guitar that was a guitar was, it had to only be like, three feet long, maybe even shorter. And it was blue, it was blue and black. There's a little black pickguard on it. And yeah, that. But besides that, when I got my first real guitar, I still own all of the guitars I've ever gotten. Allissa You still have it? Ethan Yeah, I still have it. I got all my guitars crammed into this apartment. Allissa All of them are here? Every guitar that I own is in this apartment. Some of them are stored away. Allissa Wait, how many do you have? Ethan I have 10 guitars Allissa 10 in a one bedroom apartment. Ethan 10 guitars in my one bedroom apartment Allissa I actually did not know that. How would you describe your style of music? Ethan 3:46 That is a question that I've had. I've thought about it for a long time. And I still when people ask me, I feel kind of lost to explain it. Essentially what it boils down to is a form of like percussive fingerstyle guitar. I'm not overly percussive, but there's percussive elements in there. So I kind of categorize it under that. In terms of what I do, specifically, it's a lot of open tunings. It's a lot of kind of melody driven pieces that maybe seem a little intricate, but I do it. I do whatever I do, because I feel like it sounds nice. But yeah, it's hard to find a genre. And I think in terms of like guitar, and fingerstyle as a whole it kind of exists as this umbrella term to encompass like guitar where you're playing, you know, the bass, the melody, the chords, the percussive stuff all at the same time. And you know, on top of the original stuff I do that has that, those elements. I also do covers of like, more modern pop stuff in those kinds of styles as well as like, I do lots of covers. I do pretty much what I would whenever people requested me. But yeah, I'm still working to kind of define what my style would be called. Other than just fingerstyle guitar. Allissa 5:10 The song you hear right now is an original of his, he wrote in February called Further than Space. Allissa 5:20 Our parents have always been supportive of us and our dreams, they were the ones that pushed us to be the best that we could be. Ethan 5:35 I think my family has always done a really good job of supporting me and helping me. I think they definitely do as much as they possibly can, with the resources they have. And I'm kind of forever grateful that they, you know, growing up, they bought me guitars, they paid for lessons, they've always, you know, given me whatever tips they've tried to provide me with opportunities. And yeah, there's there's not a moment that like, even though I'm in design, and I'm in music, they still push me to do like, music and whatever I'm passionate and doing and design and everything. And I think it's become like, especially evident now to them that like, this is something that like I can actually possibly do. It's actually like a feasible thing. So yeah, I don't know, they've been like big active supporters, and they're not in the music industry. So it's like, it means a lot that they put in like, as much as they can to, to help me. Allissa Did you ever think that he would have this much passion in his music? Jennifer 6:39 At the beginning? No, because he always complained that his fingers hurt. But as he went, he showed that he could excel at it. His teacher would take, his instructor would take a week to learn three songs to teach him and Ethan would learn it in the first five minutes. Allissa That's Jennifer Hibbs, our mom. Jennifer 7:01 I would like him to. I'd like to see him soar, like, soar through or anything. He's He's very talented young man. And I believe he has what it takes to be very successful in his music career. I am extremely proud of him. A lot of my friends follow me and have seen his music and say he's very talented, and he's amazing. They compliment on his music all the time. Sometimes I have to call him and let him know because he can't see the posts. And yeah, he's, he's doing really well. I think he's gonna make it big in music. He's got a passion for it and a love for it. He doesn't put his guitar down. I even call him at nighttime to talk to him or during the day to talk to him and you can hear him strumming the guitar in the background instead of having a conversation with me sometimes. Allissa 7:50 Ethan has come far in his music career. When I first started this podcast, he had 27,000 TikTok followers. Since then, a video of his went viral and he has doubled his followers and now has 61,000, some of which are celebrities. Picturing him in his TikTok videos with the perfect aesthetic, during golden hour with a tiny bookshelf behind him that holds plans dropping down to the floor. The shine on his guitar glistens against the ring light. He has long brown shaggy hair covering his face as he looks down at his guitar. He started lessons when he was around eight years old. But lessons didn't last long, because he'd pick up songs very quickly, faster than some of the teachers would take to learn them. Ethan 8:33 I look back and like better probably wasn't like necessarily the proper term, it was just in terms of the stuff that they were learning to provide me I was excelling at. It's hard for me to tell now at this point, because I haven't talked to them or heard from these teachers in a long time. Yeah, I think it's just a matter of perspective. But I do think that kind of that kind of process that they were providing was super important to my development as a musician. I think on a fundamental level because they taught me like, the core elements of like, the instruments, it was super important, and it definitely sped up the process. I think when I look at it now and I apply this to my teaching is that it's more about like the guidance, like people can learn things on their own. And what teachers job to do is to like guide them in the right direction along that process, because they have to do some of the learning on their own no matter what. And regardless, because of how much I loved the instrument I was going to do that learning. The teachers just help speed up that process while also providing like their own perspectives on it, which helps you to develop this knowledge in your own way that's like unique to you and the experiences that you've gone through to get there. Allissa 9:53 Though right now, Ethan is focusing on finishing University. His career is starting to get into the right direction. How would you describe your career right now? Ethan My career right now is, it's definitely more of a work in progress than it is like a full fledged career. Mostly just because of the balancing act between school and the financial stuff that kind of comes with that, I would say it's starting to go in a direction that I'm intrigued to kind of push and follow and try to, you know, continue. As I like, opportunities are starting to open up for me. And just the act of like, providing some sort of online presence for myself, has expanded my audience to a degree where I'm finally like, able to at least, somewhat consider this a valid option, at least in like, the closer term and the long term. But yeah, it's very much still something that like I'm actively working on, and I'm still going to be actively working on it forever. I think that's the, that's the fun of that kind of career, especially creative careers. It's like, you can set all these goals for yourself. But the act of it being a form of art, means that there's always like, a self fulfillment in like the creative process that you can keep, like driving towards. Allissa 11:27 Since COVID-19, the music industry has seen a drastic shift in the way independent musicians have to promote themselves. Social media has become the ideal location to start your music and become noticed. Ethan 11:41 It's probably one of the most important things, because what social media allows you to do that wasn't necessarily possible before is it allows you to better engage with the fan base that you have. And this can build like a stronger foundation, and you can kind of turn what initially you would just be called your fans into more of a community. And I think that's something that a lot of people who are working at building audiences, they focus too much specifically on the number and less about, Ethan 12:23 the realization that these are people that you have means to directly interact with and talk with. And I think something that I've been utilizing lately is going live and engaging with content and fans there because it gives me an opportunity to like to chat with people and answer their questions directly. And when you do stuff like that, your audience kind of stops just seeing you as this creator and starts to see you as a person. So they gain this different kind of respect for you. Because you're no longer just this entity that creates things that they're they like, you're this entity that creates things that they like, but also you're a person with all these traits that they themselves can relate to, they can understand. And maybe they can see a little bit of themselves in. I think it's also like it's, most people get their media, through their phones and their computers and through social media. So it's definitely a window that I think you really have to be looking through at all times. You have to be constantly putting stuff out there for people to see because it's hard to do things the more analog way or through like radio and television now as those are kind of becoming obsolete with the younger demographics. Allissa The Canadian Independent Music Association found that revenue for independent musicians and the live sector has dropped by 79% since the pandemic. For independent sound recording and publishing companies, The Canadian Independent Music Association suggests they will see a 41% decline in revenue. They predict that the revenue won't go up again until at least 2023. Amit Kumar, a musician and producer who has worked with Ethan has been witnessing some big moves in the industry. Amit 14:27 The industry has been shifting more to a digital format, obviously, over the past 10-20 years going from CD, where people buying CDs and put into the CD player or into your car to be more digitally formed to streaming services. We've been in a digital era of music for the past like 10-15 years, but all these streaming services have been going around and now that's one big shift. And another thing is with social media is just the outreach you can get with it has been great just for people to stay connected more on a regular basis compared to just being able to, I guess for more than the established artists, they can't go on tour, they can't go on tour, play shows, because that's a big source of income, it's a lot of the products that they sell are live shows. Amit 15:29 So that's one big thing. And then the fact that concerts around or I guess I would want to say in person concerts aren't around. So artists, and kids can't get that experience for the foreseeable future is pretty intense. And then they're now just doing a lot of online concerts or shows that you can stream on your phone on social media. And for the, up and coming are just like any artist now has to be even more resilient on putting out content, which can be very, it can be very, extremely time consuming. But with social media all the time, because someone will be paid and just to go play shows, get out there, connect with the fans, grow your fan base, because that's how long the growth is done just by going out playing shows, touring, being within the community, local community, global community. Allissa 16:32 For Kumar, his position as a producer has become difficult since finding clients is not easy. How has your job in music been affected by COVID? Amit 16:45 Currently has been impacted heavily because with COVID, you can't really go out with anybody. For the service I provide. It's very in your face, in the sense where I would bring my equipment to the clients house and be there and then with COVID can't really go out too much. Without getting fined. Allissa 17:17 Yeah. So how have you been like managing to continue to produce during COVID? Amit I've been more looking for opportunities, more opportunities to find musicians who are willing to just meet up and do the work because for everybody in this industry.Most of them are kind of struggling because it's kind of hard to for like or in the instance of people who are in bands right? It's hard for them to meet up. First of all to even practice their material. Amit 17:51 Because they're all just so separated because of the situation that everybody's in the world that we're living in. So the thing about being in the music industry especially in the beginning aspect, I'm pretty sure a lot of people in this age of it being on, being the people who want to make the push, it's hard for them to make money and it's hard for anybody in the music industry to make money you don't see, you're gonna put in a lot of money before you see any return. be putting an investment within yourself. Basically, being a musician being an engineer. Amit 18:27 You won't see a return for a while. But it is something that you have to keep your head down from the noise. Because you will have other people in your life saying that you're not making money on this yet What are you doing is great that you’re doing it. But you could be finding a stable job, but a lot of musicians and artists, engineers, anybody in the arts, I would say, probably agree that it's worth it. Allissa 18:57 Ethan's music career has also been affected by COVID not being able to do gigs or busking. Ethan 19:03 Made more difficult or unfeasible was busking. And part of that is just change. And a mix of like the fact that people one aren't carrying change as much and people don't really want to get change during the whole COVID pandemic. It's not really like the safest bet. But yeah, it's been really hard to do like actual performing. Most things have been restricted to online performances, or, or video formats. So yeah, as things have started to like, opportunities have started to open up more for me, I've realized that that's something that I can actually like. Actively start getting into at least more than I used to, but it's been made a little bit Ethan 19:53 a little bit more difficult because like, you can't even get a gig in like a restaurant or a bar or anything, like on top of that trying to do shows is a totally, like impractical thing at this point in time. Allissa So how would gigs help you financially? Ethan How would gigs help me financially, well, I would do a gig and I would get paid. Allissa No, but like, how is it affecting you now? Do you wish that you were doing gigs to make more money? Ethan 20:26 One of the benefits of doing gigs is that it's a lot more consistent in the fact that you know, you're going to get money. A lot of online things come from like, even even if you're gonna do ads, it's very hit or miss on things versus a gig is like, pretty guaranteed payout, versus like some of the stuff online, it's like, there's donations or there's companies that contact you and say, Hey, do this and then we'll pay you which is like, Ethan 20:58 it's, it's a hit or miss, you don't know, if you're gonna get paid, you don't know if you're gonna do something that's gonna do good and drive a lot of like, people your way. So yeah, gigs just provide like gigs and busking, even busking provide, like, ready sources of income that you can like, tangibly go do and know, you're going to probably walk away with something. Allissa 21:22 A study conducted by music industry found that nearly 80% of artists are in need of financial assistance. The study found that among the artists half reported losing 75% of their income. Amit And it's really horrible. Because for like, as a musician, myself, like, that's your form of expression in any way, either entirely, but that's what they want to do. I’m personally sad, with the reality of the situation, everybody's got finances, everybody's got bills to pay, they obviously have to prioritize those things over their passion. Ethan But it's definitely pushed even more musicians into that, like online kind of industry, competition has gotten a lot more dense as people now have more time. And they're realizing that they can put their effort into social media.But it does have its downfalls, we could possibly I'm not an industry expert, you possibly see like the decline in like doing actual shows. And you can also see a lot more musicians having to leave the music industry, because they're no longer doing shows they can’t afford to be a musician anymore. The incomes just aren't there anymore. And they have to find other sources of income. So it definitely has its benefits for those who are like, more inclined and knowledgeable within the sector of like, digital marketing. However, one of the things that really helped me to like maintain some sort of financial standing is I also teach guitar on the side, which acts as a good form of supplemental income, where I still get to kind of use my music to sustain myself. Allissa 23:15 Becoming a musician isn't easy. It comes with a lot of practice, dedication and hard work. For any of the listeners out there, who are hoping to be in your position, what are some tips that you would give them? Ethan 23:32 I think the thing is, is like there's highs and there's lows, and music is, you know, as much of a skill as is like an art. So it's important to like, create stuff that you want to do. Otherwise, you're gonna get burned out, keep challenging yourself, so you don't feel like you're, you know, plateauing, find opportunities to mix it up. And don't be afraid to challenge some of the stuff that like you've already developed. I think another thing that's like super important is like, yeah, you can do stuff on your own. But it never hurts to network and reach out to other like minded musicians because there's always something to take from other people in matters of like perspective and the things that they've experienced. Allissa 24:27 Well, thanks for speaking with me today.It was fun to dive into the music industry and learn some things that I didn't even know as your sister. So Ethan 24:39 no problem well, this was fun. Allissa If you want to follow up with what Ethan is doing in his music. Check out his social platforms at Ethan_Hibbs. That's e t h a n underscore h i b b s or to hear full songs, go to this YouTube channel at Ethan Hibbs.