Operation 2025 is a go (Patreon)

Hey guys, I hope everyone's doing alright and had a good time celebrating the new year! I spent it together with my girlfriend and some of our mates, and we had a great time :-) We were up until 6am...

Now that I've successfully recovered from last night (or this morning should I say), I guess I'd like to just be open and kind of talk about what I want this next year to be like.

If you wanna skip the waffle (it is a bit of a read) and just hear my plans then scroll down to 'SO BASICALLY'

So first off, I'll freely admit that I have been feeling a lot of anxiety regarding the new year... As you know, I took December off and just focused on making music and not worrying about money or posts or comments or anything. And I have had the greatest time! I finished my studio and I've started recording some really cool songs for my next release that I'm super proud of.

But I've just been a bit anxious about 'returning'. I'd genuinely love to make music and just do that forever but I know I have too many responsibilities outside of making music, so I can't. That's what kind of gets me down. It feels like to be a valid artist in 2025 you have to be very active online and honestly that just intimidates me right now, and I've been feeling a lot of imposter syndrome because of it.

I originally planned that 2025 was when I'd start branching out more and get some new fans and focus on that, but that's a massive commitment - I can't do that AND make great music, it's one or the other. The amount of energy it'd take would certainly drain me to do both.

Plus, I have college, which is a big commitment and takes up a lot of time in my average day.

Think of it like a box with only enough space for two shoes. In my head I'm dreaming about trying to fit three shoes (college, making music, promotion) into this box. It's never gonna work. So I really just need to step back and figure out my priorities. College has to stay obviously, so it's just making music vs. getting new fans.

What excites me more?

Making music!!!! 100% that excites me more. Sure I would love to promote myself lots and find new audiences and get more opportunities, but with my limited time I'd much rather just make cool music, and I don't care who hears it.

I'm already very very fortunate that I have an audience of people like you who enjoy my stuff and actively consume everything I make, and I think I really don't give you guys enough credit in my head. To be fair, it's incredibly difficult to do so when all I have to go off is numbers on a screen.

So until I can get college off my back (summer 2026), I'm genuinely just going to focus on making music that future fans can listen to. When I'm done with college, I'll have some space for that extra shoe, and I'll have the time available to promote myself outside of my current audience while continuing to make music that I love.

SO BASICALLY

For this year, my challenge is to focus on making music and keeping my current fans engaged. I will gradually start posting again but it'll be quite sparse, and maybe more aimed at my personal life, so I can help my current fans feel like they 'know me more' or whatever. I'm also gonna definately be making some music videos, because i feel like that's the stuff that pre-established fans of mine would definitely enjoy. Plus it might put a spotlight on some songs of mine that aren't as popular!

And I'm actually going to get my friends to help me out with videos and stuff. For some reason I've had this stupid idea that I have to do everything myself just cos I make the music myself, but I'd rather leave that idea in 2024!!

I also want to reduce the amount of stuff I have to do that is boring as fuck, such as running my merch store etc. It's genuinely my least favourite part of being Ricky Jamaraz even tho it actually makes me money.

I found a few companies that offer automated on-demand CD (and vinyl!) production, which would eliminate the middle ground of me packing and sending them. So you would make an order, and it goes straight to them and they send it straight to you. This is how I do T-shirts and stuff, but having CDs (my most popular product) be automated like that would save me SOOO much time, meaning more time to make music!

Conclusion

By the end of this year:

• I'd like to release 2 more albums at least

• I'd like to make 10 music videos at least

• I'd like to have a merch store with all products running on-demand

I think those are 3 goals I can absolutely smash this year, and I guess I just really hope you guys stick around to see me do so!

Let me know in the comments which songs you'd most love to see a music video for this year!!!

Thank you so much for being here as always, I wish people all the best for this year :-)

RJ

p.s. i can't believe that i'm going to turn 18 this year wtf