Patreon Update for April: Evaluation (Patreon)

(I love that picture of Trevor so much)

Hi all! This update is delayed by a bit; I'm reminded to do it when Patreon sends me payment info and they were super late this month.

Evaluation

Forgive the rambling, just getting my current mood out there. TL;DR: Nothing is changing with the Patreon and you'll be the first to know if I do plan a change. I'd just love to hear your thoughts.

OK, so last month was nanners. Had a lot of Life Stuff™ going on with very little chance to breathe. Things have settled down a little bit I'm getting back into the normal routine of making the Two Hour Track Challenges and catching up on my other creative projects. I have a few commissions that have dangled around for the past few months (with some very patient clients) that I need to wrap up.

I've been reading a book called How to Make it In the New Music Business which has been incredibly informative for planning a roadmap for the future of my music. But it also had me approaching my creative work with the perspective of what I want to actually do with it. A lot of the paths the book lays out in front of me just don't sound fun or rewarding.

This re-evaluation is something that's still very new for me. Honestly, I'm not sure if I want to write full albums of music for traditional listening, or if I want to write music for video games or stock libraries, or just doop around and make weird music for the fun of it. I love the Two Hour Track Challenge (and the community that has arisen around it), and want to continue to do that for a long time. However, my greater artistic goals are ... mostly undefined.

A year or two ago I would have said that making just a metric buttload of music and videos is what I wanted to do. Crank out enough stuff and something will get noticed. I burned myself out pretty dang hard doing that.

 Three years ago, I was gung-ho about being a game developer and making a living off Color Jumper and other multimedia projects. I love making games, but doing it professionally (especially solo) is a huge dice roll.

Six or seven years ago, I would have said that I wanted to make music for games full time. I have definitely enjoyed that process, but it is chaotic and stressful while managing a family and full time job.

So I feel a bit at a crossroads. My passions for making things are capricious. I love writing music, but I also feel drawn toward graphic design and game development. I also am toying with the idea of drawing, painting, electronics, woodworking, home improvement, and a myriad of other creative endeavors.

But those are my passions; I need to find a way to make this stuff beneficial for the community at large too. :) The Two Hour Track Challenge is perfect because it's something that can be whipped up once a week and it only takes a few hours and it can be useful to lots of people. To a lesser extent, the sample packs have become a part of my monthly workflow as well.

So, like I said, I'm not planning on changing this Patreon. But I'm hitting a bit of a transition point for my creative focus. I've been so dedicated to becoming the very best at game music, or YouTube, or streaming, that I've lost a bit of focus on just making things for fun.

It's a work in progress.