I was recently asked: What advice would you give an artist who is just beginning a creative project?
Gathering Voices started in July 2015, in a lovely and creaky wooden school house in rural Pennsylvania. I was sitting on the floor of the bedroom that belongs to my friend Abby, it was the one place we could find good-enough audio quality.
Begin where you are.
Today I found in my inbox the first emails I ever sent about Gathering Voices. They were solicitation emails, spread-the-word emails. I didn't open them. I worried I'd be embarrassed.
Continue from where you find yourself now.
I am 30 interviews in and nearly 90 audio hours deep. Every time I sit down for an interview I am shocked, again, strangely, by the heart of the person sitting across from me. Our hearts are legible, their honesty unfakeable. So why be surprised? Because every time it feels like a gift.
Don't do it alone.
What I would say is: What makes you want to begin?