The Charleston Marketing Podcast
Welcome to The Charleston Marketing Podcast, the podcast that dives deep into the world of marketing, with a specific focus on the vibrant city of Charleston. Join us as we explore the strategies, trends, and success stories that shape the marketing landscape in this historic and captivating coastal city.
Each episode of The Charleston Marketing Podcast brings you exclusive interviews with local marketing experts, industry thought leaders and Charleston entrepreneurs who have harnessed the power of effective marketing in the Lowcountry and beyond. From strategic communication, social media, PR, digital strategy and everything in between, we uncover valuable insights and actionable tips for our listeners.
The Charleston Marketing Podcast
From Open Verse To TEDx, Christian Morant Shares How Art Thrives When Business And Heart Stay Balanced
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What happens when a poet decides to film an entire album live, open a song to the internet, and then knit twenty artists into a single five‑minute piece? We invited Charleston’s own Christian Morant to share how he balances heart‑first art with smart, sustainable marketing without losing the soul of the work.
Christian takes us inside I’m Not A Rapper and the Snappin’ open verse challenge that drew thousands of views and dozens of collaborations. He breaks down why filming twelve live music videos made the project more human, how collaboration in the room changed arrangements on the fly, and why Stage Presence became a love letter to community. We also get candid about mental health: writing through depression, performing heavy poems safely, and letting therapy sit alongside craft so the work heals rather than harms.
For creatives and marketers alike, this conversation is packed with practical takeaways. You’ll hear a simple workflow for capturing ideas from phone notes to journals to production docs, a realistic social media strategy that favors focus over burnout, and clear tips for separating the art hat from the business hat. We spotlight Charleston’s venues and festivals that nurture emerging voices, the power of mentorship in schools, and the mindset shift that puts value back into the work instead of the follower count.
If you’re building a career in music, poetry, or any creative field, this is a masterclass in staying authentic while shipping meaningful projects. Listen, share with a friend who needs a push, and tell us: what’s one brave step you’ll take this week? Subscribe for more conversations with the artists and makers shaping Charleston’s creat
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Title Sponsor: Charleston American Marketing Association
Presenting Sponsor: Charleston Media Solutions
Annual Sponsor: SCRA; South Carolina Research Authority
Quarterly Sponsor: King and Columbus
Cohosts: Stephanie Barrow, Mike Compton, Rachel Backal, Tom Keppeler, Amanda Bunting Comen
Produced and edited: RMBO Advertising
Photographer | Co-host: Kelli Morse
Score by: The Strawberry Entrée; Jerry Feels Good, CURRYSAUCE, DBLCRWN, DJ DollaMenu
Studio Engineer: Brian Cleary and Mathew Chase
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Welcome to the Charleston Marketing Podcast, brought to you by the Charleston AMA and broadcasting from our friends at Charleston Media Solutions Studios. Thanks to our awesome sponsors at CMS, we get to chat with the cool folks making waves in Charleston. From business and art to hospitality and tech. These movers and shakers choose to call the low country home. They live here, work here, and make a difference here. So what's their story? Let's find out together.
SPEAKER_05:Hey everybody, welcome to the Charleston American Marketing Association podcast. My name is Tom Kepler, uh, Obsidian Comms Content Coaching, choose Obsidian.com. I'm joined here today by Rachel. Rachel, how are you doing? Good. I am so thrilled to co-host with you today.
SPEAKER_02:I'm excited to co-host with you. Yeah. Yeah. You're like a pro.
SPEAKER_05:Why don't you tell people about yourself a little bit?
SPEAKER_02:So um I am from Charleston, or not from Charleston, from New Jersey. I'm living in Charleston right now. Um I have a big focus on marketing as well as like strategy when it comes to ads. So right now I'm kind of freelancing it right now, but I I'm also on the board of Canva. So I'm doing a lot of stuff for marketing and communications there.
SPEAKER_05:And you've been a guest on the podcast and a co-host. How many times is this now?
SPEAKER_02:This is now my third time being a co-host.
SPEAKER_05:Awesome. Awesome. You're an old song. That's great. And we've got Christian Morant joining us today. Christian, say hello. Hello, hello, hello. I'd love to uh introduce you. Uh Christian, you were you're born and raised in South Carolina. Uh you're a professional spoken word artist, known for your evocative poetry, your songwriting, your advocacy for mental health, and we thank you for that. Um you're also an established musician, you're author of the book Growth, uh, illustrator of the children's adventure, I belong, and the award-winning best actor in Jackson Bale's short form Wormhole. You took the TEDx stage here in Charleston. Yes. Charleston Music Hall. What what a what a venue. Yes. Uh you've uh you've been in uh the the New York uh Poets Cafe, Philly's Voices in Power, Sofar Sounds, Free Verse Festival, Creative Mornings, Poetry Me, please. You've performed on a myriad of stages around the world. We are thrilled to have you. What an honor. Thank you.
SPEAKER_03:Uh you bet overwhelmed with hearing it back to back to me.
SPEAKER_04:You're like, that's a mouthful. Yeah, that's a mouthful. I should have we should have condensed it. Yeah, thank you.
SPEAKER_05:Yeah. From a marketing perspective, this is where I'd like to start off. You've gone viral. You've you've got a you've got a new album, yep, and uh it's called I'm Not a Rapper. Yep. And you've got a song on there called Snappin'.
SPEAKER_03:That's actually uh follows the album. Oh, it's follows. It's separate from I'm not a rapper. Oh, terrific.
SPEAKER_05:My misunderstanding. It's all good. Tell me about Snappin' and and tell me uh tell us about uh the open verse challenge and and how that sort of went from concept to reality.
SPEAKER_03:Yeah. Um, so I'm not a rapper was the album that I released, and it's it's this pull of um not really identifying as a rapper because I'm more of a poet. That's where I really find my voice in the spoken word. But music is also part of my family's legacy and stuff, and so I always don't want to lose that. So I created that, yeah. And then I was like, well, I'm gonna push myself a little bit and actually step into that rapture. Maybe I am maybe a bit of a rapper, yeah, a little bit, a little bit, right? A little bit, but the song itself is still pays homage to the root of the music is in in the poetry itself, not just the rap technique. And then so I had this idea, created the video, created the song, and then once I've had the time of my life doing that, I was like, well, why not open this up and see how it resonates with the poets and the rappers and stuff? Um, and it's actually my first challenge that I've done.
SPEAKER_06:That's awesome.
SPEAKER_03:So the on top of the response, I'm like, wow, this is the first one I've put out there and encouraged people to do, and it's it has this kind of response.
SPEAKER_02:Um, right? Yeah.
SPEAKER_03:Uh it it's uh uh what is it? Uh not daunting, but um when you when you put something up so high, like you're like, it sets a high bar. Yes, absolutely.
SPEAKER_05:So so for the uninitiated, what what is an open verse challenge?
SPEAKER_03:Yes, so an open verse, for those who don't know, uh pretty much someone takes a song and they either have a chorus or a verse and they they that they wrote and they remove their verse and they allow other people to write on top of that that portion of the song.
SPEAKER_05:Yeah, so it becomes a collab. Yep. And it's become many collabs. 25,000 views on TikTok alone.
SPEAKER_03:That was a nice birthday little uh birthday gift that I that I figured out. Um yeah, so combined views of everybody just participating in this thing, and I'm like, wow, this is this is a really it was a challenge to see who I might want to do on a remix of the song. Sure. So I'm still trying to navigate that idea.
SPEAKER_05:Um that might wind up being a long remix.
SPEAKER_04:You had some really, really good features on there.
SPEAKER_03:Yeah, we're not gonna do everybody, but it it's just the a big basis of what I do is community, um, and that at the core of it or any of my projects, that that is like what it's showcasing. Yeah, yeah.
SPEAKER_02:And just out of curiosity, where did the title I'm not a rapper come from?
SPEAKER_03:Um the concept of of not feeling like a rapper, the identity, um, and then just you know, the play on it, right? The intriguing nature of like why would somebody you know, as a writer or creative, you're like, how do I how do I communicate this in a way that might be like um intriguing, so to say, like, oh, why would you name it that? So just kind of I guess from y'all's standpoint, the marketing standpoint, right? Right, exactly. It's it's catchy.
SPEAKER_02:It made us ask questions about it, right?
SPEAKER_03:That's that's what you want to do, is spark conversation. Also the crutch of like, if you listen to the album, if I'm not rapping to your to your perspective, then I like took some onus off of me, too. I'm not a rapper.
SPEAKER_05:So for the for the album, you did 12 live music videos that had to be intense. Tell us about that process.
SPEAKER_03:Intense, I think, is an understatement. Um at first it started off. I just, you know, shout out to my buddy Jackson Bales, huge, amazing cinematographer. He does work um a lot here now with uh a real estate agent, and he's just he he's amazing in film, he's amazing in what I do with music. He's just I got I have big got big love for Jackson Bales. Um, but anyway, we were talking about uh filming, just filming things and creating projects. Um and I was like, well, I have this one song and this other song, and then we just started doing them. I said, Well, why not maybe turn this into an album while we're doing it? And um I was like, Well, most people just record their music and then do the video. I said, I wanted this to be all inclusive, so it was a lot to manage, but back to the communal aspect, I wanted to display that this thing is more than me. It takes all of these, it takes all of these elements to make happen. Him filming, the studios recording, the the other musicians singing or playing their instruments, and I wanted to be a visual experience too. So what you hear is on the album is what you see on the videos, and vice versa.
SPEAKER_05:That's terrific. Yeah.
SPEAKER_02:Um when you were working with any of those artists, was there any was there someone that like really made you think outside the box that pushed you? You're like, well, I I didn't even think about that, and maybe let's add that to the album or the song.
SPEAKER_03:Uh I think a little bit of everybody. Um, like Stacia uh Stella V, she plays djembe, and that really you know, there's a lot of acoustic nature to the album because I wanted to keep it kind of raw, but some of them have piano um and um djembe. So stay la V, she's amazing, but I think one of the earlier ones was Emily Curtis. Yeah. She's she's a hometown staple. Um I'm really grateful I got to the fact that she wanted to be part of this was yeah, I I was floored. I was like, wow, I I admired you like in watching you in the scene and now we're doing stuff. But anyway, uh Mermaid Green was like the the highlight song of the album, and it was one of the first ones she did, and she suggested uh in between I think the the the middle chorus and a verse, she's like, Well, why don't we add a little space here and add some uh maybe like Michael beatboxing or something? So in the middle, and that we did that on the fly.
SPEAKER_06:That's amazing.
SPEAKER_03:We did that on the fly, and I I respect her creativity and her artistry, and and I was like, Yeah, let's go with it. I wasn't originally in there at all. I didn't have that. And she's like, and she does amazing songwriting and she's amazing. So I was like, Yep, let's keep it.
SPEAKER_02:Wow, I like that. I like that. So shout out to Emily Curtis.
SPEAKER_03:Yes, yeah, absolutely. Yep, yeah. There's so many shots I could do by the way. Okay, yeah.
SPEAKER_02:We'll go through the westland.
SPEAKER_05:Yeah, we'll go through the uh Christian. A lot of people when they think of Charleston, they think of food and bev, they think of tourism. But there is what what seems to me as as a relative newcomer, a cultural epicenter to Charleston as well. Yeah. How do people sort of tap into that? Where are the where are the places to go and see spoken word and see good music and poetry and what have you?
SPEAKER_03:Yeah, uh, great question, because that's actually something I struggled with being uh born born here. Kind of like um, you know, you you take for granted what you what you kind of grow up with, right? And um used to the the beverage scene and the food and stuff, which is amazing, by the way. So no fret on that, by the way. It is known for a reason. Um, but there's like places like what Charleston Poorhouse, um and all that. Yes, the poor house. They they're amazing.
SPEAKER_01:Um Wednesdays on the deck are the best.
SPEAKER_03:Yep, Wednesdays on the deck. Um where else?
SPEAKER_05:Um Sunday Yoga on the deck, too. Oh yeah. Oh yeah, really? And then the the sort of maker's market, farmers market right afterwards. Yes. Oh, yeah.
SPEAKER_03:My buddy uh Michael Duff actually plays out there. Um I don't know how often, but he's on the album. He's throughout the album. Um there's also Freeverse uh Festival that's run by Marcus Amiker. He's uh he was Charleston's first poet laureate. Um and I mean there's all kinds of places they're kind of missing my head right now, but I mean you know, music farm, that's a staple, right? Yeah, oh sure. Uh that's for like the music side. The poetry scene, um that one you gotta kind of find it a little bit here and there. Yeah, look under some rocks, yeah, yeah. But it's there.
SPEAKER_02:Is there like open mics that you were were attending at first? Like where you do like slam poetry. Is that if I'm calling it the right thing?
SPEAKER_03:Yeah, yeah. No, a lot of people uh versus so slam is more of a competitive thing, um, and people kind of it's random judges in the audience who judge it, and that's not my per se. There are amazing slam poets, I'm sure. I just do it for the sharing of the craft. Um, and I I I just don't like the competition aspect of it, but there are amazing slam poets. But um, I shout out Freeverse again because I think that's the staple of Charleston. Um, that's where I started there. But there used to be um Monday Night Poetry Mike. It was it was led by um uh Lynn. Oh, I do not remember his name. Um, but anyway, that's kind of those realms where I started, and I would stammer. I would, I would, I would stammer reading my poem, I would stammer doing you know, you're starting.
SPEAKER_02:Yeah. Um and you're speaking in front of people, which is always put you in a vulnerable spot.
SPEAKER_03:Yep. And but you know, people who want to do the thing, they'll do it, they'll practice. Um that's that's where I started. So and then you know start venturing out, and hopefully you want to travel and do things.
SPEAKER_05:Um so mental health is a big topic for you, and and we we we celebrate that. You mentioned at TEDx um that you and so many other artists treat it as a form of therapy. Why how how do you sort of weave that into your work and and why is that so meaningful to you?
SPEAKER_03:That that is always a good question. Um, it just feels needed. Um it's an outlet. I think, Rachel, you briefly mentioned this earlier. Like, you know, you may not perform it or something like that, whatever it is, it's a therapy, writing, yeah, um, an outlet that you know, in day-to-day work, you need something to express yourself where you feel misunderstood, you you feel depressed, all those things where you just feel alone. Um and that's what I found. And then in my personal journey is a from a family of musicians, I didn't know quite where I I fit. I worked in the tech world and all this other stuff, but I really wanted to live up to that. Yeah, and then just I've fortunately found words and found a way to form them um and started doing it for myself as a catharsis, and then realizing when you can't, just like music itself or dance or anything, when when you realize that thing actually touches somebody else, yeah, oh you you it yeah it helps them, but it also reminds you that you're not alone. Yeah. Oh, that resonates so deeply. Yeah, yeah. Um, so and then I actually do actual like psychological therapy. I go to therapy every week, too. Shut up to therapy. You know, you know, don't dismiss it for actual therapy either, right? But it is also a form of therapy. What what's the hardest emotion to express in your work?
SPEAKER_02:Took my question. That's me at least job taking that up, Rachel. Um what would be the hardest emotion?
SPEAKER_03:And sure, there's so many, but yeah, there's a lot. Um I'd say maybe I start with the opposite and kind of maybe the easiest is like anger and frustration. Because it's just like that thing that you you need to get out. Yeah, it's like I don't like this, especially like depression, I don't like this thing. I need to, I don't I don't want to take it out on you as a person, um, but it's gotta go somewhere. Punch a wall, write it down, I don't know. Um but the easiest one I mean sorry, hardest one. Um I used to kind of think maybe love and joy. Um but then I think it was also the narrative I was telling, right? You know, I think there's a lot of music that's sometimes like why it's so easy to write. There's a there's that um dichotomy of an artist, right? Of of why are so many artists in pain and shame and all that kind of what I just said, right? You can kind of release it, but there's also narratives you can tell yourself, and I can like you can write about love and those things. And actually the first piece and one of my proudest ones is called What Have I Learned About Love? And I wrote that during one of my darkest times. And so it was, yeah, it was um it reminded me like I I mean, I was I was like I was down in the dumps, but it reminded me that there's a light that you can choose to grab on to if you want to. Sometimes you gotta poet so I I hope that I don't know, I hope that answers the question. Yeah, it's kind of a hard thing. In a very deep way. Absolutely. It's kind of a hard thing. We're we're complex beings, man. Emotions are are are weird and fun and all those things. So yeah.
SPEAKER_02:Kind of jumping back to mental health, like, do you think that not there's like a myth, but do you think that there's something uh that's not understood uh by the public that artists and musicians are going through when it comes to mental health, that they're not, you know, portraying in the right way or that the audience is not seeing?
SPEAKER_03:That's a great question. I'm not even sure if I'm qualified to answer that. Um I think that just like anything, that it's just there and that it deserves respect. Um and that it's okay to slow down, it's okay to take time to yourself, um, and that's just there, just like anything else. Um like one of my weaknesses is like balance, right? I can't I like to go all in on stuff and I'm just like I can't do this. Um, but one of my words this year that I have embraced is been like grace. So like yeah, giving yourself grace, giving other people's grace. Um, you know, we we're not perfect. I mean, it's not it's not a narrative I've I it's nothing new, but just to remind people we're not perfect, we can have faults. I could have been late today, I'm glad I was early. Yeah, we're grateful, but we would have accommodated it either way. We're excited to see it. So just it's just little things like that, right? And and acknowledging back to a little bit what we were saying, acknowledging those emotions, right? Like that anger is real, that happiness is real, that sadness is real, those things that we don't have to be we don't have to be perfect, which is which is you know, that's a the cliche, that's not even a a real perfection's not a real thing, but we do we do also do ourselves do best to present ourselves in good ways. Um I could go on about that answer. Like that there's such a duality uh to that answer.
SPEAKER_02:Yeah, the reason why I asked is because I feel like sometimes when we're looking from social media, it's so easy to match things, right? So it's easy to look at someone like Taylor Swift or you know Lizzo, right? Like be like, wow, they they really know how to deal with depression or anxiety, like in the most perfect way. And so sometimes as an outsider, it's nice to see that like you guys are good at expressing how you feel, but just because you can't express how you feel doesn't mean that they're not so going through it, right?
SPEAKER_03:Amen. Yeah, exactly. And there's other ways, like you know, some people do the gym.
SPEAKER_02:Yeah, absolutely.
SPEAKER_03:Or something like that. Um, and also those they've they've made uh I'm glad you mentioned them because those are big artists, those are names we can drop, right? But they're no different than you or I or your neighbor or something like that. They're so human. Exactly. They just they're just what we we are grabbing on to. But like you could ask your neighbor, how are you doing today? Are you feeling like Taylor Swift? Yeah. Exactly. So, like, you know, it's it's just a reminder. Um, and a power to those people that they've you know they found a way to be successful expressing their hearts, and that's really good. And that's I think as artists and as humans, we all aspire to do.
SPEAKER_06:So yeah, yeah.
SPEAKER_05:So many of our listeners, uh being the American Marketing Association, we are are creatives, right? And yeah, I find it always interesting to tap into that creative process and wonder what that process looks like for someone like you. Is it chaotic? Is it structured? Do you wake up at the same time every day and spend the first two hours of the day writing? What does that look like? Yeah, no, that uh that's a it's for me, it's chaotic.
SPEAKER_03:I know that, I know that answer. Um, yeah, there's I wish there was some more structure, uh, but no, it's it's it's thoughts out of thin air, and I need to write that down, and then I leave it and then return to it. Like uh, for instance, um, I think we might talk about this later, but stage presence, I wrote that was all in a two-night session uh that came upon me until five in the morning. And I was like, I gotta write this down for two and like for two nights straight. I didn't sleep, I just did this. There's another project that I'm uh I'll just kinda uh allude to that I was writing over like eight years. Wow. So yeah, and that's a construct of a billion different thoughts and views and stuff like that. So it's very chaotic. Awesome.
SPEAKER_02:So would you say you're someone who it's harder to finish a project or start the project?
SPEAKER_05:You've had a big year of finishing projects.
SPEAKER_01:Yeah.
SPEAKER_03:I do not know how to answer that question.
SPEAKER_01:I mean, I'm gonna be done with my with my deep questions over here. I don't know how to answer that question.
SPEAKER_03:Um I definitely can f finish pri um Uh maybe it's it's it's both. I I don't know. Um like you said, I've had a a deep year of finishing them, um, but they come in different waves, right? Like even the album, there were certain songs that were written years ago. And then so you gotta again back to what I said earlier with Grace, like you gotta like maybe let some time go. Because there was a point where I was part of another band called Noisy Boys, and I I just I wanted to make it. I wanted people to understand the art and understand me. And I was like trying to force the art.
SPEAKER_06:Okay. Right?
SPEAKER_03:And uh not letting as cliche as it sounds, not letting the process happen, right? If you're not feeling it or if it's not resonating, um, or not taking time to to to pull in the videographer and and the right musicians, it's not going to land. Like you can't just build a building without like the structure underneath it and stuff like that. Like it's but you don't realize that until the universe kind of slaps you in the face. Yeah. Yeah. So um, but I once I do have a vision, I am, I will say, I I do I go pretty intense on like I can do this. Yeah, like how do I make I'm going to find a way to make this happen? Um, and I've it took me a while to like finally type get the pride in that, um, which is also why I love pivoting between like 49% being in front of the camera and 51% being a director. Because when I did stage presence again, I felt I felt like I locked in that day when everybody showed up and I was just like, do this, do that. Um, and they listened, they trusted. Let's pull that up.
SPEAKER_05:Let's let's let's back up just a half a step. What is stage presence? Tell us about it. 20 artists featured, uh you know, sort of your concept, but tell us about it.
SPEAKER_03:Yeah, yeah, yeah. So that is probably my that is most my probably will be my most cherished project, even though I will continue to create and push boundaries and stuff of that. But back to a theme I've said throughout this conversation is the communal aspect. So stage presence, um, it is essentially it's it it was a poem. It was my first five-minute poem. Um, so back to the realm of actual what like coming, what poetry is and how hard it is maybe to gain our attentions, right? Um, if you've ever seen poetry, it is a lot of words and emotions, but to grasp our attention for more than maybe two minutes or three minutes or a song or something like that, uh, can be difficult if it's not gra if it's not gravitating. So um most of my pieces are anywhere from a minute to three minutes or something. And this was my first five-minute piece. And you're like, well, what do you have to say? So anyway, so this piece, um, I was feeling very out of place during my travels and going from here to New York and back and forth and seeing other poets really finding their footing and feeling out of place. And I was like, I don't, I I don't know where I belong anymore, even though I felt like this was the community I was part of. And so all of this poured out of me, these those two nights I mentioned, and I was like, oh, what do I what do I do with this? And I didn't want to perform it yet. And so the idea, and I love film and I love all like the video aspect, hence it's another avenue of how I weave my art together. Um, I started all all these, all my peers, I was like, hey, how what do you think about this idea? And I want to give you all kind of a piece of it, and I really want you to showcase because it's it's more than me, it's it's us. Um, and all of them have said that's how I felt too. So it felt really good to be like, oh, this can represent more than me. And the non-artists too have resonated with it too, and it's been just that was really incredible. So the intense part um was pulling everybody together, but back where I was saying earlier, it's I got locked in. I I I I I casted like each line to the poets who I wanted, and I I was like, you might sound good on this and that, and then and do it kind of like this. And I did a a fun test of myself doing it, and then they came together on that day. It took me, I think, five or six hours, um, under immense pressure. But um, and I just they were like, What do you want from me? And I said, Do this, and I felt good. I felt a thousand percent. I was like, this this feels like in alignment. Um vision came together.
SPEAKER_04:Congratulations, Kenya. Nicely done. Nicely done. Thank you, thank you, thank you.
SPEAKER_05:What was the moment that you realized being an artist wasn't just an expression for you? It was a it was a calling, this is a vocation, this is how you're gonna make a living.
SPEAKER_03:That is a great question. Um that's it's been a difficult one to nail down. Um, I used to think when I was younger, I used to draw a lot, um, sketching like Dragon Ball Z and stuff like that. And I love that. I used to think I'd be a strictly a visual artist.
SPEAKER_04:Yeah.
SPEAKER_03:And then you're growing up, you want to make friends, you kind of go your path. Um, and then I went into the tech world, which is really grateful. I learned a lot through that. Um, and I didn't know I was actually gonna do it. I I really I really didn't. And then my life around 2016 kind of turned over in a thousand different directions. Um, and it was my only thing I had, and and the universe kind of just forced me to do it. Um, it's been in my heart, and luckily I've also been surrounded by artists in my family. Um and so I'd say it I'd say it it became more apparent um within the maybe the the past 25 within the past decade um 2016 to 2018. Um need it's a it's uh like a visceral need. Yeah like I don't know who I'd be without it. Like it's it's it's a it's an identity, isn't it? It is, it it is. I also I'm glad you said that. Um I have also struggled with that too. Um I actually did let that consume me so much of like I'm just an artist and I can't like I can't show up as a brother or I can't show up as a friend anymore. And that actually that was a very tumultuous time of like so yeah, no, and the artist formerly known as Christian, yeah, yeah, yeah, like that. And I I've had to like dig myself out of that and realize, oh you you know, balance, like I said earlier. Yeah, we play roles, yeah. I was like, oh no, I can show up and and do this. I just have to I have to commit and I have to um I have to own that. Um so that that actually that part of the hole I've been digging out for the past couple years of like, oh I can do I could be all these other things. Um but the artist thing uh um is definitely just it's it's innate, it it is in here as they express it. So awesome. Yeah.
SPEAKER_02:Is there one is there anyone in your family? I guess everyone is an artist, right? Is there anyone who has gone their own route and didn't and is not an artist? Yeah.
SPEAKER_03:I thought it was gonna be me, honestly. Yeah, really. Yeah, I thought it was gonna be. I was like, ah, it's not it's not gonna be me. Like at one point when I was in the tech world. Um, I don't actually think so. I've been it's funny you asked that because I kind of been in the back of my head the past like year or two, and I realized everybody's kind of did art. Like I have an aunt that's done did ballet. Uh several of my uncles and my dad like play drums and and do music. And my granddad, Joey Morant, he's you know, um, he passed a couple years ago, and my grandma, but they all did music. He was a jazz musician. Um, yeah, we've we've all done art for in some way, some express ourselves in some way. Um beautiful. A good question though.
SPEAKER_02:No, it's inspiring because honestly, someone who comes from a family who's not so artistic, I have always wanted to find some my own type of art. So actually, that's a good question. So if someone who maybe isn't a good singer, maybe isn't a good musician, um, or painter, what would you what would you say to someone? What's another way to express yourself through so-called art without being able to sing, dance, or paint?
SPEAKER_03:Yeah, uh, I always say we can you can do it. Whatever. Yeah. Because, man, like I you know, you can teach. I don't I mean, I can't sing, I will say that. Like, I'm sure I could find maybe a way to learn really, really hard. But um if if you're really reluctant to like try to do an art like painting or something, if you just another, I don't know, punch a pillow, I mean go boxing, anything like the release, like be first be open to the release idea, right? Yeah, that's the first, that's the first thing. And then uh try to let go of the failure or the or the perfection thing, right? So like if if you want to lean a little more into the painting, but you don't think you're an artist, you're not no Picasso, just throw some paint on the wall. Yeah, I don't know, man. Just have fun with it, right? Yeah, um, stuff like that. Uh, because I think it's the idea that you want to like I you could be an artist. Oh, you might you're a marketer, but you could you could just do a painting. Yeah, right. But it's a stick figure, it's it's the I think it's the shift in perspective. Okay. That's that's that's it. Now, then there's the idea of lucrative and making a living. That's that's a separate, I think that's a separate like idea to it, right? Absolutely. Than just doing the thing, writing the song, whether it's a lullaby or um an ode to your wife or husband or whatever. It's there's separate avenues. Yeah. Um, but the first thing is I think believing in yourself, man. Uh, which I haven't always done either. But yeah, yeah, I hope that does that help you. Yeah, that really does help.
SPEAKER_02:I'm gonna go home and start splattering some paint on my wall. My fiance's gonna love it. Well, I'm sure exactly.
SPEAKER_05:So you you mentioned sort of making a living out of out of art. Uh two-part question here. One, does that suck the fun out of it?
SPEAKER_03:It it it did. Yeah, uh, yeah. I actually I had to fight that too. Um, I had to kind of a little bit of what we were just saying. I I you have to do the art for itself, you know, and I've seen a bunch of podcasts and videos saying the same thing I'm saying right now, but you don't realize it until you need to, like you have to do it for yourself. But there was a point when, and I mentioned this band Noisy Boys, um, it was it was more party music and kind of fun stuff like that. Um but I was so heavily like on the marketing and having and having shirts, and I was like, I gotta, I gotta make this happen, I gotta make it. Um doing that typical kind of lose your sight of the of things. Um and we were making a buzz and you know, selling shirts and stickers and all that stuff. You were noisy boys indeed. Yeah, we were we were making some noise. Um, but it it was sucking, it was definitely sucking the fun. Um and how treating my relationships, people who were helping me, like my buddy Josh, I love him to death, and you know, he was looking out for me, but it wasn't things that were like clashing. Yeah. Um, and so I had to really like sit down and and be like, I gotta just do this for the art's sake. Um and then uh back to balance, you know, you it kind of maybe compartmentalize, and uh you can find a way to make the lucrative lucrative side, but you gotta find a maybe try to find the way to separate them as much as you can, like do the art for itself and then find the business side of it. And I'm still I'm still figuring that out, like to this day.
SPEAKER_05:And so that's the other part of the question is what do you what do you wish more people understood about the economics of being a multidisciplinary artist?
SPEAKER_03:Oh man. Oh yeah, that's that's a big that's a big one. Uh first of all, I'm frugal. I'm I don't expect this to I desire that it will I will live comfortably throughout my life, but I'm I'm frugal. Like don't spend much money now on unless it's food, survival, uh going somewhere to to put the stuff back into itself. Um and being open with the different stuff, you know. I've you've being open to free gigs, being open to uh uh minimal lucrative stuff, being open to the bigger lucrative stuff. Um yeah, it can be difficult, yeah, for sure. But it's it's mindset too. It really, it really is mindset. Um I hope that kind of answers that question. Of course it does. Yeah, I feel like I'm feel like there was something else I wanted to say to that, but it is losing me.
SPEAKER_05:So it sort of seems like the the advice is make art for art's sake, yeah, and don't forget the hustle afterwards, right? Sort of keep it as a two-part process. Yeah, make the art for yourself and then figure out how to merchandise and commercialize it. Yes. Like wear where your business hat and your artist hat separate. Yes, is that right?
SPEAKER_03:Yes, yes. Oh, and you mentioned multi- multi-uh disciplined. Um uh that's also hard, right? Like, because I came out of the gate uh after my tech side, I was like, I'm gonna have a production company and I'm gonna, I'm just gonna be a filmmaker and a director and and edit stuff. And then I was like, well, I'm also gonna draw, and I'm also gonna write and be a poet and a performer. Um, so you really gotta also start honing in on like your craft, right? It I think that's that's also a struggle back to balance. It's I'm like, I'm glad I gonna get to wear these hats now, and I'm I'm really thankful for recognizing those uh uh as well. But that all came in time, like that all different levels. Uh I could do the video at this point, and then I think for several years I focused on the performing aspect, right? Like this the writing aspect came over uh uh my like my teenage years mostly and things like that, and then the performing aspect, and so I think it's really just the natural law of like life happening, um, where all of these elements kind of came together, and how do you utilize them? Yeah, yeah, yeah. So it was a long-winded answer to that. But we like thoughtful answers. We just call them thoughtful.
SPEAKER_04:Good, good, cool, good, good, good, good.
SPEAKER_02:Is there anything in this book right here that you have, let's say, because I you said that you started when you were, you know, younger. So is there anything that you used in your book that maybe you've edited or changed and now it's something different?
SPEAKER_03:Uh yeah, this this has been building since uh I think probably middle school or so. I never thought yeah, I never thought it would turn into a book, and then I realized I had all these like journal entries. And that's the book growth you've got in front of you. It's this growth.
SPEAKER_02:It's this book, you guys should all check it out. Yes, absolutely.
SPEAKER_03:Available wherever fine books are sold. Thank you, thank you. I actually released it the day I did TEDx. Yeah, did you remember that?
SPEAKER_05:You you can really cluster projects together. You you have you have big moments.
SPEAKER_02:It's a marketing though, eh? That's the thing I've started.
SPEAKER_03:So that's why I was really happy to talk to you guys today because I've started leaning a little more into like kind of accepting this. I I don't want to be put in the bucket, but I've kind of embraced this like marketing hat that I kind of wear. Yeah. That like I've I've started like, okay, I I guess I do have a little nudge there. But uh back to your question. Um what something that I've changed. Well, one, I edited this whole thing myself.
SPEAKER_06:Yeah.
SPEAKER_03:Um and I can't think there's a few that I changed around here, um, but most of it all like is real and has resonated throughout my life. And amazing.
SPEAKER_02:So at 13 years old, we you're like able to publish on like think of your 13-year-old self. Would they have ever imagined that?
SPEAKER_03:No, no, no, no, not at all.
SPEAKER_02:No, it's a full circle moment.
SPEAKER_03:Uh yeah. I was yeah, uh, I was pretty blown away that I was like, oh, this is actually happening. And then getting off the TEDx stage, and and we went, there's like a little after party at the museum, and like I had to go have my friend to the car get the remaining boxes because everybody wanted to. You gotta set up the merch table. This is wild. Yeah. And I had one one cool instance about that, I wanted to say that experience. I was signing a book, and then some guy came up to me, like on tapped me on my left shoulder, and he said, Oh my god, such an amazing performance. And he gave me a caricature of me. And I said, Thank you. I turned back to give my book away, and I turned back to him, and he was gone. It just vanished. He was actually a ghost. And I was just like, Well, that's cool. It's a really cool character drawing, and I was like, What is happening right now? So anyway, yeah, this the book growth. Um, that was the first. So for those listening, it um it's the first, I guess, bigger project before the album and stage presence and all that that that kind of helped catapult this, I guess, or solidify this career.
SPEAKER_05:Yeah. We we'd love to hear an excerpt. Do you have a a favorite favorite poem you would like to share with our listeners? We'd love to hear it.
SPEAKER_03:Let's see. I'm I'll ask actually both of you. So we got do we want something loving or more deeper?
SPEAKER_02:Who's who's I would say deeper, but let's go deeper. I want to hear Okay.
SPEAKER_03:So yeah, this is from Girth. It's called overloaded. I tried to be tied down, but couldn't quite figure out what I really wanted out of life, so I shut down. Abandoned everybody who trusted me and tried to love me, because I couldn't bear the thought of them knowing that I was struggling, mentally, financially, and everything else in between, as pride got the best of me, tempted me, and then tested me by asking my ego what kind of evil makes your lesser of me, then using that knowledge with full intention to make a mess of me. Embarrassing to say the least, having to cope with everything, on your own inside your dome feeling like you're so alone, but never want to rock the boat. So you do your best to hold it altogether till one day you explode. From emotion overload and airing out your whole soul, bearing down to the bone where you're finally exposed to be the human that you've been pursuing all along, as you hid behind a monster just so he just so he could write some songs. Turning rights into wrongs and replacing your thoughts with little idea that you don't belong. Like what's the point of living when you've already given up on everybody in your life that you ever claimed to love? Well, I'll tell you what the point is. No more avoidance. Time to stand up to speak out for the voiceless, for those who feel joyless, for those who feel poisoned, for those who feel like they're trapped and have no other choices but to work and fade away, fake a smile and behave while the money that you make goes to someone else's bank so they can live happy lives off your efforts and your time, till you're no longer needed, then they simply cut your ties. Like a puppet, they say fuck it, use you and then kick your bucket, as they throw you out with the bathwater like you're nothing, but the bottom of a barrel, so you go and grab a barrel, make a shirt or grip it tight as the muzzle meets your temple, cause they got you going mental, thinking that you're worthless, hoping that the metal is gonna solve all your burdens when all it's gonna do is leave your loved ones hurting. So I'm here to beg you to stay determined, to live a better life, to ignore all the lies, to put down the bottle, step away from the knife, to look deep inside and try to realize that each and every single one of us deserves to survive.
SPEAKER_07:That's beautiful, fantastic, nicely done.
SPEAKER_05:What a what a moving performance uh of that and and what a treat for our listeners.
SPEAKER_02:Yeah, and I mean, besides the words that wow, like beautiful, but the way you speak it, the way that you know there's certain parts you talk slower, you go faster, there must be a technique to that.
SPEAKER_03:Uh yeah, it's it's it's been crafted. Yeah, many, many trials and errors. Uh yeah, thank you. It first was on the page and then figuring out how to how to perform it and resonate with people.
SPEAKER_02:Yeah, like sounds like it's coming from so deep inside, which is amazing because that's how you connect.
SPEAKER_03:Yeah, I and and so interesting. First of all, thank you for listening and giving me that time to do that. Um and again, that's overloaded from my book growth. Um, so the thing about that piece is um when I was performing, I didn't I thought that and I want to this is some advice to also what uh some of the questions we asked earlier about being an artist. I thought. There was this fear I was gonna get attached to that. So that's a real like that's a heavy piece, right? Depression and like suicidal stuff. Um I thought I was like, I can't perform this piece because I'm gonna get I'm gonna relive those emotions and I'm gonna get attached to it. So there was a part of me that didn't want to share it, and it's actually quite the opposite that happened. The more I started sharing it, the more comfortable. It's really this it our minds, our minds, like any psychologist, anybody like our minds play so many tricks on us. And the more I started sharing it, the more one, it resonated with other people, and two, I was able to release it more. I w I I'm not attached to it, but I could still from the performing aspect, the craft of it, I'm still I was still able to like put my all into it and still give you a but that but that's that's the element that you kind of train yourself to do, right? But I want make people aware, like don't be afraid of it. Like you might be scared, yeah, but it will be worth it, yeah, whatever the outcome. Um so that was my little my little tidbit.
SPEAKER_05:How old were you when when you wrote that?
SPEAKER_03:That one that one was new. That one was that one was new-ish when like when I published this, that was like 20 uh, I would say that's 2018-ish time. Because I was really going through um, and that was I think before I wrote What Have I Learned About Love. Um, that was when I was really going through the thick of it, got laid off from a job. That's that part about working where I'm like feeling used up and all this stuff and just working for somebody else and like not knowing my place. Um, like I laid off of a job and things were crumbling and going through thick of depression and just in this hole. And I'm just like, what? And so, and just feeling also over like overloaded with the emotions of of of life. So, yeah, that that one usually gets people. Um, so yeah.
SPEAKER_05:What what advice would you give to your younger self? You know, the the the the version of yourself that wrote some of the poems in this book, you who is sort of struggling with these emotions and struggling with with getting pen to paper and and all that. So maybe the easier part of the question is what advice would you give to a young creative? Yeah, and the harder part of the question might be what advice would you give to your younger self?
SPEAKER_03:Yeah, um, I think the answer might be similar for both. Um be you. I think I've said this so many times. It's sounds so simple, but for some reason is hard. Like be who you are. Um in the simplest form. Like I say it because there's a time of like, you know, for instance, I have long hair now, but but I had struggled with the outside opinions of people wanting to be accepted, right? So freshman year came around and I shaved my hair like just it buzz cut it, and I that was me for years. I I I was I was this was the new me, who I was, and then finally I gave that up way years later when I was going through all this and grew my hair out, and I was like, I I'm not worried about the perspective of the outside world, like you just have to be be you. Um and again, cliche, but be authentic, like write the hard stuff, write the love stuff, um, and and keep going. Like the advice, like keep going. There's actually, and I actually wanted to mention where is it? I wrote it down. Uh a young young girl, uh she goes by MV the poet. Uh really cool. Um, but I was traveling and came back here for a freeverse event, and she was we're it was it was somewhere downtown and we're uh and we're sitting I walk up and she's sitting on the bench by herself and very timid, like I'm afraid, like I I think I'm gonna share tonight. I don't know if I'm gonna share tonight. And we were there early, so like 30 minutes we're just hanging out, and me and some other poet friends were like, hey, go in there, we've all been doing it, you know, go do it, like be awesome. It's okay. It was she was going through a tough time, and it's cool to always see her now because she always she always tells us that same story, and she's like, I really y'all helped push me to go do that. Like, I was just gonna start spectating, but and she always comes back, and and it's a really cool reciprocation of love. Um, so you you know, you gotta you gotta lean into that fear, yeah. You have to. Um just keep keep doing the things. Um trial, error. Um, and I think there's also you mentioned like social media and perception too, um, and just media in general, right? Uh anything. Um I think there's an owner, there's there's this this at least I saw years ago, like putting people down for like trying something. Yeah, and I think there was an artist I saw a long time ago video, like, when did it uh when did it become cool to like stop trying? I'm like, what? Why why try? That's what like what we're gonna do.
SPEAKER_05:Try stuff and social media has made everything look so polished and perfect and whatever.
SPEAKER_03:Like oh man, I have a video on there that I call weird stuff. I don't know if you'll you'll see it at some point, but like I'm like, I mean, I put it out there for that very to challenge that very notion, like where I cut an avocado with a spoon from the side, I eat the kiwi, I eat the kiwi with the skin on it, like just all the stuff of just like who cares? Yeah, yeah, just all those other things, and like some people, you know, they're like, whoa. And then a lot of people a funny thing, a lot of people to that video, they're like, Oh, I do I do crazy things too, and they were like connecting with it. I'm like, Yeah, like so what? Just try. The biggest thing as sorry, back to what you're saying as an artist, try. Try. You won't know if you won't if you don't try. Yeah, yeah. Yeah, that's all I've been doing.
SPEAKER_02:Quick question. So since you're in Charleston, would you say that there's anything for artists that they would get from the Charleston city that you might not that you might not get from a bigger city like New York City or LA, besides obviously like opportunities. But what makes it special being an artist here?
SPEAKER_03:Yeah. Um I think I think there's just a res a respect um and a beauty to the town, just just the energy. Um and people looking out for each other. Um and the different things, like, you know, we have the things we can pull from too, like the scene itself, the beautiful beaches and things like that. Um, and then the food, the culture the culture itself. Yeah um, and then the camaraderie, which I didn't always feel either. Like I I personally in my own personal journey, I didn't feel that. I was like, I need to, but that was my own narrative, right? I that was my own narrative I was telling me. And then I found places like the poor house and things like that. I was like, Oh, it is there. You have to you have to also that goes back to the other question. You also have to do that, you do have to seek it too. Yeah, you have to seek what you want, right? Like, I didn't know about poor house, and everyone's like, Oh my god, you don't know about the poor house? Uh, this amazing place. I'm like, Yeah, I don't I don't know about it, but it's there, so you do also have to like seek it and talk to people and don't be afraid. Um, it's again just the culture. Like, I used to not walk the bridge. I love walking the bridge. Yeah, I actually walk the bridge, I wave the cars going by like the whole time, and people are waving back and honking. Yeah, it's great. It's it's they don't even know they're driving by a celebrity, but yeah, right, they're not wave back, but it's just it's just the joy is the joy and love of it, right? Um, and then also don't be afraid to expand beyond Charleston, too. Like, yeah, like go everywhere, or vice versa, right? If you're in New York, come to Charleston, like just be open to opening yourself up to different opportunities, yeah.
SPEAKER_05:Well, what what do you do? I mean, it sounds to me like you you're you're committed to bringing up other artists with you, right? But but what what do you do to sort of cultivate and foster that that sense of community and bring up the next generation and all those things? Talk about that a little bit.
SPEAKER_03:Yeah. Um try to be authentic through my experience a little bit, like you know, because we all feed as humans, we all feed off of each other. Um as far as the younger ones, like like shout out to Envy the Poet, just encouraging that. Um you've done a bunch of appearances at high schools the last year, too. Sorry, thank you. Thank you for helping me jog that. Yes, um, so like my my album motor for Dorchester, uh performing for them. Um I actually had a I had a kid, man. He came up to me afterwards and he had just uh he was like, I loved your performance, and it was amazing. He spoke to me. He was you know he was really respectful. He waited like the whole time. Um, and he told me, man, I just went through uh um a like a friendship breakup with like one of his good guy friends. Oh, that was one so hard. Yeah, one the fact that this kid in high school, I from my perspective was telling me that I was like, wow, that's amazing because nobody talks like there's romantic breakups, but rarely have I heard about the friendship breakup, which is really that's a lot of vulnerability for parental breakup, any breakup, animal breakup, whatever. Yeah, but yeah, this high school kid, and he broke down and he cried and and was I held him in my arms, and I was like, Oh my god, like this wow, thank you for you know sending this to me. I I did not know how to. I said, you know, move through it the the best you can, write about it, do what I you saw me do on this, I don't know. Um, and he thanked me afterwards, but it was it was a moving experience for both of us. Um, so to the question of you know performing there, I kind of shot I like to show the multi-uh disciplinary stuff. So like I show a video, like a montage of some of the music I've done. I'll perform a few poems, um, I'll read the children's book, um, just kind of show them that it can all be done too. Like you can do whatever. Uh, because I thought maybe at one point I was just gonna do poetry or I was just gonna do performing. So I think things are aligning again. Um, just reiterating encouragement. Um, I think we all need that. Um I've yet to like really start doing workshops. I know a lot of poets like Marcus Amiker and Abby Duran and those, they do workshops and I commend them. Um, I haven't pulled the trigger on that just yet, uh, because I I do want to be f I'm a little more focused on creating uh and doing projects right now. Um and I don't think I've had the confidence in like, can I actually lead a class or stuff like that?
SPEAKER_05:Rachel and I both know that you can just a matter of time, too. You're busy getting it.
SPEAKER_02:You've inspired me already.
SPEAKER_03:Just encouragement. That's that's the baseline thing. Um and then if there is actual like advice, um actually there's fourth graders I talked to. Um and it was cool. I I read them the children's book, right? And then I asked them, um I asked them what did you like think of what you took away from it, and they all wrote down their answers and they shared a few with me. And basically I wrote a few on the projector and started building out just like a four-line poem. I was like, you know, what did you feel from this sadness that the girl or guy or boy felt this way? And I was like, this is how you can this is how this this feeling you had as a child and this other child had, these are how these relate. I was trying to show them how like you can connect and things. I was like, that's the that's the starting point, I think, of of a basic poem. Stuff like that.
SPEAKER_02:You know what I would love to see, what I love to know is what would be like do you have crazy notes like in your in your iPhone or not? Like I'm sure you have the craziest moves.
SPEAKER_03:I have so many of notes. I have way too many notes of like I've got therapy notes, I've got uh I've got crazy line notes, like what does this thing have? Uh yeah, I've got so many notes, man.
SPEAKER_02:Do you feel though like writing it on your phone, typing it on your phone, is different, like release than actually writing it, like in a journal?
SPEAKER_03:Yes, no, for sure. Uh, because I think uh you know, I'm no brain scientist, but the the actual of just like painting, right? Like the the transmission of from your from your physical hand to the physicalness of the paper, um gonna send it back to your brain to like remember that moment, but convenience sake, your device that on the go you could put it in there. But there's a lot there's a lot of times I'll do that and then go back to the journal and write it in there.
SPEAKER_06:Okay.
SPEAKER_03:Um so like I I try to remind myself like this is temporary, let me make it more permanent in an actual form, and then and then I'll go. So I guess maybe to process uh I'll do like phone a little bit, then journal, and then if I have a bigger idea, then to like a uh online document, and like this is how this is how all this stuff works, right? This is how I piece it together piece to g piece this idea together, um, and then the marketing approach. Like I have a whole document of like a poem, like stage presence had the poem, and then the document had like okay, cast, this is where this the this person's going, and then I said, Okay, the promo is gonna be this, I'm gonna have a uh I'm gonna have a uh a a thing for the release of this, and it's just a big, big document.
SPEAKER_02:Yeah. So I guess like since we are a marketing podcast, as an artist, like what is there certain channels that you feel like you know sometimes you get a better response like when it comes to like social media? Um Yeah.
SPEAKER_03:Good question. Um for me, it's a really overwhelming. Yeah. Uh so I it back to like trying to make everything lucrative in business, like I was losing my mind trying to make all the social things and and it put it on TikTok, Facebook, all those places. Um and I kind of let myself remove myself a little bit from that, and still, even though I still utilize it, just utilizing like one Instagram or something like that, and letting like YouTube's a great platform, um, but not like letting it stress me and say, Okay, YouTube is just where the final production is gonna live, right? And but not worried about how many thousands of views YouTube's gonna get right now. Just use that as a hub. And then in personally, Instagram's right now, like that's the thing that I engage with the most, but uh I don't really have I know I know a lot of people are like TikTok, TikTok, everything. I'm like, I don't I don't I don't know.
SPEAKER_02:I feel like the one thing that I liked what you said is that it gets overwhelming, right? And as an artist, you're already doing so much to start with. So like you focusing on one app to me is really interesting because I haven't heard that. I mean, maybe it's not a strategy, but I haven't heard that. And and to be to I would love to see what that looks like because so many people are putting stuff so many places, and you they always say put it and see where it hits. But if you're really authentic and dedicated to one channel, then you know you might ex you might slowly explain.
SPEAKER_03:I had to reel that in though, because I was doing that. I mean, I would have I would have like a I would have like a page of like, okay, here's the Facebook banner, here's the Instagram banner, here's the YouTube banner, and like adjusting all of that. And I'm like, okay, I spent a lot of time doing that. And I don't knock it, like power to people who who do that, like you know, you get more exposure and stuff, but it for me is a personal decision of like I gotta like hone it down. I'm gonna, I'm not gonna be able to focus on the art as much. Um, but once the product or whatever I'm doing is created, I do set time for that, right? Yeah, I do set like time to do that, and also the more you do stuff, you you also have your own templates and things. So you kind of develop a little bit of flow, right? So like I I you just have to also make time too. So advice to artists if you want to market yourself, like you have to plan that out, like market that, right? Like, so I knew I am not a rapper was gonna be out like my birthday last year, like, but I was planning for that. And I knew I was I already knew I was gonna I was releasing the album and then I was gonna release each month I'm gonna release a video from the album and then plan for that. And does it does it is this a loving song that falls on Valentine's Day? Is this uh is this uh uh something else that that that aligns and all the market, you know, market all marketing strategies. Happy go lucky song for St. Patrick's Day. Exactly. I I was like, I'm doing this on the tent because people will see me in person and know it and it went it went bananas. Um and that's a that's just a struggle you have to get over as an artist. You know, there's that there's that like I don't wanna I don't wanna sell myself or there's that ex that um mentality some artists have and I get it, but if you want to be successful, like you gotta you gotta find a way to like work with it than against it. Yeah.
SPEAKER_02:I feel like we're in a time of age though where you'll hear artists like even influencers, right? You'll say like, okay, I don't have like 50 a comedian, for example. I don't have 15,000 followers. I can't get gigs. That doesn't mean I'm not a good comedian, right? But it's it's kind of crazy that the amount of followers defines like what opportunities that you're getting at this point.
SPEAKER_03:That I will say, yeah, I agree. That's that is a sad perspective. Um I think it's up to us. I think that's anything in the world, right? When it comes to like, I don't know, real estate, politics, any economical thing, we as humans have to shift, you know, you know. So I'm I'm big in like spirituality and stuff. So we have to shift the consciousness and remind ourselves, every our neighbors or friends, of like, oh no, the value is in the in the thing and not the numbers all the time. They're help the numbers are helpful, yeah, but the value is here. And like I think we all have that and we all have that responsibility individually to help the collective, right? Um that is and that's sad if someone's like they they're good at what they do and they can't get something, and maybe it's not you know, universally, maybe it's not for them. Um in that time. I've I've I've I've endured that before too. I'm like, really? Really? This isn't catching on. Yeah, I'm like, really? You you're not gonna hire me for that thing because I don't have this to help you? I'm like, that's odd, but anyway, that's that's a bigger discussion.
SPEAKER_02:Yeah, no, I was just curious what your perspective of that. So thank you for sharing that.
SPEAKER_05:Yeah, yeah, of course. So just just to wrap up, where do people find you on the interwebs and on social media and all those things? And where can people come and see you uh in 2026?
SPEAKER_03:Yeah, um, ChristianMorant.com is my website. Um Instagram's uh Christian.morant, YouTube.com slash Christian Morant. That's where you'll find snapping, uh stage presence and all that stuff. Um in 2026, uh a lot more, I think, creative happening uh so far. I am trying to make my way out to Texas at some point, uh, probably early March or so. Um and then you know, I spent a lot of time between New York uh and South Carolina and just all over the place. So if you want to know more, ChristianMorant.com is where my events are.
SPEAKER_05:Fantastic. Thank you so much. Thank you, Rachel. Thank you. Thank you. That was a lot of fun. All right, yeah, glad you enjoyed it. And a very special thanks to SCRA for the underwriting uh for today's episode. We really appreciate the help and support and everything you do for the good people of South Carolina. So thank you.
SPEAKER_01:Cool. Bye. Bye.
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