👋 Hi, I'm Nicholas Roberts. I create and perform music and write this daily blog about creativity, culture, and my life.

I live in Los Angeles with my wife and golden retriever.

Email me: hello@nicholasroberts.io

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A musician I've been following for a while, Bad Snacks, recently shared advice she's received over the years as a musician.

Bad Snacks creates chill indie music.

Her primary instrument is the electric violin, and after processing it through dozens of effects pedals, it can sometimes sound like a waterfall of notes forming a soundscape.

Jesse Hanson, who goes by Bad Snacks, received advice and feedback from friends and industry insiders close to her as she grew her career. They suggested she change her sound to be more pop or electronic to appeal to a broader audience.

“Make happier music,” they said. And then, profits and success will follow.

This is a common piece of advice most musicians hear.

The idea is that whatever genre or style you’re currently working in could reach a wider audience if you incorporated more mainstream elements into it. Big choruses and repeatable phrases.

That if you make happier music you can make more money.

Then, eventually, someday, you can finally go back to making the music you really love. In this case, sad pop.

However, as soon as she allowed herself to truly create down-tempo chill music, she was able to mentally unlock herself to make other songs that were goofier and happier.

Feeding her soul and following her true musical path made the “mainstream” stuff easier to make.

If the pop songs didn’t succeed, so what? The “mainstream” stuff was the side project. Not the main gig.

Your close friends and family aren't your fans.

When they give you advice, they mean well—But they don't necessarily know what creative message you're trying to share with the world.

Make that sad indie.