Instructor Spotlight: Edric Hwang
When you’re starting out and don’t really have connections yet, what actually helped you get your first real opportunities?
When I first started out I made it a point to attend as many music industry related events and performances as possible, and did my best to be upfront and forthcoming with introducing myself to as many musicians, bands and artists I could at that time. Eventually I was fortunate to get to work with some of the bands I only just met at gigs and one thing led to the next and things started to pickup from there.
What’s something you wish someone had told you earlier about building a music career that would’ve saved you time or stress?
It’s a tough industry to stay afloat in, even tougher to thrive in, so be prepared to fail more times than you succeed, and get rejected more times than you get accepted. The earlier you build up the emotional strength to battle these failures and rejections, the higher likely it is you’ll do well for yourself in the industry.
Do you ever feel pressure to “stay relevant” or constantly adapt in the industry, and how do you deal with that without burning out?
Most definitely, with technology making it much easier for anybody to make good music, it’s important to stay ahead of everything and maintain the edge above everyone else. Maintaining the mindset that I don’t know everything and that there’s still a lot to learn no matter what stage of my career I’m at is the main thing that keeps me moving forward.
Have you ever had to change your original musical style or idea because of industry expectations, and how did that feel for you personally?
Happens all the time, there’ll always be projects you resonate with dearly and projects that just feel completely disconnected because of their creative direction. As a professional we work through each project regardless of creative disagreements, and knowing that no one particular project defines you and that there’ll always be more projects to work on in the future that you will resonate with creatively is a healthy mindset to maintain in situations like these.
