Today we’d like to introduce you to John Becker.
John, we’d love to hear your story and how you got to where you are today both personally and as an artist.
When I was three years old I was presented with the unique opportunity to learn the violin thanks to my parents. I would perform an annual concert at the Symphony Center with the violin school I was a part of and became used to the pressures associated with performing. As a child there were times when I fought the idea of being a violinist but I stuck with it and am very happy I did!
When I was twelve I convinced my parents to let me play electric guitar which opened up new possibilities for me musically. During my high school- college years I was a member of various orchestras and almost always in a rock band in my free time. I’ve found that this combination of influences and interests has greatly impacted my way of creating my own music and art.
We’d love to hear more about your art. What do you do you do and why and what do you hope others will take away from your work?
My primary group Vaskula is a rock band at heart but fuses various styles. I’ve taken great influence from my favorite artists of the 1970s-80s. The combination of my guitar work, vintage synthesizers, my fantastic drummer Adam Hansen, and my non-traditional pop style vocals make our sound a unique one.
I’ve had the opportunity to contribute to other artist’s works frequently through the past seven or so years, primarily on violin, which satisfies my urge to create more than one type of art. You could say I don’t like sticking to one medium! I hope listeners can use my music for reflection. In addition to Vaskula I’m planning to begin work on composing new instrumental music which fuses acoustic and electronic elements as well as improvisation later this year.
The stereotype of a starving artist scares away many potentially talented artists from pursuing art – any advice or thoughts about how to deal with the financial concerns an aspiring artist might be concerned about?
Finding creative solutions to my budget restrictions has been a major part of my journey. I’m extremely picky regarding sonic detail and unfortunately do not have a large recording budget. For this latest album I’ve been able to borrow equipment and used skills I acquired from college and watching previous engineers I’ve worked with in order to record much of the album at home. I really enjoy the freedom of working on my music on my own time and at my own pace.
My best advice to artists struggling with financial concerns would be to: find creative solutions in order to produce the highest quality work with on hand resources such as asking friends to borrow equipment for a specific task, downsizing rehearsal spaces or studios to only what is necessary, and using your art time as productively as possible by making check lists (I make mine on Goggle Docs regularly).
Do you have any events or exhibitions coming up? Where would one go to see more of your work? How can people support you and your artwork?
We performed recently at Reggie’s and plan on performing a release show to celebrate the new album later in 2018. You can keep up to date on performances and the album release date at vaskula.bandcamp.com and facebook.com/vaskula. I also post occasional behind the scenes footage as well as news on my Instagram (@vaskuladream).
Contact Info:
- Website: http://www.johnbeckermusic.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/vaskuladream/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/vaskula
- Other: https://vaskula.bandcamp.com
Image Credit:
Elizabeth Wadium
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