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Chizi's Creative Balance: Navigating the Artistic and Business Sides of the Music Industry

The Emerging Artist Chizi Talks Indie Artists Challenges, Empowering Music, and Engaging with Fans on Social Media

Chizi ©️ 2023


Today we have the pleasure to have on Goathead !


GH: Hi Chizi, As an emerging artist, how do you balance your artistic vision with the demands of the music industry, and what challenges have you faced along the way?

Chizi: I just do whatever feels right to me. Since I'm still an emerging and independent artist, I can do whatever I want as an artist and still have total creative freedom on the musical side of things. Getting to grips with the promotional aspect of things takes a bit more getting used to, such as trying to get as much reach as you can on social media by making content and reels, for example. It feels like you must balance both the artistic and business sides of things to make sure one aspect isn’t overpowering the other. It also feels like you must find a way to make music and keep a social media presence at the same time, so that your fans and audience will hopefully still be there when you release new music. Another type of challenge for an artist that lies on the business side of this industry would probably be the financial aspect. This is due to your needing the funds to generate ads to showcase your new music or project. It’s very expensive to make music and get what you’re working on professionally recorded in a studio and then mixed and mastered. As a musician, you're expected to release singles every month (around 4-6 weeks) and release EPs or albums every so often to keep your fanbase growing, apparently to show how serious you are about your music career. When you’re an emerging musician or artist with no money, this can be very difficult. My second single, ‘XO," was released in October 2020. After this, I started releasing some new singles, ‘Bad Habit’ and 'Drive'. Eventually, I released my debut EP, ‘Drive," in April 2023. Before releasing new music in 2023, there was a long period of inconsistency. This was due to not having the financial means to do so until now. If I had a lot more money, I would be releasing music consistently way more often than I am currently doing. Although, as an artist, you may just want to make music as much as you can, you have to always be thinking of new content ideas that will hopefully go ‘viral’ on TikTok, which seems to be very difficult as there are so many people all around the world trying to do the exact same thing. Also, another thing with this is that when no one really knows who you are and your music, it’s very hard to get them to care and to give them a reason as to why they should.

GH: What has been the most valuable lesson you've learned so far in your journey as an artist, and how has it influenced your recent work such as "Bad Habit" and "Drive"?

Chizi: One lesson that I have probably learned is to always trust your gut. This is because for my track ‘Bad Habit," although we started off with the demo that I had made and I had written the lyrics, In the beginning stages, the production didn’t feel right, so I made the decision a couple of times for me and the producer, Adriano Desire, to change the production. Eventually we landed on the current version of ‘Bad Habit," which is now available on all streaming platforms, and on my debut EP, 'Drive'. I’m so happy with the result and happy that I made that call. For the track ‘Drive’ itself, it was just about trusting the process and that it would sound good in the end, which it does. Initially, in the beginning stages of working on the track, I wasn’t too sure, but now I find the track amazing. It’s a great and empowering track, and I'm very proud whenever I listen to it.


GH: As you continue to grow your fanbase, how do you engage with and connect with your audience through your music, both in the studio and on stage?

Chizi: I try to engage and connect with my audience by trying to write music that is empowering. This appears to be a common theme in a lot of my songs. I didn’t realize this pattern at first until someone pointed it out to me. I also try to do this using social media platforms. This can range from Instagram to Facebook and Twitter. I try to talk to my audience and engage with them by getting them to state their opinions of what they are thinking in relation to my music or what I'm working on. This can be done by asking them questions and getting them to leave their answers in the comment section of my posts. These questions can simply be, for example, ‘What’s your favorite song off my new EP?" Keeping them in the loop about exciting news and what’s generally happening in relation to myself is a good way to build a relationship with my audience. I also use Instagram stories as short-form content to document my day, anything exciting or normal day activities, such as going to a café to buy a hot chocolate, for example. I also use Instagram features that are available to content creators and musicians, such as the Q/A feature to ask questions to my audience and hope for responses from my fans, the poll feature to know what is popular, and the countdown feature to highlight how close the release date of a new project or release is and to help build hype. I like to share what song I’m listening to and post it to my Instagram stories. I like sharing behind-the-scenes footage to let my audience into my world and give them a taste of what working on the project was like.

GH: What are your goals for the next year, both musically and professionally, and how do you plan to achieve them?

Chizi: My goals would be to hopefully start performing live at my own gigs, hopefully do a headline show at some point, and hopefully release new music in the form of singles, an album, or more EPs. I plan to achieve playing live by trying to get a promoter in my local area or in other big cities in the U.K. like London and Manchester, for example, so I can try to do a tour around the U.K. at some point in the future.


GH: In what ways have you evolved as an artist since you first started making music, and how does your recent music reflect your growth and development as an artist? Additionally, what can we expect from you in terms of new music and collaborations in the future?

CHIZI: I have grown so much as an artist since I started releasing music in 2019. This is because back then I felt that I knew what type of music that I wanted to make, but now that I'm releasing new music in the form of this new EP, I'm sort of starting to realize a bit more of what type of music I should be making, as I'm still trying to figure this out and find out what my brand is. I listen to a lot of different styles and genres of music. Through this, I'm always finding new influences from many different things. Now, I have a more clear understanding of what I want to be talking about. In the past, I hadn’t really experienced much in life compared to now. I haven’t got any collaborations lined up anytime soon, but I hope to change that and start working with other artists that I like at some point in the future. Regarding new music, I'm at the stage now where I'm just trying to write new music and produce more demo ideas. Hopefully, soon I can start releasing new music again.


GH: Thank You and looking forward to hear new music

Chizi: Thank you Goathead!


Don't Forget to Follow Chizi on Instagram and Listen to Bad Habits on Streaming Platforms!

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