My latest interview features Robert Anton, a musician from
New York City who first ventured online as a means to promote his music, and
discovered a much bigger world.
“I’m a singer, songwriter, performer, music publisher and I
am here on YouTube basically to promote my music – but with that comes a lot of
other things. Now I have four channels on YouTube, and across those platforms I
think what I’m doing is mostly just getting my voice out there. I’m sharing some of my opinions and
some of my life experiences, and interacting with people from all over the
world.”
I first met Robert Anton at Vidcon – the YouTube content
creator’s conference – almost a year and a half ago. In an event filled with over-the-top enthusiasm, he
stood out. I thought that was
because he’d just been notified that he’d been accepted in the YouTube
Partner’s program. It wasn’t
just that. If you watch him
on YouTube, you soon realize that Robert simply projects energy.
While his goal isn’t YouTube in and of itself, he’s become totally immersed in the
online world, “I think it has just
become a part of my person, my being, my existence. I always tell friends that
YouTube is such a counter community – a counter-culture I should say, where we
are all just living online. Over
time, his YouTube community has extended into “real life,” in that he’s met
longtime YouTube friends offline.
The two worlds have begun to merge, “I am just sharing my full
existence, and hopefully that will bring people back to the music.”
Though Robert returned to the idea of promoting his music as
his prime motivation for being online, it’s clear that his interaction with the
YouTube and social media community has become more than simply a marketing
tool. His channel and his website
have enjoyed visits from dozens of countries around the world, even interacting
with some fans by using Google’s translate feature.
Looking and interacting with other artists on YouTube has
also inspired Robert in his own creative work.
“I think a great thing about this whole sharing community of
YouTube is that we all kind of feed off each other,” and not in a negative way,
he hastens to add, “one idea leads to another, we build up on each other’s way
of going about things and each other’s experiences and it becomes this kind of
global, world-wide collaboration.”
Thanks to platforms like YouTube, creativity across borders
is a reality to more and more people. While there have already been several social and
political movements worldwide that fueled by social media, Robert’s description
of a “global, world-wide collaboration”
hints at a one aspect of creative social technology whose impact may one day be
the most profound of all.
Check out Robert at:
and
Such a wonderful article and interview. You've really got a way with words, my friend. I enjoyed this and always enjoy our interactions on, and off, line.
ReplyDeleteI second Robert's feelings about creativity feeding off of creativity. On the surface, to some, it may sound like cheating - we see what others do and copy it to some degree, but it's anything but that. Being immersed in a creative community, and talking to creative people, helps bring out the creativity within oneself. It's a very healthy, supportive, form of competition, where you are inspired to create by forming a bond with someone who's creativity you admire. Okay, I'll stop now before I start singing Kumbayah...
ReplyDeleteI'll third Robert and Ken about creativity increasing in groups. Something about being surrounded by all that imagination just fires up the neurons...
ReplyDelete