
Billy performing with Steven Tyler, photo by Mike D
Billy Morrison has performed with legendary musicians….. Slash, Ronnie Wood, Steven Tyler, Lou Reed…. to name drop just a few. He is a principle member of the supergroup Camp Freddy who keep appearing on US television shows including Jimmy Kimmel, Jay Leno, Sharon Osbourne and Carson Daly. But being in one band is not enough for Billy. He is also red hot band Circus Diablo. And some background info. He was a former member of the internationally successful rock band The Cult.
He currently writes, produces and records music for various television shows. And if that isn’t enough he also hosts a weekly radio show, as well as being an artist and an actor. And did we mention he produces video blogs and runs and manages three websites. This was one successful person we wanted to talk to….if he stood still long enough.
He’s a busy guy but we tracked Billy down to talk to him about his career, over coming fear, and getting his work out to the world. His candid response and advice make inspiring reading for anyone with ambition.
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Photo by Timmy Hwang
Artist, animator and master of the weird and wonderful. Chet has designed and created prosthetic effects for top movies like, The Grinch, X Men 3, Fantastic 4, The Ring, Hellboy, Men In Black II, Planet Of The Apes and Batman An Robin. Often working intense schedules, he knows what it takes to come up with world class work on demand.
We pinned down the LA artist who not only taught us his visualization technique, but told us how to obtain advice from the top person within your industry and if you want to be successful you need a good plan, he had one from the age of 12.
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Jeff Soto has published two beautifully illustrated books; “Potato Stamp Dreams” and “Storm Clouds”. His artwork has been featured in top art magazines like; Juxtapoz, Giant Robot, Hi-Fructose, Art Prostitute, Lodown Magazine, Art Week, and Clutter. He’s also worked with some impressive clients including; Sony Music, Warner Bros, Nickelodeon, Disney, Apple and Critterbox toys.
But even successful artists like Jeff experience creative blocks, read on to discover how he conquers them by imagining he’s having a conversation with fictional character Tyler Durdan and find out how he kicks him into shape.
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Photo by Andrei Zarnoveanu
Legendary rock guitarist Duff McKagan, former member of Guns N’ Roses, is revered by many musicians all over the world for his unique guitar skills. He’s been in the music industry over 25 years, so he knows a thing or two about adapting and moving with the times. Duff invited us backstage to talk exclusively about how to keep up with the rapid changes in music industry to ensure a successful career.
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Tim Tsui in front of Bling canvas
Interview by Angel Greenham:
Tim Tsui is one of the top players in the designer toy industry (a term used to describe toys and other collectibles that are produced in limited editions), his figures decked out in cool street wear and influenced by Hip-Hop, are extremely popular with collectors all around the world.
Tim has worked with huge clients like Coca Cola, Adidas, Nike and Royal Elastics and is a prominent attraction at all the leading toy fairs. Read on to find out how his experimental attitude has led to his success and what helps him boost his energy.
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The Charlatans performing at Ben and Jerry’s festival photo by Jimmy James
We interview The Charlatans lead singer, superstar DJ and style icon Tim Burgess. Who showed SUBvert around his UK studio and talked about how they rose from tragedy to become an international success. Also how self publishing their music has resulted in some of their most satisfying creative work.
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Do you tell yourself that there’s no way you can succeed without a wadge of cash, all the best equipment and a bunch of top business people in tow? Well Jon Burgerman is an internationally successful illustrator and he’s here to tell you that you don’t need any of that stuff in order to be successful.
Read on to discover how Jon’s succeeding in a competitive industry.
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Illustration by Cathryn Weatherhead.
We receive submissions from people who would like us to use their work on a daily basis and I can’t help but get disappointed by how little effort the majority of people put into the task. This lack-luster approach isn’t limited to submissions for the magazine either, over the years I’ve had to review countless portfolios for people wanting an interview for different creative positions within various companies. The good news is, most people do it so badly, it’s really easy for YOU to do it well and stand out!
Here are the 3 most common mistakes I see people make;
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Sam emailed us to say he hopes to be touring with his band and making a living from his creativity soon.
Now, following your creative dreams certainly gets our applause, he’s half way to success already.
But the second paragraph of his email set off the money alarm. (In the last readers letter I pointed out how frequently we often hold conflicting beliefs about money that can really limit our success.)
Here’s what Sam said;
I know musicians are the new starving artist, but I don’t care. This is what I love and I would be more than happy to be playing music in bars for the rest of my life, rather than be rich and famous. But of course the riches would be nice to have, for a rainy day.
This will upset a few people
Now I’m going to tell you something that will upset some people and it will upset them because deep down they know it’s true.
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We get a lot of letters asking for advice from people who have been reading our ‘Creative Secrets’ and luckily many of them are similar, after all most of us are struggling with exactly the same problems, even if it doesn’t always feel like that. This is the first in a series of solutions to problems our readers have put to us. If you think that you don’t have the resources you need to get started on achieving your creative dreams you might find this useful.
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