Conversations with Coleman.X

Today we’d like to introduce you to Coleman.X.

Hi Coleman.X, so excited to have you on the platform. So before we get into questions about your work-life, maybe you can bring our readers up to speed on your story and how you got to where you are today?
I grew up in Alabama always feeling like I had nothing in common with anyone around me. In my early teenage years, I would head to Atlanta to escape the suffocating environment I was being held in. Atlanta was where I could be myself- I could dress how I wanted, say what I wanted, do what I wanted, and it was safe. Through going to shows in Atlanta from such a young age, I found my passion was live music. I wanted to be on stage, not because I wanted the spotlight on me, but because I wanted to make people feel the way I felt at these shows, like nothing else mattered but the music. Through music, I found my identity and self, even when it was difficult being authentic in the south. I never once doubted who I was or what I was put here to do, but God did those people try to make me. I moved to Nashville for school and eventually dropped out to pursue music full-time. I am currently working on an album detailing my journey as a queer person in the Bible Belt and the difficulty of finding love, for myself and others, in that journey.

Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
Defiantly has not been smooth, but I wouldn’t change any experiences I had because of the lessons I learned. I was outed at 13 by someone who was very close to me and I trusted very much, and it was incredibly difficult to be taken seriously or heard by anyone. I fought for years to make my voice equally as loud as the normal person, and music allowed me to cut through the noise and say what no one would allow me to. Unconditional love has been a difficult concept for me to obtain/ grasp, as being queer in a cis-hetero culture has made me feel like I had to change certain things about myself.

Appreciate you sharing that. What else should we know about what you do?
I am an artist, producer, songwriter, engineer, and performer. My passion is on the stage, and the rest comes with that. I think the fearless presentation of my authentic self sets me apart on stage in an industry full of questioned artists (what’s going to make the most money? what’s most marketable? what will blow up and push you into the mainstream?). I have been working on my debut album titled ‘boy on your mind’, which tells the story of coming into my queerness, loving myself and learning how to love others despite what my environment has taught me from such a young age. I just recently released the title track of the project which is about being enough to occupy someone’s thoughts, but they find reasons to not to act on those thoughts; “I’m just a boy on your mind.”

Can you talk to us about how you think about risk?
I believe taking risks is the best thing you can do for yourself in this short life – without risks, there’s no failure, and without failure there’s no lessons to be learned. The biggest risk I’ve taken is dropping out of college, with a lot of people in my life telling me not to. It’s scary to not take the “safe” success route, but being safe is just being expectant of what others have, and that can lead to a bigger failure that taking a risk would.

Contact Info:

• Email: coleman@silvershadowrecords.com
• Website: colemanxmusic.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/coleman.ex/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/colemanxmusic?notif_id=1626209364169140&notif_t=aymt_page_post_reminder_notification&ref=notif
• SoundCloud: https://soundcloud.com/coleman_x/boy-on-your-mindd?utm_source=clipboard&utm_medium=text&utm_campaign=social_sharing

Image Credits:
Dana Kalachnik Miranda Grustas Meanin (graphic design)