Today we’d like to introduce you to Clive Sweet.
Hi Clive, it’s an honor to have you on the platform. Thanks for taking the time to share your story with us – to start maybe you can share some of your backstory with our readers?
Sure! Taking it way back, I started playing piano real young, like 5 or 6, and was writing coherent and repeatable pieces of music with zero training, which was noteworthy (no pun intended) to my parents, since I don’t come from an overly musical family. We weren’t exactly well off, so my parents sold a recently inherited family heirloom to buy me my first piano (which I currently have in my studio), and my aunt agreed to pay for my lessons. That training was entirely classical, so I started teaching myself drums, bass, and guitar in my teens, wanting to be able to play and write the type music that I was listening to. Played in church through my teens, and had opportunities to start touring and playing professionally as early as age 16. In my early 20’s I moved to Atlanta from NY, and started building up my recording gear so I could always record, as my passion was always writing and composing over only playing for other artists. A couple years ago now I moved to Mableton so I could build my new studio, get everything set up the way I wanted, etc. I taught music off an on for the past 15 or so years, but started teaching more regularly after the move to Mableton, as that really provided the right space for lessons.
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?
Definitely has not been all smooth sailing lol. The music industry is somewhat chaotic, so that provides fun challenges at every turn. I also basically had to start over from scratch a few years back due to a series of unfortunate events. Car accidents, heartbreak, and the financial challenges of being an independent artist always keep things interesting.
Alright, so let’s switch gears a bit and talk business. What should we know about your work?
I’ve been described as a multi-instrumentalist, I sing and play piano, drums, bass, and guitar all at a fairly high level, but they’ve always been more like tools for songwriting and production to me. A couple years ago I self-produced and self-released my first full length instrumental album titled 8 Trigrams. I wrote, arranged, performed, and mixed all aspects of that project, and though I listen back to it now and hear all the “imperfections” that my growth since then reflects, I’m still really proud of that project. It makes me really excited about the next project too with how much my artistry has grown. I think the thing that sets me apart from others is the ability to execute all these different aspects. Makes me kind of a one-stop production shop so to speak.
What does success mean to you?
That’s a great question. Balance is a big part of it, obviously money is important too but if we’re working non-stop and don’t have any time to enjoy that money, then what’s the point? It’s important to me to have balance between the art and personal life, spending time with family and friends, travel, maintain health, and chill time is important too. It’s easy to burn out when you’re pouring your entire being into what you’re doing, so rest is important. Money remains an important factor, but I want to enjoy life too, and stay doing the things I love because that’s what success is really about to me: having the freedom and ability to do what you want, when you want, with the people you want.
Pricing:
- Recording time: $100/hr
- Private music lessons: $75/hr
- Mixing/mastering services: $100/hr
- Production services: more flexible, but generally $100/hr or $500 per track minimum
Contact Info:
- Website: https://clivesweet.com/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/clive.sweet/
