Meet Jay Fisher!
Listen to what my dear friend has to say about being in the entertainment and arts industry.
A Little Background
Julia “Jay” Fisher is a fellow EAM Senior at Drexel. They are big into the music scene: booking, live event projects, and working in venue operations. You may have seen them at this past Dragonfly or on the University’s Concert Board. To close out their time at Drexel, Jay will be organizing a concert that showcases Philly’s unique alternative music scene. The event will feature local artists and Drexel bands, and the proceeds will be donated to Punk Rock Saves Lives. More details coming soon, hope to see you there (cause I definitely will be)!
Maddye Perry: Okay, so the first question is, what area of the entertainment and arts industry are you most interested in?
Jay Fisher: So, the area that I’m most interested in currently is the music industry sector. So either working like booking management and tour management, that type of deal…
MP: What are your goals after college?
JF: Get a ******* job! I need a job. Please give me a job. Um, in like, the aforementioned sector, but yeah, that’s the goal right now. If not, doing festival work and gig work until I can find something more permanent.
MP: Perfect, and why do you love the industry?
JF: I love the little community of freaks that are working in it (laughs). I love them so much, like everywhere I go, no matter what, you will find community, you’ll find people who are equally as passionate as you are about this industry and the work that we’re doing. And if not that, just people who love music in general if that’s not even like their main gig. But yeah, and also just making the arts more accessible to people. I love it and think it is really cool.
MP: Yeah, yeah, people need to appreciate the arts, but also people need to be welcomed into the arts.
JF: Yeah, yeah.
MP: But what do you not like about the industry?
JF: Building off of my previous answer (both laugh), a lot of the information is very gate-kept despite the fact that the music industry’s roots were just like a bunch of random people that did not know what to do with their lives, just picking something random, booking shows. The fact that it was such a ragtag sort of operation, and now that it’s become more something that bigger markets know that they can really capitalize off of all of that information, is now super heavily gate-kept, and that’s just…I think that’s a huge problem, like a fundamental issue, but yeah.
MP: Definitely, definitely. And if there was one thing, you would change or wish existed for artists, what would it be?
JF: Besides the existing series of Donald Passman’s books, just some sort of handbook for artists to know how to represent themselves, how to build a brand for themselves. I feel like that information can get lost, and there are a lot of conflicting answers when you just try to seek it out yourself. Yeah, just giving people the resources that they need to create their own brand and be able to support themselves by doing something they’re passionate about is really important, and something that gets lost.
MP: Yeah, exactly what this whole senior project is about. Some people say it’s skills, some people say it’s luck, and it’s all over the place.
JF: I think that the whole fallacy that getting success as a musician is luck is pretty insane, because I know that we know the whole process that Chappell Roan went through to become the household name that she is right now. A lot of people were just like, ‘Oh, this girl popped up literally out of nowhere’, and it’s not out of nowhere. She had been doing this **** since, like, middle school. And then she got a hit song, she got on Tiny Desk, as a feature for a smaller artist, and then that just completely catapulted her to the other end of the spectrum. It’s not…I wouldn’t say it’s luck.
MP: What’s been your biggest challenge as someone in this industry?
JF: Finding consistent work. I know that is partially a “me” issue, because other people don’t have that problem. I mean, just figuring out what specifically I want to do, because it feels like there’s a lot of pressure to know what you want now and then work your entire life to get it. When in reality, a lot of people bounce around from different things in the music sector. So, just figuring out what I want to do, getting a clear path to get it, and creating a clear course of action for myself, especially after graduation, has been challenging, but something that I need to do.
MP: And speaking of graduation, what are you looking most forward to?
JF: Even though I love learning so much, I’m looking forward to just being able to have a full-time job. To just work, be able to go home, and, like, do a craft. Not having to worry about studying or reading, being able to do things on my own time is gonna be so refreshing, and I’m so looking forward to that. Even though I think I will be a lifelong learner, it’s good to know that there’s no longer any pressure to learn under someone else’s terms.
MP: Yeah, no, that pressure is definitely gonna be something that it’s like- (sighs).
JF: I wanna read a book and it’ll be what I want to read!
MP: Like “Freedom!” (KA-KAW)
JF: Yeah, literally!
Keep updated on the amazing work Jay is doing and their upcoming concert event! Check out their LinkedIn for more updates soon!
Hey, I'm Maddye. Yes, with a YE. I'm hoping you enjoyed this post. I want to share my life with you to help you in your time of need, when you're inspired, or just need to feel seen.