Meet Hugh Macdonald: Musician

We had the good fortune of connecting with Hugh Macdonald and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Hugh, we’d love to hear about how you approach risk and risk-taking
In music, risk is everything. You are basically risking a life of comfort and financial stability, for a possible long period of time of financial struggle and hustle, in exchange for this weird thing that you love so much that you can’t possibly give up. Risk has run through my whole life as a musician, you have to believe in something that you can’t really even explain SO MUCH that you are willing to risk anything for it. I know I speak for myself and my musical peers, that nothing in the world would stop us from pursuing music. Being broke for the next twenty years? Fine. Betting all we have on songs? No problem.

Let’s talk shop? Tell us more about your career, what can you share with our community?
I’m a rock/folk musician from the UK, living in Los Angeles as of last year. It has been an awesome ride, and one that never stops going. As a musician, until you have some steady source of income (never) you have to be working in things outside of your immediate passion to stay financial afloat. That’s probably the hardest part. Making the music, and being surrounded in that world is easy, and the most pleasurable thing imaginable but having to work 400 different little jobs, for little bits of money here and there is a drain creatively and energetically. I think perseverance in music is key, and having enough belief in yourself to keep going through the dips and the highs. That’s something I hope people see or hear when they look at my work, is that although right now, it may not garner bucket loads of attention, I’m in for the music and not for the screaming fans.

Let’s say your best friend was visiting the area and you wanted to show them the best time ever. Where would you take them? Give us a little itinerary – say it was a week long trip, where would you eat, drink, visit, hang out, etc.
I found a spot recently near my house, it’s just a rooftop on top of a parking lot near a Whole Foods, but at night you can see the whole Valley below and no one is ever there. It’s my favourite spot to go alone and just take a break. Apart from that, they’ve got to go to Veggie Grill, Mizlala and 8oz Poke. Those are a few of my favourite food spots in the Valley. I’m not a huge fan of DTLA but I only had about a month to see it before the pandemic hit, so I could be speaking too soon. I feel like Ventura Boulevard is such a classic American street, huge signs, weird buildings, strip malls, that if someone who came from abroad was to visit, I think they’d get the romantic Americana feels from walking up and down Ventura.

Who else deserves some credit and recognition?
My management agency, Taller Management deserve a million shoutouts. They are two awesome ladies, Tal and Erin, who started their own management company at the beginning of 2020, amidst the start of the pandemic, have have just built an awesome and supportive team around them, and they are working hard non-stop. I admire them a lot.

Website: fairhazelmusic.com

Instagram: @fairhazel_

Twitter: @fairhazelmusic

Facebook: facebook.com/fairhazel

Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCqSkR82kz09xeeCkR5w_khw

Image Credits
Danielle Moreland-Ochoa