Meet Stephane Lo Jacomo | Artist & Producer

We had the good fortune of connecting with Stephane Lo Jacomo and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Stephane, how has your work-life balance changed over time?
The way I think about work life balance has changed a lot over the course of my career. Initially I thought spending quantitatively more hours on a project would always bring me closer to my goal: more hours = more achievements. However, I started to realize that when we work excessive numbers of hours our efficiency drops, and we sacrifice other areas of our life that are essential to our well-being. Over time, I’ve shifted to giving myself more time off and being more mindful not to neglect family, community, as well as mental and physical health. It’s hard to keep all those things in mind, but I know that if I lose myself in the process of achieving my goals, not much good will come of it.

The only solution I’ve found to balancing work and life, is to make sure that these two areas intersect as much as possible. Rather than trying to keep them separate, where time outside of work has strictly nothing to do with work goals, I’ve come to integrate them as much as possible. For example, since my area of expertise is music, my time outside of work will still involve experiences that serve as inspiration for my work, or situations that could indirectly provide the knowledge necessary to move forward in my work. As well as this, when I am in a social setting, I will always keep an eye out for people that I have a strong connection with and who share a similar vision. Ultimately, the more naturally that work and life coexist, the less work will feel like a chore and the more time there is to appreciate other areas of our lives.

Alright, so let’s move onto what keeps you busy professionally?
After 12 years in the music industry, I am fortunate to be independent and able to retain ownership of my music. At one stage of my career, being signed to a management agency was advantageous and it did serve as a catalyst. However this was a short period that left me feeling like I was back at square one; luckily the lessons that came with that experience were essential to building a long term career.

It’s not easy to cover all the bases when it comes to running your own artist project; I’m definitely not qualified for that. I’ve often neglected having a regular posting schedule or even maintaining releases. The biggest challenge has been inactivity on the artist’s side of things. Working on tracks for other clients to fund passion projects takes more time than getting advances from labels, but it also comes with less strings attached, and ultimately even with some long-term passive income to be gained. Working within your craft to earn the funds to invest in yourself helps you develop the skills needed to maintain a long career. When it’s time to shift the focus to your passion/artist project primarily, the pressure will be off. You’ll be adept at your craft and earning money from other sources as well.

The big question that simplifies the independent artist’s journey is asking if we want quick success, or a long term career? If it’s the latter, then welcome, you’re already on that journey and every success, mistake, rejection and failure serves as another step forward to a more aware, skilled and stable future. If you take shortcuts to success, it’ll fade as fast, if you put in the years, it’ll have a strong foundation and carry you for years to come.

Any places to eat or things to do that you can share with our readers? If they have a friend visiting town, what are some spots they could take them to?
There are a few spots I love to take visiting friends and family to. The Melrose Trading post is a great one on Sunday for eclectic stalls, food trucks and live music. I would then head over to Escondido beach in Malibu via Mulholland Drive and stopping at Tree People to acknowledge the hard work of volunteers nurturing and protecting our forests. Beach days are great and there are so many nice sights to see along that route, it’s quickly become a classic day off for me.

Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
First of all, I’m thankful that my family supported my endeavors and gave me the confidence to take a leap of faith into music studies. That opened the door but as a French national in the US, obtaining my visa after college remained as a big question mark. The people I met in the US, such as my friend, writer and business partner Gats B, or my friend and production assistant Paradym gave me the strength to push on; our visions of the future aligned.

When my first management agency dropped me, my close people were there for me and they gave me a reason to work my way back up from what seemed like square one. At that same time, Sullivan King and Grabbitz’s manager Jacob Lee reached out to me, which enabled me to get the visa and continue on my path. Since then, through the pandemic, other people reached out to me and introduced me to the world of music libraries and sync. This was a game changer for me, giving me alternatives to being on the road or relying on releases to pay the bills – it has been liberating.

In conclusion, there are just a handful of people and opportunities that came into my life and made the difference. They mostly reached out to me or our paths crossed organically. In other words, rather than building a network that was as big as possible from the start, I focused on being ready for the few opportunities that would come my way. Making good first impressions and knocking a handful of opportunities out of the park brought about the biggest leaps in my career.

Website: https://www.fytchmusic.com/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/fytchofficial

Twitter: https://twitter.com/FytchOfficial

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/FytchMusic

Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/fytchmusic

Image Credits
The picture of me in the studio (guitars on left) is by Holy Smoke Photography.