Meet Corban Damukaitis | Musician/Composer & Window Cleaning Business Owner

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

Hi Corban, what was your thought process behind starting your own business?
A lot of people throughout my life have known me as a business person of one sort or another, mostly because I’ve always done sales. However, I’ve also almost always – perhaps despite my better judgement at times – pursued music with a serious intensity.

Because of this aspiration, I’ve quit high paying jobs, and found myself out of work at numerous points in my life, despite having landed impressive titles and positions at software corporations.

Additionally, to make matters even more complicated, for a long time, despite being a life long composer/ singer songwriter, I’ve also had aspirations to write novels and movies for a long time.

But a few years ago, I decided I’d had enough bouncing around artistically, and that I was going to focus solely on music – mostly just to make things simple, but, also, because people had been telling me more and more that I had something. And I was falling in love with singing/composing more deeply.

Now, at this point in my life, despite having had high paying corporate tech sales jobs, I’ve not only been unemployed for a little while, but, additionally, I’ve found it increasingly difficult to even get interviews. The job gaps probably don’t help.

(Also, I had some freelance political jobs for a little while, but I just didn’t want to do them anymore.)

So I figured I’d love to start my own business, because then I’ll maybe actually follow through with it long term, and not quit out of boredom. I just needed something I could sell, and also that wouldn’t require much of a startup cost.

After toiling the ideas around in my head, I settled on window cleaning, because I figured you probably wouldn’t need to buy more than a hundred bucks or so of equipment.

I also was interested in window cleaning because I’m also currently studying to become a realtor, and I figured that as a realtor I might have to go door knocking at some point. So by door knocking to get business as a window cleaner, I figured maybe I can also start to get to know some local homeowners to potentially sell their house later.

My first day of door knocking I made about 400 dollars within 4 or 5 hours, and so I figured I could probably pull it off!

It’s now been about 2 weeks, and my total profit is at about 2800 dollars. It’s not a fortune but it can keep me going, and it feels like something I can grow with.

Now that I’m making money through my own business – for the first time in my life – I am starting to believe in myself in more areas of my life, and it’s not so impossible for me to think that I very well might also now be able to make a respectable amount money in music, even if it’s not in ways that I initially hoped for; such as by selling lessons, or production sessions.

Can you open up a bit about your work and career? We’re big fans and we’d love for our community to learn more about your work.
Perhaps there’s something defeated about this answer, but, no matter who you are. Especially in terms of art. You shouldn’t put all your eggs in one basket. No matter how much you love it. And, if this speaks to you, whatever it is you’re doing, you better love it to death.

Learning this hasn’t been easy. At all.

But, let’s look at Vincent Van Gogh.

He wasn’t famous. And he was broke.

Now, I’m not saying that I’m Vincent Van Gogh.

But I am saying that, demonstrably, your “value”, your “skill” as an artist, your identity – who you are as a person – has NOTHING to do with whether or not you’re popular, or successful.

There’s this idea that floats around a lot of people’s heads – even musicians I’m friends with – that if you’re not successful, or people don’t go to your shows, you need to work on your songs.

I personally find this idea repulsive, and I don’t think it could be further from the truth.

Is there truth to it? Yes, of course.

But I’ve learned – in what feels like the most stubborn and excruciating way possible – that even though the quality of your songs and your art is very important, it’s far from everything.

When it comes to music, in particular, there’s a lot of things you need to get right, and a lot that can go wrong, too.

You might have written a great song, but then you might have a tough time playing the guitar for it, or finding a good drummer. Then you might have trouble singing it.

There’s so many things that need to be done right, that it’s taken me a lifetime to not be embarrassed by my compositions, especially as someone that writes and records pretty much every part of all of my songs.

I can’t tell you how many times I learned something new that felt absolutely earth shattering and I figured, “Wow! This is it! Now I’ll be famous! When people hear this, they won’t have any choice but to share it with the world.”

That feeling might be very convincing to you.

But – even if you have something really special – it can still be a siren song.

You might have a piece of art that really does speak to people who come across it.

But you also might just not be good at marketing yourself.

And if you really love your art, at least as much as i do, you’re probably eager to neglect other areas of your life to pursue it, almost like a drug addict… whether it’s friends, family, work, or lovers… when you’re in love with making art… all that stuff can get thrown out the window pretty quickly.

And once you’ve been lost in your artistic pursuits long enough, and once you realize just how much you’ve neglected your life, only then do you start to realize that you really don’t have a choice but to pick up the pieces.

That’s how I became a software sales person in Los Angeles. That’s how I’ve started a window cleaning business in LA from nothing.

In many ways, it’s because – due to choices I’ve made I can’t turn back from – there really aren’t any other options.

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?
Well, I can be a bit of a wine/ restaurant snob, so bear that in mind, but…

If my best friend were visiting the area, I’d want to make sure they experience the best of Los Angeles, blending my passions for music, entrepreneurship, and the outdoors into an unforgettable week-long adventure.

We’d start with brunch at Republique on La Brea, a beautiful space with incredible food. From there, we’d head to the Griffith Observatory for some stunning views of the city and a close-up of the Hollywood sign. A hike up to Mount Hollywood is a must, offering breathtaking panoramic views.

Being a music lover, we’d spend a day exploring the vibrant music scene. A visit to Amoeba Music in Hollywood is non-negotiable. I don’t care how everyone is streaming. We’d have to go. It’s a paradise for music enthusiasts with its vast collection of vinyl, CDs, and more. In the evening, we’d catch a live show at The Troubadour or The Roxy, iconic venues that have hosted countless legendary performances.

And of course, being a hipster, we’d have to spend a day in Silver Lake, which I would easily consider to be of LA’s most vibrant and artistic neighborhoods. Starting with breakfast at Sqirl, famous for its unique takes on classic dishes, we’d explore the indie shops and street art. We’d grab coffee at Intelligentsia and later enjoy some live music at The Satellite.

No trip to LA is complete without a beach day. We’d head to Malibu, start with a hike in the Santa Monica Mountains, and then relax at Zuma Beach. Lunch at Malibu Farm Pier Café would be perfect, offering fresh, farm-to-table cuisine with a stunning ocean view.

We’d embark on a culinary tour starting at Grand Central Market in downtown LA, sampling diverse and delicious eats. In the afternoon, we’d visit the Arts District for some craft beers at Angel City Brewery and explore the local galleries. Dinner at Bestia would cap off the night with some of the best Italian food in the city.

For the final day, a relaxing morning at The Getty Center to appreciate art and architecture, followed by a peaceful walk in the gardens. Lunch at Nobu in Malibu, indulging in exquisite sushi with an ocean view, would be a perfect end. We’d wrap up with a quiet evening back at my place, maybe jamming out to some tunes and reflecting on an amazing week.

Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
Absolutely!

In terms of my success as a sales person, I am forever in debt to more than a few people. But, most notably, there’s one person that comes to mind. Eric Stanley.

When I first moved out to LA about a decade ago, there was a point wherein I was broke. Dead broke. So I picked up a job doing petitions. Petitions are where you go out on the street and you collect signatures for a political movement, and, in return, you get paid per signature.

At the time, I was getting paid 20 dollars per signature! But, it was very short lived. And it was for a strange issue that I didn’t even really fully understand – to keep a billboard around, of all things.

But, while I was doing that petition, a couple interesting things happened.

Firstly, I met second Seth Rogen, haha.

But secondly, I met Eric Stanley. Or, should I say, that Eric Stanley met me, actually.

Because Eric actually approached me on the street and – more or less – told me that he was impressed with my work ethic, and that he had seen me working out on the street for several days, and that he would love to hire me to do petitions for him.

It’s hard for me to believe that that was about ten years ago now. Because I still keep in touch with Eric to this day. Off and on, for years and years, as I would come and go from corporate software sales jobs, I would go in and out of petitions. Eric has always been there, and, in many ways, has been a major jumping off point for me with my life.

In terms of my music aspirations, two people come to mind (other than girlfriends who were always supportive, of course, haha): Michael Ruiz, and Cody Johnston.

These two friends of mine have always entertained my compositions and songs, even when they’ve been somewhat badly recorded and produced.

It’s been a fascinating journey with them, because over the years they’ve heard my songs become less and less amateur.

It’s been such a long journey, that at some point even I wasn’t sure if I’d ever really believe in myself.

But the fact that they – like myself – are musically educated helped me continue to believe in myself.

Website: see other

Instagram: https://instagram.com/themeadowshadows

Linkedin: currently paused

Twitter: n/a

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/corban.damukaitis/

Yelp: n/a

Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC7YfayaV7lb_ygNRONiAiXw

Other: lahomewizard.com
https://linktr.ee/meadowshadows

ALSO, I HAVE A NEW EP I WANT TO RELEASE ON SPOTIFY. I’m going to be releasing most all the tracks that are on that Spotify, but make sure to check out that Soundcloud link if you’re interested, because a lot of those songs are the ones that I’m going to be releasing on the Spotify.

Thanks!

Image Credits
Michael Ruiz is in one, one of my band mates!