We had the good fortune of connecting with Fryderyk HD and we’ve shared our conversation below.
Hi Fryderyk, have there been any changes in how you think about work-life balance?
I’ll be honest that I’m perfectionist and that would very often cause work to overshadow everything else in my life. Don’t get me wrong – I still love to have everything polished to every little detail musically, but over the years I have learnt to make make quicker decisions about how I want something to sound, be produced or the choices for a composition. Taking things more easy has taught me to leave more time and live my life. Unfortunately, many people think about music as a hobby. For me it’s a profession and my means to make a living. I spend a lot of time working on music, practicing and producing but there are also things like building an artist profile, writing emails etc. I treat everything I do related to my artist brand as work. That was tricky in the beginning because I would think “I am going to spend free time working on my website or mixing my song”. As an independent artist it helps if you allocate time during the week only for these activities, just as if somebody hired you to do that. When I have free time, I spend it meeting my friends, watching movies or any other activity that lets my mind rest.
Alright, so let’s move onto what keeps you busy professionally?
Being in the artistic industry is very different from being an artist yourself. Your craft and technique is obviously important and one should always strive to be at a highest level possible. However, there are other things that you have to think about while being an artist. In my opinion (and I won’t argue if somebody thinks different), when somebody listens to your music, there should be something more to add to the story. The music is not complete without the whole picture of the artist. There is so much amazing music released everyday and yet every single song is unique, because of the person that created it. When you’re an artist, you should learn how to present yourself and your story to the world. How to gain that knowledge? Just by doing it. I learnt most of by releasing music by myself and as well as with my friends. Last year (2021) I released an album, solely with my compositions that I produced entirely and I am extremely proud of the work that I have done.
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.
My most favorite place is Santa Monica and Malibu beach. And it must be done with a drive through the coast, listening to your favorite music. I’d say definitely make a trip to the valleys too and experience beautiful nature around Los Angeles area. It always blows my mind how quickly from a busy Hollywood Boulevard you can suddenly find yourself in a quiet area surrounded buy peace. Universal Studios – an obvious tourist attraction. As a musician I’d definitely try to show and present the experience the local music scene.
Who else deserves some credit and recognition?
I think that any success and happiness in my life I owe to having wonderful people in my life. There is so many people that deserve a recognition. I think everybody had a little part in shaping who I am today and I always consider myself as lucky to have good people that surround me. With anything that I do, I am not alone, especially in the music industry where you need a lot of support from others. With the music that I create and produce, very often the final product is a collective effort of many people. As an artist, it’s important to know many wonderful people and fellow musicians who are part of your own supportive community. If I was to give a special shoutout it would be few teachers that helped shape my musical taste and decided to focus on two of them – Vadim Neselovskyi and Maxim Lubarsky. They are both phenomenal pianists and composers from Odessa, Ukraine, where currently war is happening.
Website: www.fryderykhd.com
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/fryderykhd/
Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/fryderykhd
Image Credits
Susanne Phan, Anita Wąsik-Płocińska, Alex Szugajew