Meet Suede Silver | Artist & Business Owner

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

Hi Suede, do you have a budget?

I don’t have a budget in the sense that I don’t have an allocated amount of money to spend in certain areas. I’ve found what works better for me is a spreadsheet system that I’ve created over the years where each week I input how much I made, and how much I spend, and see how it impacts my entire net worth. It’s supers simple but seeing the basic numbers really helps you make better spending, saving, investing, earning moves.

Its crazy how most people don’t get taught this stuff growing up (myself included). But it’s as simple as having a system that makes sure no matter what you always spend less than you make. When this becomes automatic, the stress of finances gets lifted off your shoulders. Then with more time and practice it becomes kinda fun and game-like and saving/investing gets easier too. Ive been doing my little system for 3 years now and its has (no exaggeration) changed my life. So I made a generic version of it that people can download for free and use for themselves on my website: https://www.suedesilver.com/shop/financial-tracking-tool

Can you tell us a little bit about your experience with the crossover between art and business? 
I’ve unfortunately let career ambition and some of the negative sides of Los Angeles art culture swerve me from my artistic potential. Music has always been my first love with art, and over the last few years, especially with the success of my tattoo career, I’ve been able to let music become about lifestyle instead of outcomes. I’ve spent a lot of time and conversation exploring what art is, and should be. What keeps people from contributing their best work to the world, and why it becomes tainted for so many people.

I thought about it so much I considered writing a book on the subject, then Rick Ruben released his book “The Creative Act”. It’s absolute gospel. I can’t overestimate how good it is. It’s endlessly beneficial, especially for artists. I’m so grateful that he took the time and energy to compile everything he’s learned in such a humble and succinct book, and even more grateful that he was generous enough to share it with the world

If you had a friend visiting and you were trying to show them a good time, what would you guys do?
I think I’d try to give someone a best “day in the life” with me. Like a glorified version of what a typical day could look like. I have to start by saying I think the best days are the open ended ones, where you really follow your feet and see where things take you. So this is just an example of where things could go; We’d wake up early have pre-breakfast, then do something active in nature; hike, surf, long walk, etc. Or maybe lift weights if thats the mood… anyways after that we’d go out for second breakfast at a diner, probably Astros. The rest of the day would depend on the conversation over breakfast, but likely it’d be about art, then we’d set out to make art for most of the day. Let’s say it’s music… so we’d go to my studio and see if come up with anything exciting, odds are something country with slide guitar and modern drums. Then eat barria tacos for late lunch, keep making music. Take a break in the early evening and give them a tattoo if they wanted. Probably also take fun photos with he backdrops in the studio. Then at night pick up mini kabob for diner (best kept secret Mediterranean food ever). After that end up at my house just passing around the aux listening to music and what we worked on that day.

Is there anyone in particular you can attribute some of your success or progress to?
I’ve unfortunately never found a mentor so most of my progress and lessons learned can be attributed to good reads. Off the top of my head I’d recommend these books for anyone wanting to grow in business, art, and life in general:

– “The Create Act” – Rick Ruben
– “As a Man Thinketh & From Poverty to Power”- James Allen
– “Rich Dad Poor Dad” – Robert Kiyosaki
– “Deep Work” and “So Good They Can’t Ignore You” – Cal Newport
– “Atomic Habits” -James Clear
– “The Compound Effect” – Darren Hardy
– “The One Thing” – Gary Keller
– “The Ruthless Elimination of Hurry” – John Mark Comer

Website: www.suedesilver.com

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

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

Other: https://open.spotify.com/artist/183Vkk9YIAAgV0q8vVlUnL?si=NN_BPvPgQbiQyUdr5dyipQ https://music.apple.com/us/artist/suede-silver/1205728890