Musician and singer Chase Bell on why we need to keep improving ourselves in order to to attract positive people into our lives

The inner game and spirituality is so important and I am only now realizing this effect on my career and business. Society teaches us that other people are going to get you somewhere, or bring you to the next level, and while it is true that the people around you influence you greatly we have to remember that we ourselves attract people like us. So we have to keep improving ourselves in order to be comfortable and to attract different people into our lives. Make sure your in the music industry for the right reasons or else you’re just wasting your own time. I came dangerously close to “burning out” and hit rock bottom once, and I guess a part of me needed that experience to realize that in fact I am in music not because I want to be famous or have a lot of money but because I really love the power of music and am willing to dedicate my life to it.

I had the pleasure to interview Musician and singer Chase Bell. Chase has been immersed in music since a very young age! His mother was a jazz singer and performed regularly around NYC so Jazz and Blues provided the foundation for his musical approach. At age 19, Chase left the US and lived in London and Rome, and performed and recorded his original music which by then, had evolved into a more Pop/Rock sound. Chase has since cemented himself in LA where he is a critically acclaimed pop songwriter/composer who produces, performs, and writes his own unique mix of cinematic pop and funk pop. Chase performs his original music regularly in LA with his funk trio and excites audiences while singing exciting and sexual lyrics, while playing guitar solos behind his head. Chase has his own professional music recording studio in the artistic heart of LA where he records and refines his own pop music and the music of other artists and the music he composes for commercials and films, including Lucifer (FOX), various Lifetime movies, award-winning commercials, and PSAs while frequently collaborating with his sister, actress Emma Bell (The Walking Dead, Dallas). Chase just released his latest single: “Feels Good to Be Bad” that is available from digital music retailers, including iTunes, Amazon, and Google Play. Chase celebrated the hit single with a legion of loyal fans who packed Hotel Cafe Hollywood for the singer’s exclusive main-stage performance. We caught-up with the “Feels Good to Be Bad” singer.

•Thank you so much for joining us! Can you tell us a story about what brought you to this specific career path?

I was very young probably 10 years old and my Uncle was playing guitar at a family gathering and was singing a song of his own called “Town Of The Soul.” I very clearly remember saying to him that I could never do that and he told me to pick up a guitar and gave me my first lesson right there. I was instantly hooked on the satisfaction of making sounds and writing songs…

•Can you share the most interesting story that occurred to you in the course of your music career?

One of the funniest things that happened in my career happened the day before a performance in Italy in 2013. I had really pushed my vocals the few nights before rehearsing way too much and the next day was going to be my biggest performance ever for me in a small town in Italy where they expected three thousand people to hear me sing original music. I woke up the day of the show and my voice was literally gone. I had to get on stage and jump around and basically talk my way through the show. I learned that day that it doesn’t matter how you feel while performing it matters how you make the audience feel.

•What are some of the most interesting or exciting projects you are working on now?

I am always working on new songs, some for me as an artist, many for other artists and companies that I send music to. One song has been torturing me for about 6 months and I have re-produced the song 10 times at this point, but the reason I give the song so much attention is because I really believe in it. The song is all about “being yourself” and how that can be hard sometimes to figure out… I think a lot of people will be able to relate to the song, if its produced right.

•Who are some of the most interesting people you have interacted with? What was that like? Do you have any stories?

While performing in London I met an interesting musician who worked in a music studio in London where I worked as well. This guy seemingly never slept and was always working on something and I felt like my own work ethic was completely wrong. I learned alot from being around him and I remember him working on a song and moving a knob around and I asked him what the knob does and he said he doesn’t know yet. I hope he learned what that knob did…

•Which people in history inspire you the most? Why?

Jimi Hendrix is a huge inspiration in my life as a musician and influencer. An interviewer asked him “how does it feel to be the best guitarist in the world” and he replied “I try to be the best guitarist in this chair.” That really struck me as a good way to approach any endeavor, try to be the best YOU can be today.

•How have you used your success to bring goodness to the world?

Showing others that I can become what I want to become and be successful in the area I wanted to be successful in hopefully will allow others to let themselves take a chance on themselves as I did. There were no reassurances that I was made for the music business and in fact most of my life it didn’t “make sense” but thats not the point. I hope my perseverance and the stories I tell through songs will inspire others to go for what they want, and not to settle where they think they should.

•You are a person of great influence. If you could start a movement that would bring the most amount of good to the most amount of people, what would that be? You never know what your idea can trigger. 🙂

Gas consumption is something that really doesn’t make sense anymore and we are all responsible for the continuing use of it. Electric cars are able to take over the future yet we as a population don’t embrace it and that somehow needs to change. I would love to be a part of this positive change and destroy the oil based industry forever.

•Which tips would you recommend to your colleagues in your industry to help them to thrive and not “burn out”?

The inner game and spirituality is so important and I am only now realizing this effect on my career and business. Society teaches us that other people are going to get you somewhere, or bring you to the next level, and while it is true that the people around you influence you greatly we have to remember that we ourselves attract people like us. So we have to keep improving ourselves in order to be comfortable and to attract different people into our lives.

Make sure your in the music industry for the right reasons or else your just wasting your own time. I came dangerously close to “burning out” and hit rock bottom once, and I guess a part of me needed that experience to realize that in fact I am in music not because I want to be famous or have a lot of money but because I really love the power of music and am willing to dedicate my life to it.

•What are your “5 things I wish someone told me when I first started” and why. Please share a story or example for each.

1. Don’t listen to other people’s opinions.

People have great intentions but intentions don’t get you anywhere. Opinions are the easiest thing to find so don’t give them much weight. Everyone thinks that their opinions are really the right opinions and thats fine but your music isn’t supposed to sound like their favorite artist so don’t take other people’s opinions seriously.

I was told not to release the song “Party Like A Rockstar” because it was the first song that I ever mixed myself and didn’t hire a mixer. I am so glad I didn’t take that person’s opinion because the song got onto a Tv show and opened some doors for me. I knew the song wasn’t perfect from a mixer’s perspective but I released it anyway.

2. Don’t listen to all of your own opinions.

There is a part of every artist that wants to get better and better, and then there is a part of every artist that wants to be perfect. Don’t listen to the part of yourself that wants to be perfect because you and your music will never be perfect. We all struggle with being perfect, but at some point you have to let your music out so that you can focus on other music and grow from the lessons learned.

3. Focus on growth, not success.

Success is great and will come from diligence and becoming continuously better at your craft.

4.Persistence.

Bruce Lee said “I am not scared of the man who does a thousand kicks once, I am scared of the man who does one kick a thousand times.”

Daily diligence and persistence is the only thing that will save you. Most people can do the easy and fun part of being a musician but it’s the daily diligence of getting better and focusing on the same issues that makes great musicians.

5. No Plan B.

If you have a Plan B, you’ll take it, so don’t have one. Say sorry to Mom and Dad if your going into the music business and realize that if your serious about the music industry eventually you will find your place in it. Dedicating yourself to music is like being in a marriage and if you start flirting with other options in life you are going to hurt your relationship with music. I thankfully never had a plan B and even through the years when it really did not make sense for me to still be making music I kept making it and stuck with the relationship.

•I have been blessed with the opportunity to interview and be in touch with some of the biggest names in Business, VC funding, Sports, and Entertainment. Is there a person in the world, or in the US whom you would love to have a private breakfast or lunch with, and why? He or she just might see this, especially if we tag them 🙂

Would love to meet Tony Robbins and have breakfast with him on a plane. I could learn a lot from spending time around him and would put his powerful presence into a confidence boosting song. I got the title already, “Last One Standing.”

•How can our readers follow you on social media?

Instagram and twitter as: @chasebellmusic

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

Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/artist/57Y3Yk8FH0HglxHzvuCQn5?si=_C-7HKSaRiS_3yNYNOk_Kg

Musician and singer Chase Bell on why we need to keep improving ourselves in order to to attract… was originally published in Authority Magazine on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.