INTERVIEW WITH KRIST KRUEGER FOR THE EIY HANDBOOK

KRIST KRUEGER, 29 (Portland, OR)

MUSICIAN, BOOKING AGENT, LABEL OWNER,
 ENTREPRENEUR 

YEARS IN MUSIC: 17

ON THE WEB: selfgroup.org

CURRENT PROJECTS: Bands: Southerly, Krist Krueger, Krist Krueger Killing Hipsters, Sohn, 
Alleluia, Soundtracker; Companies: Self Group, Flyer 
Team, The Crow Agency

ROLES IN EACH PROJECT: Owner/ Operator/ President/ 
 Head Honcho – and primary songwriter 
 and operator of every other aspect.

WHAT FIRST GOT YOU INTERESTED IN MUSIC? It chose me. 



DO YOU REMEMBER THE MOMENT YOU FIGURED OUT WHAT YOU WANTED TO DO? I’ve always had a plan, though for a time that plan was to play in the NHL for the Chicago Blackhawks.



WHAT WERE YOUR GOALS WHEN YOU STARTED? Release records and tour the country. I was 13. Being three years from obtaining a driver’s license put a damper on anything out of town.



HAVE YOU ACHIEVED THOSE GOALS? Those goals yes, but there are always new goals that make their way onto the list, even while working to achieve the previous. 



WHAT ARE YOUR GOALS NOW? HOW HAVE THEY CHANGED? I remain steadfast. Forward! 



WERE YOU ALWAYS ON THE PATH THAT YOU’RE ON NOW, IN THE INDUSTRY? I love business; more directly the music business, writing and performing music. I’ve held so many different positions and operated numerous companies in different areas of this industry. I consider it all one and the same. It’s my path, it’s perfect and it’s the only one that exists to me. 



WHAT HAVE YOU HAD TO SACRIFICE IN ORDER TO DO WHAT YOU LOVE? Nothing I wasn’t prepared to, and therefore they’re not sacrifices at all. 



WHAT INSPIRES YOU ON A DAILY BASIS? That I am inspired. 



HOW MUCH OF YOUR SUCCESS HAS COME FROM LUCK? TALENT? HARD WORK? This question was answered best by Patti Smith: “When I work hard for something, I don’t like people telling me, ‘Oh, you’re so lucky.’ I ain’t lucky. Your ship comes in because you’re the captain.”



HOW HAVE YOU MEASURED YOUR SUCCESS THROUGHOUT YOUR CAREER? My goal has always been to make a living from music, the industry. I wrote it on the tongue of my Chuck Taylor’s when I was in my teens; a friend told me that it would come true if you did so. My “success” is measured through my own self-respect and I answer to myself alone at the end of the day. It’s part of an intense and embedded work ethic and the inability to sleep restfully at night if there are tasks yet to be achieved.



DO YOU HAVE ANY REGRETS SO FAR? No.



DO YOU HAVE ANY FAVORITE UNDISCOVERED BANDS? Yes, but you’ll have to do the legwork yourself.

***

Read Krist’s answers to 50 questions about music and the music business in the EIY HANDBOOK, available in print or eBook version at www.earnityourself.com

Leave a Reply