[MUSIC PLAYING]
ALI RAYMOND: Being independent is a way of thinking.
It's a way of life.
COURTNEY STEWART: Everything on this earth
started off independent.
ARLO PARKS: Being an independent artist
is not being alone, but having a pretty kind of singular vision.
SINEAD HARNETT: I think being independent
requires being your core belief system.
[MUSIC PLAYING]
NAOMI ZEICHNER: You think about independence
both from a business perspective and also
from an artistic perspective.
What does that actually mean to you day to day?
Why do you feel independent?
And what does that look like?
COURTNEY STEWART: Everything on this earth started
off independent, everything.
Because your ideas of creativity are independent thoughts.
I mean, you could think about your favorite car,
you could think of your favorite brand.
It all started off independent.
And I think that's very special, because when
you do independent well, then it feels major.
It becomes impactful.
It becomes disruptive innovation.
And it changes the game.
But if we just look around to our favorite clothing,
our favorite music, our favorite stores that we go to.
They all started off independent with a group of people--
that community that we talk about-- that
came together with ideas.
And then it grew from there.
ARLO PARKS: I agree with you completely.
Because it's interesting.
For me, I think about being an independent artist
as having quite-- not being alone, but having
a pretty kind of singular vision and a sense of creative control
and a sense of where you want to go,
and then having a framework around you of people
who have that same belief and who support you
kind of on that journey.
You know, when I was growing up, a lot
of the independent artists that I looked up to, people like--
I mean, XLO, I remember paying attention to everyone
that they were signing, because I was
like obsessed with Radiohead.
And like, there was this sense of these artists going
to this journey of growth and of moving
into different kind of pockets of creativity
but having this framework around them
that they're always like, OK if this is what you want to do,
then we'll help you get there.
That's kind of how I feel about it.
ALI RAYMOND: For me, being independent
is a way of thinking.
It's a way of life.
It's a way that you approach your art.
And it's an entrepreneurial spirit.
And it's also a community, because whether you're
an independent artist, independent manager,
independent photographer, filmmaker, sometimes,
I really feel like a lot of them gravitate towards each other.
And as a whole community, they can kind of build from that.
Yeah, that's kind of what independent means to me.
NAOMI ZEICHNER: Sinead, do want to speak a little bit on that
as well?
SINEAD HARNETT: I think being independent
requires being your core belief system.
Whenever it was me at home alone with the piano,
that's where I really got to be myself.
Until you get to that place, which
has taken me so long because of maybe not having that support,
because of it being a secret from everyone,
until you get to that point, I think
it's really hard to be independent.
I think it would be even harder to be under a huge machine that
is telling you who you are.
So I think what's so special about it is you get the time--
even though it's kind of scary--
you get the time to figure out who is that person?
Because that's all I can project to get her.
It's not like I've got the machine to get me [INAUDIBLE]
kind of thing.
So it's a real journey of learning to like and love
yourself, because that is what you project as an artist,
I feel.
LYOR COHEN: Being independent does not mean being alone.
I stole that from Chance the Rapper.
I remember when he picked up his Grammy,
he said, being independent does not mean being alone.
It's like a badge of honor.
What it actually means is resourcefulness.
It leads with music.
NAOMI ZEICHNER: Absolutely.
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