Man On The Street – Henry Beasley
When your life is full of writing, acting, producing AND being the lead singer of a band, you’re bound to have something interesting to say. Henry Beasley takes a few minutes with M2 to discuss life, success and motivation in this edition of Man On The Street:
Age: 24
Occupation: Writer, actor, producer and lead singer of Balu Brigada
What’s your morning routine?
My morning routine is super flexible and entirely dependant on what I’ve done the night before. Often I’ll work on music ‘till the early hours of the morning because I find that’s a good time to write and produce music without distraction and interruption.
What’s the top three things on your bucket list?
Organize a Balu Brigada World Tour. Act in an International feature film. Ghost-write a pop hit.
What advice would you give your 20 year-old self?
Stick to your guns. Being diplomatic and polite can only get you so far.
How do you stay motivated?
I try to acknowledge every little accomplishment and development that’s been made in my creative journey; and surround myself with other creative people who are hustling in similar ways.
If you didn’t need money, what would you do?
I would pretty much hunker down and write music round the clock. And then travel around to different places collecting experiences and inspiration to write more music. I imagine that would eventually bring me to a point where I’d pursue other artistic outlets, but I think i’d always come back to writing and performing music.
What is the secret to success?
Have the guts to pursue the thing you want to do for the rest of your life even if it’s wildly ambitious and seemingly unrealistic (e.g. being a musician and/or an actor). I wouldn’t quantify success as a prosperous financial situation and an uninspiring work-week. Yikes.
What is the best bit of advice, or quote, that resonates with you?
“Don’t bore us, get to the chorus”
-everyone in the Pop music industry from 1952 onward.
What’s your favorite restaurant?
New Flavour on Dominion Road. Classic terrible-for-you dumplings and chilli-slathered goodness that make me weak at the knees.
What is the secret of living a longer, more successful life?
I feel wildly unqualified to answer that, but if I was to give my 2 cents, i’d say that it would be to find something that you can be passionate about, and immerse yourself in the culture and community that surrounds it; whilst also reaching out to other cultures when possible to accumulate a well-rounded diversity of experience. But again, at 24, how much could I know?
What makes you feel alive?
For me there’s not much better than having my lyrics screamed back at me by sweaty, tipsy strangers. I’ve always loved performing live, whether it be in theatre or with the band, so being able to tour my own original work and see people react to it is pretty invigorating.