Life & Work with Trey Xavier

Today we’d like to introduce you to Trey Xavier.

Hi Trey, we’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
I was born in the Boston area, and I’ve lived in LA for six years now. I started playing guitar at age 12, got the bug to create music around then, and pretty much haven’t stopped since. I followed the dream to Berklee College of Music and then Sonoma State University where I got my music degree, studying composition.

I started my band In Virtue in college in 2005, and we’ll be releasing our new album this year.

I began working for a YouTube channel/website called Gear Gods just before moving to LA, and last year during the pandemic I actually bought the company from my bosses and now I am happily an independent creator and small business owner.

Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
The struggle of being an artist and creative of any kind is the perpetual pull between making the things you want to make and the things you need to do to make a living doing it. The main struggle for me has just been living on very little money while building something I care about that can sustain me, both financially and creatively. I’ve always had extreme faith in myself, but after long periods of few personal wins, it can be difficult to maintain.

I was never properly homeless in the strictest sense, but there were long stretches of couch surfing and extended stays with friends while I worked on the dream. It’s always worth it in the end, so I feel lucky to have endured these relatively minor struggles to get to where I am today.

Appreciate you sharing that. What else should we know about what you do?
I am a musician, YouTuber, and educator. I have a band called In Virtue, and I’ve released a number of solo tracks under my name as well.

My YouTube channel is called Gear Gods, and recently the focus of the channel has been on songwriting, which I consider to be my main skill, and teaching people how to write better songs. I recently released a course entitled Complete Rock and Metal Songwriting that has helped hundreds of people get better at writing songs, and I also recently launched my songwriting podcast How Songs Are Made where I interview notable songwriters about their process. I also do weekly streams on the channel critiquing viewer song compositions, which are really fun and involve silly hats and wacky characters.

I’m primarily a guitarist, but I take a more holistic approach to songwriting that includes writing for all instruments, including vocals and lyrics, as well as production and philosophical/mindset approaches. These are things that I think are lacking in music education as a whole and are particularly important, considering that songwriting is the most important skill a musician can have, especially for making money.

Can you talk to us about how you think about risk?
Without taking significant risks, it’s incredibly unlikely that you’ll have any standout success. If you’re happy with playing it safe and having a typical 9-5 and retiring, that’s great – I actually envy you a bit. I probably won’t ever be happy with the level of success I’m at, so I continually push myself creatively and professionally, and that involves taking huge risks all the time, putting myself out there over and over again, and most importantly, failing CONSTANTLY.

But it’s worth noting that even the safe path has risks – major ones. Dying unfulfilled is infinitely more likely on the safe path. Becoming stale and miserable in an unhappy marriage with kids and a mortgage and no life direction is a near certainty it seems. And even after doing everything you’re supposed to do, working hard in a “safe” job with a 401k, you can still get laid off and lose everything.

I’ve taken many big risks – moving all the way across the country right out of high school, quitting my job after college and going on tour for a month just before moving to LA, taking out a sizable loan to buy the business I worked for – and every single time, my life has gotten orders of magnitude better.

I’m lucky to have a great support system – my parents and friends would never let me fall so far that I wouldn’t be able to recover. Not everyone has that, and it could make you very risk-averse, which I understand. But I think it is nearly impossible to grow without taking risks.

Pricing:

• Complete Rock and Metal Songwriting – $350

Contact Info:

• Website: www.howsongsaremade.com
• Instagram: https://instagram.com/geargodsnet
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/geargods
• Youtube: www.youtube.com/geargods
• Other: www.geargods.net