Today we’d like to introduce you to Haley Graves.
Hi Haley, we’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
I’m originally from Maine and started performing at local events and many bars growing up. I now live in Seattle and am working towards moving to LA to continue forward in my music career. I have to EPs, She Thinks My Pop Punk Is Cringey and Over that, I’ve really been enjoying performing at different shows.
Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way. Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
It’s had its ups and downs. Learning to adjust to the music industry at 20 was hard. I’m now 22 and I’m slowly finding stability in my career. I didn’t always have the best people around me at the start and now I have many healthy and meaningful relationships with people who do have my best interest at heart. I’m learning to love myself again and not try to change myself to try to sell records.
Thanks – so what else should our readers know about your work and what you’re currently focused on?
I’m really proud of myself for pushing forward when times have been tough. I played over 70+ shows in the last year across the Pacific Northwest. I wasn’t technically touring either but I’m so proud of everyone in my backing band who played every show with me whether it had been only for one or 15. I think something that sets me apart from others is how willing I am to work at a really small aspect of my career and realizing when I need to take a step back. It’s hard to be an independent musician and not always know when something isn’t working because you feel like you’re giving up a part of your career up to fix the other thing that isn’t working as well. It’s so important reevaluate those things and take the time to grow from them.
So maybe we end on discussing what matters most to you and why?
Relationships, support systems and community. Building a fanbase is a lot of work, especially within today’s music industry. When you put yourself out in a community and continue to uplift them, they’ll uplift you right back. Due to the COVID pandemic, I dropped out of college which caused me to lose touch with many friends. I was also busy working on building my career as were many of my friends but we finally got to a point where we started reaching out to each other again, to navigate this world we call “adulting.” Being able to open up to those around me about how I truly am feeling or the things I’m going through has made me a better person. I’ve learned there’s a likely chance they’ve been through the same/similar too.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.imcalledhaleygraves.com
- Instagram: www.instagram.com/haleygravesofficial
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/haley-graves-251603186?original_referer=
- Twitter: haleygravesOFC
Image Credits
Brittnee Lunniss Rachel Bennett Noah Correia The Homeland Obscurity
