Daily Inspiration: Meet Evan Lewis

Today we’d like to introduce you to Evan Lewis.

Alright, so thank you so much for sharing your story and insight with our readers. To kick things off, can you tell us a bit about how you got started?
Your Story

I’m originally from Chapel Hill, North Carolina. I started writing raps and making beats when I was 12. My older brother was already making beats and got me into hip-hop early.

I started recording on that little Logitech microphone—you’ve probably seen it. The one that’s upright but permanently hunched like a socially-anxious flamingo.

Anyways, I was recording vocals while my voice was cracking, making terrible songs I was fully convinced were hits.

At the same time, a few friends and I were recording purposely bad comedic rap songs. So before I knew what I wanted to do with my life, I was already doing it.

By high school, I started getting a little better—emphasis on little—I was recording songs, selling CDs, and performing around town. In college, I kept writing, recording, and performing throughout North Carolina, eventually going on tour across the Southeast in a hip-hop/jazz band.

Growing up in a small town in North Carolina, pursuing a creative path like music generally wasn’t perceived as a realistic career option—and I think I subconsciously internalized that belief.

I kept making music throughout high school and college, but after college, I pretty much let it go.

I needed a “real job” and I needed money, so I took a job at Enterprise Rent-A-Car. It was pretty brutal—12+ hour shifts, weekends, washing cars at 7am in a full suit. After a few years, I hit a breaking point.

I remember making a reservation for a customer eight months in advance and thinking, “Please don’t let me still be here when that date comes.” The lack of fulfillment just built up until I knew I couldn’t keep living a life that wasn’t authentically mine.

I wanted to go to LA. I’d always dreamed about living there—and if I was ever going to seriously try to make music my career, that was the place I wanted to do it. I made sure I could transfer my Enterprise job so I’d have some income while I figured things out.

I packed a suitcase and a digital keyboard and drove across the country to Hollywood. I didn’t know how I’d make it work, but I knew I had to try.

Once I got there, I realized Enterprise was actually a networking goldmine. I was working out of car dealerships, and nearly everyone renting a car was in the entertainment industry.

When anyone rented a car, I’d guide the conversation towards what their plans were for the day, knowing they’d say “work.” I’d ask what they do for work, they’d say something like “music,” and I’d be like, “Oh, no way—I just moved here for music! Check out this song I made.” I’d hand them my phone and press play, basically forcing them to listen while I kept slapping the computer keyboard pretending like I was doing something, even though their rental contract was already typed up. Oftentimes they’d say something like “Wait… this is you?”

That boldness paid off. I landed a publishing deal writing 10 songs a month for a Canadian sync company and made some great friends there in the process.

I also met Marty Panzer there, Barry Manilow’s longtime songwriter—we became good friends, and he brought me on as his assistant to help teach songwriting at UCLA. I met a ton of people and made a lot of real connections through the Enterprise job in LA.

This was in 2019, and one night my brother called me after having 8 or 10 IPA’s.

One of his clients had just gotten a new puppy—a Shih Tzu/poodle mix, which is called a “Shihpoo.” He demanded that we rent a mansion in the Hollywood Hills and make a song and music video about this crossbreed. I laughed it off.

But the next morning, he doubled down. He found actual Shihpoos for rent in Agoura Hills, flew out, and we made it all happen.

The producer/engineer we hired to mix the track, Jeoff Harris, would later become one of my best friends and essentially my mentor. We became friends after that project, and during COVID, while I was back home in North Carolina taking care of my mom after her stroke, Jeoff and I reconnected. Everyone was stuck at home, and we started talking on the phone, realized we shared similar values, stayed in touch and became close friends.

When I returned to LA, Jeoff had an opening in his apartment. I moved in, and it ended up being a total game-changer. I spent months sitting next to him for countless hours a day, asking him why he was clicking what he was clicking, what plugins he was using, how to clean up and tune vocals, how to edit breaths—everything. I asked about every single move he made. It must’ve been so annoying, but for some reason he didn’t care—probably because he’s the man. I love Jeoff.

In 2020, my friend Jack, who worked for Cameo, called me with an idea: “What if you made personalized songs for people?” I believed in the concept and angle so much that I started offering songs for $5 just to build reviews, and build momentum. That eventually became $100 per song—plus higher-paying business requests. At its peak, they were a little overwhelming – great problem to have. The record for incoming requests in one day was 27.

Jack later sent me an ad for Songfinch, the personalized song platform, and told me I should be on there too. I hit them up, got accepted, and started getting a steady stream of custom song orders. I was doing Cameo, Songfinch, and pretty much every other custom songwriting platform I could find. It all started stacking. That became the early foundation for monetizing my music career.

In 2023, I was traveling through South America and worked with the creative agency We Are Social—they were prepping for a pitch meeting to land Riot Games as a client. They brought me on to write a custom song for that meeting, and they ended up landing the client. Their work with Riot went on to win a Webby Award.

That experience made something click. I started brainstorming how I could position myself more strategically—thinking beyond one-off commissions and exploring longer-term collaborations with brands, creative agencies, and digital marketing teams.

I was traveling and living with a friend who had recently started his own marketing consulting agency at the time. He and I began experimenting with unsolicited outreach, creating custom songs for random companies, tagging them on Instagram, and messaging their marketing teams on LinkedIn saying stuff like, “Hey, I made this song for you that you didn’t ask for! One love!”

Some of those cold songs turned into jobs—and the response was consistently strong enough that I realized there was something real there. That’s what led me to dive deep into UGC platforms, apps, services and approach these opportunities with the unique angle of custom songs.

Now, this is my primary lane. I make custom songs for brands, companies, and agencies every single day. I have stacks of packages in my studio sent from companies containing products to feature in original songs and videos, and I collaborate directly with creative teams to craft custom music for marketing campaigns.

Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
Naw. Matta fact, hail naw. It’s been like my favorite flavor of ice cream – rocky. Do ya feel meh? Rocky Road.

I used almost all my savings to get to LA. When I got there, I had no idea what a career path in music would look like, if it was even possible, if it could ever happen, or how it actually would. I remember being at Enterprise in LA for over a year, just wondering when—or how—the day would finally come that I could stop showing up to that office every day and actually make a living doing what I loved.

Then COVID hit. My mom had a stroke right before the shutdowns, and I flew back to North Carolina to take care of her. While I was there, I got laid off by Enterprise (best thing that’s ever happened to me.) I had no job and no plan—but I had time. And I made the most of it. I went all in, teaching myself how to produce, mix, and engineer music by watching YouTube tutorials for at least four hours a day, diving deep into every part of the process. That pretty much became my full-time job.

There are always obstacles and challenges. The industry is ever-evolving. My primary sources of income have disappeared overnight multiple times. That’s just part of it. You have to always be diversifying income and opportunities, staying optimistic, thinking ahead, and brainstorming creatively so you can keep pivoting. That kind of instability can crush you if you don’t have the mindset for it. I’ve built up an insane amount of resilience that I’m really grateful for.

That resilience is what’s helped me stay grounded and navigate the volatility of creating your own career in the entertainment industry.

Can you tell our readers more about what you do and what you think sets you apart from others?
I create custom songs for brands, agencies, and marketing teams—songs that grab attention, entertain, and create real engagement.

I merge music and comedy with strategy to create something truly unique that’s undeniably authentic, organic, and original.

I specialize in branded music content, custom songs, and short-form campaigns that need something truly unique.

I’ve created custom songs for over 500 brands, including Dunkin’ and 5-Hour Energy.

I’ve now written and produced over 1,000 personalized songs—one of which was for Carly Simon for Mother’s Day, which ended up landing me in People Magazine.

I’m also a voice actor. I voice characters for multiple movies and TV shows on Netflix, HBO, Hulu, Amazon Prime, Disney+, and STARZ, and I’ve voiced commercials for Spotify, Amazon, Whataburger, and probably more. Oh yeah – Raisin Bran. I luh Raisin Bran. I’ve also voiced characters in video games such as Nintendo’s Fire Emblem Heroes.

On the post-production side, I had the honor of handling the audio mix for an extended cut of Hulu’s *The Defiant Ones*, editing interviews with Kendrick Lamar, Nas, Snoop Dogg, Dr. Dre, Eminem, and more.

That versatility, openness, and genuine joy for constantly learning and adapting—is what’s allowed me to keep growing and unlocking new opportunities in this space.

What really sets me apart is the energy, personality, and love I bring to everything I do. I’m all in—every time. My work almost always includes humor, because that’s who I am.

I blend comedy and music in a way that’s natural and not forced. It’s never about chasing trends—it’s about being so ridiculously, unapologetically me that it cuts through the noise.

Authenticity is what makes work stand out—and what makes it resonate.

How do you think about luck?
Good luck has absolutely played a role—especially in moments when I intentionally showed up for it. I forced people at Enterprise to listen to my music, and that turned into a publishing deal and a songwriting role at UCLA. I made unsolicited songs for companies and cold messaged them—and that led to brand deals and UGC opportunities.

I treat every shot like it might be the one that creates another big break, because inevitably, some of them will. And the more I believe that, the more I take action consistent with that belief. And the more actions I take that are consistent with that belief, the more likely I am to create the results I’m after.

Here are just a few examples of how luck, timing, and unexpected connections have played a huge role in shaping my path.

I saw a UGC opportunity online for the piano company ROLI. The payment for the gig was something like $45. I applied and accepted it because they’d also be sending me their $250 keyboard as part of the campaign, and I wanted to gift that keyboard to my niece. That was the only reason I took the job. But they ended up loving the song so much, they invited me to perform at the biggest music convention in the world—NAMM. It was one of the best experiences of my life, and it led to multiple jobs.

I got into voiceover after reconnecting with my childhood tennis coach from North Carolina, Jensen Reed—a super successful voice actor and music extraordinaire, and just a really great person all around. Pretty much since I got out here, he became a mentor to me. We became close friends and started working together on music. He encouraged me to try out voice acting by recommending a class for me to take. I took that class and developed the foundational skills. This dude is so uniquely selfless that after I got signed a few years later, he would literally coach me through voiceover auditions where we were competing for the same role. Who does that?

After I finished the foundational class, he introduced me to his voice acting coach, Jeff Howell—a legendary figure in the VO world and an incredible human being that I’ve become close friends with. After two years of training with Jeff, he connected me with DPN, a voiceover agency in Beverly Hills, where I signed with them (thank you Jeff!).

Jeff produced my voiceover demo (even coming to my home studio for it), coached me through last-minute pop-up auditions, connected me with an agency—the list goes on. WHO DOES THAT!?

Similarly, Jeoff Harris helped me by teaching me a ridiculous amount about music production and empowered me to decontextualize how I saw money, encouraging me to always invest in myself even when I barely had anything in my account. He enabled me to create a career doing what I love because of how selfless, patient, and compassionate he was.

And finally, Jack was the one who started the monetization of my career by getting me on Cameo and suggesting the personalized song route.

So really, luck is in your favor when you’re fortunate enough to meet good people. That’s the real win. The opportunities are awesome, but the most meaningful part is finding people you genuinely connect with and building real, lasting friendships. The kind that don’t just help you move forward in your career, but help you grow as a person. People who aren’t just talented and willing to support you, but kind and loving in a way that reminds you there really are great people out there—and inspire you to be that kind of person for others.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.song-guy.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thasongguy/
• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/evantlewis672