CANVASREBEL.COM Meet Marten Andersson

We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Marten Andersson. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Marten below.

Hi Marten, thanks for joining us today. We’d love to hear about when you first realized that you wanted to pursue a creative path professionally.

At age 13, I saw Gene Simmons and his band Kiss on TV, I knew I wanted to be a bass player. Don’t get me wrong, it was a struggle to find my path, lacking self-belief, lacking knowledge and also the structure. I had self-doubts and fear just like everybody starting out in a new venture. I learned as much as possible working through the music industry and by asking a lot of questions, I read a lot of books and had some great mentors along the way. Little did I know that as I went on in life it became clear to me that being an entrepreneur and a music coach was also part of my path. The system is already there, you don’t have to reinvent the wheel, you can just make your own version of the wheel. The guidance from the universe (or creator) is there if you let it guide you along the way.

Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.

I was born in Stockholm Sweden, it was there that I developed an interest in becoming a rock musician after being exposed to bands such as Kiss, Judas Priest, Ufo and Iron Maiden. I had a passion for playing various different musical instruments but I considered bass my main instrument. At the age of 16 I had already played with local Swedish bands but I wanted more. By the age of 18 I moved to Hollywood and got myself a bass player gig with a National recording band.

Let’s talk about resilience next – do you have a story you can share with us?

The journey has been long and the resilience has been there all along. I found myself questioning my abilities and felt discouraged along the way. However, instead of giving up, I used setback as an opportunity to growth and learned from it. I took the time to reflect on what went wrong, identified the areas that needed improvement, and worked on new strategies. I tell my music coaching clients to not be afraid to set goals and dreams high. Don’t be afraid to ask questions. It’s always going to be a no until you ask. I feel that the people that make it in their lives and career are individuals who don’t put restrictions and settle for the conventional goals and dreams. The second part is to stay persistent. You continue to fight for your dreams, try new things, try different approaches until you get closer to where you want to be, there is so much positively even in challenging situations. (Even thought you might not see the results until you look back). JUST BELIEVE. Believe in your manifestation, your potential and remind yourself. Surround yourself with optimistic people with similar values och work ethic. You can create your own success don’t forget that.

For you, what’s the most rewarding aspect of being a creative?

The opportunity to express myself, communicate my playing and emotions to others through music. To go out on stage in-front of (thousands of) people and see their smiles, make them forget about the chaos of daily life for a couple of hours. It’s a large sense of accomplishment and pride that comes with being in this creative World. I can’t imagine not having the friendships, band and crew families that has been built over the years. Having this ability to connect with others through music is an amazing honor.