Last week I wrote an article for Yahoo! HotJobs about a compelling new music video that features real unemployed people while trying to help them get hired. The video dramatizes the new single "Breathe" by Ryan Star, an emerging rock star whose debut album "11:59" will drop in early 2010.
While doing my research, I gleaned interesting insights from Star that I was unable to use in the article, so here is more of the conversation, followed by a clip of the music video:
Tom Musbach : What do you hope is the message from your
song and video for people who are struggling with
unemployment?
Ryan Star: The essence of the song is that
we'll get through this together. That's why the video has
real people going through it right now; it puts a face to the
problem. One of my best friends is in the video (the marketing
professional), and I think that when you watch it you can in a way
see someone you know. So I hope people take it personally and reach
out those who they can help.
You collaborated on the video with artist Jonathan Lia.
What surprised you about the making of this video or what surprises
you about the final product?
Jonathan is brilliant and really executed the idea in a way that
keeps the "real life" idea intact on film. When I watched
the first cut I experienced something I never have with my own
music. I got the chills. I thought, "Wow! This is great."
That's the feeling I get when I watch others' works that
move me, so I felt so proud to watch it and be a part of it.
Your participation on the “Rock Star: Supernova” reality
show was sort of like being in a long, public job interview before
many "hiring managers" -- the viewing public. What did
you learn from that experience that could be applicable to other
job seekers?
Well for starters don't do what I do when they kicked me off of
the show. I pretty much told Tommy Lee to f@*% off live on air. I
am not a fan of burning bridges, but in this case they deserved it.
They beat me up for weeks while the viewers had my back, and I felt
like he had it out for me from the beginning.
What I truly learned was to be myself. I was on the show for one
purpose and that was to do my best and let my true colors show. I
knew at the end of the day I had to go back to New York after it
all ended and had to hold my head up high with the work I did on
the show. To this day I am proud of all of my performances on the
TV show.
What was your first job as a paid
employee?
My first real job was loading trucks at Jones Beach Amphitheatre on
Long Island . The only real reason I was doing it was to try and
sneak my demo tapes into the dressing rooms of all the big acts
that came through every summer. The hours were insane and the pay
was crap. Bumping into rock stars and moving their amps around was
so humbling. I was so close to my dream every night, but on the
wrong end of the totem pole.
