Interview With Andrew Palmer, Founder of ILLDefined Artisty

A few weeks ago now we received a Facebook comment by Andrew Palmer about our freshly branded new website that went something like this “This is what I’m trying to achieve with the brand I started ILLDefined Artistry. Good look”. Like any good entrepreneur, Andrew utilized social media to spark my interest so I contacted him. We began to chat about branding and business to the point where it became obvious this up-and-coming interview would be about entrepreneurship. It was exciting for me to hear about the difficulties of starting a company from someone looking to achieve a fairly similar goal as Dapper & Debonair. If you’re interested in becoming an entrepreneur soon, the interview below is for you! All photos were taken by Andrew Palmer.

Name: Andrew Palmer

Hometown: Etobicoke, Ontario, Canada

The dapperlifestyle team loves to connect with others that share the same entrepreneurial spirit. What was is that intrigued you to want to become an entrepreneur?

One word, passion. I feel I never really was drawn into becoming an entrepreneur. It more or less has found me, as I have always been one to start a project out of having a passion for it. I’ve been able to find like-minded individuals who have seen my passion and wanted to be apart of it/push it forward in new directions.

What are a few of your favourite websites and why?

I gotta put 1LoveTO on there, shout outs to Brock and T-rexXx for doing the city proud. I’m on City On My Back, 2DopeBoyz, Pigeons and Planes, and Earmilk at least 3-4 times a day looking for new music. Then I have to say Bryan Espiritu’s The Legends League blog, because of how open and real he is. It’s really inspirational stuff. And of course Facebook. I need to keep in touch with friends, as well as I’m in touch with a bunch of artists I work with, and contributors to the site on there.

Tell us a little about your business and what you want to accomplish.

ILLDefined Artistry started with me, my portable cd player, and high school peers always trying to find out what I’m listening to since it was usually ahead of popular media. That turned into a Youtube channel for letting people hear the stuff I listen to that wasn’t available on Youtube at the time of me posting it. A couple of up-and-coming artists contacted me about posting them on my channel. From there, we discussed in heavy detail which aspects of the songs need to be worked on, as well as developing the artists as a whole in order to get them where they want to be. The website idea found me after I was getting bothered by the limitations of posting on Youtube. With all of this growth, I’ve been able to develop my thoughts on music into a brand that focuses on promoting urban arts (music, photography, poetry, clothing, etc) to the general public, while helping with the development artists.

The ideas of what I want to accomplish are more in the sense of the work I’m doing right now. However, those may change as the brand continues to develop and grow. Currently, my focus is on building the site to be one of the premier music blogs, meanwhile still helping the artists I’m working with develop to the success they deserve. Another goal I’m working on accomplishing is to create a compilation album from inspirational pieces (music/poetry) that has been submitted for my Words Of Wisdom section of the site, where all proceeds would go to urban arts charities. That’s my biggest personal goal right now, outside of that it’s all about seeing what the tide brings.

Whats on your iPod right now?

You’re assuming I have an iPod, haha. I actually have a Creative Zen due to the better audio quality, but that’s besides the point. Lately, I’ve been listening to Childish Gambino’s album “Camp”, along with Phonte’s “Charity Starts At Home”, Jazz Cartier’s “Losing Elizabeth”, a lot of BBC Radio 1 Essential Mixes, and whatever new music I receive from the past week or so. With all the new music I receive/find it’s rare that I am listening to something for weeks on end.

The world of business seems to be changing right now in so many ways. It seems the old model (design a product, find an audience) is being replaced with the new model (find your audience, design a product or solution for them). Care to comment on that ?

I personally feel that both models are very much in use at the same time, it all just depends on the industry and individual. I personally use the old model because I create an idea for me. Should others like the idea then great, and if they don’t, I still will be happy with the end result. However, for corporations built for profit margins, and not on personal accomplishment/use, building a solution for a given audience makes a lot more sense. With the old model there was always the possibility that you have this great product, but nobody has any use for it, whereas with the new model the possibility of small scale success is much larger, especially if it’s a completely unique idea, and not just a variation on a preexisting one. I firmly believe that the old model will never truly disappear, because large scale success requires people who were not in your original audience to jump aboard. For example, the Blackberry was designed for an audience of business people (new
model), but after the design and a few redesigns the consumer audience jumped aboard (old model).

Can you talk about some of the difficulties of starting your own business?

Two thoughts popped right into my head, time and money. There is never enough time or money when starting your own business. I’ve found in both my own experience, and through a few close friends who are also entrepreneurs, that you can never have enough time to get everything you want done/worked on. When it comes to your own business, you have to be willing to make sacrifices with your time, mostly in terms of sleep and socializing. When it comes to the money aspect, you need to be realistic. Some people have this idea that if I start my own business I’m going to be reaping in the monetary rewards. The simple rule is no, on extremely rare occasions a start-up business will blow up out of the gate, but most require a lot of time, patience and grind to reap the reward. That alone becomes a burden because bills don’t pay themselves, so while starting a business you still will probably need another job, thus taking more of your time.

On another note, with starting your own business, choose your partners/the people you work with carefully. They can’t just be interested in the idea, they need to be fully committed and willing to sacrifice just as much, including their time. That can be a difficulty in its own right because even if they are interested and like the idea, if they can’t commit fully with their time then it’s gonna put you behind and have an effect on the business you’re trying to run.

I always ask this… Any vices you care to share?

One of my biggest vices, happens to be that I leave things till the last minute. It’s a problem I’ve had all throughout my school career, however now that I’m running my own brand I’m doing my best to keep on top of it because I know in the end it will affect where I’m trying to take the brand.

Mac or PC?

I actually had this conversation with a friend the other day. I’m definitely a PC guy. Begin that I’ve studied Computer Science, I’ve even tried the ways of Linux but still came back to PC. However, if I was more heavily involved in the creating of music, or needed heavier duty programs for my photography/graphics work I would definitely be finding myself with a Mac, at least as a work station.

Which artist would you look up to most for inspiration?

If I’m looking at a music artist, the one who inspires me the most has to be 2Pac. I consider him to be the best ever not because he was a lyrical genius, to be honest he was only slightly above average lyrically, but because he had that quality about him that when he speaks, people listen. Everything he said, both in his works and candidly was well thought out, and you knew that he fully believed in what he was saying. He took on the role as the hood’s ambassador and gave them a voice.

Outside of music, Toronto’s own Bryan Espiritu has always inspired me, through his designs as well as his articulate written pieces where he bears his mind and soul. To be that open with complete strangers is means for inspiration in itself, but when you place that with well thought out designs made to get you thinking it’s even more inspirational.

Where do you see your business in 5 years time?

To be honest, I can’t even see where it’ll be in 5 years time. The way the ILLDefined Artistry has grown, developed and changed, in its first year and a half, has left me mind-boggled with what another 5 years could bring to the table. The best answer I can give would be successful in whatever opportunities may present itself.

What advice would you give to someone thinking about becoming an entrepreneur?

My best advice would be put yourself in a situation to succeed, being around people who are where or are going to where you want to be is motivation in itself. To expand on that, you need to get out there and introduce yourself in whatever industry you’re trying to get into. Go to every event, shake hands and exchange business cards with anybody and everybody. MAKE A BUSINESS CARD. That’s one I’m gonna stress a lot cause I’ve been in the situation where I was at ManifesTO and I had been meeting some artists, and everyone is handing cards around, then one asked for my card, and I said I don’t have one yet. Not only do you feel stupid but you also feel like you’re a step behind. Luckily for me he was cool and still reached out. But that’s not always gonna be the case. So I stress, make a business card, even if you don’t have a product developed yet, or are still working on an idea, the business card is something they can take with them to remember you anyways.

 

Ways To Connect With Andrew Palmer and ILLDefined Artistry:

Website: illdefinedartistry.com
Facebook: Like Ill Defined Artistry on Facebook 
Tweet: Follow on twitter
Segment: Words Of Wisdom 
Photos: Photography

“If you’re interested in getting involved with my Words Of Wisdom segment, an artist looking for promotion or advice, or just a person who wants to talk, feel free to get in touch with me by email at illdefinedartistry@gmail.com”