(Interview with Steve Caron by Emily Tardif 2019)

Making a career out of your biggest dreams is something many people aspire to do. Some of them dream about it, and some others work hard enough to make it true.

Raised in Sept-îles (Quebec, Canada), Steve Caron is one of those who thought out of the box and decided to make a living out of his passions. Wishing to become a professional hockey player through his teenage years, it is in 1993 that he decided to sell all of his hockey equipment to buy a drum kit, « why a drum? Because for me it was mysterious » he said.

Growing in a family where music was omnipresent, Michael Jackson and Prince were his greatest inspirations. As a result, he began to practice and improve his drum skills every day for many hours, to catch up with his friends who were playing instruments for a long time.

He finally moved to Montreal in 1997 to pursue his music career. And less than a few years later, he got in a very bad bicycle accident. This unfortunate event, which he transformed into a positive one, gave him the opportunity to go to New York City to study music and perfect his drum skills.

It is with hard work and dedication that Steve Caron eventually succeeded in the music industry. From Canada to China, the drummer toured across the globe for many years with different bands like Pierre Lapointe, Alexandre Désilet, Radio Radio and Bleu jeans bleu.

Plus, in the last few years as he was getting a little bored of trucks and planes while touring, he widened his horizons by learning additional skills in order to re-invent himself and work on his artistic vision.

He is now a multidisciplinary artist; musician, graphic designer, photographer and video editor. These are various strings he added to his bow while staying in the creative field.

He also has a website « lecaron.ca » that is bringing together all of his competencies in one place. However, photography is certainly the area that interests him the most at the moment, « when I was in music I was playing other people’s songs, but now with photography, it allows me to work more on my creative side » Caron said.

On the other hand, he had to gain the confidence to go find opportunities in order to make his career grow, whether it was in graphic design or photography, « at first, I was scared to ask people if I could take a photo of them because I was worried they would say no. But it is with trying that you’ll learn how to approach people and one day it’ll become natural » the artist told.

« You have to be strong enough to accept rejection and not be worried about it » he said, and this is how he got most of his contracts, by asking for opportunities and talking to people about his company. Not being afraid to go toward people, giving business cards and trying to get yourself out there are the best things you can do to grow your business, « social media is good to promote yourself, but it’s not everything » he added.

Now, he can count among his clients, companies like; McGill university, Bleu jeans bleu and FIBA Basketball, « For the FIBA tournament, I wrote to them on instagram and they called me 1 month later to give me the photo contract » the artist told.

Self-employed for about 20 years now, the creator kindly shared some tips about how to get started as an independent worker; « first, ask for what you worth and don’t be scared to charge a decent price for your work. Because if you don’t get paid a fair value, you’re not going to do the work with your whole heart and you’re not going to have fun doing it » he mentioned.

To work autonomously, you also have to believe in yourself and in your company even if no one around you does, « in my early days, only one person believed in me. Nothing is easy and you have to work hard to get where you want, but it also has to be fun » the artist shared.

Also, you have to find a field you are passionate about and listen to your gut. If you want to have your own business, go for it. Because if you don’t do, you will always have the regret of never having tried it, « don’t be afraid to fail, because you won’t do nothing. Just close your eyes and go! » he added.

On top of that, the artist shared that doing exercise everyday is really important to keep you sane when you work from home. He almost never takes holidays and is nearly working 7 days a week looking for new contracts and trying to improve his creative skills. Thus, exercising allows you to have some time for yourself and it really helps the brain to be more efficient.

All things considered, he is certainly the proof that the wildest dreams can come true if you work hard enough, believe in yourself and if you are ready to make some sacrifices, « I prefer to make a living out of my passions and not know if I’ll have a pay check the next week, rather than having a 9 to 5 stable job that I don’t like» he concluded.

Lastly, Steve Caron still have a lot of goals he wants to achieve in the next years, like doing many photography trip in New York City and having his own photo exhibition to sell his creations.

But as determined and ambitious as he is, nothing is impossible!

Emily Tardif 2019