A Singer

Do you have an ear for music? Singing in the shower at the top of your lungs can be fun but when you have natural talent maybe more than your neighbours should be listening. Discover what it's like to channel your inner creativity in the world of music with musical artist Dominique Nasser. 

DOMINIQUE NASSER: MUSICAL ARTIST

Can you describe a typical day on the job?

As I am not a full-time musician my typical day involves working my regular 9-5 job. Once I finish work I may work on writing some lyrics doing some video editing or posting on social media.

Why did you choose to be a musician? What or who inspired you to give this job a shot?

Growing up I always loved music growing. Interestingly however I only realised that I could sing at age 17 - quite the contrary to many people who begin at age 4-5! I think this was primarily due to a large surge of confidence that I developed around this age allowing me to not only 'find my voice' but to find myself too.

I believe that discovering my voice so late in life has oddly presented me with a huge advantage to my musical success. Since this journey has been quite a 'slow burn' for me I now know that I'll have many many years ahead of me before I 'burn out'. 

And as far as music goes now (pursuing it as a part-time career and all) it’s not so much that I am necessarily 'choosing' to pursue it but rather I believe it is one of my many 'callings' from the divine. 

I am continually inspired every day to create more and more simply because it’s within my nature to do so. 

What would you say are three key personality aspects or skills that contribute to success in this role?

Creativity empathy and the ability to think ‘outside the box’.

What have you learned about yourself through the work that you do?

Just how much I can inspire people through the medium of music alongside the work I do during the day.

What’s been your best moment in your career?

Being able to write an entire song in 30 minutes.

What can be hard about your job?

Learning to understand that no matter how much talent you may have or even how hard you work your sound is never going to appeal to everyone. Particularly to people within the music industry who will always have their own opinions and biases in regards to what sounds/feels 'good.' So a big challenge for me was learning how to detach from those opinions and continuing to create music that I loved despite them. 

What helps you get through the tough times?

By keeping an unwavering sense of faith in God’s plan for my life.

What is an aspect of your job that would surprise people?

You need to be able to wear many hats - in this day and age especially you can’t just be the ‘musical artist’.

You have to market yourself by learning skills such as photography videography basic-level music production and editing. The amount of learning never ends and for some people this can be an absolute thrill. However for others it may seem like a lot of unnecessary work and is probably not something that you’d be cut out to do full-time.

What advice would you give to someone considering pursuing a career in this industry?

Keep it as a side project to begin with. Every time I say this to young artists they become disheartened as to think that this means ‘giving up’ on pursuing their dream full-time.

What they may find relieving to hear however is that one day they may in fact be able to pursue their dreams full time - it’s just going to take a little bit of time. So in that time you may as well get yourself some steady work as a springboard for you to always ‘come back to’ (yes the cliché stands true!) allowing you to continue pursuing your music for the rest of your life. 

Want to hear more about Dominique?

You can check her out on Instagram: @neekacarla