Lobyn Hamilton, Vinyl Artist
Lobyn is a local artist whose primary medium at the moment is vinyl. He smashes and cuts vinyl albums and their sleeves into music-inspired art. A couple of his pieces were recently featured on the set of the hit Fox drama Empire.
It turns out that Lobyn was already very familiar with The Alchemist. He showed me a tattered copy of the book upon my arrival. Interestingly, Lobyn and I share a birthday (April 23rd). Perhaps because of that, if you believe in that sort of thing, we share some commonalities; particularly a love of music (with similar tastes) and an interest in finding something deeper in life.
Be sure to check out his site: http://www.vinylrecordartist.com
The following set of six questions will be answered by each of the subjects.
1) Some people call it a “true calling” or their “life’s work.” In the book The Alchemist, author Paulo Coelho calls it your Personal Legend. What do you consider to be your true calling, or Personal Legend?
For me at times it changes so often. From one day to the next. As you go and get these new goals and perspectives, you need to reassess what you’re doing.
2) When did you first realize that this was your calling?
When I went full-time as an artist. I never thought it was possible to be a full-time artist. What I used to do as an escape, was now how I made a living, so I needed to find a new escape. Getting what you want changes everything.
3) People often become completely engrossed, losing track of time or outside concerns while performing tasks related to their calling. This might be referred to as being “in the zone” or “flow.” When do you experience this most often?
Now that this is my job, I’m not “milking the clock” anymore; looking to see when lunch is coming up so I can get away. To me, “the zone” just happens. Being in the moment. I don’t hear anything. I don’t have negative self-talk. I don’t have anything but a forward motion of silence. It’s not positivity or negativity, just “sublime emptiness”.
4) What is the greatest challenge or obstacle you’ve faced in pursuit of your life’s work?
It’s all on me. There’s no one here for me to defer to. I can’t cop out. I can’t say, “Go see my manager.” Every impediment you have now, you’re just slapping yourself in the face.
You’re always Michael Jordan at the end of the night… You always have the ball. You’re not Steve Kerr passing the ball and setting up the pick. You have to make the bucket. You’re the star player. That’s the hardest part.
5) What has pursuing your Personal Legend taught you?
I don’t panic as much as I used to. I still have my down days, but I think I have the confidence in myself to say, “I’m going to get this done.”
6) What piece of advice can you offer to others seeking their true calling?
It’s always there… So, I love scissors. Ever since I was little. My mom says I made the first cordless phone. I don’t use a knife. I cut my steak yesterday with scissors. I’ve been drawing since I can remember. I have a love for music from my father. It’s already there.
It’s up to you to build this composition of what you already know that comes extremely naturally to you. All I did was sling together the dopest shit that I like doing in life that was really basic. I love scissors. That’s really basic. I love fucking up shit, so I was like, “Let’s smash some records up.” I like breaking sacred rules. I mean, you’re not supposed to scratch a record let alone beat it to shit. It’s already there. I think it’s so simple you almost overlook it.
You’re always looking for the billion-dollar idea, but the billionaire wasn’t looking for the billion dollar idea. It was based off a really simple idea.
Are you following your Personal Legend? Tell us about it in the comments below.
Subscribe to the blog, or add us to your RSS feed to follow along as we post a new set of images each day for the next 30 days. For background on this project, check out our first post in the series.
Your works are simply brilliant! I stumbled upon them as one of my peers in the industry was featured (Alex J.) I love love love reading these each day!
Thanks for the kind words, Keli! This has been a fun project. I’ve met a lot of new interesting people and gotten to know more about some of my friends. Just a few posts left in this April series, but I plan to continue this project at a more moderate pace. Probably once a month.