Today we’d like to introduce you to Swam Lewis.
Alright, so thank you so much for sharing your story and insight with our readers. To kick things off, can you tell us a bit about how you got started?
I got my start in Michigan as a music artist and audio engineer, working regular nine-to-fives — plumber, pizza delivery, whatever — while saving up to eventually move to LA and try to “chase my dreams” (I know it sounds so generic). In 2020, I sold my car and alot of my extra belongings and bought a one-way ticket. I ended up stuck living in a friend’s living room cause a week after I got to LA…the pandemic hit, but the whole house was full of artists, so we spent that time just creating — basically all of us made albums & shot music videos while in quarantine.
Once things calmed down, I met a friend who was doing freelance video work, and since I’d already been shooting / editing visuals to promote my own music, we started shooting together — cannabis events, other rappers, streetwear brands… basically anything we could shoot. When he eventually moved back to Michigan, I bought my own camera gear and kept going solo, and it snowballed from there. Around the same time, I landed an internship at a label/studio house working as an audio engineer with rappers, which I mostly used to connect dots to work with bigger artists and grow my video portfolio on the side — that’s what really built my name and client base.
After the studio closed down, I had enough clients to stay busy on my own. Today, all my income comes from creative work — music videos and short-form content for rock and rap artists — which also funds my own music career. It took six years to get here, and I’m grateful for what I get to do. My music career has kept growing right alongside the creative work, and I’m still just as involved in it as ever. Lately I’ve been writing film ideas and pushing further into directing — bigger music videos, actual short films, and TV pilots — that’s the direction I’m building toward next.
Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
I’ve definitely had some struggles over the years… The most recent one was losing my dad to cancer this February, he was a HUGE part of my life and support system. When he died it really took away a lot of my ambition and reasons to feel inspired, and I’m still struggling with this. Another struggle I’ve dealt with is just finding a clientele and solid / trustworthy people to team up and work with. In LA there’s loads of people that want to use you or get free work & knowledge out of you and that can be really draining and make you want to just give up at times. To be honest tho… I’ve always been one of those people that tend to have certain things just fall in place for them. So throughout both my music and film career I’ve really seemed to be “in the right place at the right time” and tend to just meet the right people.. they’ll see my work and what I’m creating and want to get involved or hire me. It’s something that I’m extremely grateful for.
Thanks for sharing that. So, maybe next you can tell us a bit more about your work?
So I really do a lot of different types of work.. I’m a music artist (rap/rock/alternative), videographer, and audio engineer.. but I truly do any type of creative / design work! Lately my film production business has been growing a lot so I’ve been putting most of my energy into that. I’d say I specialize in music based videos.. I shoot, direct and edit a lot of music videos and short form content for rap & rock artists/bands. People know me from my songs “Vices” and my most recent record “The Internet”. To be honest I’m super proud of the last few singles I’ve released, also the most recent music videos that I shot/directed/edited: “Say Hello to My Violence” by Izzy T and “Bad Intentions” by FAIA. I think what sets me apart from other creatives is that I’m so multi faceted and I have the ability to truly bring my, and other artists visions to life.
We’d love to hear about how you think about risk taking?
I think you have to take risks to bring REAL change into your life! Otherwise you’ll just be stuck in a cycle, swimming in the same fish bowl over and over. I think the biggest risk I’ve taken is quitting my normal job, selling my car and dropping everything to move from my hometown in Michigan to LA. I actually never even visited California before I moved here.. I had one artist friend of mine from Michigan that lived in LA and I just took the chance and moved! It truly allowed me to stay in a creative realm and make a living doing the things that I love. Chasing your dreams is always worth the risk, even if they seem “far fetched” or other people are telling you that it’s not possible. I can’t even imagine what my life would be like if I stayed in Michigan!
Contact Info:
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/swamlewis/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/swamswvm
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/swamlewis
- Soundcloud: https://soundcloud.com/swamlewis
