I’ve been involved in music since I was 12. I’m 37 now, and it’s only been in the past four years that I’ve managed to make a living doing what I love. I have a solo project, I run a label, and I work on role-playing games. Now I want to share some of that experience with you.

First session is free, I’ll send you an email packed with insights from my own experience, and hopefully, you'll find more than a few useful things. More info at the end of this post.

 

My label Rusty Pilgrim isn’t massive, but I’ve sold hundreds—almost thousands—of physical copies of my music in over 40 countries. Considering I don’t use streaming, don’t run ads, and no longer use Facebook (except for some eventual post in the Dungeon Synth group, the only thing that works) or Instagram, that’s something I’m proud of. I can't take all the credit — the Dungeon Synth scene plays a big part in this, it’s one of the few where there’s still genuine value placed on craftsmanship.

I worked in the United Independent Musicians (Buenos Aires, Argentina). For five years, I spoke with tons of bands and solo artists every week—I saw their processes, their mistakes, and their wins.

I’ve also worked on the soundtracks and visual design for role-playing games like Hell Night, Neurocity, and Black Rainbow Society.

Making a living purely from your art is usually extremely hard. That’s why I want to be honest about this workshop: I can’t stand marketing gurus, and the last thing I want is to be like any of them. I won’t tell you how to make a living from your art—because art and craft aren’t the same. You can make money from your craft, but your art? Nobody knows. You just keep going. For most of my life, I couldn’t do it, and I still have to rely on design jobs or I wouldn’t make it.

That said, I do feel there are a few things I can speak on with genuine insight, and I want to tell you clearly what you will find — and what you won’t — in this workshop:

You'll find:

• How to create a work with identity

• How to squeeze the most out of your own abilities and use unusual techniques to pick up new ones

• How to find inspiration almost all the time

• How to keep your excitement and creative spark alive despite constant, draining, and discouraging failures (no bragging, but I might as well have a PhD in this by now).

• How to find your audience—whether it’s a few people or thousands

• Why the idea that “you can't promote your work without social media” is pure madness

• How to protect and stay true to your own vision

• Why you should stop giving a damn about “productivity” and “content”

• You’re an artist, not a marketing expert. If you are both, great, but it's not true that you have to be.

• You don’t need to know anything about AI or new tech trends to be an artist.

In this workshop you WON'T find how to get more followers, likes, or go viral. For the last decades, we've been dragging around the idea that an artist has to be their own manager, publicist, networker, content creator, trend analyst, community builder, and so on. You don't.

Your job as an artist is to create something meaningful. Everything else is secondary.
 

About this workshop:

Write to me at rustypilgrimrecords@gmail.com. Choose one of the workshop topics mentioned above and up to two questions. Tell me about your projects, ideas, or doubts. The more details you give me, the better. You’ll get a proper reply from me, something useful, not just a quick answer. I’ll reply as quickly as I can. Usually, it won’t take me more than 48 hours.

That first email counts as the first "session" so to speak. If you want to keep the email exchange going and explore more workshop topics, we can do up to three more mails for $50 (also, you become a Rusty Pilgrim paid subscriber!).

Hope to hear from you soon!

Miguel Molins (a.k.a. Louis Glimmen)

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