Buxton man’s gig a day for a year has changed him for better
A Buxton man who is trying to grow his audience and find his place in the music industry by performing a gig a day is now more than half way through his year long challenge.
Isaac Neilson is a singer, song writer and performer and for the last 240 days he has performed a gig every single day.
The 26-year-old who went to Buxton Community School said: “This challenge has been one of the greatest things I have done and I’m so proud of sticking with it.” The premise is simple, Isaac wants to gig every single day for a year to improve his craft, show people he is serious about making music and widen his audience.
He said: “I played at Y Not last summer and that was to about 1,500 people and it was amazing but one big gig doesn’t mean a big break.
“You see people talk about being overnight successes but that's never the case. There is a person with a dream who puts the hours in and then they make it and that’s what I’m doing now.
“People in the industry say you shouldn’t tour all the time or you will become diluted but I disagree.
“I have travelled up and down the country gigging and sometimes to a handful of people sometimes to a couple of hundred but I’m showing up for myself and meeting new people who are backing me and listening to me and believing in my dream.”
He said: “There have been times when I didn’t think I would get a gig but I haven’t failed yet.”
He says some of his highlights of the year include playing for Reverend And The Makers when they were playing in Meadowhall.
He could not get booked as a musician so queued up to meet them and when they heard of his plight allowed him a chance to play.
He said: “The music industry isn’t made for people like me from a working class background.
“But I’m changing that, people are noticing me and now I’m getting asked to do gigs which is insane.”
In early August Isaac played as a support act for Cast, the indie band from the 1990s where he sang to more than 500 people - a moment he called ‘mindblowing’.
He will also be travelling to America in September for three weeks of gigs.
“I’m showing that it can be done and you can create your own momentum.”
He says when he started this back in January he had just a hundred or so followers; now he has a mailing list with 1,500 people as well as thousands of followers across all platforms.
Isaac makes daily videos showing his gig of the day and he notes the harder he works the more work there is to do with videos and editing but says he loves it.
He will be releasing an album next January after the challenge finishes and says with pre-sales and the momentum he has, which he hopes will keep growing, he says a number one album is his next target.
To stay up to date with Isaac follow him on social or isaacneilson.co.uk