Is it weird to model your career after a musician? Good

 

Some people model their careers after thought leaders, CMOs, or iconic CEOs.

Me? I picked a musician who wrote about girls and parks and identity crises in the ’90s, founded a virtual band, composed an opera, and somehow made all of it make sense. Damon Albarn is my anti-template. And also, very much, my template.

He’s multidisciplinary. He’s unpredictable. He’s still deeply trusted.
And that’s exactly the kind of career I want.

Albarn didn’t pick a lane — he paved his own road. He went from Britpop frontman in Blur to voice and brain behind Gorillaz (a band made of cartoon avatars), to scoring operas, to collaborating with African collectives and musicians in Mali long before “cross-cultural collabs” became a trend. He didn’t just stay relevant — he stayed interesting. And that's much harder.

Most people see a career as a ladder. He made it a collage.

And through that, he built something rare: longevity without rigidity. A body of work that’s constantly evolving but always unmistakably his. A style, yes. But more than that, a spirit.

That’s the kind of energy I try to bring to my own creative work. To branding. To marketing. To storytelling. And honestly, it’s what I want to help other people unlock in themselves, too.

Because being multidisciplinary isn’t messy — not if there’s intention. Being unpredictable isn’t risky — not if you’re consistent with your values. And being cool doesn’t mean being cold — Albarn is also a present dad, a mentor to new artists, and someone who genuinely shows up for people.

He's proof you can build a legacy and be low-key. Be successful and soulful. That you don’t need to explain every decision, over-strategize every post, or burn out trying to stay in a box you never fit in.

So yes, I model my career after a musician.
Not because I want to be famous, but because I want to be free.

Free to reinvent. Free to experiment. Free to go weird. Free to go deep. Free to mean something.
And free to be trusted even when no one quite knows what’s coming next — but they still know it’ll be good.

Just like Damon.