Meet Keith Summers | a queer creative

We had the good fortune of connecting with Keith Summers and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Keith, what role has risk played in your life or career?
I believe taking risks is fundamental to any creative person’s ability to grow intuitively, creatively, and in their lives/careers.

Risk can be seen across different facets of life. Say musically, I know some great musicians who never take risks in their playing. Sure, they play all the right notes, have a great sense of time, but their playing doesn’t excite me. They can become predictable to the point of, here comes that lick or phrase again. I like hearing people “Go for It” to express some idea and to follow that idea into uncharted musically territory. To me, that’s true expression. This tasks risk and the ability to deal with being uncomfortable. I find this true across all mediums of art. One reason I love A24 Productions’ films is because they take chances. Sure, sometimes the idea they go for falls flat, but I appreciate the artistry and risks taking in trying to follow those ideas without carrying about what people think.

As far as life and career go, I recently switched careers from working as a middle school counselor to a full time video editor. This was a huge risk financially, mentally, and artistically. So much risk involved. I’m currently super psyched though for the change and the people I’ve met as a result. I always like the visual of success as being this crazy up and down journey to get to where you want to go. You really can’t do that without taking risks. I will say that I really enjoy putting myself in uncomfortable positions and seeing what I can do. This is a big part of risk and what leads to the most emotional growth for me. I’ve also been diagnosed with ADHD and luckily as I get older, my intellect can connect with my emotional self to weigh out which risks are worth it and which ones are not.

Alright, so let’s move onto what keeps you busy professionally?
I’m currently a full time video editor, part time musician (gig wise), home cook and aspiring comedian. Not sure what I can say that sets me apart from others because I believe we are all unique. That being said, I think just having such a wide variety of taste perhaps. I used to get frustrated that I couldn’t just be more focused on one art but know I’ve come to accept that I just have an aquarium for a brain and not just a fish bowl. In some ways, I feel like most of my life has been trying to learn and recreate what I see, hear, and taste. I’ve also learned to relax more, not being so hard on myself, and realize how all of these creative worlds influence each other. I’ve also realized that the one underlying current that connects them all is timing.

To get to thew point to where I am today as a full time video editor, I would say taking risks is the most important factor, Ot’s been an exciting and scary journey so far, but I am grateful for it all. The journey is never easy especially since I do not come from a strong financial background. In some ways I’m still just getting by but the experience are worth it. This is also something people have to take into consideration when thinking of taking risks when working in some sort of creative field. To me, being able to be expressive on a daily basis is worth the risk.

The biggest thing I’ve had to learn, that I think others can benefit from, is learning to relax and deal with the anxiety of performing. Learning how to acknowledge the self critic and still moving forward. I have some strong perfectionistic tendencies, grew up in a strict family where the message was more around compliance then expression, and having been repressed as a queer person didn’t help. All these factors lead to some pretty intense anxiety and feeling so of inadequacies, which of course spilled over into my creative life. The self critic was strong for years, but I’ve learned to acknowledge it like, “Thanks for your concern, but I’m going to keep doing this and see what happens.”

I bring this up because I think there is this misconception that to create good art you have to be some struggling artist. I honestly feel strongly that it’s the opposite. I think the struggles can lead the expression. Like, what better way to avoid people then to be in your room working on music, videos, and the such.

Once I was able to be honest with myself about my past experiences, learn to deal with my emotions, and express who I am as a human, the creative parts of my life got way better. I’ve really learned how to relax into everything more, trust my intuition,. and not really give a shot about what other people think. Art is such a personal journey that I think the more grounded we are as who we are the more we can be truly expressive. So yeah, I encourage people to look inward instead of outward. I also have a great therapist who’s helped me process a lot of life happenings. Okay. that’s enough. The message, “Take pride in who you are, realize it all takes time, and learn to silence the self critic and relax into what you are doing.”

If you had a friend visiting you, what are some of the local spots you’d want to take them around to?
Oh nice! I would take them to Denver to the food warehouse by 27th and then we would hit Nocturne jazz club.

In Lafayette, where I live, we’d hit Otis coffee, walk aimlessly around Old Town fueled by great conversations, ideas, and then we’d hit Tandoori Kitchen for lunch or dinner. Shout out to my Raj at Tandoori Kitchen. He’d be a great person to interview for this too.

Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
Wow! This is a hard since I’ve had so many mentors in my life in the different parts of my life. I’d really have to give credit to my mom. I had a whirlwind adolescent experience filled with bad choices, unresolved trauma, closeted queerness, and all fueled by my adhd and love for adventure.

No matter what I did, my mom was always there for me, let me come back home, and believed in me. Sure, there are plenty of creative /academic mentors, but if it wasn’t for my mom’s patience and flexibility with me, I would not be where I am today. I remember our last conversation together over Chinese in NJ and I asked her way she never gave up on my when so many others in her situation would have. She looked up and said, “You’re my son. What was I supposed to do?” I’ll never forget that moment. She passed from COPD emphysema 3 months later.

Website: www.barefootcreativestudio.com

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/_keithsummers/

Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/keith-summers-679861231/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/summersk/

Yelp: https://www.yelp.com/user_details?userid=Fi9-ckPQ20MF31dk2o9-KA

Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCw3EfqPnO1AHc4acUiPj4AQ

Other: Substack Newsletter: https://keithsummers.substack.com/?utm_source=substack&utm_medium=web&utm_campaign=substack_profile