Today we’d like to introduce you to Collin Hauser.
Every artist has a unique story. Can you briefly walk us through yours?
I haven’t always been a photographer. And I’m not only a photographer. My background is in music. A Jazz Saxophone degree, two Grammy Nominations, two self-titled EP’s and most of my professional life exist there, with my 20s. Now, I am 31. And I can say, without a doubt, that my greatest achievement is having married my wife, Tennessee. Until her, I remained unaware of my own capacity for the unconditional kind of love. Most of us know what if feels like to be loved like that from our parents. It’s absolutely confusing. It’s illogical. But then when you find someone who can not only awaken a dormant part of you but has themselves been awakened by the same reciprocity, you begin living from a place other than your rational faculty. If my 20s dedicated themselves to developing my mind, then my 30s has proved certain to teach what living from the heart can be. Now, it is impossible to talk about myself without including Tennessee because, she is my heart.
Tennessee and Me:
We seem to be fulfilling the definition of a quintessential millennial couple quite well with the requisite lifestyle blog, a cornucopia of apple products and a cactus or five hanging on the wall. It is our hope, though, to surpass the expectations of our generation by making our side-hustles our main-hustles. We are now two years into a photography business. We shoot weddings, engagements, family portraits, bloggers, editorial and a lot of each other! We also LOVE video. We’ve gotten into a few competitions, as of late, requiring us to create video content for brand ambassador positions (You can find our work for cancun.com and the Wow Air Travel Guide on our blog at www.thebirdandthebear.us). It’s safe to say that this would be our ultimate goal: To travel while creating content for these kinds of brands.
M U S I C
I grew up playing the acoustic guitar and the alto saxophone. I played saxophone in the One O’Clock Lab Band at the University of North Texas in 2009. We recorded a record that year called Lab 09 that was nominated for two Grammys. I didn’t really begin to sing until after I graduated from UNT. I would have probably been twenty-three when I decided to really cultivate that skill. Then at twenty-seven, I released two self-titled EP’s as a singer songwriter (one acoustic and one full band). I began to tour the country through a college circuit called NACA (National Association for Campus Activities) and also as an opener to various artists, mainly for an artist by the name of Cas Haley. Go check him out. He’s the real thing. My latest musical project is with an artist named Stevie Jo Rosenbalm who was a Top 20 Season 6 Finalist of The Voice. We have a group called The Culdesac Kids. We’ll be releasing an album this fall! Follow us on Instagram at @theculdesac.kids for tons of awesome music and absurdities!
Please tell us about your art.
Two years ago, my wife taught me to use a camera. It was then that I found out that cameras are really saxophones. They’re instruments, very musical in nature. Once you learn your scales, you can start to improvise, create and tell stories. I’ve always been drawn to photographs, but I hadn’t taken the necessary time to develop it into a skill. When the first MacBook Pro came out, I took a thousand photos in each filter with the built-in camera. When I got my first iPhone, my entire body was constantly sore from the awkward hovering positions I’d find myself contorted into just to capture the light bouncing off some piece of wood or the exposed veins of a fall leaf. I was interested. I was inclined, but I wasn’t yet developed. It was the same way when I began to sing. I didn’t really grow up doing it.
I hear from people all the time things like, “I don’t have a creative bone in my body,” or “I’m not musically inclined.” It just drives me crazy. I share a belief with an old African saying, “If you can walk, you can dance. If you can talk you can sing.” Creativity is innate in us. We have a need to express ourselves. And we’re all self-curios about this primitive drive. I see so many people that feel drawn to being an artist. They even feel inclined to do a certain kind of art! But they’re either scared of not being good enough, or lack the patience to get past learning their scales. It’s a good thing that we’re not born with a finite amount of patience. You can cultivate that too. If there’s one thing I hope more people would know is that talent is overrated and patience is underrated. It seems to me that learning any form of art is really just learning how to be kind to yourself. And that’s something we’re all capable of.
After all my attempts at being some kind of artist, it is easiest to call myself a writer. Singing still feels awkward to me and photography is more cathartic, for a good creative buzz. Writing is where I feel most myself, most at home, most challenged, most curious and most in the process of creating something that might have some actual meaning. I am attempting to write a book right now. It’s about my wife. She is the thing that inspires me most. I hope you’ll get to read it sometime next year. She’s far more interesting than me.
Whether it’s a song, or a photograph, or a story I’ve written or anything else I attempt to make, I hope people feel inspired to be vulnerable. That’s what I think we all need right now. It’s spiritual medicine.
As an artist, how do you define success and what quality or characteristic do you feel is essential to success as an artist?
I try to live by the idea that what you aim for determines what you see. So, I try to aim high when it comes to the actual things I’d like to accomplish. Sometimes, though, it can get me into a bit of trouble. I can be, instead of inspired by the sight of the mountain peak, paralyzed in fear when realizing how long and dangerous the journey to the top will be. But then it leads me to another idea that I concurrently attempt to honor. We have the ability to choose how we feel about where we are in our journey. Viktor E. Frankl, in his book Man’s Search for Meaning, said, “Everything can be taken from a man but one thing: the last of human freedoms – to choose one’s attitude in any given set of circumstances, to choose one’s own way.” (I strongly recommend this book if you’re a human). So then deciding what you want to achieve and then achieving it is definitely an issue. But is it really success?
I can’t help but notice that some of the “most achieved” people in the world are, well frankly, miserable. Are they succeeding? I don’t think so. We all know a few people as of late who have taken their own lives after achieving millions of dollars, every one of which could have been marked with “success.” So maybe a better question to ask yourself is, “What’s the thing I really want from achievement?” Is it admiration? I don’t think so. Is it approval? Is it security? I don’t think so. Is it HAPPINESS? I don’t think it is. It’s fulfillment. To paraphrase Anothony Robins, achievement is a science, but fulfillment is an art. We can follow a formula to a desired result. We can eat this many calorie and burn that many calories to lose this many pound. We can read these books, do these assignments and take these tests to get that degree. Again, we can follow a prescribed path to achievement. But how to reach fulfillment is not so black and white. So, ultimately, I aim not at achievement, but instead ask, “What is fulfillment?” I choose an attitude of curiosity, of integrity and optimism. Because then, I can still try as hard as I possibly know how, work as long as I possibly am able, climb as high as my lungs will let me, fail or achieve, and either way still be at peace with my life.
How or where can people see your work? How can people support your work?
My music is on Spotify, Apple Music, iTunes, YouTube, Amazon, and most digital distribution stores!
Instagram: @collinhauser
Spotify: Search Collin Hauser or follow: https://open.spotify.com/artist/5LO7cenOjC73GL0USuP675
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/collinhauser
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/collinhausermusic
Stevie Jo Rosenbalm and myself have a group called The Culdesac Kids!
Instagram: @theculdesackids
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/theculdesackids
My wife and I have a photography business!
Instagram: @hauserphotography.co
Website: http://hauserphotography.co
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/hauserphotography.co
We also have a Blog!
Instagram: @thebird.and.thebear
Website: http://thebirdandthebear.us
Contact Info:
- Address: 1200 Mountain Lake Rd
Dallas TX 75224 - Website: www.collinhauser.com
- Phone: 9723337121
- Email: collin@collinhauser.com
- Instagram: @collinhauser
- Facebook: facebook.com/collinhausermusic
- Twitter: @collinthehauser
- Other: www.hauserphotography.co & www.thebirdandthebear.us
Image Credit:
Image 1 (Collin with camera on mountain): Zachary Domes
Image 2 (Collin guitar black and white): Ellen Wildhagen
Image 3 (The Culdesac Kids black and white): Tennessee Hauser
Image 4 (Collin with Saxophone): Tennessee Hauser
Image 5 (Tennessee with Vespa): Collin Hauser
Image 6 (Brandon in Malibu): Collin Hauser
Image 7 (Collin and Tennessee): Ellen Wildhagen
Image 8: (Collin portrait): Tennessee Hauser
Getting in touch: VoyageDallas is built on recommendations from the community; it’s how we uncover hidden gems, so if you know someone who deserves recognition please let us know here.
