Q: Do you have any nicknames?
A: Big “D”, Minister “D”, “Fingers”, “Snake Eye” and Pookie
Q: What has been your role in the music industry?
A: I feel like my role in the music industry has been to write and sing songs of hope and inspiration.
Q: How did you get your start?
A: My father purchased our family an organ when I was seven years old. Also at my father’s church I would sit on the edge of the organ stool and watch my Auntie Chaquila play week after week. I remember watching TV and would go and play what I had heard. I would play commercials, TV themes, game show music, etc…
Q: Who have you worked with?
A: I have been blessed to work with so many great artists from the Clark Sisters to the Winans Family, John Tesh, Yolanda Adams, Tramaine, Edwin, and Walter Hawkins, Keisha Cole, Bobby Valentino, Howard Hewett, Vickie Winans, The Mighty Clouds of Joy, Rance Allen, Vanessa Bell Armstrong, and the list goes on..
Q: Do you have a mentor? If so, who?
A: I must say that I really consider the late Thomas A. Whitfield (The “Maestro”) to be the person that served as my personal mentor. I would also like to add that Andre Crouch, Marvin Winans, and my father Pastor C. James Starks have greatly influenced my viewpoints on music as well as my personal and spiritual life.
Q: What types of projects do you enjoy working on?
A: I most enjoy working on projects that result in music that transcends generational time. Children, their parents, and grandparents can receive the music from their own perspectives but still love it and be excited and inspired by it.
Q: What have been your most meaningful successes?
A: I think that my most meaningful successes include receiving a Grammy nomination and being a recipient of the 2010 Trailblazer Award. I also consider my recent participation in the Germany GoGospel Festival to be a huge success. I was able to see that the hope and deliverance offered through gospel music really has no limits and can cross racial as well as continental lines.
Q: What are you working on right now?
A: I am currently working on completing projects for gospel artists on my newly founded record label.
Q: It’s one thing to write one hit song, but what does it take to make a career out of it?
A: I believe to truly make a career out of writing songs and hits you must consistently operate with a spirit of humility and exercise tremendous patience and endurance. It is important to be true to yourself and write from your heart and personal life experiences. Don’t be afraid of failure. Often times, you may write several songs before you compose a “recognized hit”.
Q: What has been your most difficult challenge as a music professional?
A: My most difficult challenge as a music professional has probably been starting my own record label. Operating your own record label requires much more than the writing of music and artistic ability.
Q: Your catalog is quite diverse. How do you find inspiration to create music in an authentic way for all of the artists that you have worked with?
A: First and foremost I try to develop a relationship with the respective artist so that I have a clear understanding of their innermost heart and spirit. Wherever possible I research the artist’s past styles and vocal performances so that my song will appropriately communicate the artist’s perspectives as well as accommodate their vocal styles and gifts.
Q: How has the music industry changed from the beginning of your career until now?
A: The music industry has changed dramatically from the beginning of my career until now. Technology has changed the way producers produce and record music and vocals. Even the distribution of music has gone through a metamorphic process. I remember as a child playing 45’s, but today the digital revolution allows us to listen to music via IPODs!
Q: How has a your role changed over time?
A: I believe that over the past several years (although I still reflect on the teachings and inspirations of my personal mentors) I have now grown to a place where I have embraced the role of being a mentor for others and giving back the same teachings, inspiration, and encouragement that have been given to me and account for much of my personal success.
Q: How has technology had an effect on your career (home studios, digital distribution, etc.)?
A: Technological advances have given me “fingertip access” to the gospel industry. I am now able to reach artists and audiences locally and globally instantaneously. I think that technology has created an awesome and amazing avenue to more easily reach the masses and infuse hope into their lives through music and song.
Q: What are your thoughts on the Performance Rights Act?
A: I feel that every artist and musician from the biggest stars to the working class performers deserve to be paid when their performance, work, or creation is broadcast via any medium.
Q: What advice can you give the young songwriters and musicians today?
A: The most important advice I would offer a young songwriter or musician today is to study the great songwriters and musicians of our past and present and to always write and play from the heart. We must remember that “what comes from the heart, reaches the heart…”
Q: How did you find out about Lyric Financial?
A: I found out about Lyric Financial through my Wife and business partner of 14 years…
Q: How has Lyric Financial played a role in your life? What opportunities or needs has it fulfilled?
A: Lyric Financial has truly been a great help to me. Lyric Financial has provided me the necessary resources to launch my company, Starks Music Group (SMG). Under the umbrella of SMG, I have been able to start my own record label and studio, acquire state-of-the-art recording supplies, develop new artists, and hire additional musicians and a small staff. At a time when our economy was experiencing grueling difficulties, Lyric Financial helped me to start SMG and continue the pursuit of my dream.
Q: Based on the challenges of the music industry today, what advice would you give other royalty earners if they have financial need? (either for living expenses or professional development)
A: I would encourage other royalty earners to seriously consider Lyric Financial as a wonderfully, viable resource to assist them in overcoming any financial challenges relative to developing themselves or their businesses. Lyric Financial offers a variety of financial solutions for artists and provides greater flexibility than traditional financial institutions.
Q: Anything else you would like to share?
A: I would just like to extend my most gracious and heartfelt thanks to Lyric Financial and to everyone that has influenced The “STARK” Truth. American author Melodie Beattie wrote, “Gratitude unlocks the fullness of life. It turns what we have into enough, and more. It turns denial into acceptance, chaos into order, and confusion into clarity…. It turns problems into gifts, failures into success, the unexpected into perfect timing, and mistakes into important events. Gratitude makes sense of our past, brings peace for today and creates a vision for tomorrow…” I am incredibly grateful! I pray that I can continue to do great work and offer hope and deliverance through music and song.
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