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hello! i'm vigilantonie - a pop star, writer, friend. here's my financial backstory~

I love being fiercely independent, including financially independent, but lately - as you know - the economy is ~cooked~. I was born into a DV situation that my mum left when I was 11 days old. I started my life living in a caravan as a newborn, grew up on the kindness of welfare checks and somehow got to where I am by peddling the cycle of barely-escaping poverty.

A hustler not by choice but by need, I had my first ‘supporting-the’family’ job when I was 7 years old, delivering pamphlets. I busked every weekend at local markets to have pocket money. I learned that what others were given, I had to earn. When I got a supermarket job at 15, I was expected to contribute to groceries and bills. When I left home, at 17, I had $900 to my name despite working for ten years. I arrived in the big city with big dreams and huge potential, but I’ve spent my 20s catching up on something everyone else seemed to have available. It's not just the financial assistance, it's the financial literacy, and the ever elusive financial security. I'm learning all these things bit by bit. And I've also recently learned it's okay to ask for help - of any kind - so here we are.

I've dissolved every barrier to my dreams that I've encountered, but the financial barriers get higher the bigger you dream - especially when you are an independent artist.

I currently work two day jobs on top of doing all the jobs involved in being a solo independent musician. After rent and debts and bills get paid, I don't have much spare time or money - but I funnel all of it into working on this project and paying for all my own mixing, mastering, visuals and marketing.

I don't have savings or a back up plan despite my best efforts to build a safety net, because at the end of the day, I want to make music and I keep giving it my all. Whoops! But no, I think at the end of the day I want to create and exist as freely, joyfully and boldly as possible. I believe that's a right, not a condition of your parents' financial position. In saying this, I know wealth disparity and the current state of things makes it hard for most of us, so I really appreciate any financial support you can give to help me on this journey 💞