Ghanaian contemporary urban gospel artiste Perez Musik has credited filmmaker Ivan Quashigah with helping sharpen his creative perspective, build his confidence as an editor and develop his work ethic.
Speaking on The Career Trail on Joy Learning TV and Joy News, Perez Musik recalled that after leaving his office job at GHOne TV to pursue music, he struggled to find his footing.
“I resigned to focus on music. But when I came back home, I hustled, still nothing was working,” he recalled.
His next opportunity came when he got a call from Farmhouse Productions to work as an editor.
“Then I got a call that Farmhouse needed an editor for some job. So I said, ‘OK,’ and I took the job,” he revealed.
However, just as he had experienced at GHOne TV, Perez Musik soon realised that a conventional nine-to-five arrangement was not what he wanted and resigned again.
“They put me on probation after three months. I’m like, ‘You know what? 9-5 is not my day. I cannot be waking up every day, coming to sit here.’ So I resigned,” he shared.
He was later retained on a contract basis, which led to opportunities to work with Ivan Quashigah.
“I want to say a very big thank you to Ivan Quashigah. He also gave me opportunities. He gave me the opportunity to edit very, very high-profile work,” he explained.
“He taught me a lot of things. Like, I got perspective from him, creative perspective. I learned that a lot from him and his work ethic,” he added.
While describing Quashigah as someone who could be demanding, Perez Musik said the experience taught him to appreciate the standards required in the creative industry.
“You know, he can be very hard. But yet, you know, that is for the work. And I owe him that. I’ll forever be grateful,” he appreciated.
Perez Musik revealed that the various contracts he received from Quashigah also provided him with income that helped him establish a barbershop.
“So then he was giving me, once in a while, contracts. I’ll go and work some more. I even set up a barbershop from that income,” he noted.
For Perez Musik, the experience was more than just a source of income. It gave him the confidence, exposure and creative perspective to continue building his own path within Ghana’s creative industry.
