Passion Drives Alumnus to Pursue Music, Arts Career

Christopher Maloney ’91

If you ever wanted to know how to make it in the arts, Christopher Maloney ’91 is your guy.

During an on-campus presentation about life as an artist in spring 2023, Maloney commanded his audience’s attention.

“Look this way,” Maloney said. Everybody looked left.

“Now look this way, now look at yourselves,” Maloney said. So they did.

“I just made a whole room full of adults do this,” he said, making a funny face. He had demonstrated the power of audience command, which is something artists need to make a living.

Maloney currently heads the Practice Warriors, a music mentorship program that posts instructional videos.

Maloney surveyed the room for a show of hands from those studying various creative paths. From painting to broadcasting, hands went up.

“You people are crazy,” Maloney said. “Because it is a needle in a thousand haystacks trying to do this.”

Maloney shared a story of his Oswego days when he once sat in Lanigan 102 for a lecture with Dr. I. David Glick in COM101. The professor rattled off the careers that had alumni working in the thousands, but when Maloney asked if anybody had made it in music, Dr. Glick said that he wasn’t aware of any.

In that moment, Maloney said he knew the path to success wouldn’t be rose-colored and fanciful.

“It is gonna be evil, and a total mess, and yet here I am, 32 years after leaving Oswego and I wouldn’t want to change a thing,” he said.

Aside from running Practice Warriors, Maloney has made a few starry friends along the way such as Chad Smith of the Red Hot Chili Peppers and Jon Stevens of INXS.

Maloney shared 24 tips on succeeding as an artist that he’s picked up along his life’s journey. Each point covered a popular worry in the art field from questions about money to confusion about backup plans and “paths” — spoiler, there is no path in art careers, only “go forward.” The first and most important of these tips, Maloney said, was to keep expenses at a minimum.

“Keep your overhead low!” Maloney said. “Your ability to take advantage of opportunities as they arise, especially if they’re not well paying opportunities, depends on how much money you have to pay out every month.”

Maloney ended by describing how one of the greatest enemies to artists and people in general is playing the “if only” game.

“We look back at our lives and we go ’oh, this is the one pivotal moment, that I could have gone, and everything in my life would be perfect,’” Maloney said. “Life is a tapestry of events and things that happen … but you just cannot play this game. You make the best decisions at the time that you make the decision. And your life is the consequence of it.”

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