By Matt Browning

Melissa Mercer of Andover has become quite the familiar YouTube name over the past few years. Mercer is a known commodity amongst the circles of video production, photography in the world of music.

“I love the idea of making music videos as well as concert photography because it is a mashup of all my favorite things,” Mercer said.

Mercer began uploading YouTube videos in 2014 and she never had the intentions of being popular. But the evolution of her videos has turned her venture into a money making one.

“I don’t think I’ll ever rely on YouTube for a fulltime career, I will always view it as just another social media platform to share creative ideas as well as silly nonsense,” Mercer said. “It is nice to make a bit of money from a hobby but to actually make a livable wage from social media, you have to really be in the public eye which is not something I truly desire.”

Mercer is not quite sure where her interest in cameras came from; rather she recognizes she has always been a creative person.

“I feel like I’ve always been creating some type of video or skit ever since I was little and my motivations behind it have been evolving with me,” Mercer said. “To prep I usually have to be inspired by something to start working (such as picturing visuals in my mind while listening to a song) and the process from start to finish is lengthy but really just depends on what the project is.”

You can find her at Mel Mercer on YouTube.