Shomee Creators Podcast

What is the future for young musicians? If they can’t make money from downloads, and very little money from streams, what are their options? Touring is more expensive than ever. Social media is saturated. And during pandemic, everyone and their uncle - including established artists -  started their own Youtube channel, in hopes of making some small kickbacks from ad revenue. It’s simply not enough to just be a good at your instrument or at songwriting. You have to be good at something more. My guest in this episode, Pierce Marengo, seems to have a figured this out. Still in his early teens, he’s on his way to becoming a veritable entrepreneur, following in the footsteps of artists like Dr. Dre, Jay-Z and J-Lo. I talked with Pierce about music, fashion, marketing, and how life experiences can drive both creative and business ideas. And why not combine the two? Would it be completely absurd for artists to think about getting Business degrees? I think it might be prerequisite. But that’s just me. Let’s hear what this young artist of the future has to say.   

June 15th is around the corner. California and several others states are planning to fully re-open entertainment venues, and there’s a scramble to book artists for the summer. And the question for artists and venues isn’t whether you’re ready with your new songs, and new haircuts, and freshly stacked bars. It’s what are you going to do differently? What new experience are you going to create to convince people to get off the couch, and spend their money on live entertainment? Don’t just assume that people will come to escape their routine of afternoon Zoom calls with a Bloody Mary just off screen. It’s time to think about your worth ethic. What are you going to deliver to your audience, and what are you going to contribute to rebuild your local scene? And for that matter, what methods still work?

These are the kinds of questions my guest in this episode might tell you to ask yourself. Jeff Lysyczyn is an artist manager, and music educator, and just about the most dialed in person I know in the Nashville music scene. There’s a lot to be learned from him and from Nashville itself about how to keep working, and how to work together. This was a truly enlightening and encouraging conversation for me. I hope you’ll enjoy it as well, and that you’ll forgive the occasional drops in audio. I could have re-recorded this interview, but like any live performance, and as Jeff would say, despite the ups and downs, you’ve just got to stay with it, and something good will happen.

There’s something I’ve realized after speaking with a number of dance and theater companies on this podcast…. Musicians, like me, probably don’t think enough about the space in which their performance takes place. Sure, they might think about the size the of the stage, and how close they’ll be to the audience, or maybe to the bar. But I have to admit, if I was asked put on a performance outdoors without a stage, and where is almost necessary to incorporate the environment as part of the experience, I’m not sure I’d quite know how to go about it. I might have to ask my guest in this episode for advice.

Winifred Haun is a dancer, and instructor, and recipient of a 2015 MacArthur Foundation International Connections award. Winifred is very familiar with creating site specific performances. In fact, it’s kind of her specialty. Her dance company Winifred Haun Dancers will be returning to live outdoor performances this May 16th with an outdoor performance at Pleasant Home & Mills Park in the Chicago area. And even you can’t make that, be sure to visit their website Winifred Haun dot org, to get access to their channel on Vimeo where you watch videos that give you and inside look at the creative process of choreographing a performance of this kind. But first let’s hear from Winnie herself about what that process is. And… Musicians… pay attention!

My guest in this episode is one of these rare success stories of working musician. And by “working”, I don’t mean he’s just able to get paying gigs playing in a cover band, or make a few bucks from youtube streams. I mean someone who’s legitimately credited on albums by artists like Red Hot Chili Peppers, Green Day, Tom Petty, Linkin Park, and the list goes on. Michael Hateley is a guy who’s worn a lot of hats. He’s had a record deal and toured as member of the punk band Extra Fancy, he’s worked for Warner Bros. Studios as an engineer, he’s been involved in an independent film project that was picked up by Netflix, and now he has his own audio mastering business in Los Angeles with clients like Atlantic Records, Warner Brothers, and Sire. I asked Michael to be on this podcast to shed some light on what working in the “biz” really means, and how you can carve out a real career if you just follow some basic steps. The first one being, listen to this podcast in its entirety. Learn from someone who’s being doing this before a streaming channel even existed, and what he thinks the future looks like. The good news is that’s always going to be filled with opportunities for those who know where to look for them.

It’s April, and we hear the news every day that large social gatherings are going to be possible again very soon. So does this mean it’s too late to get into the virtual game? Has the opportunity for offering online classes and events to anyone and anywhere passed you by? Or is there still a chance to get on board and double-down on all the lessons learned from this last year, and do what you’ve always wanted to do? In the case of my guest in this episode, Caitlin Gill, that goal was to elevate her role as a meditation instructor into a personal coach. Caitlin talks about what that transition was like and what tools she was able to draw upon to make it happen, both personal and technical. Her story, not unlike her workshops, is about transformation… something we’re all probably still undergoing on some level or another. But I don’t want to make it sound easy. Transformation takes work, as Caitlin herself teaches. And in this episode, we’ll learn about where that work begins. 

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Musicians, let’s be honest with ourselves. Most of us suck at doing livestreams. It’s not entirely our fault. Technology isn’t our main medium, and we had no time to prepare for this before pandemic, nor was anyone one around to teach us. But in a good way, it’s forced us to look at  what we’re doing well and not well as performers in general. For example, do you know how to read your audience? Do you know why some of your songs go over better with an audience than others? Do you play to the camera or ignore the camera? 

My guest in this episode, John Mollenhauer, is probably the first musician that I know of to start his own livestream show... and that was over four years ago. So not only is he an expert in this topic, he’s also a veteran live performer and author of his own book about liver performance called Performance Matters. If only we all had seen this pandemic coming, we could have gone to him for advice earlier. But nonetheless, he’s got some great lessons learned to share, and the second half of this interview will get into some of the technical aspects of doing a decent live-stream show, which I’m sure just about everyone listening will gain something from. So before you go blowing your next paycheck on new gear and wigs (if that’s your thing), spend this next half hour with John.

Here’s an easy, no brainer business plan. Get a couple hundred acres of property out in the country, ideally near a river or a lake, add a couple of porta-pottys, install and few faucets, and throw out some inner-tubes, and now you’ve got a campground. Now, invite event promoters to rent your property to organize their own music festivals or adventure events. Make it a policy that everyone has to leave the grounds just as they found them. Give everyone a colored wristband to signal to others what is the comfort level with distancing. Then, just let them do their thing. You wouldn’t hardly have to hire your own staff, and since its your personal property, you won’t be under the same scrutiny as public venues. It seems almost fail safe, right? My guest in this episode, Lance Cauble of Water Mountain Camping Grounds in Belle MO, can answer that because that’s exactly what he and his wife did in 2016. Lance was probably one of the fews places in MO that could operate last year, and they seem to be getting bookings again for summer. But is it really the working vacation life that it sounds cracked up to be? 

You’ve probably seen S. Robert Morgan on the hit TV show The Wire, or in the Marvel Universe series Luke Cage. But what you don’t know about him is that he’s the founder and Artistic Director of The Essential Theater in Washington D.C. It’s mission is to use theater as a vehicle to express the African-American experience, and to educate youths about realities outside of theater. For example, teaching kids in D.C.’s economically depressed areas about managing their own finances, and how to achieve positive levels of self-esteem. S. Robert uses the power of story-telling to ignite the imaginations of young people, and he’s proven that drama can even be used as a form of psycho-therapy. Yeah… this conversation ran very deep. And I haven’t even gotten to the part about how he directs his own productions while being sight impaired. Seriously, are you ready to be blown away? Spend the next 25 minutes with S. Robert.

If I think back to this time last year when we were all fighting over toilet paper while we had no idea we wouldn’t get to see live shows for several months, it’s hard to believe we weren’t fighting over vinyl records instead. My guest in this episode is Paige Brodsky of Streetlight Records shop in Santa Cruz, CA. When I first approached Paige to be on the podcast, I had in mind that I would talk to her about how her record store has weathered all the changes of the music industry in the last couple of decades. Certainly there are some great lessons to be learned from her about expanding your market, partnering with other entities and trade associations, and leveraging relationships within your community. But I have to admit, the most fun part of our conversation was just geeking out about music, about collecting vinyl and listening to music, and experiencing live shows, and collecting ticket stubs, and sharing all of these experiences with other people. There are so many dimensions to it that streaming and social media sites will never be able to replace. And that’s why record shops like Streetlight exist. For a lot of people and even today, it’s where the experience begins. So, here’s what I suggest you do for this episode: heat up your lava lamp, and let’s turn on, tune in, and geek out about music!

Starting today, at the end of the day, write down three positive things that happened to you. Why are you doing this? To train your brain to look for patterns, in this case, positive things in your life. If you do it regularly, it can be very powerful for self-care, and developing tools for communication and for creativity. You might already be thinking is this just another feel-good “mindfulness” practice that you hear at corporate retreats or an Anthony Robbins seminar. But, believe it or not, this is a skill of improvisation, and it’s one of twelve key practices taught by my guest, Happiness Coach Pam Victor, in a program she calls the "The 30-Day Happiness Experiment”. It’s only one of many workshops she teaches, along with hosting a several weekly comedy improv shows. Every independent artist should as busy as she is, and in this episode, we’ll find out where all her positive thinking and energy comes from.

Everyone has a ritual. For some, it’s going to church or temple every week. For some, it’s going to the gym. And for others, like the supporters of Rockaway Theatre Company in Queens, it’s experiencing art in some form or another. My guest today is Frank Caiati, actor and performer, recently turned instructor, talks about his theater company discovered in 2020 exactly what they meant to their community, and what deep connections they had with their audiences. When the pandemic forced entertainment venues into lockdown, the members of Rockaway Theatre opened their windows, and found they could connect with audiences offering classes online, not even related to acting. And in doing so, they challenged themselves as artists in ways they might never have thought to do. You see, art isn’t just entertainment. It’s another very powerful way that we all get to experience being a part of life. And in one of the most divisive times in our recent history, some artists are stepping up to remind us that like life itself, Art finds a way.

Let’s just come out and say it. Social media isn’t social anymore. I’m not even sure what part it really plays in our lives today. Luckily video conferencing platforms like Zoom exist, and have finally taken off, and - as Mark Zuckerberg keeps repeating in Senate hearings - have given us a new way of connecting with the people we care about. Just ask my guest in this episode, Alethea Lawton, owner of Neptune’s Daughter, a spiritual retreat center based in the U.K. In the last year, not only was she able to expand her business through offering online workshops, but it’s allowed her to get access to people and experiences that might not have been available to her before the pandemic forced everyone to take their businesses online and across the globe. So as a meditation instructor and spiritual healer, is she saying that someone could actually have a transformational experience over a Zoom call. Well, why not? And if that’s possible, then what’s possible for your business or what you’re trying to personally achieve?

Taxes are coming up and I wanted to share this resource about taxes and finances! Personal and Business coach Rose Slam! Johnson is running a coaching group to support small business owners to file their taxes on time and with ease this year. In this program, you'll be supported in improving the overall health and wellbeing of your finances for the indefinite future. If you're procrastinating on getting your 2020 taxes done, this will help. Whether you prefer DIY or work with an accountant, it will help you set up systems and change your thinking so it is easier for years to come. Learn more by following the link below.

We can already imagine a day when traditional classes might become obsolete. Like live performances, the pandemic forced Education to move online, and be available over any distance. But as simple as it sounds, for organizations like Chickenshed, that that offers programs designed for children and youths with mixed abilities, there are some very unique challenges to address. For example, how to teach movement to a child that has limited mobility, or how to help a child that is non-verbal feel included? My guest in this episode, Elaine Finkletaub, talks about how Chickenshed has remained unbreakable in its mission to make creative activities, self-expression, and performance available to anyone who has the desire, no matter what their background or circumstances. Not only was only was this an inspiring story to hear, but I think there’s a lot that educators of every type can learn from this small theater company.

My guest in this episode is Alex Kajumulo, a former international soccer champion from Tanzania, turned musician, writer, soccer club founder, and most recently, a festival organizer. Born to a family of coffee farmers, Alex learned to play music on home made instruments emulating the sounds of wild animals and the and forests that surrounded his village. Now a resident of Seattle, Washington, Alex and I talked about his upbringing, and his latest venture as the producer of a cultural festival which brings the music of farming communities around the world to the stages of America. The proceeds from these events are used to give children raised in farming communities in his home country basic amenities like sports equipment and funding for education. 

Coming up on Shomee Creators Podcast...

We are witnessing the birth of a new genre of artistic performance. The pandemic has forced musicians, actors, and creative people of every type to rethink how they deliver performances to audiences, whether it be online or in limited spaces, and with what use of new technology. And to do all of this, without losing sight of the real mission, which is to make people feel better for a couple of hours, and help them process whatever is going on in their lives. As my guest in this episode Jason Slavick likes to put it, "Artists are the first responders of the soul". As the Artistic Director of Liars & Believers Theater Company, Jason passionately believes that it’s our calling to standup in this moment of history, and keep everything from going completely dark, both for artists and the public. 

Jason and I talked about how he turned his company’s production of original live shows that included live music, movement, mask, puppet, video, clown, and aerialists, into a multi sensory, visceral theater experience, including taste and smell, that can be delivered in a live stream setting. Get ready to cancel your Netflix account and discover something completely new.