January 31, 2025 • 28 mins
Robin Brumfield, an up-and-coming musician from Los Angeles, discusses his journey and influences in the music industry, highlighting his dual role as an artist and producer. He emphasizes the importance of emotional connection through performance, networking, and the creative process behind producing music for others.
• Discusses the emotional impact of live performances
• Shares insights on navigating the LA music scene
• Explains the blend of digital and live instrumentation in his music
• Highlights the collaborative approach to music production
• Reflects on the paradox of artist preferences versus audience reception
• Offers advice for aspiring musicians on networking and putting their work out there
• Stresses the importance of authenticity in art and connection with listeners
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:01):
Hi, welcome to Franklin's Garage to Stage and
Beyond podcast.
My name is Rob WardrumsFranklin, my co-host is Dana
Thunderbase Franklin, and todaywe have a very special guest.
His name is Robin Brumfield.
He's a Los Angeles,california-based professional
(00:22):
musician and artist who alsoworks at Grass-Fed Music based
in Los Angeles as well.
Unfortunately, we had someinternet issues at the very
beginning of the podcast, so wejoined Robin in the conversation
when my co-host, dana, asked ifthere was a particular time
that he was influenced to becomean artist and musician.
(00:43):
He was influenced to become anartist and musician.
I encourage you to visit ourwebsite contributors page to
also see information about Robin, including his social media
links and a picture and his bio.
He's a very, very interestingguy to talk to, very articulate,
and he's got some greatexperience and suggestions for
(01:04):
new artists.
So now we're going to joinrobin, dana and myself, like I
said in a, in a point where westart the conversation when
asked if there was a particulartime when influenced to become a
musician yes, actually therewas a moment, so, um, I can't I
(01:25):
can't pinpoint it to one exacttime, but I think it was the
experience of seeing people onstage.
Speaker 2 (01:30):
So I loved watching tour footage and, if you
remember, back in the day theydid a lot more music videos
where the video was moreperformance-based rather than
narrative-based.
Of the narrative based likesomebody's mind is um, the
beatles performing on the roof,for example, uh, or, or you two
had a few videos like that atthe time and I remember just
(01:50):
thinking like this crowdreaction to the music was
something that I justimmediately got addicted to,
because, at the end of the day,what music means to me is it's
like an emotional connection.
And so that emotionalconnection became way more
literal when you get to see theaudience reaction.
You know like, like this is anextreme example, but elvis or
(02:12):
prince or michael jackson,people would be crying and
fainting and and right this isso bizarre.
Like I don't even know how artcan have this kind of effect on
people, but immediately I'mhooked.
You you know, yeah.
Speaker 3 (02:27):
How would you not?
I mean to see an audienceactually sitting there and
crying and passing out becausethey're seeing you.
I mean, drugs can't do that toyou.
Speaker 1 (02:35):
No, that's a feeling you can't replicate.
So what type of performances doyou do?
Speaker 2 (02:43):
I haven't been doing as much as I've wanted to, but
I've done quite a few indieartist showcases here in LA, so
I'll perform at some of thesmaller venues.
Out here there's a place calledHotel Cafe.
I love that spot.
It's a great little hotel venuein Hollywood that is strictly
(03:05):
for showcasing up-and-comingtalent, but there's been a lot
of uh, amazing artists that cameout of there.
I think.
I think some legends, like Ithink lady gaga was there at one
point oh wow, very cool, verycool yeah, so just kind of
getting my feet wet in the scene.
Um, I haven't been like aquote-unquote professional
musician for too long.
It's been about like two yearsof really putting my my sword to
(03:28):
the grindstone, so to speak.
So I'm finding that just likedoing these small shows and
playing piano for other artistsat their shows is just like
opening up this whole networkfor me.
Speaker 1 (03:40):
Very cool.
Well, LA is obviously a verycompetitive area, so I'm sure
it's got to be difficult to evenget lined up at a venue to play
at?
Speaker 2 (03:50):
Yeah, it definitely is.
Speaker 3 (03:53):
So in some of the other episodes that we've had
we've talked about what it takes, the commitment and stuff for a
band to not only just gettogether with all the different
personalities and trying to geta full band together, but you as
a solo artist do you have?
I mean, do you use musicians orlike studio musicians, or is it
(04:16):
all a computer based?
Speaker 2 (04:20):
um, it's a little bit of both.
So, uh, being, uh, being aproducer, I think in the modern
age, as you touched upon, islike super digital, like a lot,
of, a lot of what I do is iseither synthesizing instruments
or I don't even know how todescribe it Just just using
sound.
Oh, actually, there is a word Isample a lot.
So, yeah, that's a general wayof saying it, but I think, uh,
(04:46):
that's probably my go-to when itcomes to making something on
the fly.
So a lot of the time I'll havea client come in and say, hey, I
want a song like this or I wanta beat like this, and so I
don't have the freedom to noodlearound.
You know what I mean?
Speaker 1 (04:59):
like there's a little bit of confessionality.
Speaker 2 (05:00):
that goes into how quickly you can generate an idea
, and so, because of that, Irely on a lot of sampling and
digital production.
I use Logic Pro, but I'mfamiliar with Ableton and Fruity
Loops those are some otherprograms like that but when it
comes to my own music, I try tobe as open as possible.
(05:23):
There's times where I'll bejamming live instrumentation
with my friends and we're like,hey, this is cool, we should
record this.
Or it'll be even a combination,like a hybrid situation, where
I'll be producing something andthen we'll be like you know,
this feels a little bit um,inorganic.
We should introduce a guitar ora trumpet or something live to
(05:47):
infuse that kind of humanity.
Speaker 1 (05:50):
And are your clients?
Excuse me, but are your clientspretty?
I mean, do they acceptdirection like that?
Speaker 3 (06:03):
He laughs.
Speaker 2 (06:04):
Yeah, that's a good question.
I think each client is reallyunique.
Everybody is a different person.
I know that's a ridiculousstatement, but but people
approach music in different waysfor different motivations, and
so I think some people are moreinclined to be more musical,
(06:25):
whereas some people are moreinclined to tell a story and the
music is an afterthought okay,makes sense.
Speaker 1 (06:33):
Now, when you speak of clients, um, how do those
clients reach you?
I mean, what is the process forthat?
Speaker 2 (06:41):
so I I lean on social media quite a bit okay I have
built up my social media, atleast I.
I did a lot more when I wasfirst starting out.
I need to get back better at it.
But uh, for a while there I wasbeing really consistent with
posting social media content,and so people started reaching
out to me through that.
Speaker 1 (07:00):
Very good.
Speaker 2 (07:00):
Another great one has been GrassFed.
Honestly, like I applied tothem as a manager actually on
LinkedIn and they ended upreaching out to me being like,
hey, send us some of your music.
And so I was like I thought I'dbe a manager, but any way I
could send my music over is awin for me.
(07:23):
And so they ended up getting anonline portfolio of all the
stuff that I've produced andwritten, and so they ended up
using that as a catalog fortheir clients to listen to and
then, if they like it, then theycan be like, hey, get me a
session with this guy.
So a lot of my new clients arethrough them.
Speaker 1 (07:40):
Oh, very cool, Very cool.
On the production end of things, how does that work?
Because we're just musicians.
We've never really producedanything or worked with the
producer.
So on that side of things, howdoes that work?
Speaker 2 (08:00):
Sorry, can you repeat that one more?
Speaker 1 (08:01):
time.
Yeah, as a producer, what kindof are your duties there?
Speaker 2 (08:06):
Okay, yeah, so as a producer, it's mostly just
making the sounds, and so a lotof it will be tweaking sounds or
creating, like generating newsounds that fit a vibe, and so,
uh, to explain deeper what Ilike to do, my process is a
little bit like a therapysession at first, so I'll have a
(08:29):
a client come in, and, becauseI usually hold the role of both
the songwriter and the producer,I realized that like I need to
know what this song is about asas well as I can for me to even
recreate their ideas, and soit'll start with just me
shooting the shit, so to speak,with the client, and I'll be
like, hey, what's going on inyour life?
(08:50):
Um, what's something thatinspires you, what's something
that frustrates you?
Whatever it is that's on the,the forefront of their mind we
talk about, and then we sitthere and figure out how to turn
it into a song.
And then, from there, we figureout how to turn that into a
sound, which could be a wholenumber of things, and I wish I
could give you a betterexplanation.
Speaker 1 (09:11):
That's actually a great explanation.
Speaker 3 (09:13):
Oh yeah.
That's cool how you use that.
Speaker 1 (09:16):
Go ahead, Daniel.
Speaker 3 (09:17):
Say like a whole, like a band Me and Rob here are
involved with the band Say, wewanted to come to a producer
such as yourself and getsomething going.
We're like, hey, we've gotthese ideas, we've got these
originals wrote, we've got thesesongs.
Do you look at it as if, like,I can change this and make it
(09:37):
sound better?
I mean, do you have final sayor do you just make suggestions?
Speaker 2 (09:43):
yeah, no, um, the artist has a final say, so
everything I do has to fit theirstandards.
So there are times where I amscrewing up and I I am not
finding what I need to find perse, and so there'll be kind of
like a back and forth wherethey're like I want it more like
this, or I want it more likethat, and then that's our fine
(10:04):
tuning process, if that makessense.
Speaker 1 (10:06):
Yes, it does.
Speaker 2 (10:07):
A lot of the time I rely on references, and so I
love when my clients will sendme songs of artists that are
inspired by.
Even if they don't want to makea song sounding like that, at
least I know where their head is, you know yeah, gotcha, you
know that was another question Iwas gonna ask.
Speaker 3 (10:22):
You is like what, what are your main influences?
I mean, when you, when youfirst started out, was there a
certain person or band or soundthat you wanted to follow?
Speaker 2 (10:36):
um, not really actually.
I think, um, I I love music andthat's a.
There might be a kind of ageneral answer, but there's so
many things that inspire me.
In fact, a lot of the ways I Ifind inspired these days are
actually through artists ofother mediums, and so I've been
finding a lot of inspirationfrom specifically impressionist
(11:02):
painters lately.
Speaker 1 (11:03):
Really.
Speaker 2 (11:06):
I live right by.
Lacma and they have this greatdeal where you can go there
after 4 pm for free, and so I'llgo there for like two hours of
my day, from 4 to 6 pm, and justlike catch some free
inspiration.
Speaker 1 (11:19):
That's really interesting.
That's really interesting,that's very interesting.
Speaker 2 (11:22):
But growing up I loved listening to a lot of like
hip-hop, jazz and soul andstuff like that.
I think a guy that really stoodout to me, at least for piano,
was Duke Ellington, because Igrew up in Washington DC.
And so he was a big figure inWashington DC, and so he's a big
figure in Washington DC.
And so I think seeing thingsnamed after him, or seeing
(11:44):
murals, or going to music schooland learning about these
legends made me have thattemplate that I felt like I
could follow.
Speaker 1 (11:52):
Very cool, very cool, dana.
Follow-up questions.
Speaker 3 (11:59):
So, dana, follow-up questions.
Yeah, what's you know in yourexperiences so far?
What you know, there's alwaysthat one moment that you have.
You know whether it's a live,you know recording or playing or
something that you're like, ohshit, I finally made it.
Or you know, this is, you know,like the climax of where you've
(12:22):
been so far.
I mean, what, what's been thatfor you so far?
Speaker 1 (12:24):
Good question.
Speaker 2 (12:25):
So I can name.
I can name two climaxes.
Actually, um, one is happeningright now.
So I I uh went out a song a fewyears back called tell me what
you want, and it was kind oflike called Tell Me what you
Want and it was kind of like asuper stripped down pop song,
like at its most basic level.
(12:45):
I wanted to make something likebedroom pop.
That's what they call it, andit's probably my least favorite
song I've ever made.
And it is blowing up right now.
Speaker 1 (12:56):
Is that right?
Speaker 2 (12:57):
Compared to my other songs.
It's been getting a prettyheavy streaming these past few
days, getting some numbers, soit's been getting streamed quite
a bit lately and I thinkthere's something funny about
your least favorite song beingyour most popular, and so I
think that that might be theexperience of an artist.
Speaker 3 (13:22):
Well, you know you hear that from some of these big
artists that you know, there'salways that one song that's
their commercial hit or whatever, and they can't stand the play,
you know.
Speaker 2 (13:33):
Yeah, the song to me was almost like a joke, like how
simple it was, but I thinkmaybe that's what's resonating
with people.
Speaker 1 (13:39):
Right, right, you know know it's funny.
We were speaking about that.
Our last episode was, like someof our like my personally I
worst shows.
I received the most complimentsand then the days we feel like
we performed, you know,flawlessly, we get the least
amount of compliments.
So so I I kind of understandwhat you're saying here yeah,
yeah, sure, sure.
Speaker 2 (13:58):
That's the paradox of being a musician, right?
Speaker 1 (14:01):
Yeah, yeah, it is.
Speaker 2 (14:04):
Another huge climax for me was just working.
Another climax of my experienceas an artist has been writing
for other people.
That's what I wanted to say.
Like I never thought I'd be ina place where I'd get paid to
make music and so just thatalone is a huge one.
Speaker 1 (14:19):
Oh, that's very cool.
Now you're doing both ends, themusic and the lyrics, or
strictly music.
Speaker 2 (14:26):
Yes, I am doing both.
Very cool I am mostly focusingon the songwriting these days,
which is just the lyrics andeverything like that the lyrics
and the vocal melodies but otherthan that, I've been trying to
get my hand in everythinghonestly.
Speaker 1 (14:44):
And do you have a process that you follow when
you're writing new materials?
Do you have a like a mindsetthat you go into or a particular
like strategy?
I, so to speak, um?
Speaker 2 (14:58):
I wish I did.
Uh, it's more.
It's more of a goal like areally loose goal.
Okay, I think like I'll findinspiration and stuff like my
friends are a huge source of myinspiration.
Someone will say somethingthat's like weirdly profound to
me and I'll be like that couldbe a song you know, very cool
(15:19):
and so that's something I comeacross.
I also think that living in LosAngeles lends itself to uh,
finding inspiration also.
Like you, you live in a citythis big.
You're bound to see somethingcrazy, right, yeah?
Speaker 1 (15:33):
speaking of which I, my heart goes out to the Pacific
Palisades residents.
Speaker 2 (15:43):
That hasn't affected you at all, has it?
No, Thankfully I live in WestHollywood, so I've been really
unaffected by the fires.
It's been crazy to see howclose they've gotten, but I'm
one of the lucky ones, thank God.
Speaker 1 (15:59):
I'd like to ask you a little bit more about your like
when you do a live performance.
Yeah, and basically what?
Speaker 2 (16:06):
type of a show do you put on?
So I think that's somethingthat you work out the more you
do it.
Yeah, yeah, my biggestinspirations have been the
people that engage with theaudience, and so I, when I do a
show, I try to mimic that byincorporating some kind of
(16:29):
audience engagement.
Um, it can be kind of corny ifit's done wrong, but having
people interact with the song,like singing it back to you or
doing different refrains, is agreat way for people to like
feel some kind of connection,and so, at the end of the day,
the biggest thing that I want toget across when I make my music
is that I am a normal personjust like you, and everything
(16:51):
that I write about or talk aboutin my music is not held back by
an intellectual barrier,because I felt that, like a lot
of the time, songwriting can beso prosaic that sometimes it's
not even accessible, and so Ithink having like kind of a
attitude where I'm just like oneof you makes my music more
(17:15):
relatable.
Speaker 1 (17:16):
Okay, very good Cool.
Speaker 3 (17:25):
In our other episodes we've always thrown in a little
segment where we ask each otherwhat's the one moment that
something's happened whetherfunny, sad while performing
either live or rehearsing.
Just a moment of comedy ortragedy.
You know, it's just anythingthat's happened to you like why
(17:49):
you perform live preferably, butanything you got for us.
Speaker 2 (17:55):
Let me think about that one.
Speaker 1 (18:02):
Hmm, let me think about that one.
Speaker 2 (18:04):
Oh, I have a great one.
Speaker 1 (18:06):
Cool, let's hear it.
Speaker 2 (18:07):
For the most part, my experiences have been really
solid, which is something to bethankful for.
Nothing has really gone wrong,which is crazy.
Speaker 1 (18:15):
Wow, that's great.
Speaker 2 (18:17):
I'm sure that'll change crazy.
Wow, that's great.
Yeah, I'm sure that'll change,uh.
But I there's a guy I knew incollege that was kind of a wild
card, like he'd he'd left ourfriend group kind of, because he
was a little bit like just toowild and uh, I made the mistake
of inviting him to a show Iplayed in Portland and we had to
(18:38):
stop the show right after myset because, uh, the police got
called because he was out thererepainting parks.
I have no clue what he wasdoing, but the venue had to stop
the show is that right?
Speaker 1 (18:53):
oh my god.
It wasn't really performancebased, but it definitely left a
lasting impression.
Speaker 2 (19:01):
That's funny yeah, and of course it's my fault.
Speaker 1 (19:04):
An artist it always comes back on you, of course.
So, speaking of performing indifferent cities, how often do
you tour, or is that just anoccasional thing for you?
Speaker 2 (19:16):
Pretty occasional.
I think if I do tour, it'll beon the West Coast these days, so
Portland was pretty easy to getto.
I went to school in Oregon, andso I think I had a little bit
of a fan base there already.
So it was a little bit easier,but I'm not there yet.
To be honest with you, I thinkI'm still trying to to sell my
seed here in Los Angeles andhope that those roots expand
(19:40):
more.
Speaker 1 (19:40):
Okay, and a long-term goal for you, what would that
be?
I mean, obviously we all wantto be like rich and famous, but
do you?
I mean, what's your realistic,long-term goal as a musician
artist?
Speaker 2 (19:59):
I'd like to keep writing music for people.
I think doing a soundtrack fora movie would be really cool.
That would be cool.
Yeah right, I know Trent Reznoris a guy who used to do a lot
of metal and hard rock and nowhe's completely shifted into the
sound design I guess they callit space and he's been doing
(20:24):
some really awesome synth stufffor a bunch of different, really
artistic movies that you wouldnever have expected.
This guy who used to be likethe heavy metal.
Speaker 1 (20:33):
Right, right.
Oh, that's cool.
Speaker 2 (20:36):
So that'd be cool yeah.
Speaker 1 (20:37):
All right Dana.
Speaker 3 (20:41):
If you had to make a recommendation to new artists or
, you know, some kind of tip tothem for them to get going, what
would it be?
Speaker 1 (20:49):
Good question.
Speaker 2 (20:52):
I have two tips.
I'm allowed to, of course, oh,absolutely Three.
Now you're pushing it, but thefirst one would be to get out
and meet people.
I think people get overwhelmedby how big a city can be,
especially in Los Angeles or NewYork, these huge hubs.
(21:13):
But the city gets a lot smalleronce you start meeting people,
um, and, and an extension ofthat tip would be once you get
in the room with people.
Sometimes it's not about beingtalented, you know.
Talent will get you a reallylong way, no doubt, but at the
end of the day you have to besomeone that people want to work
with.
Speaker 1 (21:35):
Good tip, good tip.
Speaker 2 (21:37):
And then second piece of advice would be to put your
stuff out.
People are scared to put stuffout, and that's a risk you've
got to take.
Speaker 3 (21:46):
Nobody's going to hear you unless you put it out
there and along those lines.
Speaker 1 (21:52):
What do you suggest as far as social medias?
What are the go-to's for you?
Speaker 2 (22:00):
sorry I was wrangling my dog there, um, but for
social media, again the samething.
With with the music streamingand everything, I would say
never hesitate to put stuff out.
I think for the longest time Ipersonally wanted like this
curated image.
You know, like you see,professional social media look
(22:20):
really, really good and that'sjust an unrealistic standard to
set for yourself Like.
At the end of the day, we'reall human.
People have shitty music orshitty content and that's just
part of life, you know.
And so I think, eliminating thatfear of putting yourself out
there makes it easier to findthe good stuff in the first
(22:41):
place.
Speaker 1 (22:42):
Okay, good advice.
Good advice, dana, do you haveanything else?
Speaker 3 (22:49):
I don't think so.
Speaker 1 (22:51):
Well, Robin, it's really been a pleasure.
Speaker 2 (22:53):
Yeah.
Again my apologies about thosephone calls.
Well, Robin, it's really been apleasure.
Speaker 1 (22:57):
Yeah, again, my apologies about those phone
calls.
Oh, no problem whatsoever.
What I would like to ask of you, though, do you have any MP3s
that we can throw on our website, so people listening to us can
actually hear what you're allabout?
Speaker 2 (23:10):
Yeah, absolutely.
Do you want the literal MP33 ordo you want like a link that
you could embed, maybe?
Speaker 1 (23:16):
either way would be fine, and you have my contact
information.
I'd be, and we will put that onour all our uh, our website and
our social medias yeah, I'd behappy to.
Speaker 2 (23:26):
I'd be happy to okay we love people.
Speaker 3 (23:29):
They care what you got out there.
Don't spreading the word.
It's the key for all musicians.
Speaker 2 (23:36):
Right, right.
Yeah, I really appreciate youguys doing this.
This podcast is probablysomething I wish I had as a
resource when I was starting out.
Speaker 1 (23:45):
It's still new for us , but we're enjoying it and
we're getting a lot of goodinformation from other artists
like yourself.
Speaker 2 (23:51):
That's awesome.
Are you two musiciansyourselves?
Speaker 1 (23:55):
Yes, I'm a drummer and Dana's a bass player.
We're rock musicians.
We've been performing since thelate 80s.
We've been out there and about,but we're still working at it
too.
Speaker 3 (24:05):
We've definitely done our time, like everybody else.
We took a little bit of a lapsegetting families together and
work and all that.
We're just not getting backinto it.
It's funny to see the differentscenes out there now.
How much has changed over thelast 40 years.
Speaker 2 (24:25):
Well, it's never too late to get back in the game, I
think, especially with socialmedia.
These days we're seeing thateverybody's getting a platform
of some kind, and before, whenit was hard to find your
audience, you'll find that nowthere's an audience for
everything.
Speaker 1 (24:43):
Yeah, there really is , and our motivation is really
getting information out there tonew and struggling musicians
and artists.
So we really appreciate yourinput and your discussion and,
once again, thank you very muchand sorry, for I hope I did all
right.
Oh, you did perfect.
Oh, you did great.
And sorry, I said your namewrong at the beginning.
Speaker 2 (25:05):
Don't worry about it, dude.
Seriously, that happens all thetime.
You should see my Starbucksorder.
We'll get right on there.
Speaker 1 (25:15):
All right, robin, well, well, thank you very much
and, uh, if you could get thatinformation to me and we'll, uh,
we'll, include anything yousent to me on our website yeah,
of course, I'll switch you anemail right after this sounds
great.
thank you, robin.
Thank you, sir, appreciate it.
Have a good one.
All right, bye.
Thank you for joining us today.
Please do contribute if you'dlike to help us produce these
(25:37):
podcasts.
There is a link on all of ourepisodes if you're willing and
able to do that, and I want toencourage you to listen to the
next few episodes because wehave some great guests lined up.
We have a CEO of a musiccompany in Los Angeles,
california, called Grass FedMusic.
(25:57):
We have a producer engineerwe're going to speak to about
recording processes, and we havea professional band and artist
from India who performsWestern-style music.
So please do listen to our nextfew episodes.
(26:17):
I think you're going to havesome really great information,
and I want to thank you allagain for joining us.
We're now in 10 countries andover 60 cities, so it's growing
steadily and we reallyappreciate it.
Please do email us or text us.
There's a link for that as wellin our episodes If you have any
questions you'd like us to askguests, or if you just have any
(26:39):
general feedback you'd like togive us.
On behalf of myself and Dana,thank you very much and you have
a great day.
Hi, welcome to Franklin's Garage to Stage and
Beyond podcast.
My name is Rob WardrumsFranklin, my co-host is Dana
Thunderbase Franklin, and todaywe have a very special guest.
His name is Robin Brumfield.
He's a Los Angeles,california-based professional
(00:22):
musician and artist who alsoworks at Grass-Fed Music based
in Los Angeles as well.
Unfortunately, we had someinternet issues at the very
beginning of the podcast, so wejoined Robin in the conversation
when my co-host, dana, asked ifthere was a particular time
that he was influenced to becomean artist and musician.
(00:43):
He was influenced to become anartist and musician.
I encourage you to visit ourwebsite contributors page to
also see information about Robin, including his social media
links and a picture and his bio.
He's a very, very interestingguy to talk to, very articulate,
and he's got some greatexperience and suggestions for
(01:04):
new artists.
So now we're going to joinrobin, dana and myself, like I
said in a, in a point where westart the conversation when
asked if there was a particulartime when influenced to become a
musician yes, actually therewas a moment, so, um, I can't I
(01:25):
can't pinpoint it to one exacttime, but I think it was the
experience of seeing people onstage.
Speaker 2 (01:30):
So I loved watching tour footage and, if you
remember, back in the day theydid a lot more music videos
where the video was moreperformance-based rather than
narrative-based.
Of the narrative based likesomebody's mind is um, the
beatles performing on the roof,for example, uh, or, or you two
had a few videos like that atthe time and I remember just
(01:50):
thinking like this crowdreaction to the music was
something that I justimmediately got addicted to,
because, at the end of the day,what music means to me is it's
like an emotional connection.
And so that emotionalconnection became way more
literal when you get to see theaudience reaction.
You know like, like this is anextreme example, but elvis or
(02:12):
prince or michael jackson,people would be crying and
fainting and and right this isso bizarre.
Like I don't even know how artcan have this kind of effect on
people, but immediately I'mhooked.
You you know, yeah.
Speaker 3 (02:27):
How would you not?
I mean to see an audienceactually sitting there and
crying and passing out becausethey're seeing you.
I mean, drugs can't do that toyou.
Speaker 1 (02:35):
No, that's a feeling you can't replicate.
So what type of performances doyou do?
Speaker 2 (02:43):
I haven't been doing as much as I've wanted to, but
I've done quite a few indieartist showcases here in LA, so
I'll perform at some of thesmaller venues.
Out here there's a place calledHotel Cafe.
I love that spot.
It's a great little hotel venuein Hollywood that is strictly
(03:05):
for showcasing up-and-comingtalent, but there's been a lot
of uh, amazing artists that cameout of there.
I think.
I think some legends, like Ithink lady gaga was there at one
point oh wow, very cool, verycool yeah, so just kind of
getting my feet wet in the scene.
Um, I haven't been like aquote-unquote professional
musician for too long.
It's been about like two yearsof really putting my my sword to
(03:28):
the grindstone, so to speak.
So I'm finding that just likedoing these small shows and
playing piano for other artistsat their shows is just like
opening up this whole networkfor me.
Speaker 1 (03:40):
Very cool.
Well, LA is obviously a verycompetitive area, so I'm sure
it's got to be difficult to evenget lined up at a venue to play
at?
Speaker 2 (03:50):
Yeah, it definitely is.
Speaker 3 (03:53):
So in some of the other episodes that we've had
we've talked about what it takes, the commitment and stuff for a
band to not only just gettogether with all the different
personalities and trying to geta full band together, but you as
a solo artist do you have?
I mean, do you use musicians orlike studio musicians, or is it
(04:16):
all a computer based?
Speaker 2 (04:20):
um, it's a little bit of both.
So, uh, being, uh, being aproducer, I think in the modern
age, as you touched upon, islike super digital, like a lot,
of, a lot of what I do is iseither synthesizing instruments
or I don't even know how todescribe it Just just using
sound.
Oh, actually, there is a word Isample a lot.
So, yeah, that's a general wayof saying it, but I think, uh,
(04:46):
that's probably my go-to when itcomes to making something on
the fly.
So a lot of the time I'll havea client come in and say, hey, I
want a song like this or I wanta beat like this, and so I
don't have the freedom to noodlearound.
You know what I mean?
Speaker 1 (04:59):
like there's a little bit of confessionality.
Speaker 2 (05:00):
that goes into how quickly you can generate an idea
, and so, because of that, Irely on a lot of sampling and
digital production.
I use Logic Pro, but I'mfamiliar with Ableton and Fruity
Loops those are some otherprograms like that but when it
comes to my own music, I try tobe as open as possible.
(05:23):
There's times where I'll bejamming live instrumentation
with my friends and we're like,hey, this is cool, we should
record this.
Or it'll be even a combination,like a hybrid situation, where
I'll be producing something andthen we'll be like you know,
this feels a little bit um,inorganic.
We should introduce a guitar ora trumpet or something live to
(05:47):
infuse that kind of humanity.
Speaker 1 (05:50):
And are your clients?
Excuse me, but are your clientspretty?
I mean, do they acceptdirection like that?
Speaker 3 (06:03):
He laughs.
Speaker 2 (06:04):
Yeah, that's a good question.
I think each client is reallyunique.
Everybody is a different person.
I know that's a ridiculousstatement, but but people
approach music in different waysfor different motivations, and
so I think some people are moreinclined to be more musical,
(06:25):
whereas some people are moreinclined to tell a story and the
music is an afterthought okay,makes sense.
Speaker 1 (06:33):
Now, when you speak of clients, um, how do those
clients reach you?
I mean, what is the process forthat?
Speaker 2 (06:41):
so I I lean on social media quite a bit okay I have
built up my social media, atleast I.
I did a lot more when I wasfirst starting out.
I need to get back better at it.
But uh, for a while there I wasbeing really consistent with
posting social media content,and so people started reaching
out to me through that.
Speaker 1 (07:00):
Very good.
Speaker 2 (07:00):
Another great one has been GrassFed.
Honestly, like I applied tothem as a manager actually on
LinkedIn and they ended upreaching out to me being like,
hey, send us some of your music.
And so I was like I thought I'dbe a manager, but any way I
could send my music over is awin for me.
(07:23):
And so they ended up getting anonline portfolio of all the
stuff that I've produced andwritten, and so they ended up
using that as a catalog fortheir clients to listen to and
then, if they like it, then theycan be like, hey, get me a
session with this guy.
So a lot of my new clients arethrough them.
Speaker 1 (07:40):
Oh, very cool, Very cool.
On the production end of things, how does that work?
Because we're just musicians.
We've never really producedanything or worked with the
producer.
So on that side of things, howdoes that work?
Speaker 2 (08:00):
Sorry, can you repeat that one more?
Speaker 1 (08:01):
time.
Yeah, as a producer, what kindof are your duties there?
Speaker 2 (08:06):
Okay, yeah, so as a producer, it's mostly just
making the sounds, and so a lotof it will be tweaking sounds or
creating, like generating newsounds that fit a vibe, and so,
uh, to explain deeper what Ilike to do, my process is a
little bit like a therapysession at first, so I'll have a
(08:29):
a client come in, and, becauseI usually hold the role of both
the songwriter and the producer,I realized that like I need to
know what this song is about asas well as I can for me to even
recreate their ideas, and soit'll start with just me
shooting the shit, so to speak,with the client, and I'll be
like, hey, what's going on inyour life?
(08:50):
Um, what's something thatinspires you, what's something
that frustrates you?
Whatever it is that's on the,the forefront of their mind we
talk about, and then we sitthere and figure out how to turn
it into a song.
And then, from there, we figureout how to turn that into a
sound, which could be a wholenumber of things, and I wish I
could give you a betterexplanation.
Speaker 1 (09:11):
That's actually a great explanation.
Speaker 3 (09:13):
Oh yeah.
That's cool how you use that.
Speaker 1 (09:16):
Go ahead, Daniel.
Speaker 3 (09:17):
Say like a whole, like a band Me and Rob here are
involved with the band Say, wewanted to come to a producer
such as yourself and getsomething going.
We're like, hey, we've gotthese ideas, we've got these
originals wrote, we've got thesesongs.
Do you look at it as if, like,I can change this and make it
(09:37):
sound better?
I mean, do you have final sayor do you just make suggestions?
Speaker 2 (09:43):
yeah, no, um, the artist has a final say, so
everything I do has to fit theirstandards.
So there are times where I amscrewing up and I I am not
finding what I need to find perse, and so there'll be kind of
like a back and forth wherethey're like I want it more like
this, or I want it more likethat, and then that's our fine
(10:04):
tuning process, if that makessense.
Speaker 1 (10:06):
Yes, it does.
Speaker 2 (10:07):
A lot of the time I rely on references, and so I
love when my clients will sendme songs of artists that are
inspired by.
Even if they don't want to makea song sounding like that, at
least I know where their head is, you know yeah, gotcha, you
know that was another question Iwas gonna ask.
Speaker 3 (10:22):
You is like what, what are your main influences?
I mean, when you, when youfirst started out, was there a
certain person or band or soundthat you wanted to follow?
Speaker 2 (10:36):
um, not really actually.
I think, um, I I love music andthat's a.
There might be a kind of ageneral answer, but there's so
many things that inspire me.
In fact, a lot of the ways I Ifind inspired these days are
actually through artists ofother mediums, and so I've been
finding a lot of inspirationfrom specifically impressionist
(11:02):
painters lately.
Speaker 1 (11:03):
Really.
Speaker 2 (11:06):
I live right by.
Lacma and they have this greatdeal where you can go there
after 4 pm for free, and so I'llgo there for like two hours of
my day, from 4 to 6 pm, and justlike catch some free
inspiration.
Speaker 1 (11:19):
That's really interesting.
That's really interesting,that's very interesting.
Speaker 2 (11:22):
But growing up I loved listening to a lot of like
hip-hop, jazz and soul andstuff like that.
I think a guy that really stoodout to me, at least for piano,
was Duke Ellington, because Igrew up in Washington DC.
And so he was a big figure inWashington DC, and so he's a big
figure in Washington DC.
And so I think seeing thingsnamed after him, or seeing
(11:44):
murals, or going to music schooland learning about these
legends made me have thattemplate that I felt like I
could follow.
Speaker 1 (11:52):
Very cool, very cool, dana.
Follow-up questions.
Speaker 3 (11:59):
So, dana, follow-up questions.
Yeah, what's you know in yourexperiences so far?
What you know, there's alwaysthat one moment that you have.
You know whether it's a live,you know recording or playing or
something that you're like, ohshit, I finally made it.
Or you know, this is, you know,like the climax of where you've
(12:22):
been so far.
I mean, what, what's been thatfor you so far?
Speaker 1 (12:24):
Good question.
Speaker 2 (12:25):
So I can name.
I can name two climaxes.
Actually, um, one is happeningright now.
So I I uh went out a song a fewyears back called tell me what
you want, and it was kind oflike called Tell Me what you
Want and it was kind of like asuper stripped down pop song,
like at its most basic level.
(12:45):
I wanted to make something likebedroom pop.
That's what they call it, andit's probably my least favorite
song I've ever made.
And it is blowing up right now.
Speaker 1 (12:56):
Is that right?
Speaker 2 (12:57):
Compared to my other songs.
It's been getting a prettyheavy streaming these past few
days, getting some numbers, soit's been getting streamed quite
a bit lately and I thinkthere's something funny about
your least favorite song beingyour most popular, and so I
think that that might be theexperience of an artist.
Speaker 3 (13:22):
Well, you know you hear that from some of these big
artists that you know, there'salways that one song that's
their commercial hit or whatever, and they can't stand the play,
you know.
Speaker 2 (13:33):
Yeah, the song to me was almost like a joke, like how
simple it was, but I thinkmaybe that's what's resonating
with people.
Speaker 1 (13:39):
Right, right, you know know it's funny.
We were speaking about that.
Our last episode was, like someof our like my personally I
worst shows.
I received the most complimentsand then the days we feel like
we performed, you know,flawlessly, we get the least
amount of compliments.
So so I I kind of understandwhat you're saying here yeah,
yeah, sure, sure.
Speaker 2 (13:58):
That's the paradox of being a musician, right?
Speaker 1 (14:01):
Yeah, yeah, it is.
Speaker 2 (14:04):
Another huge climax for me was just working.
Another climax of my experienceas an artist has been writing
for other people.
That's what I wanted to say.
Like I never thought I'd be ina place where I'd get paid to
make music and so just thatalone is a huge one.
Speaker 1 (14:19):
Oh, that's very cool.
Now you're doing both ends, themusic and the lyrics, or
strictly music.
Speaker 2 (14:26):
Yes, I am doing both.
Very cool I am mostly focusingon the songwriting these days,
which is just the lyrics andeverything like that the lyrics
and the vocal melodies but otherthan that, I've been trying to
get my hand in everythinghonestly.
Speaker 1 (14:44):
And do you have a process that you follow when
you're writing new materials?
Do you have a like a mindsetthat you go into or a particular
like strategy?
I, so to speak, um?
Speaker 2 (14:58):
I wish I did.
Uh, it's more.
It's more of a goal like areally loose goal.
Okay, I think like I'll findinspiration and stuff like my
friends are a huge source of myinspiration.
Someone will say somethingthat's like weirdly profound to
me and I'll be like that couldbe a song you know, very cool
(15:19):
and so that's something I comeacross.
I also think that living in LosAngeles lends itself to uh,
finding inspiration also.
Like you, you live in a citythis big.
You're bound to see somethingcrazy, right, yeah?
Speaker 1 (15:33):
speaking of which I, my heart goes out to the Pacific
Palisades residents.
Speaker 2 (15:43):
That hasn't affected you at all, has it?
No, Thankfully I live in WestHollywood, so I've been really
unaffected by the fires.
It's been crazy to see howclose they've gotten, but I'm
one of the lucky ones, thank God.
Speaker 1 (15:59):
I'd like to ask you a little bit more about your like
when you do a live performance.
Yeah, and basically what?
Speaker 2 (16:06):
type of a show do you put on?
So I think that's somethingthat you work out the more you
do it.
Yeah, yeah, my biggestinspirations have been the
people that engage with theaudience, and so I, when I do a
show, I try to mimic that byincorporating some kind of
(16:29):
audience engagement.
Um, it can be kind of corny ifit's done wrong, but having
people interact with the song,like singing it back to you or
doing different refrains, is agreat way for people to like
feel some kind of connection,and so, at the end of the day,
the biggest thing that I want toget across when I make my music
is that I am a normal personjust like you, and everything
(16:51):
that I write about or talk aboutin my music is not held back by
an intellectual barrier,because I felt that, like a lot
of the time, songwriting can beso prosaic that sometimes it's
not even accessible, and so Ithink having like kind of a
attitude where I'm just like oneof you makes my music more
(17:15):
relatable.
Speaker 1 (17:16):
Okay, very good Cool.
Speaker 3 (17:25):
In our other episodes we've always thrown in a little
segment where we ask each otherwhat's the one moment that
something's happened whetherfunny, sad while performing
either live or rehearsing.
Just a moment of comedy ortragedy.
You know, it's just anythingthat's happened to you like why
(17:49):
you perform live preferably, butanything you got for us.
Speaker 2 (17:55):
Let me think about that one.
Speaker 1 (18:02):
Hmm, let me think about that one.
Speaker 2 (18:04):
Oh, I have a great one.
Speaker 1 (18:06):
Cool, let's hear it.
Speaker 2 (18:07):
For the most part, my experiences have been really
solid, which is something to bethankful for.
Nothing has really gone wrong,which is crazy.
Speaker 1 (18:15):
Wow, that's great.
Speaker 2 (18:17):
I'm sure that'll change crazy.
Wow, that's great.
Yeah, I'm sure that'll change,uh.
But I there's a guy I knew incollege that was kind of a wild
card, like he'd he'd left ourfriend group kind of, because he
was a little bit like just toowild and uh, I made the mistake
of inviting him to a show Iplayed in Portland and we had to
(18:38):
stop the show right after myset because, uh, the police got
called because he was out thererepainting parks.
I have no clue what he wasdoing, but the venue had to stop
the show is that right?
Speaker 1 (18:53):
oh my god.
It wasn't really performancebased, but it definitely left a
lasting impression.
Speaker 2 (19:01):
That's funny yeah, and of course it's my fault.
Speaker 1 (19:04):
An artist it always comes back on you, of course.
So, speaking of performing indifferent cities, how often do
you tour, or is that just anoccasional thing for you?
Speaker 2 (19:16):
Pretty occasional.
I think if I do tour, it'll beon the West Coast these days, so
Portland was pretty easy to getto.
I went to school in Oregon, andso I think I had a little bit
of a fan base there already.
So it was a little bit easier,but I'm not there yet.
To be honest with you, I thinkI'm still trying to to sell my
seed here in Los Angeles andhope that those roots expand
(19:40):
more.
Speaker 1 (19:40):
Okay, and a long-term goal for you, what would that
be?
I mean, obviously we all wantto be like rich and famous, but
do you?
I mean, what's your realistic,long-term goal as a musician
artist?
Speaker 2 (19:59):
I'd like to keep writing music for people.
I think doing a soundtrack fora movie would be really cool.
That would be cool.
Yeah right, I know Trent Reznoris a guy who used to do a lot
of metal and hard rock and nowhe's completely shifted into the
sound design I guess they callit space and he's been doing
(20:24):
some really awesome synth stufffor a bunch of different, really
artistic movies that you wouldnever have expected.
This guy who used to be likethe heavy metal.
Speaker 1 (20:33):
Right, right.
Oh, that's cool.
Speaker 2 (20:36):
So that'd be cool yeah.
Speaker 1 (20:37):
All right Dana.
Speaker 3 (20:41):
If you had to make a recommendation to new artists or
, you know, some kind of tip tothem for them to get going, what
would it be?
Speaker 1 (20:49):
Good question.
Speaker 2 (20:52):
I have two tips.
I'm allowed to, of course, oh,absolutely Three.
Now you're pushing it, but thefirst one would be to get out
and meet people.
I think people get overwhelmedby how big a city can be,
especially in Los Angeles or NewYork, these huge hubs.
(21:13):
But the city gets a lot smalleronce you start meeting people,
um, and, and an extension ofthat tip would be once you get
in the room with people.
Sometimes it's not about beingtalented, you know.
Talent will get you a reallylong way, no doubt, but at the
end of the day you have to besomeone that people want to work
with.
Speaker 1 (21:35):
Good tip, good tip.
Speaker 2 (21:37):
And then second piece of advice would be to put your
stuff out.
People are scared to put stuffout, and that's a risk you've
got to take.
Speaker 3 (21:46):
Nobody's going to hear you unless you put it out
there and along those lines.
Speaker 1 (21:52):
What do you suggest as far as social medias?
What are the go-to's for you?
Speaker 2 (22:00):
sorry I was wrangling my dog there, um, but for
social media, again the samething.
With with the music streamingand everything, I would say
never hesitate to put stuff out.
I think for the longest time Ipersonally wanted like this
curated image.
You know, like you see,professional social media look
(22:20):
really, really good and that'sjust an unrealistic standard to
set for yourself Like.
At the end of the day, we'reall human.
People have shitty music orshitty content and that's just
part of life, you know.
And so I think, eliminating thatfear of putting yourself out
there makes it easier to findthe good stuff in the first
(22:41):
place.
Speaker 1 (22:42):
Okay, good advice.
Good advice, dana, do you haveanything else?
Speaker 3 (22:49):
I don't think so.
Speaker 1 (22:51):
Well, Robin, it's really been a pleasure.
Speaker 2 (22:53):
Yeah.
Again my apologies about thosephone calls.
Well, Robin, it's really been apleasure.
Speaker 1 (22:57):
Yeah, again, my apologies about those phone
calls.
Oh, no problem whatsoever.
What I would like to ask of you, though, do you have any MP3s
that we can throw on our website, so people listening to us can
actually hear what you're allabout?
Speaker 2 (23:10):
Yeah, absolutely.
Do you want the literal MP33 ordo you want like a link that
you could embed, maybe?
Speaker 1 (23:16):
either way would be fine, and you have my contact
information.
I'd be, and we will put that onour all our uh, our website and
our social medias yeah, I'd behappy to.
Speaker 2 (23:26):
I'd be happy to okay we love people.
Speaker 3 (23:29):
They care what you got out there.
Don't spreading the word.
It's the key for all musicians.
Speaker 2 (23:36):
Right, right.
Yeah, I really appreciate youguys doing this.
This podcast is probablysomething I wish I had as a
resource when I was starting out.
Speaker 1 (23:45):
It's still new for us , but we're enjoying it and
we're getting a lot of goodinformation from other artists
like yourself.
Speaker 2 (23:51):
That's awesome.
Are you two musiciansyourselves?
Speaker 1 (23:55):
Yes, I'm a drummer and Dana's a bass player.
We're rock musicians.
We've been performing since thelate 80s.
We've been out there and about,but we're still working at it
too.
Speaker 3 (24:05):
We've definitely done our time, like everybody else.
We took a little bit of a lapsegetting families together and
work and all that.
We're just not getting backinto it.
It's funny to see the differentscenes out there now.
How much has changed over thelast 40 years.
Speaker 2 (24:25):
Well, it's never too late to get back in the game, I
think, especially with socialmedia.
These days we're seeing thateverybody's getting a platform
of some kind, and before, whenit was hard to find your
audience, you'll find that nowthere's an audience for
everything.
Speaker 1 (24:43):
Yeah, there really is , and our motivation is really
getting information out there tonew and struggling musicians
and artists.
So we really appreciate yourinput and your discussion and,
once again, thank you very muchand sorry, for I hope I did all
right.
Oh, you did perfect.
Oh, you did great.
And sorry, I said your namewrong at the beginning.
Speaker 2 (25:05):
Don't worry about it, dude.
Seriously, that happens all thetime.
You should see my Starbucksorder.
We'll get right on there.
Speaker 1 (25:15):
All right, robin, well, well, thank you very much
and, uh, if you could get thatinformation to me and we'll, uh,
we'll, include anything yousent to me on our website yeah,
of course, I'll switch you anemail right after this sounds
great.
thank you, robin.
Thank you, sir, appreciate it.
Have a good one.
All right, bye.
Thank you for joining us today.
Please do contribute if you'dlike to help us produce these
(25:37):
podcasts.
There is a link on all of ourepisodes if you're willing and
able to do that, and I want toencourage you to listen to the
next few episodes because wehave some great guests lined up.
We have a CEO of a musiccompany in Los Angeles,
california, called Grass FedMusic.
(25:57):
We have a producer engineerwe're going to speak to about
recording processes, and we havea professional band and artist
from India who performsWestern-style music.
So please do listen to our nextfew episodes.
(26:17):
I think you're going to havesome really great information,
and I want to thank you allagain for joining us.
We're now in 10 countries andover 60 cities, so it's growing
steadily and we reallyappreciate it.
Please do email us or text us.
There's a link for that as wellin our episodes If you have any
questions you'd like us to askguests, or if you just have any
(26:39):
general feedback you'd like togive us.
On behalf of myself and Dana,thank you very much and you have
a great day.
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