PROPPA - The Secret To Getting DJ Support

Proppa is a house music producer from Chicago whose recent remixes are lighting up DJ sets across the globe—from Dom Dolla to Cloonee to John Summit and many more.

But this didn’t happen overnight...

Proppa shares the real story behind his 15-year journey in music—starting out as a drummer, battling perfectionism, finding his sound through consistent remixing and figuring out his brand and identity as an artist.

In this episode we talk about:

• What it really takes to get noticed in today’s music industry
• The mindset shift that helped him finally let go of perfection
• Why knowing who you are is the key to building your brand
• How he turned his Patreon into a sustainable income stream

If you're trying to hit that next level in your artist career, this one will give you some great tips and guidance.

Follow Proppa here:
https://www.instagram.com/itsproppa
https://www.patreon.com/proppa

Follow Nik Cherwink here:
https://www.instagram.com/nikcherwink

And visit my site to join the mailing list or book a free coaching call:
https://www.nikcherwink.com

Episode Transcript

Proppa vid 2 (00:00):
My philosophy has always been no outreach.
I think as an artist, your artshould speak for itself.
If you wanna do outreach, that'stotally okay.
But I just personally, I wantpeople to come to me.
I want leverage.
I think, a lot of peopleovervalue where they're at in
their career and not saying thatin a negative way.
It's just they'll find you keepdoing the work.
They will find you, the labels,the management, the agencies

(00:20):
everybody will find you whenyour art speaks for itself.

Nik Cherwink (00:37):
What's up everybody?
Welcome to the Headliner MindsetPodcast.
This week's guest is a truerising star in the house music
scene.
He's been on fire putting outtons of remixes over the past
few years, and is now gettingsupport by huge artists like
John Summit.
Dom, Dala and Tiesto.
In this episode, we talk aboutwhat it takes to get DJ support,
how to find your authentic lanewith social media and some of
the mindset shifts that havehelped him really break through

(00:59):
to the next level of his career.
This is proper.

riverside_nik_cherwink_raw-v (01:02):
My man.
Welcome to the show.
I'm so stoked to have you here,and thank you for taking the
time outta your day to be hereand to, uh, you know, just, just
be on the Headliner MindsetPodcast, man.
I really appreciate it.

Proppa vid 1 (01:15):
Of course, dude, I'm, I'm really excited to be
here, man.
Thank you for having me.

riverside_nik_cherwink_raw-v (01:18):
So it's super cool how we initially
just got connected.
I actually was talking to mygroup program, I run a community
and a coaching group and I waslike, you guys, I need some
help.
Who should I have on thepodcast?
Who are you guys fucking withright now?
Who are you guys vibing with?
gimme some suggestions.
And yours was one of the namesthat popped up and they're like,

(01:40):
yo, this guy's doing some coolshit in the scene.
He's having his moment.
So, um.
Yeah, shout out to the, to theheadliners.
They, they love you and they'reexcited to have you on.
But I also gotta say, justbefore we hopped on, I just had
my mind fucking blown because Ifound out that you are Olivia
from Elevated Frequencies.
What I, what I call my sisterpodcast.

(02:01):
If anyone is, has not discoveredthis podcast, go listen to it.
If you like the headline orMindset podcast, you're gonna
love it.
That's my sister podcast.
She is actually your realsister.

Proppa vid 1 (02:10):
Yes, she is.
Yeah.

riverside_nik_cherwink_raw (02:12):
That is too wild, man.
What a, what a small world.
I was super excited to hearthat.
Um,

Proppa vid 1 (02:18):
it's, it's fun to blow people's mind with that for
sure.
yeah,

riverside_nik_cherwink_ra (02:21):
Yeah, no, she's, she's killing it.
She's doing such a cool thingwith that podcast.
So yeah, like I said, if youguys like this one, definitely
go check out, uh, elevatedfrequencies and she's doing a
lot of really good stuff overthere.
but my man, I would love to divein just to start off by hearing
about your story.
Um,'cause I, I know, I knowyou've been getting after this
music thing for a minute and um,I'd love for you to just kind of

(02:42):
like, take me back to thebeginning.
I was going through some ofyour.
Instagram content and you weretalking about how you, you used
to be a rapper, like you startedrapping and then you got into
producing like when, take meback to when you got into music
and I want to hear the journey.

Proppa vid 1 (02:55):
Yeah, I mean, like, I would first just draw
the line between like rapper andsomeone who tried to rap, you
know?
Um, but I, I've, I've beenreally interested in just
creative work in general since Iwas young.
And, um, I picked up drums whenI was like nine years old.
Um, self-taught.

(03:15):
And from there, just.
It kind of trucked my waythrough different ventures and
different interests in lifeuntil I landed on the, the on
production, basically being whatwas able to keep my A DHD in
check and able for me to be likethe most expressive, and
probably the most effective.
So um, yeah, I kind of jumpedthrough rock music and punk and

(03:38):
metal and like hip hop and it'sall things I still love today.
But.
Probably like 2013 or 12 whentrap music was really getting
popular and, and I was stillreally into hip hop.
That's when I was sold on likethe potential of electronic
music.
Because I feel like up untilthat point, there's a lot of
that old school electronic musicI do love.

(03:58):
But up until that point, like itwas very niche.
Like it was all like, if youeither liked electronic music or
you didn't, and it was for theclub.
But, um, I feel like around thattime it started branching out
and you started gettingdifferent influences in
electronic music, which is aboutthe time I got hooked on.
And since then, that's prettymuch been my primary focus.
So like almost 15 years now

riverside_nik_cherwink_raw-v (04:19):
So 15 years since you started
producing.

Proppa vid 1 (04:22):
electronic music.
I was doing hip hop before thatfor a little bit.

riverside_nik_cherwink_ra (04:25):
Okay.
So you've been in the, you'vebeen in the D for a while
though.

Proppa vid 1 (04:27):
Long time.
Yeah.
like 2008 probably is when Istarted working.
yeah.

riverside_nik_cherwink_raw- (04:32):
got a shout out.
Um, getting on the drums though,that was where it all started
for me as well.
I was a drummer in, you know,early days and, uh, yeah, into
punk and metal and stuff aswell.
Still a huge metalhead.
So, uh, I, I always love meetingproducers that started on the
drums.
'cause I think that's such likea solid foundation of an
instrument to, to come from.
Yeah.

Proppa vid 1 (04:50):
for sure.
And, and I feel like I, I didn'trealize that it was playing an
effect in my production untilthe last few years.
People were kind of commentingon different things with my
drums, and I didn't realize thatas a drummer you pick up on such
small, almost language like,tendencies and percussion that
people who haven't developedthat sense of like physical

(05:12):
rhythm don't really understand,you know.

riverside_nik_cherwink_raw-v (05:15):
So I really love to kind of
highlight and point out that youdidn't start producing two years
ago.
You didn't start producing threeyears ago.
You know, I think a lot ofpeople are like, they're in
their second year of production,they're in their third year of
production.
They're like, oh God, I'm, I'mready to blow up.
Like, you know, why is this notworking out yet?
Like, I've, I've been makingmusic for kind of a little while
and now I'm trying to like, pushit out and, you know, you've

(05:38):
been working on your craft for,for a minute.
Right.
and I just think it's importantto highlight that I feel like
thEre's a trend where mostpeople that I'm having on the
podcast, I'm like, yo, it'slike, it's like year 10.
That shit starts popping off.
It's usually not year two orthree.
And so for anyone that's inthat, that early stage, you
know, like, like be patient, I,I think, right.

Proppa vid 2 (05:58):
and it's different.
I think, um, part of it too thatwe don't really realize is that
a large factor of what we do,we're still artists like in in,
in history.
Historically, if you are tryingto be a rapper and you don't.
Dress the part, act the part, dothe things that make people
believe that you are who you aretrying to be.

(06:21):
Then it doesn't work.
And some people naturally arejust very outgoing, artistic,
um, very, uh, what's the, theright word for charismatic?
And they're able to step intothe role of a, an artist public
figure a lot easier.
And that carries your music veryfar.
I mean, there's no.

(06:43):
But there's no timetable on it,right?
Like there's nothing wrong withtaking the time to focus on
quality, focus on substance, andthen, you know, develop a brand
that like, is really, trulyunapologetically you.
Which I feel like is actuallythe most bulletproof way to do
it.
Um, but that just takespatience, you know?

riverside_nik_cherwink_ra (07:02):
Yeah.
So tell me a little bit moreabout your story.
Like, when did you start to getlike, some real traction in your
career?
'cause you know, like I said, Ifeel like you're definitely
having your moment right now.
You know, you're, everybody'splaying your remixes out and
your tracks out and it's like,okay, we're, we're getting some
attention now.
When did you really start toshift from just being kind of,
you know, a, a dude making beatsin his bedroom to like really

(07:25):
starting to get some tractionand moving forward on the career
side?

Proppa vid 2 (07:27):
I feel like right now is like the last six months
is, is where things have startedto actually show true returns
and like, like where I'm gonnabe making it to the next step of
whatever this is.
I've had.
Probably three different,including this one, like three
different moments in my careersince like 2016, where I had so

(07:51):
much in front of me that I couldhave capitalized on and I wasn't
in the right mindset.
I wasn't mentally ready, Iwasn't mature enough to be able
to capitalize on them.
Like in the 20 sixteens, I wasreally big in the Hype machine
game.
Um, back then you could likeprint a hundred thousand streams
in a SoundCloud track in a weekif you got the right blog post.
And, I was doing a lot of futurebased remixes and stuff and, and

(08:14):
getting some traction, but I, Ijust wasn't there yet.

riverside_nik_cherwink_raw (08:17):
what do you mean you weren't there?
You said you weren't really inthe right mindset.
Tell me more about that.

Proppa vid 2 (08:21):
I think I wasn't.
In a creative abundance mindset,first and foremost, like a lot
of people are way too protectiveover their artistic expression
and their music and whatnot, andit would take me months to
finish songs, even remixes and.
Um, I had to make sure they werequote unquote perfect, you know?

(08:43):
And there was just this wholeperfectionist mindset.
And mind you, this was thetransition.
Like I feel like the 20 teenswere such a transition period
for the music industry ingeneral because that's the time
where the, the control was beingtaken out of the labels hands
and being put into the artist'shands and like we were figuring
out how to market ourselves.
So I just never, ever figuredout like what makes me special.

(09:06):
You know, I can make good music,but like what makes me special?
And it took me until really thispast six months to like take a
step back and be like, the musicis always gonna be here.
I can always create the music.
Let me just put like 80% intolike who I am, the marketing.
Like making people trust me asan artist and a human.
Not just like the beats, youknow.

riverside_nik_cherwink_ra (09:28):
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
So I'm hearing on the one handthere was some perfectionism
that was kind of slowing downyour creative process and also
sort of this, this other side ofit, which is, it is more than
just the music, it's also aboutthe brand, your identity as an
artist.
And I'd love, I'd love to talkabout both.
What helped you get over thatperfectionism that you were

(09:49):
being slowed down with?

Proppa vid 2 (09:50):
You know, I, I think like if you.
If you have the confidence,because confidence is like
number one, one of the biggesttraits you need in this whole
entire industry.
You need to be confident in yourart.
If you have the confidence andthen you're watching people pass
you by, it kind of like gets youout, like it gets you out of
your habits eventually.
Right?
Like I was holding onto So, manytracks and I wasn't releasing

(10:12):
them and they were becoming ayear old, two years old, and I
was watching a lot of my peersrelease music, self-release, and
like do all these things and I'mlike, I.
This is obviously I'm, I, I'mtaking the wrong approach.
Um, and it, it started with, Imean, it's a, it's like a whole
long backstory, but when thepandemic hit, it was like a, a
double punch for me because Ihad an injury that I got surgery

(10:33):
for and I was outta commissionfor like eight months.
And during that time, I just.
Made remix after remix, afterremix, after remix, and then
started releasing those.
And I kind of made this pledgeto myself to release them every
two weeks.
And when I ran out of remixes torelease, I had to just do'em,
you know?
And now I finish songs in likethree days.
I don't wanna work on them muchafter that,

riverside_nik_cherwink_ra (10:54):
Yeah,

Proppa vid 2 (10:55):
like one or two days of work.

riverside_nik_cherwink_ra (10:57):
yeah, so you feel like that exercise
of, kind of forcing yourself toput something out every other
week probably just made you alot better at producing and a
lot faster at producing that nowyou can crank'em out pretty
fast.

Proppa vid 2 (11:08):
sure.
It, it helped the skills andlike the, the workflow for sure,
and like being able to workefficiently.
But I think moreover, like I wasable to just say like, I would
do a million more things to thissong, but it's good,

riverside_nik_cherwink_ra (11:21):
Yeah.
Yeah.
'cause when is art?
When is art ever actually done?
It can always, can it always beworked on more,

Proppa vid 2 (11:26):
Yeah.
It's surrendered.
Yeah.

riverside_nik_cherwink_raw (11:28):
That perfectionism will really slow
you down.
'cause this is something I see.
I literally just signed a clientthe other day.
Um, I do, you know, I'm like a.
Life coach, mindset coach for,for artists.
And I help with strategy alittle bit, but a lot of what I
do with people is helping themwith kind of the mindset and
getting into what are the actualmental blocks and the limiting
beliefs and the things that arestopping you from really
accelerating in your career.

(11:50):
And I just signed someone theother day and I see people
struggling with this all thetime where they're just not
putting music out.
They're making it right, butthey're not necessarily
releasing it.
What was stopping you fromreleasing the music?

Proppa vid 2 (12:03):
At that time when I was sitting at a bunch of
original music?
and stuff, I wasn't gettingbites from the labels that I
wanted to sign to.
And, and, and surely I couldhave sent to smaller labels and
kind of built up like that.
But with my previous experiencein the industry, I just had this
expectation, like 10 years inalmost, that like, it's like
I'm, you know, I wanna sign aconfession.

(12:24):
I wanna sign to bite this, andlike that's, I'm not gonna take
no for an answer.
And I obviously took no for ananswer.
You kind of just have to do it.
I think what broke me out of itwas af like during the pandemic
or right before it, I justdecided to start self releasing.
And by that point, a lot ofthose tracks were two years old,
so I was already on like newsongs and I realized I had
trashed all this music that Ispent like two years of my life

(12:47):
working on and perfecting.
It was truly a waste of time, soI never, again, um, it's so
important that you learn fromyour mistakes more than anything
in business, you know?
And like that was one of thebiggest mistakes I picked up
Was.
during that time

riverside_nik_cherwink_ra (13:01):
Yeah, so if you could go back, you
would've just said, fuck it.
Don't wait for the big labels.
Just put the shit out.
Release it.
It's good enough.
Like, let's share this art.

Proppa vid 2 (13:08):
Absolutely.
And you know what it, I don'treally have retrospect though,
because like, where I'm at nowis where I need to be.
You know, like I, I, I feel likethings didn't happen for me so
many times because if they did,I would be burnt out by now.
I wouldn't have capitalizedcorrectly.
I would've made a fool outtamyself, made a mistake, And, I'm
where I'm right now because I amsupposed to be here.

(13:30):
So

riverside_nik_cherwink_ (13:31):
there's a big lesson in that, man.
It's just, it's trusting theprocess.
I trusting the universe, justknowing like, yo, everything
happens in divine timing and,and I'm, and I'm, and I'm right
where I need to be.
So many of us think we'resupposed to be somewhere else
and, you know, we can kind oflive with regret or we can be,
you know, have all this, allthis clunky mental stuff.
But when we come into like, youknow what, dude, everything is

(13:51):
actually working out perfectly.
I'm right where I need to be.
You know, we have those when wecan look.
Back.
It makes sense.
It's like, oh yeah, that's why Iwas supposed to, get rejected
and not get signed.
Or I was supposed, you know,crazy shit happened and my life
went in a different direction.
It all makes sense later on.
So there's a big lesson of like,okay, let me just trust that
this is all gonna make sense atsome point and I'm exactly where

(14:12):
I need to be right now.

Proppa vid 2 (14:13):
And related to that, like with it being such a
cutthroat industry, um, it's notabout what you can't control.
It's about what you can control.
I feel like so many people focuson what they can't control.
I wanna get booked on thisfestival.
These are all things that youcan like.
Non tangibly control, right?
Like so you can get yourself toa point where this label wants

(14:34):
to sign you, where this festivalwants to book.
You like those types of things,but you can't immediately
control those.
No email you can send at acertain point to a festival
where nobody knows you if yourtracks aren't like not.
You know what I mean?
And I feel like people dwell onthat stuff so much so.
I guess the name of the game forme the last three years is like,
I can release remixesconsistently.
Like I have a home label withhood politics.

(14:55):
I can release with them when Iwant, like I have social media.
I could post whenever I want.
I can learn how to use Final CutPro and OBS and like how to edit
this content.
And like, when you focus on thethings you can control, and
you're putting a hundred percentof your efforts into it, then
the process is gonna work.
But so many people dwell onlike, well, this happened to me
and I did too.

(15:15):
I mean, like, I've had so manythings happen to me where I was
like, oh, why me?
You know, I've been working toohard for so long.
Why me?
But it's like, you dwell on thatstuff and it's like, I couldn't
control those situations tobegin with.
So, Yeah.

riverside_nik_cherw (15:28):
beautifully said.
And, and, and it is such a wasteof energy.
You know, it's like when, whenwe get caught up in Yeah.
Like the industry's crazy.
There's, there's so much shit.
You know?
I see.
I just see a lot of peoplecomplaining and I'm getting
fucking sick of it.
And it's like the artists thatare winning, you're, they're not
complaining.
They're taking action.
Like you said, there's so muchthat's out of your control and

(15:48):
every ounce of mental energy,every fucking moment of your
time that you spend complainingabout how you wish things were
different, you wish that youdidn't have to make content.
You wish it, you know, the gamewas different.
It's like, yo, you are.
Getting passed up by a hundredmiles an hour by somebody that's
just sitting there doing whatthey can do.
And like you said, it's like Ican still send the emails out, I

(16:10):
can still make the music, I canstill put the content out.
Like there's still so much youcan do and that's the thing that
you should be shifting on.
And, I'm actually reading a,I'm, I'm doing a, a group around
the artist's way.
I don't know if you've ever readthat book,

Proppa vid 2 (16:22):
I haven't.

riverside_nik_cherwink_raw-v (16:23):
In this, this last chapter, uh,
she's talking about creativityand, and the whole chapter was
about like, you know, we'regonna experience losses, we're
gonna experience like rejection,we're gonna experience these
moments where the rug getspulled out from under us.
And it's like, okay, yeah, youget to mourn that for a minute.
But the next question you shouldask is.
What can I do next?
Right.
And the, the longer we getcaught up in, wishing that

(16:46):
things were different or cryingabout how things didn't work
out, it's like every minute ofthat is wasted when really we
should be.
It's like, get back in thestudio, make another song,

Proppa vid 2 (16:54):
Someone else is not complaining about it right
now.
And, and they're putting in thework.
And I mean, it brings me like,I've been talking about this a
lot with people.
'cause I, I have a Patreon, I'vegot a lot of students under me
too that like, I kind of spreadthe same mindset with and I see
online so much and I've actuallybeen calling it out on threads
too'cause I'm getting reallytired of it.
people are complaining so muchabout.

(17:15):
Like the music industry nowadaysversus back then and content.
and virality and now it's justpay to play.
It tells you what peopleactually know about the music
industry, because if you've beenaround for a long time, you know
that literally nothing'sdifferent.
And in fact, speaking oncontrol, we have more control
now.
You know, for the longest timepeople were complaining about

(17:36):
how, Oh, the labels have controlover everything.
Thing, and they put out whatthey want of mine, blah, blah,
blah.
And now we have control, andthat's the thing that people are
online complaining about.
So it kind of teaches you like,who's really meant to be doing
this and who's not.
Because if you're out therecomplaining about, you would be,
10 years ago, you would've beencomplaining about the labels
controlling everything.
So you can either shut up and dothe work or you know.

(17:59):
Yeah.

riverside_nik_cherwink_ra (17:59):
let's go bro.
Yo, I'm so glad you said that.
'cause I, I, I know I've saidthis, I, I've made the same
point on another podcast before,but it's like complainers are
gonna complain.
Because Exactly, exactly.
Like you said, they werecomplaining about, oh, it's so
hard to get signed to the label.
The label has all the control.
Right.
And now it's like we have thecontrol.
And now, oh my God, I have to dotoo much because it's all on me.

(18:19):
And it's like, okay.
And, and this is where I like tobring it back to like the
mindset where it's like.
It's about what kind of personyou are.
A winner is gonna win.
It doesn't matter what the gameis.
It doesn't matter what the rulesare.
I have a championship mindset.
I have a fucking winningmindset.
I have the mindset that I'mgonna do whatever it takes to
achieve my goals, to bring mygift, and bring my art to the
world.
And it doesn't matter whatfucking changes, like I'm gonna

(18:40):
do it, you

Proppa vid 2 (18:41):
Yeah, and I, and I mean like I, I think I've always
kind of been.
This person deep down.
But I will say it's not like,it's not like you're not born
into that mindset.
you kind of have to experiencesome things in life.
'cause like I was a prettyMadonna before, I wanna say
like, when I was first, before Ireally knew anything, like in
the 20, early 20 teens when Ihad a few tracks hit a hundred
thousand streams and stuff, Ijust thought I was, you know,

(19:03):
and I was like, I don't have todo that and stuff.
And it's like, you willexperience that sort of, you
know?
um, anti-industry anti.
Marketing, anti all this stuff,but you can get outta that
mindset and it's, the faster youdo, the better off you are.
And it's, it's the gospel.
It's like once you realizeyou're in total con creative

(19:24):
control of, of your project in2025, and you could be whoever
you wanna be to like the world,because the label isn't gonna
force you to be someone.
It's like, it's So.
liberating, you know?

riverside_nik_cherwink_raw-v (19:35):
On an even bigger macro view, you
are in control of your life.
I don't care what industryyou're in, I don't care what
path you're taking.
You know, so many people arebasically stuck in a victim
mindset, right?
Where it's like, Hey, so and so,happened to me, or everything is
unfair.
We're.
Pointing the finger.
We're blaming it on theindustry.
We're blaming it on other thingsoutside of ourselves, our
parents or the school system orlike, you fucking name it,

(19:57):
right?
We are pointing the finger atsomething outside of you.
But when you take ownership andrecognize like, yo, like this is
my life.
I have the power to createwhatever the fuck I want.
Like, that's the moment of.
The, in the matrix of taking thered pill or the blue pill, you
know what I mean?
Like, when you wake up to the,your own power that you are
literally like an infinitelypowerful human that can create

(20:17):
anything that you want.
But it requires us to also takefull ownership, you

Proppa vid 2 (20:23):
Yeah, for sure.

riverside_nik_cherwink_raw (20:24):
hard thing to do.

Proppa vid 2 (20:25):
But I also think like, you know, there's
something I've realized recentlywhile I've kind of, honed in my
brand, is like your history andlike the good and bad that
you've been through are whatmake.
You and your brand right nowlike it, if, if I didn't go
through, like, I definitely hada hard time in high school
socially.
Like if I didn't go throughthat, I would be a finance bro
right now.

(20:45):
You know what I mean?
I wouldn't be an artist.
Like, and it's, it's thosedifferent things where I came
from, what I went through, evenin the music industry.
Like I've had issues withremixes getting in trouble about
those and stuff.
And like, I've learned so manylessons from those bad things
that have happened to me that,that are mistakes that I don't
make anymore.
And it's just, it's the, it's,it's.
Glass, half empty, half fulltype things, you know?

(21:07):
But

riverside_nik_cherwink_raw- (21:08):
And you were mentioning earlier
that, one of the things that washolding you back was that
perfectionism, which, which,which you got over.
But then also there was this,phase of really just figuring
out your identity as an artist,figuring out your brand.
Tell me a little bit about whathelped you really just figure
out who you are.

Proppa vid 2 (21:26):
I would hope that people would figure it out
faster than me.
'cause damn, it took me a longtime.
But, um, I mean, it's, it'sreally been just taking a hard
look at myself because I'm, I'mturning 30 this year.
I.
I have been doing this for along time, and when you are.
still at that like square two oflike 50 in like the music

(21:46):
industry, it's like no onebarely anyone gets it through
square one.
So that's great.
But like square two is stilllike, you can do this stuff now,
now you gotta learn how to like,actually make people want it and
like getting through that likeit.
I finally got there and I waslike, who am I?
Like who the fuck am I?
Like, why am I special?
Like I'm complaining,complaining about no one's
listening to me.
Why am I special?

(22:06):
Why the house?
Should anyone listen to me?
Why should anyone care about me?
And I just started taking a lookat like, I.
My life, like what have I gonethrough?
I'm a drummer.
I love rock music.
I specifically love hip hopmusic.
And throughout my teenage years,in my early twenties, even when
I was in electronic music, Iidolized rappers.
Big fan of Mac Miller, big fanof two chains, big fan of future

(22:27):
like Lil Wayne.
I always looked up to thoseguys, and like their style, but
I was never, confident enough totry to like, emulate and, and
build my own off of what I wasseeing.
And I kind of recognized, like Iused to make hip hop beats.
I used to rap.
I still listen to rap music whenI work out, if I'm in the car,
like if I'm doing things aroundthe house.

(22:49):
I also recognized my strengthsthrough all of my production, my
base house.
I love making base house.
I love the remixes.
I love working with hip hop andmy remixes.
So just recognizing those thingsand kind of like finding where
they all match together hasreally been the name of the
game, and it's been fun toexplore for myself honestly,
because I'm writing like lyricsand recording myself.

(23:09):
I'm writing hip hop and I ammaking house music out of
original hip hop music that I'mmaking, and I am shopping for my
wardrobe, like making decisionsinformed by like my actual idols
and stuff, and.
The way that I'm presentingmyself is based on like, the
things that got me intoartistic.

(23:30):
Like, like, like Mac Miller usedto put out, you know, these,
these videos that were a peekinto is behind the scenes life.
And I thought they were sogreat.
And now I'm sort ofunderstanding like how that
narrative, how people reallytrust you as an artist, and just
all these things that, like,from my history, I'm like, I
used to love all of thesethings.
Why don't I just mash'emtogether with what I'm already
good at, you know?

riverside_nik_cherwink_ra (23:51):
Yeah, yeah.
I love that man.
Really finding what parts ofyourself do you wanna put into
this project and you know, as Isay, it's kind of like you kind
of crank the volume up on it.
Right.
Like really, really highlightthem.
Uh, and I love that.
'cause it's, it's, it'sauthentic.
It's just, it's who you are.
And obviously you're, you know,there's, there's so many
different parts of who we are ashumans, but when it comes to, I
think, building kind of thebrand, it's like, all right,

(24:12):
what are the parts of myself Ireally want to, put into this
and, and highlight?
So it, it's, it's a.
An important process that Ithink a lot of artists skip
over.
You know, I think when a lot ofpeople are struggling with
marketing and they're,complaining the complainers,
right?
Complaining about like, oh,content is so hard, marketing is
so hard.
Well, it's probably because youactually skipped over this

(24:33):
really important step, which islike, figure out who you are.
And what you care about.
Like you said, what makes mespecial?
What makes me unique?
What, what makes me interesting?
What's my fucking message rightnow when you figure that out,
now you have a lot of shit totalk about.
You have a

Proppa vid 2 (24:47):
Oh my God.
It becomes like thoughtless.
Like you don't even, I don'teven have to think about like
certain things about the brandanymore because it's just like,
wow, this has been me my wholelife.
That's like where I find thatthe authenticity comes from.
'cause like so many people aretrying to like think like, how
can I resonate with people?
It's like, how do I resonatewith me because there's so many

(25:07):
people out there like me.
So how do I make.
An artist that I would be a bigfan of that I like wanna
idolize.
And then obviously there's otherpeople like me out there and I'm
finding that's the case.
So,

riverside_nik_cherwink_ra (25:18):
Yeah.
Yeah.
When, and I, I, I wanted toshout you out'cause I really
loved, you know, as I was doinga little bit of research and,
and getting to know you a bitmore, it's funny, it's like you
just, if you wanna learn aboutsomebody, you go to their
Instagram and you, and youscroll through and it's kind of
your, it's your portfolio, it'syour resume.
It's, it's, it's a story that'sbeing told and I really love you
had a great post on there that.
Told a bit about your story andI think it made me more of a

(25:41):
fan.
I'm like, oh, I, I, I know thisguy's story a little bit more.
I feel like I'm connected to himmore.
And it's like everybody has astory.
All of y'all have a story, likeshare your story.
It's interesting, like it's coolyou got a new track.
Fuck yeah.
That's rad.
You got a new track, everybodyand their mom has a new track.
I wanna know your story.
Gimme a reason to like followyou and go a little bit deeper
into your world.

Proppa vid 2 (26:00):
Yeah, I mean, and this actually like taps into
like.
A little bit of, like, I've,I've studied marketing trends
over the years with music andthis kind of taps into like
what's hot right now too, and Iappreciate that on that post.
That was, I really felt goodabout that post.
Um, we've seen this with everygenre and electronic music being
the youngest.

(26:20):
We're seeing that transitionthat literally the hip hop went
through in rock music, which is.
When it started off withelectronic music, it was so
underground and whatever youdiscovered you were in love
with.
Like 2005, whoever was new andwas being listened to, you loved
it because it was just this newworld that like, oh my god,
electro house, like this isfucking amazing.

(26:42):
So We went through that and youknow, there was that same period
of discovery with like hip hoptoo, right?
Like it was new rap music, dudeon the corner with a mix tape.
Like, lemme check this out.
Because discovery was huge.
And then we got to a point, Iwanna say in like the early 20
teens to the mid and the evenlate 20 teens where mystery and
perfectionism was.

(27:03):
On brand, like putting out avideo per week that was like a
recap of like, a big show orlike, a serious kind of like
talk about a song or something.
But like, it was still very,everything was perfect, you know
what I mean?
There was no, you didn't see,you saw all the good and
marketing was very like, my newtrack is out now, blah, blah,

(27:23):
blah.
And people would listen to itand.
Now we're moving into a phasewhere people want narrative.
There's way too many artists outthere for discovery to be a
thing.
This is what every single genrewent through this.
But when you're scrolling onInstagram, you see a million new
artists every single day.
So you have to make likeyourself more than just like, a

(27:46):
song.
Like you actually have to attacha narrative to what you're
doing, I think.
And like you said, you becamemore of a fan of me because you
got to know some of my story.
Like people wanna know whothey're supporting now because
there's so many good trackscoming out, but like, who's
behind the good track and likewhat was their intent?
Like why do they make it?
Where do they come from?
Can I get more from them and canI expect more of this?

(28:08):
Or is this them following atrend?
Like, you know what I mean?
So it's, it's important to likeclarify who you are.
I feel like nowadays, and Ithink like we just saw that
happen.
We're seeing that happen withJustin Jay.
We just saw that happen withFred again.
It's becoming increasinglyobvious that people want to feel
like they're in on the project,not like they're just watching
it, you know?

riverside_nik_cherwink (28:28):
Totally.
Yeah, it's, it's, it's funny'cause I've really been
wrestling with this whole ideaof, I don't know, just, just
where the music industry is interms of.
The, just the content game whereit's like, it almost feels like
it's becoming less about themusic and more about the
content.
And as a true advocate of likereal art and real music, I don't

(28:50):
love that.
But also at the same time, it's,that's the music business.
And it's the music industry.
And if we want to succeed in thebusiness, we, we gotta, we gotta
run a business.
I, I will say though, I justwas.
Scrolling on Instagram the otherday.
And you know, it's funny'causeI'm hearing a lot of people
complain.
It's so hard to get traction,it's so hard to get attention.

(29:10):
Everybody's like, competing forattention with content.
And then I was just in mylittle, explore page or
whatever.
And.
I just saw like the fuckingdopest artists popping up and,
and you know, pieces of contentthat were getting hundreds of
thousands of views and shares,and it was like three in a row.
And I realized none of thecontent actually was like that.

(29:34):
Amazing.
And it wasn't, you know, evenpeople like telling stories or
anything.
It was like just straight upmusic content.
The common denominator.
The fucking songs were bangers.
That's what it was.
And it's like, I just wannacircle it back also to the music
also, where it's kinda like, ifyou make really good music, that
shit's also gonna get noticed.
'cause I was just looking, I'm,I'm like, this song is just some

(29:55):
girl sitting on a fucking bedsinging to the camera.
But holy shit, that is a catchysong.
And I just, I just like, I, Idon't want people to lose sight
of like, yo, it's, it's gottastill, it's gotta come from
there,

Proppa vid 2 (30:07):
Of course.
I mean, and from the oppositeside, my, like my Waka Flocka
remix has been super viral inthe last few months and a lot
of.
People think that the, thevideo, I don't know if you saw,
there's a video of me with abunch of Snapchat filters
showing, like showing the song.
And that went super.
That was like 35,000 likes.
And a lot of people think thatit's like, oh, that content

(30:29):
style, like the content got thesong out there.
But I redid that content stylewith two other songs and it did
not do well, and.
Other content styles I did withthe Waka Flocka remix.
Thousand, 2000 likes.
Do it with other songs, two 300likes.
So it's not, Yeah.
you see it like a good song willlive, but even before the

(30:49):
internet, good songs stillsometimes just lived on tapes
until they were marketed, youknow?

riverside_nik_cherwink_ra (30:54):
Yeah, yeah, for sure.
it definitely is the balance.
You know, it's, good music, goodbranding, good marketing.
Like that's, that's when you canreally hit the home runs.
Um, I think for all theproducers that are still in
their second or third year ofmaking music and they're like
just scrambling to push it outand play the content game, like
that's where I, I kind of wantto like redirect like, yo.

(31:15):
You've been producing for, what,10 years, 15 years?
Right.
It's like, give the art maybe alittle bit more time.
Like get the music to a placethat it's actually gonna have a
chance to kind of survive,

Proppa vid 2 (31:26):
Gotta become undeniable.

riverside_nik_cherwink_ra (31:28):
Yeah, dude.

Proppa vid 2 (31:29):
what I mean?

riverside_nik_cherwink_ra (31:29):
Yeah.
I want to talk about theseremixes, uh, because I was on
your SoundCloud earlier and Isaw you had, I think, like 58
remixes in a playlist onSoundCloud.
So obviously, like the remixgame, and I could even call it
the remix strategy, has been, abig part of, your process.
I love that you just set thatgoal and that intention to just

(31:52):
like, make a track.
Every other week make a remixevery other week.
You know, a, a lot of timeswhen.
I'm talking to artists aboutjust like business strategy.
Like that definitely is astrategy of like, hey, if you
put out a good flip of a goodsong, especially in DJ culture,
you can get DJ support and thenthat can really put you on the
map.
And it seems like that hashappened for you.

(32:12):
I would love to just kind ofhear a little bit how that has
unfolded.
was that a really intentionalstrategy for you?
Uh,'cause obviously like it'sworking and, and I think it's.
I don't know.
I think it's good to have kindof like a remix strategy for
artists to a certain extent, butI don't know.
It's, it's, it's also gottastill come from a place of
genuine creativity and not justlike chasing DJ support.
Right.

Proppa vid 2 (32:33):
for sure.
I mean, there was like a, aconscious decision for me.
Just like, I love these oldsongs.
I, you know, I'm, I'm remixingsongs that generally like I
resonate with since I was a kid,you know?
Um.

riverside_nik_cherwink_ra (32:44):
Super important that like you actually
fuck with the song that you'reremixing.

Proppa vid 2 (32:47):
Of course, and I was releasing some of those, and
a few of them started doingpretty well, like 50, 60, 70,000
views.
And like, this was when thewhole hyped it remix game was
still like an infant and it.
was a lot easier to chart andlike get a number one on there.
So like we were doing thatevery, every, I say week, I have
a management, really amazingteam with me.

(33:08):
Kind of just like have, let mehave the creative freedom to do
this stuff And then.
After a, like, I wanna say likefive or six remixes where I was
just kind of, doing it in thebasement.
Nobody else just, just throwingdown.
My team said, these look good.
Let's do this as, asconsistently as possible until
you are getting signed.
That was the goal.
Like, because I wasn't signingtracks, it, was just until

(33:31):
labels start knocking on thedoor, not like we are knocking
on labels doors and they said,until they come knocking on my
door is when we're gonna.

riverside_nik_cherwink_raw- (33:39):
Got it.
Got it.

Proppa vid 2 (33:41):
and we did that.
And you know, I just made sureeverything I was remixing was
something I like reallyresonated with.
it's always a song that I wasjamming to when I was 14, 15
years old, driving around my oldneighborhood, 16 years old, like
stuff like that.
And.
It always does have to come froma genuine place.
I won't just make a remix tomake a remix.
I hate when I see a song getpopular or a TV show get

(34:06):
popular, and like three dayslater the internet is littered
with remixes that were veryobviously already made and then
just like the sample slapped ontop of it

riverside_nik_cherwink_raw (34:15):
It's kind of the worst decision to
make too.
It's like, yo, there's 500 otherremixes of that happening.
Like you are really decreasingyour chances of anybody hearing
it because you're, you're just,it's, it's what I call, the Blue
Ocean strategy.
There's a really great marketingbook called The Blue Ocean
Strategy.
It's like when a shark, finds adolphin in the ocean and bites

(34:35):
into it, the water becomes red,and then the blood is in the
water and all the other sharkslike flood to, to, to eat that
same, piece of meat as opposedto the blue ocean strategy is
like, yo, go, swim out into the,the untapped territory.
Like that's where the, the, the,

Proppa vid 2 (34:48):
That's where the meat is.
Yeah.
I mean, the remixes they canreally help you with kind of
like establishing a presenceonline.
The other thing is like, it, itcreates constant content for
you.
So like, I was never short ofthings to talk about on the
internet.
Also, I think the thing thatcame, and we, you had kind of
asked about this earlier and,and touched on it like.

(35:09):
I learned so much about whatworks with those remixes.
And if you listen from the firstones, like from 2020 all the way
up to like the most recent onesI've released, you can hear like
a developing sound that kind oflands on like what you know.
Now.
I, I would like to hope, if youhear one of my remixes, I get

(35:29):
texted all the time when myremixes are played from people.
Like, is this one of yourremixes?
And it's like, Yeah.
I haven't released it yet, butso it's.

riverside_nik_cherwink_ra (35:37):
Yeah.
Yeah.
You kind of found your sound inthat process.

Proppa vid 2 (35:39):
Yeah.
a hundred percent.

riverside_nik_cherwink_raw-v (35:41):
it seems like it's been that, that
walka Flocka, like that's,that's one of the big tracks
that you've been getting a lotof, DJ support with.

Proppa vid 2 (35:48):
Yep.

riverside_nik_cherwink_raw-vi (35:49):
I imagine getting that DJ support
is really starting to open updoors and just kind of put you
on the map in a, in a new wayfor you.

Proppa vid 2 (35:56):
It's interesting, like it's honestly the the DJ
support thing until you getconnected with the DJ who's
playing your music, which thishas only happened once and we're
working on developments of that,but nothing too crazy has come
from it.
Like it's mostly optics.
And that's not to say optics arehuge, like in this industry.
Optics are huge.
Being able to post Dom Dala,John Summit playing my track at

(36:17):
Ultra main stage is super huge.
Um, I'd.
I guess I'm lying because allthe DJ support, there's
definitely good things happeningto that track right now, But, I
can't really talk about it.

riverside_nik_cherwink_raw- (36:29):
but it sounds like, you know,
there's a difference between,you know, somebody playing your
track out versus you likebecoming homies with them and
like really getting supportedand like developing that
relationship and really, yeah.

Proppa vid 2 (36:41):
I think the thing that people miss is like a lot
of people are asking me, I.
Like how do you get your tracksplayed by big DJs?
But if I go to their socialmedia, they hardly post or they
don't have a content strategy.
The thing is, when a DJ playsyour song, that's 5% of it.
Like it's up to you tocapitalize on that attention
because for years, DJs had beenplaying my tracks.

(37:02):
If you look through big DJs,play the set list, I'm all over
1,001 track lists, but I nevercapitalized.
There's videos of big DJsplaying my tracks for years, but
I never capitalized.
I started taking those clips andcapitalizing and finding a way
to that, that was me.
Like, that's my track.
And that's like actually whyit's working out that way now.

(37:22):
So like getting DJs, playingyour tracks is like 5% of the
battle.
What you do with that?
Like, think about it.
A DJ plays 50 songs in, in twohours, maybe less, but like,
they're not gonna tap in withevery.
DJ whose song they play andyou're not always gonna find
out.
So it's up to you to like reallykind of like, be on top of that.
Create Foot soldiers on socialmedia.

(37:43):
'cause they, they now show meshowing the other DJs playing my
stuff.
So when they see videos of it,they tag me.
You know, like it's, you have tocreate that ecosystem and you
have to capitalize off of it.

riverside_nik_cherwink_ra (37:53):
Yeah, totally.
And so back to that questionthough, like how are these ZJs
getting a hold of your tracks inthe first place?

Proppa vid 2 (38:02):
Um.
So from my understanding,Clooney straight up downloaded
the Waka locker remix off ofSoundCloud before I put it on
private or before I took thedownloads off.
And'cause he downloaded that andlike a couple other of my
remixes all in like the sameday.
And I remember like freaking outlike, oh, I wonder if he's gonna
play'em.
And ironically, the reason Iknow the way that other DJs have

(38:25):
gotten it is because.
There's a dubstep, like ahalftime break for like four
bars in the second drop.
And he, not only did he cut thatpart off, but he also cut the
second half of my first drop offand jumped right to the second
buildup.
'cause he wanted to play bothdrops.
So he made his own cut, edit ofit and whenever.
Someone from that big Camp JohnSummit, Al Mal P, whenever any

(38:48):
of them play it.
It's that Clooney cut.
I can tell because the halftimeversion's cut, so he's just
sending

riverside_nik_cherwink_ (38:54):
getting it from him.
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
Okay.
So you're not, you're notsliding in dms every day being
like, Hey, ple, here's my newtrack.
Play

Proppa vid 2 (39:01):
I have never done that.
The only outreach that's everbeen done was on our work remix.
We did ant inflight push, butmost of the big, like TTO didn't
download it off of inflight.

riverside_nik_cherwink_r (39:11):
Flight is like a hired DJ promo
service.

Proppa vid 2 (39:14):
Yeah.
There's PR services that havelists of bigger DJs that are
subscribed to them, And, thenthey'll push out your track.
I say this because I feel likeso many people ask me the same
question, How did you get DomDala to play your track?
How did I made a good track?
Like that's the only thing Icould say.
Literally like the.

riverside_nik_cherwink_raw- (39:30):
and this is, this is what I wanna
point out is you made a goodtrack after making, what was it?
58 tracks?
50, you know, like more,

Proppa vid 2 (39:40):
like, there's like at least a hundred of them, and
most a lot are not inSoundCloud,

riverside_nik_cherwink_raw- (39:44):
and so the first artist that I ever
saw do this is was Zoo.
Because I remember when ZooBefore Zoo was Zoo, like, he was
just like Steven Zoo.
He was a kid from USC, he wasfrom la.
He was in the scene, he waspromoting himself all the time.
He did a campaign called 52 toZoo, and similarly, he put out a
track a week, every single week

Proppa vid 2 (40:03):
I didn't even know he did that.

riverside_nik_cherwink_raw-v (40:04):
an entire year.
Yeah.
And so he had probably made 50tracks before that, probably
another 50 after this guy made,you know, 150, 200 songs before
anybody knew anything about him.
And then he had a greatmanagement come in and they
wiped his, his history clean.
They totally scrubbed theinternet and relaunched him,
making it seem like he cameoutta nowhere.

(40:25):
They launched with Faded, right?
Faded.
It just was a massive, massivehit with the right marketing
behind it.
But it's what I'm getting at islike he made 200 songs to get to
the song that changed hisfucking career.

Proppa vid 2 (40:38):
And on top of that too, like you said, management
came in after that point.
Like I feel like people are kindof also seeking, legitimacy in
the music industry when theyshouldn't.
It will find you, it will alwaysfind you.
My philosophy has always been nooutreach.
I'm a no outreach philosophyguy.
I think as an artist, your artshould speak for itself.
If you wanna do outreach, that'stotally okay.

(40:59):
I'm not like, I don't.
I don't like frown upon it, butI just personally, I want people
to come to me.
I want leverage.
And in situations like that, hemade those tracks.
He obviously was making reallygood tracks.
The Right.
people who knew what to do withthem, hit him up.
And that will happen foranybody.
So many people, I saw a, athread post about it and someone

(41:19):
was complaining about just likeindustry, people with money,
they invest in people to blah,blah, blah, with who they invest
in you when they know thatyou're worth it.
When they know that you are aninvestment worth making, And I I
think, a lot of people overvaluewhere they're at in their career
and not saying that in anegative way.
It's just they'll find you keepdoing the work.
They will find you, the labels,the management, the agencies

(41:42):
that everybody will find youwhen your art speaks for itself.

riverside_nik_cherwink (41:46):
totally.
Yeah.
You gotta, you gotta make noise.
You gotta make some noiseyourself.
You know, I think that, when itcomes to management, especially,
I mean, an agent is not gonnasign an act that is not gonna
make them money, right?
So don't even think aboutgetting an agent.
But even an agent is probably99% of the time, not gonna sign
an artist that doesn't havemanagement first.

Proppa vid 2 (42:05):
Yep.

riverside_nik_cherwink_raw-vi (42:06):
A lot of people are wanting to get
a manager, but a manager is notgonna come in when you're at
ground zero and take you to ahundred.
A manager is gonna come in whenyou're at 25 and take you to a
hundred.
Right.
So you gotta get yourself fromzero to 25.
Like, how do I get myself, howdo I generate some buzz?
Exactly.
Why do I actually make myselfvaluable enough that somebody is
gonna come in, they're gonnainvest their.

(42:27):
Time, their money, their energyto help take me to the next
level.
But you gotta get yourself offthe ground first.
And it's that kind of like zeroto 25, kinda like the, the
rocket ship bursting out of theearth's stratosphere.
That's a really hard thing todo, but that's, that's, that's
the game.
And either you're gonna complainabout how hard it is, or you're
gonna get to work and fuckingmake it happen.

Proppa vid 2 (42:49):
Of course.
And there there's a distinctionI think that people don't
understand between like being awell-branded and, and and
bankable artist versus havingmarketing, right?
Like I've spent the last sixmonths.
Digging really deep in findingout what my brand is and how I
could be bankable.
My management didn't do that forme.
It's not up to them to tell mewho I am.

(43:10):
That's up to me.
They come in when I know who Iam and they make it work.
When they see that it'sbankable.
And that's what a lot of peopledon't like.
No one's gonna give you yourbrand.
You have to figure that out foryourself.

riverside_nik_cherwink_ra (43:22):
Yeah.
Powerful man.
You know, I, my first job in themusic industry was working at
Capitol Records.
I got super lucky and, and waslike right away, you know, like,
like, you know, an assistant fora big executive.
But I worked for the woman thatsigned Katy Perry and I got to
be around, like seeing thatwhole, seeing Katy Perry go from
nobody to KA Perry.
And I also got to see a lot ofartists that were signed.

(43:43):
To, you know, a, a major recordlabel.
Were investing a million dollarsin this project.
And you could see that therewere some artists that came in
that they knew who the fuck theywere.
And then there were otherartists that they came in and
they're like, let the label,they're like, we're going to
create you.
And none of the artists.
That came in that didn't alreadyhave that figured out where it

(44:03):
was like, you know, the labeland the a and r and the
publicist and everybody was liketrying to manufacture this
thing.
It's like none of them lasted,but somebody that came in, a
fucking Lady Gaga where she'slike, yo, I have a vision.
I know who I am.
I know what I want and, and I'mso enrolled in myself that I'm
enrolling everybody else to geton board to this thing.
Those are the artists that like,they become the fucking A-list

Proppa vid 2 (44:24):
Yeah.
Yeah.
And that, that confidence is, isself-driven.
That's not confidence that comesfrom having success and having a
metric that you can look at andbeing like, oh, I guess I am
pretty good at this.
Those people come into thesesituations confident in
themselves with that brand,knowing who they are and knowing
they have a vision that'll work.
Like, I, I had that mistake forso long.
Like I knew I was a goodproducer.

(44:44):
I knew I was a good DJ and, and,and an artist in general, but I
wasn't confident in myself.
And it's so funny when you, whenyou, like, if you're in a green
room, you could, like, whenyou're around artists versus
people that are just industrypeople, and I'm not like, if
you're not trying to be anartist, you don't have that
artistic.
Some people have that artistic,charisma, charisma, but it's not
really like a, a humanrequirement.

(45:06):
But when someone is like atouring artist and they know who
they are and they're veryconfident in their sound and
their, their ability to be apersonality and all this stuff,
like you can sense it so much.
And it took me a while to startlike, oh, that's what sets them
apart.
It's not the songs he's madeversus me, it's the way he's
presenting himself.

riverside_nik_cherwink_raw (45:23):
Hmm.
What do you think has helped youstart to find that confidence
within yourself?

Proppa vid 2 (45:28):
Oh, that's, you know, that's not even something
that's, I, I think, should beexclusive to being an artist or
anything.
That's something that you, as a,any human, should, should,
should take the journey to findthat confidence in yourself?
because that's what gets you tothe next step in life in
anything.
And it just like me recognizingthat I've gone through life.
Not confident for so long.

(45:49):
And the, the points in my lifewhere I have been confident
that's when I've benefited themost.
And, like I said earlier, I'dhope people find the
self-confidence in stuff soonerthan I did because obviously I'm
year 15 as an artist orwhatever, and, and like, I'm
finally like, wow, if I, if Ihad been this confident all this
time.
You know, God, where would I benow?
But, it, it starts today.

(46:09):
It doesn't matter if you're, ifyou have a bunch of tracks that
are heavily streamed, or ifyou're a homeless person that
doesn't have a job, like, getthat confidence today, that's
what's gonna get you to the nextstep.
Like period, like self love,right?

riverside_nik_cherwink_ra (46:22):
yeah.
And, and I think that to haveconfidence in myself.
I need to know myself.
Right?
Like that really, I think isthat missing link.
Like when you started to reallydeep dive into like, wait a
minute, like who am I?
What do I like, what am I about?
Like where is that, thatauthenticity, like where I am

(46:42):
really?
I really know who I am.
I think that that's really wherethe competence comes

Proppa vid 2 (46:47):
I think you're right.
A hundred percent.

riverside_nik_cherwink_raw-v (46:49):
if I don't know who I am, then I'm
kind of looking at whateverybody else is doing.
I'm trying to adjust, I'm tryingto fit in, and that's kind of a
wobbly, shaky foundation asopposed to like,'cause I, I can
know the difference between whoI am today versus, you know, 10
years ago, even five years ago.
I'm like, yeah, I was still a.
Didn't really know who I was,but now I'm like, yo, dude, I'm,

(47:10):
this is me.
Take it or leave it.
Like I'm still learning, I'mstill growing and I'm still
exploring, but like I'm way moreconfident because I'm way more
self-aware and just in tune withwho I am and what I'm all about.

Proppa vid 2 (47:21):
Yeah, no, that's a hundred percent correct.
Like, and, and I think that iskind of like the coinciding with
being like, okay, like I'mgonna.
Do this because like, this isliterally the most authentic
version of myself.
Like I can definitely correlatethat with like the, just the
whole entire mentality shiftwith the way I, I, I look at
myself and love myself and, andappreciate where I am in life

(47:43):
and stuff.
So, yeah, super important.
I mean like like I said earlier,it's, it's actually a pretty
thoughtless process if you letit be.
If you're just truly honest withyourself, who am I?
What has resonated with me mywhole life?
I actually, all of my students,I've been asking them this like.
Like the ones that are at thatpoint where they make good music
and they're worried about socialmedia content.
When they ask me social media, Isay, stop, let, let me ask you

(48:04):
some questions.
Like, who are you?
Like what, what, what, what gotyou into music?
Like, what excited you as ateenager?
What was your hobbies like?
What, you know, still excitesyou today?
What do you do when you're notproducing music?
Like, all these things informlike who you are and, and how
you could be incorporating thatinto your music.

riverside_nik_cherwink_ra (48:22):
Yeah, so, great, man.
Tell me about the Patreon thatyou run and the students that
you're teaching.
What does that look like?

Proppa vid 2 (48:28):
Yeah, so I've been doing Patreon for about two
years now.
It's kind of a long story.
I was in and out of freelancemusic production, audio
engineering for the longesttime, like working on podcasts
and ghost production, and justdoing anything I can to make
money, which was always.
Very small scraps, along withbartending and playing some
local gigs, just like basicallyhustling and, um.

(48:50):
there was a point where, I wannasay like?
two or three years ago, where Istarted teaching music lessons,
production lessons, like privateone-on-ones.
And I was like, if I do this andI'd find like one more piece of
sustainable income, I could quitbartending and I could just kind
of be in the studio full time.
So I started Patreon and thattook a while to get off the

(49:10):
ground.
Like I, I was pouring into itevery day.
I do.
A serum preset pack a week.
I try to, sometimes it's like,I'll miss a week, but you still
get the value.
I do a sample pack every month,and I do tutorials nearly every
week.
And now I do like proper YAPSwhere I just basically have
these types of conversationsjust like alone, directly with
my audience.

(49:30):
I release remixes exclusively onthere, and even originals I've
done.
Just all sorts of stuff likethat and just behind the scenes
stuff, like anything I canpossibly give them.
Um, I've done templates and Idid it for like eight months
while only making like three,$400 a month off of it.
And, it was okay.
You know, like it, I, it was.
Okay to sustain, but itdefinitely grew over time.

(49:53):
I opened up a lessons tier and Istopped teaching private
one-on-ones and just starteddoing those directly through
Patreon, which now I have tostop because I have too many
people, which is a great problemto have.

riverside_nik_cherwin (50:03):
Congrats.
Yeah.

Proppa vid 2 (50:04):
Thank you.
I'm, I'm gonna be switching tolike, larger classes now because
it's just, Yeah.
But doing that, I have a generalsupport, so I have like a$2, a
$10 and a$80 tier, which we'llswitch to a$2, a$10, or I think
it's gonna be a two, a 15 and a$40 tier is what I'm gonna be
moving on to here in May.
But it's been so great becausenow at this point where I'm

(50:28):
starting to book, like touring,like actually almost every
weekend, what's allowing me tobe a full, like full-time papa
is Patreon.
Like that's, that's what'scompleting my, my income.
And it's, gosh, it's so frickingimportant For Everybody to
figure out some form of passiveincome.
Not, it doesn't have to becompletely passive.

(50:49):
This is semi passive.
I still do work on it everyweek, but like it's always there
for me.
Like if I have a month off oftouring, I have all of my bills
in the form of Patreon paid.
That's the most comforting thingin the world to me.
So.

riverside_nik_cherwink_raw- (51:05):
for sure.
Yeah.
'cause there's that, window oflike, okay, I'm, I'm making some
money.
Right?
And it's like, it's almostenough, to quit the day job.
But it's not quite, there'sthis, there's this transitionary
period, like for me it was twoyears of coaching.
I was coaching as a, as a sidehustle for two years before I
went full time with it.
And so it's a, it's a, it's aninteresting space.
So definitely looking at, yeah,how can you supplement that

(51:27):
income, ideally with somethingmusic related, right,

Proppa vid 2 (51:29):
Yeah, I have so many friends, like I, so many of
my friends right now are at thesame level as me.
We're just starting to get thosebookings pretty consistently and
get those tracks out andsignings and like, a lot of them
are still in the day job.
space and some of them, likeintense, like they're, they're
working for a company liketaking care of large deals and
stuff, and it's like, I don'tenvy the stress that they have

(51:51):
to go through.
And I, and I see.
How me being able to pour ahundred percent of my work into
my brand now because I have thatpassive income from it, is
really helping my growth rightnow.

riverside_nik_cherwink_raw-v (52:03):
Y.
Yeah, totally, totally.
Well, you guys go check out thePatreon.
I'll put a link for it in theshow notes.
Go get some music productiontutorials.
Get some sample packs, go listento proper talk about life and
mindset advice.
It sounds like a, an amazingPatreon to be a part of.
this was such a greatconversation man.
Thank you so much for hopping onand, uh, I'm just really excited

(52:24):
to share this one witheverybody.
So thank you all for tuning in.
Thank you for coming through.
And, um, yeah, let me know ifyou are coming to Austin anytime
soon.
'cause I would love to come outand catch a set.

Proppa vid 2 (52:34):
Ooh.
I just played a South bySouthwest party, but I'm working
on a return,

riverside_nik_cherwink_raw- (52:38):
Ah, Ah, just missed you.
All right, we'll ca we'll catchthe next one.

Proppa vid 2 (52:41):
Yeah.
I appreciate it so much, man.
This was great.
Thank you.