Meet Bobby Baskaran, Grammy Voting Member and Mentor
What’s it like to be part of a musical dynasty? Bobby gives us a glimpse into his family’s deep-rooted love for music—think the Indian version of the Jimmy Barnes family, where jam sessions are a way of life. His nieces are already making waves, having played young Anna Mae in the Tina Turner Musical, proving that talent runs in the blood.
But Bobby isn’t just about keeping music in the family, he’s on a mission to open doors for Australian artists on the world stage. As a member of the Grammy voting committee, he questions why Aussie talent isn’t better represented and why the industry remains so U.S. centric.
That’s why he wants to bring Grammy workshops and scholarships to Australia, creating opportunities that are currently only available in the U.S. It’s time for Aussie artists to have access to the same pathways to global recognition.
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:09):
Every day brings a new story. Life isn't perfect, but
it's perfectly ours, with raw conversations, inspiring stories and laugh
until you cry moments we hit them. I unpack it
all and figure it out together, one episode at a time.
This is life as we know it, Unfiltered with Tony
Tanalia and Lisa Cameron.
Speaker 2 (00:31):
Welcome back to our chat with our special guest, Bobby Baskron.
Speaker 3 (00:34):
Now.
Speaker 2 (00:34):
Bobby is a musician, music producer, marketing executive, a member
of the voting committee of the Grammy Awards. Now Bobby
wants to bring the Grammys to Australia. You'll hear all
about that very soon.
Speaker 4 (00:46):
You know.
Speaker 5 (00:46):
Obviously I follow you on Instagram.
Speaker 3 (00:47):
Tony does as well.
Speaker 5 (00:49):
You post a lot about your family and music, and
you know, and we were talking about this earlier and
I just said, you know, we just love how you've
got this real just such a connection to music and
family and that feels like that's right at home for you.
Like people come over and you'll pull out an instrument.
Speaker 2 (01:09):
It's like watching Jimmy Barnes' Instagram and when all the
family get together and the giants, Giant's got a table
full of food. Kids have all got their instruments out
I tell.
Speaker 3 (01:18):
Us more about this.
Speaker 6 (01:19):
I think that comes from just being authentic, right, And
that's you have to have that for people to be
able to connect to you as a person and an artist, right.
And I used to have trouble with that in the
past because I used to try and kind of compartmentalize
myself the wife and the family thing, and let's not
put too much of that. The marketing thing. I don't
(01:42):
want to involve because then, you know, because that was
a time where you had to be one thing was
your profession and everything else was just a side hustle.
So I always had this thing that if I talk
too much about the marketing wins that I'm having, people
are going to go hang on, like, aren't you like
a music prese? Okay, So that means he can't be
(02:02):
that good a music producer. He's got to do marketing
to make a living, and the same with the other
way around. It's like, he can't be that good a
a marketing guy if he's also got to do this
music thing. But then I think over the last seven
or eight years, everyone's kind of it's become okay to
be a lot of different things so now and yeah,
(02:23):
so you want people to have that connection. And I
talk about like I said, ADHD, like I've got ADHD
and I'm happy to talk about it because it me
and I've had so many people come contact me and
go and everything you're talking about. I think I've got
that as well. So you're raising adventage just kind of
dispelling it, you know anything, You're diverse, I've I've got everything. Man,
I've got a whole bunch of things going on like
(02:44):
OCD and this and that and you know, but I.
Speaker 3 (02:47):
Think we've all got something going on there.
Speaker 6 (02:49):
But I like talking about it because first of all,
there's no taboo about it, and I think if I
have a platform to normalize it, I should, you know,
and people who are my age or even younger kind
of it's going to be okay for them to say,
you know what, I should see a psychiatrist.
Speaker 3 (03:07):
Well, you because you were recently diagnosed.
Speaker 4 (03:10):
Yea.
Speaker 2 (03:11):
When we when we caught up with you at at
Jason Singh's gig, I think you said to me you
don't in that last week before you told you.
Speaker 6 (03:17):
About Yeah, I mean I kind of knew, but officially Yeah,
So I want to because I know how much energy
I was spending four times more energy to do the
same thing that someone without ADHD would. Right, So you're
using a lot of energy, You're using a lot of stuff.
Speaker 2 (03:32):
So knowing that has that has that changed, like you're
still using all that energy?
Speaker 3 (03:36):
Or do you go hang on.
Speaker 6 (03:37):
Because treated for it?
Speaker 2 (03:39):
Right?
Speaker 3 (03:39):
Okay?
Speaker 6 (03:40):
You know, hey medication I like talking about you know,
and I have a cool family, Like my nieces are
pop stars. You know there's some one there one. Yeah,
both my nieces have been in like like you know,
they have one is fourteen, one is eleven. They have management,
they have agents in Australia. Yeah yeah, yeah, wow. She
(04:01):
was this isn't you know the musical promber I was
saying she was playing anime. You were at that premiere,
the Melbourne premiere. She played anime. So that was my
She's eleven, ye Joy And then her older sister Sienna
was playing anime for the previous eight months and she
was touring. So she was living in Sydney for months.
Speaker 3 (04:19):
Just anyone who's just joined us musical yeah yeah music.
Speaker 6 (04:24):
Yeah yeah, so she was so she was living in
Sydney for like eight months near like one apartment in
the city's like a fourteen year old, right, yeah, and
then they moved. They did stint in Adelaide and two
different performing three shows a week or something like that,
plus school at remote school. And now my older niece, Sienna,
she's finished. Yeah, she's finished with the musical. And you know,
(04:45):
but my younger niece is now playing that role. And
she did the incredible national anthem at the Australian Open finals.
Speaker 3 (04:52):
That's what I saw, Zoe.
Speaker 6 (04:54):
Yes, so she was.
Speaker 3 (04:57):
I didn't say that eleven years old.
Speaker 6 (04:58):
So like there's our family catch ups don't tend to
be There's always going to be something happen. Yeah, but
everyone's very kind of accomplished musicians and singers, so like it,
it's not going to be like people playing three card songs.
They're going to be playing Dell braithwait and you know,
like in their sleep.
Speaker 5 (05:16):
Okay, So if we came over, yeah, could we like
just do the tambourine or something.
Speaker 3 (05:21):
Yeahs the triangle.
Speaker 5 (05:24):
And that would be okay, the clap, the triangle, so many,
so many options, so many options.
Speaker 6 (05:34):
At the very end, just one hit cow well, singing
bowls sing can never have to the con thing No,
there's actually can put a people play paper on the
com and play the com.
Speaker 4 (05:48):
Really.
Speaker 6 (05:49):
Yeah, there's a thing. I don't know if it happened,
I was just an Indian thing or like, but there's
lots of options. But you know, again, I'm not a
shot of content. But it's something that's happen in the
studio or something I'm doing professionally with marketing, or like
something I'm attending or like this, or something my family's
doing or you know, my nieces and maybe is like
their dad is like brilliant bass player. My nephew who's seventeen, Yeah,
(06:13):
he's like such an accomplished guitarist. You know, my niece
is like kick ass soccer player. It's like, you know,
I live vicariously through them, right, And it's all about
like I'm setting up all this stuff, with everything I'm
doing so that their pathway they now have these doors open,
so that you know, that's I want them to see.
(06:34):
It's like it's not it's still aspirational, but it's not unattainable.
Like I've spoken to big artists here who think the
recording Academy is like this unattainable thing. I'm like, I'm
in it? How unattainable? Yeah, I'm not being disparaging to myself,
(06:55):
but like Jason, is it you know twenty times bigger
singer songwriter, artists with a much bigger reputation. Yeah, than
I am like, you know, you know, Bachelor Girl and
like all these artists that we have the amazing but Jason,
people like Jason Singh and Tanya and Doco and you
know all the like all these other artists' amazing. I
having all of them, and I'm like, you know, why
(07:18):
aren't these people in that world? Is it because they
don't want to be in that world? Generally they're happy
in Australia And it could be a perfectly valid reason
as well. I just feel anxious on their behalf, Like
I want to showcase these people in that world. Why
shouldn't you know, a Bachelor Girl be performing at the
Grammy Awards. Why shouldn't Jason be performing at the Grammy Awards.
(07:39):
These people are still writing music, they're still writing original music,
they're still putting music out, you know. So for what
I want to start doing is and I've started actually
having conversations with the Recording Academy about this, is to
start bringing the Recording Academy programs into Australia because the
Grammy is there's only one thing that the Academy does.
It's them most shiny thing, right. But it's a not
(08:03):
for profit music industry body. They have heaps of workshops
and programs and scholarships and meet and greets and things
that are happening almost every week.
Speaker 3 (08:13):
They're just doing that stuf.
Speaker 6 (08:14):
But it's only happening in the States.
Speaker 3 (08:16):
Yeah, yeah, be worldwide.
Speaker 6 (08:18):
Yeah. So like I I when I became a voting member,
like three days after that, I got an email from
the Recording saying, Okay, you're invited to this workshop thing.
It's only fifty people or something like that with Green Day,
I'm telling you. But this was in New York like
four days later.
Speaker 2 (08:36):
Ye.
Speaker 6 (08:37):
Well, and then a week after that it was something
with the Laicia Keys and something. You know. So they
have they have advocacy bodies. They have advocacy bodies that
kind of advocate you know, that work with Congress to
make sure artists rights evolving and being upheld as technology
changes and AI and all this kind of So there's
a lot of stuff they do, but it's very US centric.
(08:57):
So I want to start bringing some of those programs
here in Australia here to Australia and some other countries
and bring some of.
Speaker 2 (09:05):
Those artists here too, I think. I think having those
big name artists, yeah, and was just helping. Not that
we've got the big names here too, and they are
very inspirational, but it's.
Speaker 6 (09:14):
Nice to have that. Likeli is doing a writing workshop,
yeah exactly. Tailor Swift will going to the Grammy Museum
and do a reverse engineer who she did that in
nineteen eighty nine. She talked through every song in nineteen
and I was playing them playing you know, voice memois that.
Oh no, I wasn't there. I was. I saw it
on YouTube like everybody else there. But I'm saying, but
there were people in that room. They're obviously like one
(09:35):
hundred people in that room, and she was playing them
voice memos of how the song started when she was
doing demos and you know, so and okay, that's a
big event they've had. But there's stuff like that happening
every week. Yeah, but we are so isolated in Australia
from that world. Like when I was telling people, I'm
come from a safe like wow, like that was were
(09:58):
you nominated, Like, no, wow, why did you come?
Speaker 2 (10:01):
Yeah, well, people think I mean, look, we asked, we
are far away from the other side of Wills, but
in their eyes, like i mean, Trump only recently made
the comment about, you know, Australian needing planes because of
the fact that we're so far away.
Speaker 3 (10:15):
Really yeah, I'm.
Speaker 2 (10:16):
Like, that's really but that's the perception that Australia is
so far away, that is, you know, we're isolated from everything.
Speaker 6 (10:23):
Hey, we have a cy DC.
Speaker 5 (10:25):
I was just gonna say, in excess, in excess easy DC,
Kylie Ye, Olivia and Newton John.
Speaker 6 (10:32):
Yeah, at the time of Greece, she was bigger than
John Travolta.
Speaker 3 (10:35):
Yep, yes, exactly.
Speaker 6 (10:37):
She was the calling card of Greece, not John Travolta.
Speaker 3 (10:39):
Yeah.
Speaker 6 (10:40):
Yeah, right, so but I'm just saying like, okay, yeah,
but those are kind of almost outliers for Australia, you know,
Like why is that? I mean, like, you know, and
that's the thing people ask as well, is like, okay,
would you rather move to l A. Yeah, I got
asked this, would you move to la and do what
you're doing there or would you stay in Australia and
do what you're doing here now, And I said, that's interesting.
(11:01):
I didn't think of that. But there's pros and cons
to both of that, right, the pros of staying in Australia,
Let's let's preferce it by saying, in my current stage
of career, you've got to take that into consideration. I
know people, I am part of the recording academy. I'm
part of that world. I have connections. Is it better
for me to be like in Australia it's a very
(11:24):
small market. I would be struggling against people who are
trying to hold an audience for themselves. It's very like
there's probably like five really good world class recording engineers
here making a living. I'm going to say that, like
you know, probably that and producers. And you know, for me,
now La or India, because they're both on the same
level in terms of how much work is going on,
(11:45):
are much better options for me because now I have
the relationships at the upper tier to be able to
not have to go and be a waiter yea and
earn a living or a stripper, you know, pay my
way through college or whatever the excuses. I would be
able to go on and and be working on reasonably
(12:08):
hyperfile project and making a good living form, and I
would And there's so much there, Like I had like
six opportunities. If I'd stayed in LA for another month,
I would have been working on like six songs with
people who are who have won Grammys. For someone who
is just kind of making a name for themselves, that's
a different decision. Am I going to be a small
fish in a big pond in La? Am I going
(12:30):
to be not that small a fish because there's not
that many fish here to begin to pond or reasonably
sized fish that has the potential to become big quicker.
And I think that's why I feel a lot of
artists that made it quite big in Australia tended to
kind of either come back and and or just stay
(12:52):
here and not really care too much.
Speaker 5 (12:54):
Yeah, Okay, So tina A Rena did an interview not
long ago, and she was talking about has she had
the opportunity to make it big over in the US,
but she didn't like what was going on over there
at the time, and she was referring to stuff with
Diddy and all that.
Speaker 6 (13:09):
So recent thing.
Speaker 5 (13:10):
Yeah, she did a recent yeah, interview, but she was saying,
you know, when chains come out, there was this opportunity
for her to make it big over there, and she
was saying, I just didn't like the industry and what
was going on over there, you know. And I read
some of the comments and people were like, oh, that's bs.
You just didn't have what it takes to make it
(13:31):
and da da da. So people were sort of like that,
and then I thought, well, okay, is that what happened
to a lot of out OSSI artists. Did they not
want to be part of that industry or just did
they not really have what it takes to crack?
Speaker 6 (13:43):
Well, it depends. There's two examples of that. You can
talk about two artists that are amazing, Guy Sebastian, Yeah,
and Keith Urban. Now Keith Urban did break yeah America. Yeah,
how did he do that? Right? First of all, he
was in a genre that is very American and he
has a country look about him, like you can't tell
(14:04):
he's Australian until he opens his mouth. And he did
that kind of foundational stuff by being in I think
it was Nashville, Nashville a lot of time kind of
really kind of doing those dive bar things and getting
that credibility, but it took him a while to kind
of be seen as a country artist. But then he
(14:25):
cracked it and it was cool. And then Guy, I
think Guy did. I think he did kind of a
very similar thing. He had a big career explosion here Idle,
a couple of great singles, became Guy Sebastian, and then
I think he went to the US for a stint,
and I think at the time I remember, but I
(14:48):
also think I think there was a stage where he
was actually went back to grassroots and he was like
taking his own amp into little venues. And this was
after he was Guy Sebastian, you know, had he had
a career here. I don't I don't know what I've mean.
I can't speak for him, so I don't know why
he actually chose to go and do that. Maybe it
was like I want to try and keep him, use
(15:09):
it for inspiration, keep him real, try and break it.
I don't know what the objective was, but he did
it for a while. You know, of course, he built
enough relationship and credibility to do those tracks with John
Sparks and ye look, yeah, so obviously, you know, spending
(15:29):
time in the US, he did kind of build those
relationships there. And again, this is someone talking from outside
his world as I'm seeing it. It may not be
the reality of it. But he did that. But then
when he came back, he was able to come back
in a slightly more i think elevated candle status, even
he has to do a crap ton of things. I'd
love to have that talk with him and go how
(15:51):
much transparency can you have? Guy like okay, with the
six things you do, don't tell me the actual amount
of money. Tell me the percentage of your revenue that's
coming from all those five things you do, like your
actual music revenue from streaming and just having records out,
the revenue from live performing like doing tours, the revenue
(16:16):
from those one off things you tend to do, the
big New Year thing or the appearance at you know
whatever it is, then your whole TV stick right voice,
and how much of that, and then how much of
revenue comes from things you set up from the money
you've made that are now giving you out that might
not even be music industry related. I would love to
have a conversation with people like that who've built a
(16:38):
career over two decades, People like Richard Marx, right, who
is a judge And there's a funny story as well,
tell you. But I want to know, like, okay, like
Richard Marx obviously, like you know, hey gold one of four,
there's he makes a lot of petrol money from his music, right.
Speaker 3 (17:00):
He's sung by Richard Marx all the time.
Speaker 6 (17:02):
Yeah, yes, of course. I was in some service station
halfway between here to Adelaide and Ridgard Marx was playing
in the toilet, right. I actually tweeted him. He retweeted
that you know you're a success icon when you know,
thirty years later you walk into a public restroom in
(17:24):
some place on the way to Adelaide and Angelier is playing, right,
And he retweeted that as well. But yeah, so I
want to know, like, okay, how where's your money coming from?
And I think it's great for artists like that to
share it if they can, because you're giving information business
information to the current genders of us who now only
(17:44):
have those options. They don't have that big eighties nineties.
Speaker 4 (17:48):
Catalog catalog, the eighties nineties money that came from the
physical sale of music to jumpstart or kind of set
the foundation for your life for the next year, like.
Speaker 6 (17:58):
Cider Garrett, who who is a singer songwriter, and people
know her for the duet she did with Michael Jackson
I Just Can't Stop Loving You on Bad also wrote
Man in the Mirror. People may not even know that
Syl Gatt and Glenn Ballad who's as Morris It's husband.
So on Bad album, she was involved in two songs, right.
She was involved in Man in the Mirror, which she
(18:20):
owned fifty percent of. Yeah, wow ye, and that's fifty
percent of a song on a Michael Jackson.
Speaker 2 (18:25):
Wrote now exactly a big Michael Jackson with Russell Morris
about this.
Speaker 6 (18:28):
Yes, and she also did the duet, so there was
revenue coming in from an honor and that was at
a time, what the nineteen eighty nine or something where
Tall Swift was being born. Yeah, but when that album
sold millions of multiplatum selling record. So she said interview
that albums, those two songs set me up for life.
(18:49):
Two songs. Song It's paced for my life, It's pais
for my ranch in Texas or whatever.
Speaker 2 (18:53):
And here's the thing, right, So Man in the Mirror,
you're saying she gets fifty percent, right, there's a chance
she probably wrote the whole song, but to get it
on Michael Jackson's album, she gave him a writing.
Speaker 6 (19:03):
No, he didn't, they didn't take Glenn Ballad wrote the
song with HERR. Glenn Ballad is a song story.
Speaker 2 (19:12):
I write the song to get it on the album
that to give the writing.
Speaker 6 (19:16):
Be about like thirty percent or whatever, and they haven't
touched it. And that's fine. I mean it's not fine,
but okay, you know you rather have Would I rather
have seventy percent of a song that's going to Beyonce
your record? Or percent song that's on a Bobby record? Ye,
one hundred percent of a song that's on a Bobby record.
So she at the time had that revenue coming in
and she now sits there and knits stuff on her
(19:39):
Instagram account Themselves Arts and Crafts, and I love her
like she's an amazing singer, an amazing songwriter. She didn't
like for like you know, Pointed Sisters and Shaka Khan
and she's written for all these other but she's going
to be known for these things. Yeah yeah, Hey, if
you're going to be known for something as being the
person that wrote Man in the Mirror, yeah I take that.
(19:59):
Anything else I've done in my life. Right, But so
she's made that money. But again, I want to know,
but you can't. If she wrote if Bad was being
released as an album now.
Speaker 3 (20:08):
She wouldn't make that money.
Speaker 6 (20:09):
She wouldn't make that to make a tenth of that money.
Speaker 2 (20:11):
So streaming has killed the music industry because the artists
literally get nothing from it.
Speaker 6 (20:16):
Nothing. It's it's it's like miniscule, right unless you do
like what Bruno Maas did, and even he's got to do,
like I've got to have three songs in the top
so you know, right now the number one song on
Spotify is Die with a Smile, Bruno Maas and Lady
Gard And the number two songs Spotify is Bruno Mars
and Rose with and then just like some striper song
(20:38):
he did just he did that lady.
Speaker 4 (20:44):
Right.
Speaker 6 (20:45):
But yeah, but so I want to know, like, and
this is what I want. I want to have create
the transparency with whoever's willing. So it's like a shout
out if there's an artist from like Richard Marx or
whoever it might be, to get them on the podcast
talk about it.
Speaker 5 (20:58):
Well, he's gonna, he's gonna this conversation is going to
be because.
Speaker 6 (21:03):
He's going to be here. He's gonna be on the boy.
Speaker 2 (21:05):
And this is why I was funny when you got
the context you tweet him, would you want to let
him not come on a podcast?
Speaker 6 (21:12):
Good old dick. But I'll tell you something funny about
the story about Richard Marx. Right, and he's going to
probably not be too happy about this, but I'm gonna
shared anyway. Many years ago he had put out a
post banging into the voice was like, this is this
is horrific. How can one three people decide whether you
(21:34):
are an artistic voice? You know, like Bob Dylan would
never have made it if he was on the voice.
And he was like, but he closed off by saying,
if you do see me being part of the voice,
so idle any of these things, be very happy for
me because it means they pay me a fun on
a money.
Speaker 7 (21:52):
I'm going to ask him, I was gonna find that
I want to find that tweet like and he's got
and he's got a sense of fam he's got a
great sense of humor, so he would see the joke
in it.
Speaker 6 (22:06):
But I'm saying, but see these people. Of course, Richard
Marx's you know, he's matter to day if you interests,
you used to be MTBVG and she's worth a crap
ton of money because she's a fashion line and so these.
Speaker 3 (22:15):
People are okay, yea other income straight.
Speaker 6 (22:18):
But for someone like me or someone like my niece
who is eleven, and my eleven year old niece, she
writes songs. She will just freestyle to a beat, and
I'm like, holy crap, But is the industry. Is she
going to see a pathway to being in the music
industry as an artist or a songwriter or a singer
(22:39):
as being a pathway that actually has promise, but she
can actually make a living from doing that, or she's
going to have to have a side hustle. I don't
know how many great songwriters are we going to not
see come.
Speaker 3 (22:49):
To fruition because they don't have that picture.
Speaker 6 (22:52):
And I'm telling you, and this is how stuff screwed up.
It is. We're sitting here, We're sitting in the Grammys
right and I'm sitting here with my business partner. Best
Rock Album of the Year, The Rolling Stones, Pearl Jam Surpas,
something Else, Green Day. I'm like, are we like back
(23:14):
in the nineties or where the those were? Those are
the nominee yeah, like Pearl Jam, Green Day, the Rolling Stones,
like Islve.
Speaker 3 (23:26):
Make exactly across the stage.
Speaker 6 (23:31):
But that's how ridiculous it is, Like so obviously, like
the Beatles won the Grammy for I know.
Speaker 1 (23:38):
That.
Speaker 6 (23:39):
I'm like, Paul, give it up, man, But these were
they wats for giving out in that afternoon thing. And
I'm just going, this is like some kind.
Speaker 5 (23:45):
Of weird It's showing what's going on in the industry, right,
It's like, where are the new artists.
Speaker 6 (23:51):
For the Rolling Stones, for the Beatles, because.
Speaker 5 (23:54):
How many people were in the rock category, Like who's
a rock band these days? I mean, they're obvious.
Speaker 6 (24:03):
The other artists who were like and they're amazing artists.
Like you know, if the Food Fighters put an album
out today and you didn't know Dave Growled from Nirvana, right,
imagine a whole bunch of guys, same song, same music,
would they be as successful. I don't think so. You know,
Food Fighters got the massive trajectory lift that it had
because they had the guy from Nirvana and them in it, right,
(24:24):
So he already knew people, and he had the financial
ability to kind of promote and kind of put the
album out in a way that it has to. But
that's the thing for me, like you know, and I'm
starting something you know, with this business part of mine,
And this is why we were at the Grammys. We're
going to use the jumping off point for what we're starting.
We're offering. We're going to be off of four pillars,
so we put a whole bunch of services into one ecosystem,
(24:47):
and it's going to offer labeled services artist management, concert promotion,
and extended reality virtual reality technology platforms that can be
monetized by the artists. And the whole point of us
starting this is to bring the power back to the artist.
We're going to change that around so eighty percent of
everything that's made on this platform is going to go
back to the creator, and we're going to give them
six or seven more monetizable pathways then they are even
(25:11):
aware of now. Right, that's something that's been launched in April,
and that's the reason we were at the Grammys. We're
going to use that as a pr kind of jumping
off points because yes, we can have a little cocktail
party when we cut the ribbon, you know, rowing stone
and all that stuff, But how much better is it
to say, yes, this is a business that's launching and
the founders but at the Grammys. So from a pr
jump up point. But that's something I'm starting because, or
(25:34):
we're starting this because I want my eleven year old
and fourteen year old nieces and my nephew to see
a career in creating art. Right. If they don't see that,
you're going to see what happened at For the best
rocko album ten years from now, it'll be you know,
Foo Fighters and Pearl Jam and Rolling Stone it probably,
(26:01):
but that's what's going to happen. It's going to be
such a bunch of shitty music by people who are
TikTok famous. Yes, look, I'm not bagging people who get
famous on TikTok. That's just kind of you know, sar grapes.
If all people who look attractive and exploit their looks
for attention, I would never knock back people of that.
If I look like that, I'd you know, like half
the people, I'd be without a shirt half the time.
(26:24):
I have no problem exploiting any acid I have forfe
to grow a career or to make money. I am
completely open about that. So people say, oh, you know,
she's using her look so like shut up. If you
look like that, you be using your looks as well.
So he had to be amazing because.
Speaker 3 (26:43):
He looked ordinary, like a ginger troll.
Speaker 5 (26:45):
Doll saying that I'm not he's not a traditional star.
Speaker 6 (26:52):
And then you know, you know, all these other people.
Speaker 5 (26:56):
That were trying to dress him insane clothes and he's not, you.
Speaker 6 (26:59):
Know, so being a couple, and the people bag her like, gosh,
she's just you know, using a sexuality and she's she's
all the time like that.
Speaker 5 (27:06):
But she also takes as well, not like she does
make fun of it and has fun.
Speaker 6 (27:13):
She makes fun of it. I think she just leans
into it and goes, well, stuff, you guys, I look
like this and I can sing, and she can sing.
Speaker 2 (27:19):
She can, she can?
Speaker 4 (27:20):
You know.
Speaker 6 (27:20):
I mean, there's always going to be people who are
very overtly sexual or use some asset to kind of that.
There's a whole bunch of people that are going to
go or they should be about the music. It's never
it's the music, you know, that's not what it's about.
You know, then the Beatles wouldn't be standing there with
the same haircut and the look. That was a That
was the decision deliberately made to attract the audience of
(27:43):
the time.
Speaker 2 (27:44):
It is now listen, now, what I want to talk
to you about, first of all, not first of all. Lastly, well,
what I want to talk to you about, and this
is something that we talk about with all our guests,
is celebrity death.
Speaker 3 (28:01):
Is there a celebrity death that affected you the most?
Speaker 6 (28:05):
Michael Jackson. Michael Jackson, I think. And it's also because
of that generation. Michael Jackson was I think my first
superstar I experienced, right, and I remember And this is
again it's funny because it's a Grammy connection as well.
So the first time the Grammys were telecast in India,
maybe I was like six seven or eight or something.
It was that eighty three eighty four. That was that
(28:26):
thriller Grammys. That was the first time I saw the Grammy.
And that's first time I actually heard of Michael Jackson. Okay,
there's an image. There's a photograph and it's the most
one of the most famous photographs. It's in the Grammy Museum.
There's a photograph of Michael Jackson and Quincy Jones at
the end of the Grammys and he's staying there falling
Grammy it Grammys in that military. Yeah, that picture, that
(28:48):
image is burnt into my brain right, And I think
I was obsessed with Michael Jackson. I cut up an
old red vinyl couch to make that rich. I did. No,
she wasn't. She didn't know whether to be like impressed
(29:09):
that I had sown a jacket out of vinyl for myself.
I had the black pants with the buckles and everything.
I was obsessed with Michael Jackson and still am. Like,
there's a photo my post of Michael Jackson in my studio.
So I think when that happened, it was the morning
I was driving in to drop Jillian off at the
station or something. I actually heard a joke about Michael
(29:30):
Jackson's dead before I actually heard the news about Michael Jackson.
Wasn't radio. About three minutes after that, it's like, you know,
just to confirm we're letting you you know, this is
that that pops out Michael Jackson was found dead, Like
holy crap. That was yeah for me that I think
that was the thing that went oh my god, like
because it was just like this is it was gonna happen,
and he just like he's gonna have all these fifty shows,
(29:52):
and I was like, yeah, should I go to London
and by tickets war because I've never seen Michael Jackson
live and everyone I know has that. I think that twice, yeah,
but I'd never seen Michael Jackson live, so I was
like that was my big regret. So I was like, yeah,
maybe I should think about getting a ticket and we'll
(30:13):
go and see one of those usually like fifty concerts
or something. Yeah, and then suddenly it was like then,
you know, so I think for me that was like
damn it. Yeah, you know that like was the most
kind of especially all that stuff he had gone through
towards the last ten years with all the legal thing
and they're like like, oh my, this guy is not
getting a break at all. Yeah, there's never going to
be another artist like that. Yeah, you're never going to
(30:34):
see and he did that without social media.
Speaker 5 (30:36):
It's so true.
Speaker 6 (30:37):
He had that frenzy. You know, Taylor Swift has that
frenzy now y with the tools that she has, right,
and I'm not taking anything away from that, but yeah,
this guy did that just the television and radio just.
Speaker 3 (30:49):
Just like literally pure energy. That another halftime show about half.
Speaker 6 (30:54):
Times I remember showcro in an interview. There was a
spiky documentary about Bad twenty five and twenty fifth US
Bad especally this beautiful documentary which you should watch. It's
on Apple TV. They talked to shel Crow, of course,
because she shot the fame by being his backing singer.
She was and the only reason she got the gig
(31:15):
was because Cider Garrett too was actually Michael Jackson's backup
singer on tour. Has just done these two songs. So
the label said, it's not a good look for you
after you've done this duet and thing to see today
back we'll get you on your own tour. So she
backed out of the tour, the Bad tour, and they
needed somebody in then said we want kind of an
all American looking kind of girl.
Speaker 4 (31:33):
So this.
Speaker 6 (31:35):
And that's how she kind of launched her career. So
she said something, and it's in the documentary. It's like
she's like, there's a lot of singers that are there
and you can be wowed by their technique and you
can be wowed by you know, the the art and
everything else. But she said with Michael Jackson that wasn't
the case. When Michael Jackson stepped into a room there
(31:59):
was something happened, like he would step into a room.
You didn't even You wouldn't even know he stepped into
the room. The molecules would change when he stepped into
a room. And she said it was undefinable. You didn't
know how it was you And he said, I would know.
I would have my back facing the door, and I
(32:19):
would know when he stepped into the room. The water
molecules would.
Speaker 3 (32:22):
Feel the press change.
Speaker 6 (32:24):
And he said, to her knowledge, there would never be
another person like you know. Yeah, I think that's the
perfect way to close. Thank you for otherwise I'm going
to get myself into so much more trouble. I have
no idea what my wife's calling as well. It's like
I'm just a podcast, and like, seriously, you know, messages
(32:46):
going the cats haven't been fair. So I just realize
you're at a podcast.
Speaker 3 (32:53):
And this is where we said goodbye to Bobby so
he could go home and fed the cats.
Speaker 1 (32:58):
You've been listening to Life as we Know Unfiltered with
Tony Tanalia and Lisa Cameron. If you liked this episode,
please leave us a review or drop a comment on
our socials. We love hearing from you. You can also
come hang out with us on Instagram at life asweow
It dot podcast and on Facebook at Life as We
Know It. Oh and please see that follow button on
(33:18):
your favorite podcast app if you're not following us yet,
catch up with you in our next episode.
Every day brings a new story. Life isn't perfect, but
it's perfectly ours, with raw conversations, inspiring stories and laugh
until you cry moments we hit them. I unpack it
all and figure it out together, one episode at a time.
This is life as we know it, Unfiltered with Tony
Tanalia and Lisa Cameron.
Speaker 2 (00:31):
Welcome back to our chat with our special guest, Bobby Baskron.
Speaker 3 (00:34):
Now.
Speaker 2 (00:34):
Bobby is a musician, music producer, marketing executive, a member
of the voting committee of the Grammy Awards. Now Bobby
wants to bring the Grammys to Australia. You'll hear all
about that very soon.
Speaker 4 (00:46):
You know.
Speaker 5 (00:46):
Obviously I follow you on Instagram.
Speaker 3 (00:47):
Tony does as well.
Speaker 5 (00:49):
You post a lot about your family and music, and
you know, and we were talking about this earlier and
I just said, you know, we just love how you've
got this real just such a connection to music and
family and that feels like that's right at home for you.
Like people come over and you'll pull out an instrument.
Speaker 2 (01:09):
It's like watching Jimmy Barnes' Instagram and when all the
family get together and the giants, Giant's got a table
full of food. Kids have all got their instruments out
I tell.
Speaker 3 (01:18):
Us more about this.
Speaker 6 (01:19):
I think that comes from just being authentic, right, And
that's you have to have that for people to be
able to connect to you as a person and an artist, right.
And I used to have trouble with that in the
past because I used to try and kind of compartmentalize
myself the wife and the family thing, and let's not
put too much of that. The marketing thing. I don't
(01:42):
want to involve because then, you know, because that was
a time where you had to be one thing was
your profession and everything else was just a side hustle.
So I always had this thing that if I talk
too much about the marketing wins that I'm having, people
are going to go hang on, like, aren't you like
a music prese? Okay, So that means he can't be
(02:02):
that good a music producer. He's got to do marketing
to make a living, and the same with the other
way around. It's like, he can't be that good a
a marketing guy if he's also got to do this
music thing. But then I think over the last seven
or eight years, everyone's kind of it's become okay to
be a lot of different things so now and yeah,
(02:23):
so you want people to have that connection. And I
talk about like I said, ADHD, like I've got ADHD
and I'm happy to talk about it because it me
and I've had so many people come contact me and
go and everything you're talking about. I think I've got
that as well. So you're raising adventage just kind of
dispelling it, you know anything, You're diverse, I've I've got everything. Man,
I've got a whole bunch of things going on like
(02:44):
OCD and this and that and you know, but I.
Speaker 3 (02:47):
Think we've all got something going on there.
Speaker 6 (02:49):
But I like talking about it because first of all,
there's no taboo about it, and I think if I
have a platform to normalize it, I should, you know,
and people who are my age or even younger kind
of it's going to be okay for them to say,
you know what, I should see a psychiatrist.
Speaker 3 (03:07):
Well, you because you were recently diagnosed.
Speaker 4 (03:10):
Yea.
Speaker 2 (03:11):
When we when we caught up with you at at
Jason Singh's gig, I think you said to me you
don't in that last week before you told you.
Speaker 6 (03:17):
About Yeah, I mean I kind of knew, but officially Yeah,
So I want to because I know how much energy
I was spending four times more energy to do the
same thing that someone without ADHD would. Right, So you're
using a lot of energy, You're using a lot of stuff.
Speaker 2 (03:32):
So knowing that has that has that changed, like you're
still using all that energy?
Speaker 3 (03:36):
Or do you go hang on.
Speaker 6 (03:37):
Because treated for it?
Speaker 2 (03:39):
Right?
Speaker 3 (03:39):
Okay?
Speaker 6 (03:40):
You know, hey medication I like talking about you know,
and I have a cool family, Like my nieces are
pop stars. You know there's some one there one. Yeah,
both my nieces have been in like like you know,
they have one is fourteen, one is eleven. They have management,
they have agents in Australia. Yeah yeah, yeah, wow. She
(04:01):
was this isn't you know the musical promber I was
saying she was playing anime. You were at that premiere,
the Melbourne premiere. She played anime. So that was my
She's eleven, ye Joy And then her older sister Sienna
was playing anime for the previous eight months and she
was touring. So she was living in Sydney for months.
Speaker 3 (04:19):
Just anyone who's just joined us musical yeah yeah music.
Speaker 6 (04:24):
Yeah yeah, so she was so she was living in
Sydney for like eight months near like one apartment in
the city's like a fourteen year old, right, yeah, and
then they moved. They did stint in Adelaide and two
different performing three shows a week or something like that,
plus school at remote school. And now my older niece, Sienna,
she's finished. Yeah, she's finished with the musical. And you know,
(04:45):
but my younger niece is now playing that role. And
she did the incredible national anthem at the Australian Open finals.
Speaker 3 (04:52):
That's what I saw, Zoe.
Speaker 6 (04:54):
Yes, so she was.
Speaker 3 (04:57):
I didn't say that eleven years old.
Speaker 6 (04:58):
So like there's our family catch ups don't tend to
be There's always going to be something happen. Yeah, but
everyone's very kind of accomplished musicians and singers, so like it,
it's not going to be like people playing three card songs.
They're going to be playing Dell braithwait and you know,
like in their sleep.
Speaker 5 (05:16):
Okay, So if we came over, yeah, could we like
just do the tambourine or something.
Speaker 3 (05:21):
Yeahs the triangle.
Speaker 5 (05:24):
And that would be okay, the clap, the triangle, so many,
so many options, so many options.
Speaker 6 (05:34):
At the very end, just one hit cow well, singing
bowls sing can never have to the con thing No,
there's actually can put a people play paper on the
com and play the com.
Speaker 4 (05:48):
Really.
Speaker 6 (05:49):
Yeah, there's a thing. I don't know if it happened,
I was just an Indian thing or like, but there's
lots of options. But you know, again, I'm not a
shot of content. But it's something that's happen in the
studio or something I'm doing professionally with marketing, or like
something I'm attending or like this, or something my family's
doing or you know, my nieces and maybe is like
their dad is like brilliant bass player. My nephew who's seventeen, Yeah,
(06:13):
he's like such an accomplished guitarist. You know, my niece
is like kick ass soccer player. It's like, you know,
I live vicariously through them, right, And it's all about
like I'm setting up all this stuff, with everything I'm
doing so that their pathway they now have these doors open,
so that you know, that's I want them to see.
(06:34):
It's like it's not it's still aspirational, but it's not unattainable.
Like I've spoken to big artists here who think the
recording Academy is like this unattainable thing. I'm like, I'm
in it? How unattainable? Yeah, I'm not being disparaging to myself,
(06:55):
but like Jason, is it you know twenty times bigger
singer songwriter, artists with a much bigger reputation. Yeah, than
I am like, you know, you know, Bachelor Girl and
like all these artists that we have the amazing but Jason,
people like Jason Singh and Tanya and Doco and you
know all the like all these other artists' amazing. I
having all of them, and I'm like, you know, why
(07:18):
aren't these people in that world? Is it because they
don't want to be in that world? Generally they're happy
in Australia And it could be a perfectly valid reason
as well. I just feel anxious on their behalf, Like
I want to showcase these people in that world. Why
shouldn't you know, a Bachelor Girl be performing at the
Grammy Awards. Why shouldn't Jason be performing at the Grammy Awards.
(07:39):
These people are still writing music, they're still writing original music,
they're still putting music out, you know. So for what
I want to start doing is and I've started actually
having conversations with the Recording Academy about this, is to
start bringing the Recording Academy programs into Australia because the
Grammy is there's only one thing that the Academy does.
It's them most shiny thing, right. But it's a not
(08:03):
for profit music industry body. They have heaps of workshops
and programs and scholarships and meet and greets and things
that are happening almost every week.
Speaker 3 (08:13):
They're just doing that stuf.
Speaker 6 (08:14):
But it's only happening in the States.
Speaker 3 (08:16):
Yeah, yeah, be worldwide.
Speaker 6 (08:18):
Yeah. So like I I when I became a voting member,
like three days after that, I got an email from
the Recording saying, Okay, you're invited to this workshop thing.
It's only fifty people or something like that with Green Day,
I'm telling you. But this was in New York like
four days later.
Speaker 2 (08:36):
Ye.
Speaker 6 (08:37):
Well, and then a week after that it was something
with the Laicia Keys and something. You know. So they
have they have advocacy bodies. They have advocacy bodies that
kind of advocate you know, that work with Congress to
make sure artists rights evolving and being upheld as technology
changes and AI and all this kind of So there's
a lot of stuff they do, but it's very US centric.
(08:57):
So I want to start bringing some of those programs
here in Australia here to Australia and some other countries
and bring some of.
Speaker 2 (09:05):
Those artists here too, I think. I think having those
big name artists, yeah, and was just helping. Not that
we've got the big names here too, and they are
very inspirational, but it's.
Speaker 6 (09:14):
Nice to have that. Likeli is doing a writing workshop,
yeah exactly. Tailor Swift will going to the Grammy Museum
and do a reverse engineer who she did that in
nineteen eighty nine. She talked through every song in nineteen
and I was playing them playing you know, voice memois that.
Oh no, I wasn't there. I was. I saw it
on YouTube like everybody else there. But I'm saying, but
there were people in that room. They're obviously like one
(09:35):
hundred people in that room, and she was playing them
voice memos of how the song started when she was
doing demos and you know, so and okay, that's a
big event they've had. But there's stuff like that happening
every week. Yeah, but we are so isolated in Australia
from that world. Like when I was telling people, I'm
come from a safe like wow, like that was were
(09:58):
you nominated, Like, no, wow, why did you come?
Speaker 2 (10:01):
Yeah, well, people think I mean, look, we asked, we
are far away from the other side of Wills, but
in their eyes, like i mean, Trump only recently made
the comment about, you know, Australian needing planes because of
the fact that we're so far away.
Speaker 3 (10:15):
Really yeah, I'm.
Speaker 2 (10:16):
Like, that's really but that's the perception that Australia is
so far away, that is, you know, we're isolated from everything.
Speaker 6 (10:23):
Hey, we have a cy DC.
Speaker 5 (10:25):
I was just gonna say, in excess, in excess easy DC,
Kylie Ye, Olivia and Newton John.
Speaker 6 (10:32):
Yeah, at the time of Greece, she was bigger than
John Travolta.
Speaker 3 (10:35):
Yep, yes, exactly.
Speaker 6 (10:37):
She was the calling card of Greece, not John Travolta.
Speaker 3 (10:39):
Yeah.
Speaker 6 (10:40):
Yeah, right, so but I'm just saying like, okay, yeah,
but those are kind of almost outliers for Australia, you know,
Like why is that? I mean, like, you know, and
that's the thing people ask as well, is like, okay,
would you rather move to l A. Yeah, I got
asked this, would you move to la and do what
you're doing there or would you stay in Australia and
do what you're doing here now, And I said, that's interesting.
(11:01):
I didn't think of that. But there's pros and cons
to both of that, right, the pros of staying in Australia,
Let's let's preferce it by saying, in my current stage
of career, you've got to take that into consideration. I
know people, I am part of the recording academy. I'm
part of that world. I have connections. Is it better
for me to be like in Australia it's a very
(11:24):
small market. I would be struggling against people who are
trying to hold an audience for themselves. It's very like
there's probably like five really good world class recording engineers
here making a living. I'm going to say that, like
you know, probably that and producers. And you know, for me,
now La or India, because they're both on the same
level in terms of how much work is going on,
(11:45):
are much better options for me because now I have
the relationships at the upper tier to be able to
not have to go and be a waiter yea and
earn a living or a stripper, you know, pay my
way through college or whatever the excuses. I would be
able to go on and and be working on reasonably
(12:08):
hyperfile project and making a good living form, and I
would And there's so much there, Like I had like
six opportunities. If I'd stayed in LA for another month,
I would have been working on like six songs with
people who are who have won Grammys. For someone who
is just kind of making a name for themselves, that's
a different decision. Am I going to be a small
fish in a big pond in La? Am I going
(12:30):
to be not that small a fish because there's not
that many fish here to begin to pond or reasonably
sized fish that has the potential to become big quicker.
And I think that's why I feel a lot of
artists that made it quite big in Australia tended to
kind of either come back and and or just stay
(12:52):
here and not really care too much.
Speaker 5 (12:54):
Yeah, Okay, So tina A Rena did an interview not
long ago, and she was talking about has she had
the opportunity to make it big over in the US,
but she didn't like what was going on over there
at the time, and she was referring to stuff with
Diddy and all that.
Speaker 6 (13:09):
So recent thing.
Speaker 5 (13:10):
Yeah, she did a recent yeah, interview, but she was saying,
you know, when chains come out, there was this opportunity
for her to make it big over there, and she
was saying, I just didn't like the industry and what
was going on over there, you know. And I read
some of the comments and people were like, oh, that's bs.
You just didn't have what it takes to make it
(13:31):
and da da da. So people were sort of like that,
and then I thought, well, okay, is that what happened
to a lot of out OSSI artists. Did they not
want to be part of that industry or just did
they not really have what it takes to crack?
Speaker 6 (13:43):
Well, it depends. There's two examples of that. You can
talk about two artists that are amazing, Guy Sebastian, Yeah,
and Keith Urban. Now Keith Urban did break yeah America. Yeah,
how did he do that? Right? First of all, he
was in a genre that is very American and he
has a country look about him, like you can't tell
(14:04):
he's Australian until he opens his mouth. And he did
that kind of foundational stuff by being in I think
it was Nashville, Nashville a lot of time kind of
really kind of doing those dive bar things and getting
that credibility, but it took him a while to kind
of be seen as a country artist. But then he
(14:25):
cracked it and it was cool. And then Guy, I
think Guy did. I think he did kind of a
very similar thing. He had a big career explosion here Idle,
a couple of great singles, became Guy Sebastian, and then
I think he went to the US for a stint,
and I think at the time I remember, but I
(14:48):
also think I think there was a stage where he
was actually went back to grassroots and he was like
taking his own amp into little venues. And this was
after he was Guy Sebastian, you know, had he had
a career here. I don't I don't know what I've mean.
I can't speak for him, so I don't know why
he actually chose to go and do that. Maybe it
was like I want to try and keep him, use
(15:09):
it for inspiration, keep him real, try and break it.
I don't know what the objective was, but he did
it for a while. You know, of course, he built
enough relationship and credibility to do those tracks with John
Sparks and ye look, yeah, so obviously, you know, spending
(15:29):
time in the US, he did kind of build those
relationships there. And again, this is someone talking from outside
his world as I'm seeing it. It may not be
the reality of it. But he did that. But then
when he came back, he was able to come back
in a slightly more i think elevated candle status, even
he has to do a crap ton of things. I'd
love to have that talk with him and go how
(15:51):
much transparency can you have? Guy like okay, with the
six things you do, don't tell me the actual amount
of money. Tell me the percentage of your revenue that's
coming from all those five things you do, like your
actual music revenue from streaming and just having records out,
the revenue from live performing like doing tours, the revenue
(16:16):
from those one off things you tend to do, the
big New Year thing or the appearance at you know
whatever it is, then your whole TV stick right voice,
and how much of that, and then how much of
revenue comes from things you set up from the money
you've made that are now giving you out that might
not even be music industry related. I would love to
have a conversation with people like that who've built a
(16:38):
career over two decades, People like Richard Marx, right, who
is a judge And there's a funny story as well,
tell you. But I want to know, like, okay, like
Richard Marx obviously, like you know, hey gold one of four,
there's he makes a lot of petrol money from his music, right.
Speaker 3 (17:00):
He's sung by Richard Marx all the time.
Speaker 6 (17:02):
Yeah, yes, of course. I was in some service station
halfway between here to Adelaide and Ridgard Marx was playing
in the toilet, right. I actually tweeted him. He retweeted
that you know you're a success icon when you know,
thirty years later you walk into a public restroom in
(17:24):
some place on the way to Adelaide and Angelier is playing, right,
And he retweeted that as well. But yeah, so I
want to know, like, okay, how where's your money coming from?
And I think it's great for artists like that to
share it if they can, because you're giving information business
information to the current genders of us who now only
(17:44):
have those options. They don't have that big eighties nineties.
Speaker 4 (17:48):
Catalog catalog, the eighties nineties money that came from the
physical sale of music to jumpstart or kind of set
the foundation for your life for the next year, like.
Speaker 6 (17:58):
Cider Garrett, who who is a singer songwriter, and people
know her for the duet she did with Michael Jackson
I Just Can't Stop Loving You on Bad also wrote
Man in the Mirror. People may not even know that
Syl Gatt and Glenn Ballad who's as Morris It's husband.
So on Bad album, she was involved in two songs, right.
She was involved in Man in the Mirror, which she
(18:20):
owned fifty percent of. Yeah, wow ye, and that's fifty
percent of a song on a Michael Jackson.
Speaker 2 (18:25):
Wrote now exactly a big Michael Jackson with Russell Morris
about this.
Speaker 6 (18:28):
Yes, and she also did the duet, so there was
revenue coming in from an honor and that was at
a time, what the nineteen eighty nine or something where
Tall Swift was being born. Yeah, but when that album
sold millions of multiplatum selling record. So she said interview
that albums, those two songs set me up for life.
(18:49):
Two songs. Song It's paced for my life, It's pais
for my ranch in Texas or whatever.
Speaker 2 (18:53):
And here's the thing, right, So Man in the Mirror,
you're saying she gets fifty percent, right, there's a chance
she probably wrote the whole song, but to get it
on Michael Jackson's album, she gave him a writing.
Speaker 6 (19:03):
No, he didn't, they didn't take Glenn Ballad wrote the
song with HERR. Glenn Ballad is a song story.
Speaker 2 (19:12):
I write the song to get it on the album
that to give the writing.
Speaker 6 (19:16):
Be about like thirty percent or whatever, and they haven't
touched it. And that's fine. I mean it's not fine,
but okay, you know you rather have Would I rather
have seventy percent of a song that's going to Beyonce
your record? Or percent song that's on a Bobby record? Ye,
one hundred percent of a song that's on a Bobby record.
So she at the time had that revenue coming in
and she now sits there and knits stuff on her
(19:39):
Instagram account Themselves Arts and Crafts, and I love her
like she's an amazing singer, an amazing songwriter. She didn't
like for like you know, Pointed Sisters and Shaka Khan
and she's written for all these other but she's going
to be known for these things. Yeah yeah, Hey, if
you're going to be known for something as being the
person that wrote Man in the Mirror, yeah I take that.
(19:59):
Anything else I've done in my life. Right, But so
she's made that money. But again, I want to know,
but you can't. If she wrote if Bad was being
released as an album now.
Speaker 3 (20:08):
She wouldn't make that money.
Speaker 6 (20:09):
She wouldn't make that to make a tenth of that money.
Speaker 2 (20:11):
So streaming has killed the music industry because the artists
literally get nothing from it.
Speaker 6 (20:16):
Nothing. It's it's it's like miniscule, right unless you do
like what Bruno Maas did, and even he's got to do,
like I've got to have three songs in the top
so you know, right now the number one song on
Spotify is Die with a Smile, Bruno Maas and Lady
Gard And the number two songs Spotify is Bruno Mars
and Rose with and then just like some striper song
(20:38):
he did just he did that lady.
Speaker 4 (20:44):
Right.
Speaker 6 (20:45):
But yeah, but so I want to know, like, and
this is what I want. I want to have create
the transparency with whoever's willing. So it's like a shout
out if there's an artist from like Richard Marx or
whoever it might be, to get them on the podcast
talk about it.
Speaker 5 (20:58):
Well, he's gonna, he's gonna this conversation is going to
be because.
Speaker 6 (21:03):
He's going to be here. He's gonna be on the boy.
Speaker 2 (21:05):
And this is why I was funny when you got
the context you tweet him, would you want to let
him not come on a podcast?
Speaker 6 (21:12):
Good old dick. But I'll tell you something funny about
the story about Richard Marx. Right, and he's going to
probably not be too happy about this, but I'm gonna
shared anyway. Many years ago he had put out a
post banging into the voice was like, this is this
is horrific. How can one three people decide whether you
(21:34):
are an artistic voice? You know, like Bob Dylan would
never have made it if he was on the voice.
And he was like, but he closed off by saying,
if you do see me being part of the voice,
so idle any of these things, be very happy for
me because it means they pay me a fun on
a money.
Speaker 7 (21:52):
I'm going to ask him, I was gonna find that
I want to find that tweet like and he's got
and he's got a sense of fam he's got a
great sense of humor, so he would see the joke
in it.
Speaker 6 (22:06):
But I'm saying, but see these people. Of course, Richard
Marx's you know, he's matter to day if you interests,
you used to be MTBVG and she's worth a crap
ton of money because she's a fashion line and so these.
Speaker 3 (22:15):
People are okay, yea other income straight.
Speaker 6 (22:18):
But for someone like me or someone like my niece
who is eleven, and my eleven year old niece, she
writes songs. She will just freestyle to a beat, and
I'm like, holy crap, But is the industry. Is she
going to see a pathway to being in the music
industry as an artist or a songwriter or a singer
(22:39):
as being a pathway that actually has promise, but she
can actually make a living from doing that, or she's
going to have to have a side hustle. I don't
know how many great songwriters are we going to not
see come.
Speaker 3 (22:49):
To fruition because they don't have that picture.
Speaker 6 (22:52):
And I'm telling you, and this is how stuff screwed up.
It is. We're sitting here, We're sitting in the Grammys
right and I'm sitting here with my business partner. Best
Rock Album of the Year, The Rolling Stones, Pearl Jam Surpas,
something Else, Green Day. I'm like, are we like back
(23:14):
in the nineties or where the those were? Those are
the nominee yeah, like Pearl Jam, Green Day, the Rolling Stones,
like Islve.
Speaker 3 (23:26):
Make exactly across the stage.
Speaker 6 (23:31):
But that's how ridiculous it is, Like so obviously, like
the Beatles won the Grammy for I know.
Speaker 1 (23:38):
That.
Speaker 6 (23:39):
I'm like, Paul, give it up, man, But these were
they wats for giving out in that afternoon thing. And
I'm just going, this is like some kind.
Speaker 5 (23:45):
Of weird It's showing what's going on in the industry, right,
It's like, where are the new artists.
Speaker 6 (23:51):
For the Rolling Stones, for the Beatles, because.
Speaker 5 (23:54):
How many people were in the rock category, Like who's
a rock band these days? I mean, they're obvious.
Speaker 6 (24:03):
The other artists who were like and they're amazing artists.
Like you know, if the Food Fighters put an album
out today and you didn't know Dave Growled from Nirvana, right,
imagine a whole bunch of guys, same song, same music,
would they be as successful. I don't think so. You know,
Food Fighters got the massive trajectory lift that it had
because they had the guy from Nirvana and them in it, right,
(24:24):
So he already knew people, and he had the financial
ability to kind of promote and kind of put the
album out in a way that it has to. But
that's the thing for me, like you know, and I'm
starting something you know, with this business part of mine,
And this is why we were at the Grammys. We're
going to use the jumping off point for what we're starting.
We're offering. We're going to be off of four pillars,
so we put a whole bunch of services into one ecosystem,
(24:47):
and it's going to offer labeled services artist management, concert promotion,
and extended reality virtual reality technology platforms that can be
monetized by the artists. And the whole point of us
starting this is to bring the power back to the artist.
We're going to change that around so eighty percent of
everything that's made on this platform is going to go
back to the creator, and we're going to give them
six or seven more monetizable pathways then they are even
(25:11):
aware of now. Right, that's something that's been launched in April,
and that's the reason we were at the Grammys. We're
going to use that as a pr kind of jumping
off points because yes, we can have a little cocktail
party when we cut the ribbon, you know, rowing stone
and all that stuff, But how much better is it
to say, yes, this is a business that's launching and
the founders but at the Grammys. So from a pr
jump up point. But that's something I'm starting because, or
(25:34):
we're starting this because I want my eleven year old
and fourteen year old nieces and my nephew to see
a career in creating art. Right. If they don't see that,
you're going to see what happened at For the best
rocko album ten years from now, it'll be you know,
Foo Fighters and Pearl Jam and Rolling Stone it probably,
(26:01):
but that's what's going to happen. It's going to be
such a bunch of shitty music by people who are
TikTok famous. Yes, look, I'm not bagging people who get
famous on TikTok. That's just kind of you know, sar grapes.
If all people who look attractive and exploit their looks
for attention, I would never knock back people of that.
If I look like that, I'd you know, like half
the people, I'd be without a shirt half the time.
(26:24):
I have no problem exploiting any acid I have forfe
to grow a career or to make money. I am
completely open about that. So people say, oh, you know,
she's using her look so like shut up. If you
look like that, you be using your looks as well.
So he had to be amazing because.
Speaker 3 (26:43):
He looked ordinary, like a ginger troll.
Speaker 5 (26:45):
Doll saying that I'm not he's not a traditional star.
Speaker 6 (26:52):
And then you know, you know, all these other people.
Speaker 5 (26:56):
That were trying to dress him insane clothes and he's not, you.
Speaker 6 (26:59):
Know, so being a couple, and the people bag her like, gosh,
she's just you know, using a sexuality and she's she's
all the time like that.
Speaker 5 (27:06):
But she also takes as well, not like she does
make fun of it and has fun.
Speaker 6 (27:13):
She makes fun of it. I think she just leans
into it and goes, well, stuff, you guys, I look
like this and I can sing, and she can sing.
Speaker 2 (27:19):
She can, she can?
Speaker 4 (27:20):
You know.
Speaker 6 (27:20):
I mean, there's always going to be people who are
very overtly sexual or use some asset to kind of that.
There's a whole bunch of people that are going to
go or they should be about the music. It's never
it's the music, you know, that's not what it's about.
You know, then the Beatles wouldn't be standing there with
the same haircut and the look. That was a That
was the decision deliberately made to attract the audience of
(27:43):
the time.
Speaker 2 (27:44):
It is now listen, now, what I want to talk
to you about, first of all, not first of all. Lastly, well,
what I want to talk to you about, and this
is something that we talk about with all our guests,
is celebrity death.
Speaker 3 (28:01):
Is there a celebrity death that affected you the most?
Speaker 6 (28:05):
Michael Jackson. Michael Jackson, I think. And it's also because
of that generation. Michael Jackson was I think my first
superstar I experienced, right, and I remember And this is
again it's funny because it's a Grammy connection as well.
So the first time the Grammys were telecast in India,
maybe I was like six seven or eight or something.
It was that eighty three eighty four. That was that
(28:26):
thriller Grammys. That was the first time I saw the Grammy.
And that's first time I actually heard of Michael Jackson. Okay,
there's an image. There's a photograph and it's the most
one of the most famous photographs. It's in the Grammy Museum.
There's a photograph of Michael Jackson and Quincy Jones at
the end of the Grammys and he's staying there falling
Grammy it Grammys in that military. Yeah, that picture, that
(28:48):
image is burnt into my brain right, And I think
I was obsessed with Michael Jackson. I cut up an
old red vinyl couch to make that rich. I did. No,
she wasn't. She didn't know whether to be like impressed
(29:09):
that I had sown a jacket out of vinyl for myself.
I had the black pants with the buckles and everything.
I was obsessed with Michael Jackson and still am. Like,
there's a photo my post of Michael Jackson in my studio.
So I think when that happened, it was the morning
I was driving in to drop Jillian off at the
station or something. I actually heard a joke about Michael
(29:30):
Jackson's dead before I actually heard the news about Michael Jackson.
Wasn't radio. About three minutes after that, it's like, you know,
just to confirm we're letting you you know, this is
that that pops out Michael Jackson was found dead, Like
holy crap. That was yeah for me that I think
that was the thing that went oh my god, like
because it was just like this is it was gonna happen,
and he just like he's gonna have all these fifty shows,
(29:52):
and I was like, yeah, should I go to London
and by tickets war because I've never seen Michael Jackson
live and everyone I know has that. I think that twice, yeah,
but I'd never seen Michael Jackson live, so I was
like that was my big regret. So I was like, yeah,
maybe I should think about getting a ticket and we'll
(30:13):
go and see one of those usually like fifty concerts
or something. Yeah, and then suddenly it was like then,
you know, so I think for me that was like
damn it. Yeah, you know that like was the most
kind of especially all that stuff he had gone through
towards the last ten years with all the legal thing
and they're like like, oh my, this guy is not
getting a break at all. Yeah, there's never going to
be another artist like that. Yeah, you're never going to
(30:34):
see and he did that without social media.
Speaker 5 (30:36):
It's so true.
Speaker 6 (30:37):
He had that frenzy. You know, Taylor Swift has that
frenzy now y with the tools that she has, right,
and I'm not taking anything away from that, but yeah,
this guy did that just the television and radio just.
Speaker 3 (30:49):
Just like literally pure energy. That another halftime show about half.
Speaker 6 (30:54):
Times I remember showcro in an interview. There was a
spiky documentary about Bad twenty five and twenty fifth US
Bad especally this beautiful documentary which you should watch. It's
on Apple TV. They talked to shel Crow, of course,
because she shot the fame by being his backing singer.
She was and the only reason she got the gig
(31:15):
was because Cider Garrett too was actually Michael Jackson's backup
singer on tour. Has just done these two songs. So
the label said, it's not a good look for you
after you've done this duet and thing to see today
back we'll get you on your own tour. So she
backed out of the tour, the Bad tour, and they
needed somebody in then said we want kind of an
all American looking kind of girl.
Speaker 4 (31:33):
So this.
Speaker 6 (31:35):
And that's how she kind of launched her career. So
she said something, and it's in the documentary. It's like
she's like, there's a lot of singers that are there
and you can be wowed by their technique and you
can be wowed by you know, the the art and
everything else. But she said with Michael Jackson that wasn't
the case. When Michael Jackson stepped into a room there
(31:59):
was something happened, like he would step into a room.
You didn't even You wouldn't even know he stepped into
the room. The molecules would change when he stepped into
a room. And she said it was undefinable. You didn't
know how it was you And he said, I would know.
I would have my back facing the door, and I
(32:19):
would know when he stepped into the room. The water
molecules would.
Speaker 3 (32:22):
Feel the press change.
Speaker 6 (32:24):
And he said, to her knowledge, there would never be
another person like you know. Yeah, I think that's the
perfect way to close. Thank you for otherwise I'm going
to get myself into so much more trouble. I have
no idea what my wife's calling as well. It's like
I'm just a podcast, and like, seriously, you know, messages
(32:46):
going the cats haven't been fair. So I just realize
you're at a podcast.
Speaker 3 (32:53):
And this is where we said goodbye to Bobby so
he could go home and fed the cats.
Speaker 1 (32:58):
You've been listening to Life as we Know Unfiltered with
Tony Tanalia and Lisa Cameron. If you liked this episode,
please leave us a review or drop a comment on
our socials. We love hearing from you. You can also
come hang out with us on Instagram at life asweow
It dot podcast and on Facebook at Life as We
Know It. Oh and please see that follow button on
(33:18):
your favorite podcast app if you're not following us yet,
catch up with you in our next episode.
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