October 16, 2024 • 52 mins
In episode 78, we talk about going through storms in life, how to adapt to things you cannot change, and when to push against things that may be holding you back.
We also share tips on the right way to network with others, not always taking, but giving value and building genuine relationships.
Thank you for tuning in to the Metal Mastermind podcast. We hope that you enjoyed this week's episode.
Create your own sound,
Jason Stallworth & Ken Candelas
🔴 Metal Musician Courses & Resources:
https://metalmastermind.com/courses/
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
(00:07):
Guys welcome to another episode of Middle Mastermind.
I think this is episode number 78.
Here I am your Co host and Co founder of Middle Mastermind
Jason Stallworth, also the Co founder and Co host with me the
great. Ken Cadelis, thanks so much,
brother. It's good to see you safe and
sound, man. Tell me what happened.
(00:27):
Yeah, so, so by the way, we're filming this, we're filming this
on October the 13th, the 13th. It's always a cool number, man.
But yeah, we're filming this on October 13th, just a few days
after this huge hurricane hit us, man, this hurricane Milton.
So yeah, that was that was brutal, dude, We would.
(00:50):
Almost say that it it brought ona circle pit to Florida.
It really did, man, it really did.
And I, we were real fortunate though we were without power for
more than three days, almost four days.
We just got that turned on today.
So that was, you know, that was kind of, it really makes you
thankful and grateful when you do have certain conveniences.
(01:12):
You know, we think of power as anecessity and sure it is.
But us humans, we adapt, man. You know, my wife and I, we were
sitting on the patio during the day.
We did not have a generator. I know everybody probably should
have a generator in Florida. We don't have one.
Of course, all our food ruined in our fridge and freezer.
So we, we had to throw that out this morning.
(01:33):
Actually, you can feed that to pigs.
By the way, we actually took it to the Thai temple because they
will, they will burn it down andfeed it to the pigs.
Pigs have like something I just learned today.
So pigs have like this ability to not digest toxins.
So they can pretty much eat almost any.
There are a few things that are toxic to them, but but they can
(01:54):
eat like schlop and leftover food and whatever.
So in any case, it didn't go to complete waste.
The piggies are enjoying it. But yeah, living without power.
You know, we had the charcoal grill, so we were grilling some
things. And as the as the Publix opened
up, we're able to go get food and bring it back and, and
certain places would open up with generators and that sort of
thing. So we had food, we had plenty of
water. We have plenty of canned food
(02:15):
anyway, so we could survive for a lot longer.
But yeah, it was just, it was scary.
The night of the hurricane was, was really like, you know, if
you've got six hours of just like you're on an extreme roller
coaster or something, man, and you don't know what's happening.
It's of course these things tendto hit when it's dark.
They're like, hey, let's not hitFlorida during the daytime.
Let's do it at night. You know, no one can see.
(02:37):
But yeah, it was very intense, man, very intense.
Again, we're fortunate we didn'thave any major damage.
A lot of people obviously, you know, I'm in the Tampa.
For those who don't know, I'm inthe Tampa Bay area, technically.
Seffner, where obituaries from? I'm in the Seffner area and
Siren, the Brandon area, the vansirens from here to my good
(02:57):
friend Doug Lee. He's right down the road, the
lead singer for Siren. And I was actually on top of his
roof helping him put some tarps up that he already had up there
that got blown off. So, you know, a lot of people
didn't recover from the hurricane we had before
hurricane. I think it was Colleen.
So when this came through me andmy heart goes out though, all I
said, guys, I we're OK. My heart truly goes out to all
(03:19):
those impacted by the same man because it was really, it was
really brutal. I mean, just demolished so many
areas. My buddies in in the band Nasty
Savage, you know, they just, I think they just got back from
Germany. Plan to keep it true Festival.
They just released a new album after 20 years.
You know, they're a Tampa legendhere.
Yeah. You know, Yeah, dude, they're.
(03:39):
They're a legend here in Tampa. And so nasty Savage, their jam
room, the house they use for thejam room and I, I believe I'm
not if I'm not mistaken, Cannibal Corpse uses that too.
All their gear just went floating, man.
It just went floating 'cause they got flooded out and so.
You know, actually, I saw this on the newsletters from Metal
Sucks or Metal Injection. Yeah, they were asking for
(04:01):
support from their fans. That's horrible, man.
And I feel like you, I mean you,I think you told me right before
the show started. This is a pretty historic event
for the Tampa Bay area, right? When was the last time they had
a hurricane or storm this bad? It's it's been a while.
I mean this, what I'll say is I don't recall the exact year.
(04:22):
It's it's either since the early1900s or late 1800s.
This is, I think, the fifth timethat Tampa's had or this area
has had three hurricanes in the hurricane season that hit us
directly. So it was, yeah, it's
historical, you know, back-to-back like this.
It is a historical event. So, yeah, hopefully we're done
(04:43):
with this now for this year anyway.
But, yeah, I mean, we've had, you know, we had a bad
hurricane. I'm from Pensacola, FL, which is
a Panhandle, and I've seen a lotof hurricanes there.
Never seen one this bad or bad. Or maybe I was just too young to
remember. I do know in 1979, I was four
years old and this is a the little Jason days.
(05:05):
But in I79 we had a major hurricane, just really damaged
Pensacola in the Mobile, AL areacalled Hurricane Frederick.
And that was a historic hurricane.
I think it was a Cat 4 when it hit.
So that was a major, major hurricane.
But in my lifetime, I think thisis about as bad as I've I've
ever experienced. I've never been without power
(05:25):
this long. My, my parents are also in
Florida, as you know, but you know, some of my, some of the
folks here are middle master. We may not know.
They're in Winter Haven, which is just northeast of Tampa, but
it's right in the path of Miltonas well.
And it wasn't, it wasn't as bad as it was for you guys from
Tampa and Seffner. But you know, they actually also
(05:49):
have had experiences with hurricanes plenty of times
because they used to live in Puerto Rico.
So Puerto Rico was a, was a, wasa huge one.
One of the biggest ones was I think Hurricane Hugo back in
like the late 80s. I remember that.
And that one was a, that one wasbad for the island.
Usually hurricane canes in Puerto Rico are pretty horrific.
(06:11):
I think the last huge one that really affected them was
Hurricane Maria, which totally cut off power to like, half the
entire island. It was horrible.
Yeah. No, I mean hurricanes are
nothing to be toyed with. Or, you know, or typhoons or
monsoons, however you want to call.
Them. But they're a force to be
(06:33):
reckoned with, man, and you justreally feel so small against
them. It's just like you feel
helpless, dude. Yeah.
It's just like, I can't, I can'tdo anything about this.
You know, you just have to kind of bunker down and hope that it
doesn't, you know, completely tear you apart.
But like hearing about like tornadoes touchdown in Florida.
I mean, like, that's unheard of.Like you don't, you don't see
(06:53):
that in anywhere else except like maybe like the Midwest
where it's kind of literally called Tornado Valley or Tornado
Alley. And it's just like all that kind
of, you know, weather change pattern kind of stuff.
It just makes me wonder quite a bit.
You know, they, they predict, I don't know, like New York.
I mean, I'm, I'm here in, you know, right in New York City
(07:13):
where we have a lot of access towater and, you know, rising, you
know, sea levels and stuff like that.
That, that definitely puts a bitof a, you know, strain of
anxiety on, on things for the future.
How we're going to deal with stuff like that.
We're probably going to have to deal with like barricades and
dams and all that kind of crap. I don't know.
Who knows? Well, it's the same scenario for
(07:35):
and, and guys, we're not here totalk about whether the entire
time. I I want to share just a short
because Quinn, I called you Quinn.
Ken, you had a very exciting couple days, man.
We'll talk about that, but I want to share real quick on just
a couple things I learned from this hurricane that really
relates to to life and to to allof this, I believe.
(07:56):
But I was going to say about cities being underwater, my
favorite city in the whole world, Bangkok, Thailand, which
which I that's like my second home, maybe my first home soon.
But that place is, you know, people say it's going to be
underwater at some point in the future.
But you know, what I've learned is one that as humans, we have
this amazing ability to adapt and carry on.
(08:19):
And again, my wife and I, we didnot receive the worst of this
thing. But being without power and not
knowing and just hearing, you know, you just hearing these
winds just like hellaciously pound against, you know, your
house and everything around you is pretty scary.
And, and we felt pretty helpless, but we just hung in
(08:40):
there, you know, but we can adapt, you know, we started
cooking on the grill, boiling hot water on the grill, making
some oatmeal. We had plenty of canned goods as
places started to open up, you know, we get food, whatever.
Being without power, we just came accustomed to.
OK, I work during the daytime out in the yard because I had a
lot of cleanup to do. I went and helped some other
folks, you know, did what I could or whatever.
(09:03):
And, and at night time we sat onthe patio.
So I'm glad this happened in October and not in the middle of
like July, August, September in the brutal Florida heat, because
that would have been miserable. But in any case, we just, you
know, you, you adapt and you actually, you start becoming
used to a way of life. And I think, and I think, and
everybody listening, I think This is why, This is why
(09:26):
sometimes people will stay in bad situations, whether it's a
bad relationship, an abusive relationship.
And that could be a friendship, could be, you know, a marriage
or whatever, while you stay at ajob that you just hate.
And you're like, I, I got to getout of this place.
But we adapt to our environment and sometimes we can, it's
sometimes it's good, sometimes not so good.
(09:46):
We can become comfortable and just adapt and, and learn to
live that way. But I think we have to be
careful because there are thingsthat we might adapt to that we
shouldn't be adapting to, if that makes sense.
So I, I think there's a lot to be said for learning to adapt to
situations that are completely out of your control is like, OK,
well, I can't do these things, So what can I do?
(10:08):
Obviously we couldn't film our podcast on Friday because we
usually film these on Fridays, right?
And, and release on Wednesdays. But I couldn't, couldn't work.
I couldn't do my job like my jobis, you know, is I don't even
know what my job is, Ken, what is my job?
But I couldn't, do you know? Mastermind and Jason Stallworth.
Yeah, yeah. I really couldn't do much of
anything. So so I played acoustic.
I'm like, well, I can still playacoustic, you know what I mean?
(10:30):
I can still write and just, or still do vocal exercises and
just practice and and whatever Ican, I can read some books.
I read my favorite book now it'scalled Homemade.
And that book is by the man thatrescues dogs in, in Bangsen,
Thailand. He's his name is Michael Baines.
(10:51):
But yeah, he, he moved to Thailand from he he was, I think
he was, he's Scottish, Swedish. He was in Sweden, lived in
Sweden and he made his way to Thailand.
Long story, you'd have to get the book.
It was called Homemade. It's a beautiful book about how
he started this amazing dog rescue in Thailand.
So I, I got through that book. So, you know, you find things,
you adapt, you find things to doand, and find ways to just push
(11:13):
through. But again, it got me thinking
about, OK, well, there are certain situations that you
know, because we can become comfortable that maybe you don't
want to adapt to. So just knowing what to, you
know, when to go with the flow, but also when to push against
certain things in your lives. Like OK, I don't need to adapt
this crappy situation of your, Ineed to do something to change
(11:34):
it. That's a really, really powerful
statement. And, you know, sometimes I think
we forget about the situation that we're in and like you just
said, being comfortable, like even though it might not be good
for us, it's what we're familiarwith, right?
So we just kind of stay in that position and, you know, being
(11:54):
even in a situation that is goodfor us feels scary, right?
So that's something that we haveto definitely.
And I think it's a really good point to talk to walk away with
because when people tell me how,how to get into a better
position of either their career or, you know, maybe they even
like start asking about me and my relationship with Ellie or
(12:17):
something like that, Like how did, how are you in a position
to be in that way? And I always, you know, I said,
I don't know, like we just, well, one, we choose each other.
And I, I take that I took that advice from from Jason too.
It's just like choosing each other and making sure that
that's always solid. One of my students was having a
(12:38):
bit of a dilemma of his own and actually having that
conversation with him. He told me it set him back on
path to continuing his education.
He was about to quit that day before he had spoken to me.
So, you know, sometimes I think messages like these are, are
really well received in especially in a certain time of
(13:01):
manner of somebody's life. And you just never know how much
that kind of either like empathyor just I think you could just
call it wisdom can really affectsome certain people.
And I'm very glad that you said that because that kind of stuff
is when you're even in a situation of like like a
hurricane and trying to adapt tothat situation, you still can
(13:27):
think about the things that you're grateful for.
And, you know, have a little bitmore awareness about some of the
luxuries that we do have here inthe first world country like the
states versus somewhere, let's say, like Tajikistan, which is
all the way in the, you know, Asia and near Russia, which has
not even something like clean air.
So it puts things in perspectivea lot for you.
(13:50):
And you know, thank God that youguys are safe.
You know, my parents, of course I'm happy they're safe and other
family members. But you know, like you said,
some people are not not in a good position right now.
I almost feel like these are like great moments to learn for
people like Pat from CJ Ortiz's friend.
(14:13):
I'm sure you've, you've seen himaround a couple times, but Pat's
like an ex like like Navy SEAL or something like that.
And he's just like a survivalist.
He knows how to take care of allthis kind of stuff.
And I saw a recent video about how to weather a storm and it's
amazing how prepared some peopleare for things like this, which
they're adapting in a second. But it's like, you know, to me,
(14:38):
it's like, well, when you're at,when you're mentally like trying
to prepare for something like that, I feel like it takes many
years to just get that going andlike be totally like self
reliant. Like that's a full time job.
I think for some people of just making sure that everything is
good to go even when the world ends.
(15:00):
There's a lot to be said for that man.
Yeah, my neighbor, his name is Bob.
He goes by Taurus Bob. He plays out live solo gigs,
which I've got a gig tonight at Fenced Oxide, by the way.
So if this, well, you guys, thiswill be have already happened,
but it's Sunday, Sunday afternoon.
I'll be playing there because they're open in Apollo Beach.
But yeah, Taurus Bob, he he has a huge generator man.
He's he's all set. They are prepared and I'm I
(15:25):
could have prepared a lot better.
I think my wife was a little, I don't want to say aggravated at
me, but maybe just a little. I didn't because I am so
nonchalant and I've, I'm a native authority and I've been
here all my life. So it's like, OK, yeah, maybe we
lose power for a little bit or whatever.
At worst, you know, it'll be back on the next day or
whatever. So it's not that we weren't
prepared, but like things like window shutters and stuff like
(15:48):
that. So there, there are some notes
that we're taking more. So I'm taking, you know, the
that we know we need for the next time because there'll
probably be a next time. And the time that we're here,
I'm pretty certain of that. These storms aren't going
anywhere. But yeah, there there's
something to be said for that. Being prepared.
(16:09):
That's a weak point of mine thatmight surprise some people.
But yeah, it really is. I'm kind of nonchalant about it
and kind of like I I have a tendency when it comes to fight
or flight. I don't want to say I do one or
the other, but I'm probably a little too laid back about
things when it when it comes to stuff like this, I'm like, we'll
just, we'll wing it and we'll get by.
(16:30):
Well, you know, I think you can only prepare so much too.
So I think there are definitely priorities in life where, you
know, maybe the end of the worldis not necessarily supposed to
be one of them. But we, we do what we can,
right? So, you know, it is what it is.
But you know, actually Speaking of being prepared, I feel like
(16:54):
this is something where last week when I, I, I, when I
attended an event called Audio Engineering Society.
That's right. Tell us about this dude.
The AES, yes, it's, it's a great, it's a great place to go
and like one like see like otherpeople in the audio industry on
a global scale. But there's also any one of
(17:15):
these AES events you'll see likemanufacturers and they'll bring
their gear to show off what's new that year.
It's a really good time. And for students who are
learning audio and production, it's a great opportunity to just
like see the industry, kind of like a Nam, if you think of it
that way. But for audio engineers.
And if you're wanting to learn, there's a lot of events during
(17:39):
that time where there's a lot oftalks and panels.
And you'll get like famous engineers like Chris Lordalge or
Andrew Schepps or any of these guys, and they'll come on stage
and they'll talk about either the process or some experiences
that they've had. There were some events for
memorials of people who have passed away but had made a big
(18:00):
impact on the industry. So that was very cool too.
Those stories, some of them werereally crazy, but this is
Rock'n'roll, you know, in the sense right.
So sometimes there's always a really interesting story to say,
but I always feel like when we're talking about adapting, I
tell my students too, this is a people industry.
And you know, your, your technical skill is supposed to
(18:24):
be like the given, you know, you're like, learning the skills
is definitely important. But if you want to like progress
your, your career, you need to be in front of people and you
need to talk to people and you know, get to know them and you
know, they need to know who you are.
Actually a good friend of ours, David Notesy, who came on the
(18:47):
interview for our middle monster, my podcast a while ago.
He actually spoke about this on his channel saying, you know,
being a producer and engineer isnot just about how well you can
do it, but your personality and actually how you are as a
person. Just being able to hang around
with because. And he nailed it because it's
like really this industry reallyhas such a, you know, it's such
(19:11):
a service industry in a way thatyou know, you're supposed to
provide people with product thatthey're excited about, but at
the same time, it's a it's a relational thing where they have
to get to know who you are in order to be able to even trust
you with something like their art.
So if you're like this person, you know, I'm talking to the
(19:31):
listener now, if you are this person, if you want to learn
about, you know, audio and, and being a producer and getting
better and, you know, maybe you haven't been having bands come
by and work with you, go out to places like this, go out to
conventions, go to, you know, shows, go to bars and open mics.
(19:54):
You know, like Jason, he does this all the time.
These are ways that you can, Yeah, meet people, gain clients,
get exposure. I mean, that's really what it
takes. You have to be out there.
You can't be huddled up at home all the time.
Otherwise nobody's going to really.
You know, how many times are yougoing to, you know, misinterpret
somebody who's texting you, Right.
(20:15):
It's just like rather than just talking to them in person, what
I mean to say in that case is just it's so much easier to
build relationships when you meet people face to face.
And yes, it costs money and yes,it means you have to go out
maybe to California if you're from Florida, but you know,
these kinds of things are worth it because I can tell you right
(20:35):
now it's definitely helped my career.
I mean, one of the reasons why I'm even, you know, endorsed by
people like Antelope Audio or Odyssey headphones or anything
like that is because I go out tothese events and I need them
face to face and I build a relationship with them.
So go out there and network networking is a huge part of
(20:57):
this industry. If you're an artist, even
better. I mean, like it's like you could
put your art as a way to represent, you know, somebody
and even somebody can look at their your art and say it speaks
volumes about who they are, right.
So that's just a marketing lesson, if you want to really
(21:19):
put it that way. Branding, you know, we have to
really be aware of things like this.
And I know sometimes it's not really sexy to talk about
branding and stuff like that, but I, I get really excited
about that because it means thatyou have something that can
represent an ideal that people can relate to.
That means you can actually scale from that point.
(21:43):
So, you know, think about it. It's a serious thing.
And you know, AES was a really good time.
Actually, funny enough, I met our other good friend, Glenn
Fricker. I saw that.
Yes. And yeah, Glenn.
Glenn was just like, holy crap. Oh, what are you doing here?
This is awesome. And we actually ended up talking
(22:08):
with his team, a Spectre Media Group.
So like, I didn't last time I saw Glenn at an AES show, I just
met Glenn. But this time I actually saw I,
I, I saw his, his business partner too, Alex Naslow, who's
a very, very cool dude. And I met, you know, like a
couple of his other friends likeJesse.
And these are, you know, things that I was like, really, I felt
(22:32):
very grateful. You know, funny enough, also one
of those nights, every single night, I went to an after party
for AES. But one of these particular
nights, we went to Power Station, which is one of the
biggest, if not the biggest recording studio in New York
City. And Power Station has like, you
know, so many legendary acts. And so you're talking like
(22:54):
Michael Jackson, all those kinds.
They, they went to Power Stationand you can see in that room,
which is now, I think owned by Berkeley, I think Berkeley
College of Music owned power station, which thank God,
honestly, because it's like, otherwise they might have
closed. So thank God for an institution
like Berkeley to buy it out. But you know, you go and you see
(23:14):
this legendary room where they've set up a 714 Dolby Atmos
system in the live room and we're going to be listening to
Bob Clear Mountain's mixes and Bob Clear Mountain.
He's like, you know, a legendarymixer who's worked on like
Fleetwood Mac and you know, any all these types of.
People some Fleetwood dude, Yeah.
(23:36):
Yeah. And so he starts, you know, and
he, he's talking. He's all very, you know, he's
quiet. He's just like, yeah, yeah.
I don't know why, you know, people just don't mix like this
because it feels very natural. And I feel like all the
standards that people are looking up to, like why aren't
they using the subwoofer and all?
And I'm like, I'm like Bob, justplay some stuff, man.
(23:58):
Cuz like he's, he's, he starts talking and then all of a sudden
he, he, he plays some of his mixes and you're just like blown
away. I was like, Oh my God, this is
like so bombastic. He did this one thing with like
Queen and it was like I felt like I was literally at the
concert. It was so loud.
Like the pressure of hearing everybody around you was
(24:18):
incredible. It was that live anniversary
concert that they had not too long ago.
But anyway, this is the funny part is that I finish Power
Station and I walk outside because I'm like, I couldn't
find my friends After a while. I think I was like maybe they
left or something and I stuck around too long.
(24:38):
So funny enough, actually they still stay, but I walked outside
and I was like, let me just, youknow, start going home.
So I text Ellie and I said hey, I'm on my way.
And then literally I'm not kidding, like 2 minutes later
I've walked down the street and there's Glenn.
He's in, he's in the city, he's walking, it's late at night, you
know, and he's walking with his troop going to a bar.
(25:02):
And I'm like, wait a minute, you.
He goes like you, I was like, OK, where are you guys going?
He was like, we're going to go head up this place.
And I was like, well, can I come?
And he was like, yeah, sure, whynot?
So we end up hanging out at a place called Valhalla.
(25:23):
Really cool bar, lots of great beer.
And gosh, man, it was it was tremendous.
What a good time. Glenn's a really good hang.
I just want to say that, you know, Glenn, if you're listening
to this, thank you for the company.
It was a really, really good time to see you and Alex, you
too, everybody had a blast. So thanks for the invite.
(25:45):
But you know, these are the kinds of things where it's like,
again, let's talk about adapting, right?
You're you're in a situation where you possibly are meeting
someone who might have be of influence to you, right?
And how do you react, right? How do you get yourself into
that position and work with it? I mean, that's what we're
(26:09):
talking about when it comes to just developing yourself, even
as a person, even as a, as an industry, you know, person in,
in all of this. So when you meet people, it's
really important to, you know, recognize like who people are,
be very respectful and, and likebe around them to, you know, get
(26:33):
to know them. Like I, I feel like that's such
a thing that sometimes people miss out.
Like you don't have to always try to be advertising something.
You could just be around people just to get to know them and
your personality it it, it'll just exude what you're
passionate about. And if you're passionate about
something and you're not trying too hard, those things come out
(26:54):
naturally. And you know, it takes a little
bit of effort to kind of be in front of people, but it's worth
it. And, and, and networking is, is
a huge part. Guys, I, I, I want to really
stress this point. You really need to be networking
out there in order to get betterclients, better gigs and, and
grow and learn from people. People will be willing to share
(27:17):
with you information that they've learned over the course
of their career as you get to know them too.
So don't forget that. Yes, huge Ken, I'm you brought
up so many good points, man. So I would even say after, after
you guys listen to this, maybe go back and, and listen to it
again, you know, Fast forward past the hurricane talk and get
to this part because hey, it's it is I mean, it's monumental or
(27:39):
you can have monumental results for you.
And I would say, you know, don'tjust do it obviously for the
results. Don't go into networking saying,
well, I'm going to network so I can get ahead.
And that's, that's not what you're saying anyway, Ken.
But just be genuine, guys. Just be, just be your genuine
self and be willing to put yourself out there.
You made a huge point by saying you don't always have to be
(28:03):
marketing your product. Hey, I just put out my new album
or I've got my guitar course, you know, check it out or
whatever. You don't have to do all that
all the time either. Yeah, you want to let people
know about it at some point, butif you are the type of person
that's engaging with someone andyou're giving value in that
conversation and when you meet that person, they're going to
naturally want to dig in and andsee what you have.
(28:26):
OK, Well, what does this person do?
I like this person. They're they're cool.
They're respectful to me. And we talked about marketing,
just like you said earlier, Ken,you know, talking about branding
and marketing. That stuff isn't it's, it's not
something we all like to talk about and even really think
about because we're musicians, we're our creative side of the
brain wants to overtake everything.
(28:46):
And it's great. But at the same time, marketing
is to me, it's really just giving.
It's like what you just talked about.
It's going to these events and just being who you are and
taking a genuine interest in other people, right?
And just being a, a decent humanbeing, man.
And I think that will take you along way.
I see so many comments sometimescome across.
(29:09):
I've got a few videos out there on playing live solo gigs.
People, some people are kind of frustrated.
Well, you know, the audience hasengaged or I can't get gigs or
whatever, but I think you have to go into it with something of
value, not just, OK, I, I do this, check it out.
I need a gig or I need to do right.
It's going in there and establishing a genuine
(29:29):
relationship. And I'll say this too, Ken that
like if there's a place that I want to play at, you know, I'm
trying to get a gig somewhere or, or somebody I think I might
want to work with. If that person's a jerk, I don't
care how much that gig is going to pay me or how much I'm going
to get from that deal or whatever that may be.
(29:49):
I don't want to work with someone like that.
You know, I, I'll even go as faras to say this, you know, if
and, and I think this is sort ofrelevant, you know, you got some
of these doctors that are, they're sort of high and mighty
and they may be deemed the best surgeon in the world or
whatever, but they're, they're just crappy to their patients.
I don't think a lot of doctors are like that.
But you've heard of these. Well, the problem with that
(30:12):
mentality is, well, you, you come to me anyway because I'm
great at what I do. The problem is, though, if
you're a jerk to your patients, well, guess what happens to
those patients? Their cortisol levels are
raised. They're going to have a harder
time recovering because of you being a jerk to them.
OK, now that's a wild analogy there.
But take that and just insert that concept across the board.
(30:34):
If you're a jerk to work with, is, is somebody really going to
work with you? You know, I would rather work
with somebody that maybe isn't as great per SE is is some is
someone else in the industry. But they're easy to work with,
They're cool to work with. They're pleasant because I say
that because you can grow with them and they can grow if you
(30:54):
got to understand that where you're at right now and where
someone else is that you might want to work with where that
right now that's going to changeas people grow.
We all grow, we all evolved. So just because someone might
not, or even you and, and me myself, I might not be a certain
level today, but it doesn't meanI won't be there tomorrow,
right? So again, to Ken's point, I'm,
(31:16):
you know, elaborating on this quite a bit, but I, I think it's
so important that yeah, you needto establish genuine and just
solid relationships with people and really put yourself out
there. Yeah, 100%.
And I think that's like such a great way to summarize
everything I said because I saida lot.
But I think in your in your to that point being genuine, one of
(31:41):
the things that someone said to me at AES I you know, because
this person who I talked to, hisname is Alex Iwana, Great
person, great individual. And he actually helped me out
with the establishing relationships with Apogee.
And so I got a lot of credit forhim.
But I talked to him and I said, hey, dude, I just want to really
(32:01):
say thank you. Thank you for helping me back
there. It was, it was great to have
that and it did this for me XYZ,right?
And he goes like, dude, I think it was just your energy, man.
You know, like it, that says a lot.
You know, when somebody just just kind of just kind of tells
you stuff like that and it means, you know, a ton to me to
(32:24):
hear that from somebody who by the way, is like has a an entire
thing called audio kitchen, which helped me as a student,
right? So me telling him I was like,
dude, like, you know, basically how I looked up to his stuff and
he it was, it was very, very cool to hear that.
But it says so much, right? It means that when you are doing
(32:46):
your craft and you are passionate about your craft and
you also care about your relationships with people, those
kinds of things, I feel like things happen around that that
maybe are in a way inevitable because you just constantly are
keeping this energy of being again, passionate, but also
(33:11):
loving and endearing to people. People resonate with that.
People want to be around that. I found, you know, someone like,
for example, like Glenn Fricker,who is always on camera, like
looks like he's bashing people all the time behind the scenes.
Dude, the guy's like a frickin teddy bear.
(33:31):
He's, he's amazing. He's he's really, really kind
and he's super down to earth. He feels, I feel like for for
him, Glenn is definitely a no bullshit kind of guy, right?
He won't take any of that. But.
When you're when you're, when you're hanging around the guy, I
mean, what he really wants to talk about is just being Glenn
(33:55):
be in daily life, right? How he thinks about waking up in
the morning, you know, and not necessarily always talking about
numbers or anything like that. And I didn't, I don't think I
even asked him one question about his YouTube channel.
I think it was just like, you know, maybe stuff like, you
(34:16):
know, what kind of microphones are you using or something like
that? Because we're, we're talking
about audio and I'm an audio guyand he's an audio guy.
So we'll talk about stuff like that.
And when you start talking aboutthat for him, he loves it
because it's like for him, it's just genuine about a thing that
he's passionate about, right. But you know, we had a moment
about talking about trolls. Oh nice.
(34:39):
I told Glenn no, because this istrue too.
I mean, Glenn's been doing YouTube for a long time.
Probably about when you started,Jason.
Like, yeah, I started in 2010, dude.
So he's he's probably been the. Only one, I think he was like
20-12 maybe or something like that.
I think Glenn started something like that.
So anyway, I was telling him, I said, dude, Glenn.
(35:01):
I mean, like, I've been watchingyour stuff also when I was a
student. And yeah, you know, I think with
all the trolls that you have online, I mean, you're
definitely doing something, right?
Because you got to have people who will hate you in order for
you to be getting that kind of attention, right?
Because you're doing something and something's working, right?
And he said that's true. And then I also said, but, you
(35:23):
know, I know that sometimes thatcan be something that weighs on
you. And I would just want you to
know that you actually had a tremendous impact on my life
that I learned quite a lot from you while I was growing up in,
in audio school. And I wanted to say thank you
for that. And he was just like, fuck, man,
that means a lot. So, you know, like having a just
(35:48):
like, again, I mean, like, and this is not me like trying to
like sell anything, man. I mean, like, I'm really just in
a position of just gratitude to just tell someone like Glenn
who's been an influence in my life.
Thank you, right. You know, and you'll see, I mean
it, it goes a long way, man. Any, any sort of relationship
where you should show gratitude,I feel like that's, that's
(36:10):
always the best way. That's always the best way to
start. It's always the best way to end
having an appreciation for folksfor what they do or the kind of
value that they put out in the world too.
I mean, especially if there's someone like, you know, Glenn
Fricker or something like that, you know, you, they, they work
all the time. He told me it was like, you
know, next month I'm doing 30 days of videos.
(36:33):
I'm like, yeah, yeah, you're, you're freaking working, dude.
You know, makes. Me want to ramp mine up, man?
Yeah. Like he does videos every day,
Like he, that's what, that's allhe does.
He just works, works, works. And you know, you see the
results, right? That's that's what he does, you
know, but having come to AES, that was like a bit of a, a
(36:54):
break for him, you know, kind ofa vacation in a way for him to
also, you know, establish some relationships of his own.
I'm sure he's going there. He's talking to product
manufacturers. Maybe he wants to review the
next thing that they're doing. But, you know, here's, you know,
Ken Cadelis, you know, in Valhalla, you know, and just
asking how he's doing because sometimes maybe people don't ask
(37:17):
him those questions, you know, and he can finally just open up
about something and be just genuine about it.
Like those are the things, thoseare the moments, you know what I
mean, that matter to people. No, I'm glad and I'm so glad you
said that dude. And Glenn is cool.
I remember he was on the podcast, you know, he was of
course, Glenn on the podcast, but we got a chat before and
after too. And I'd love to hang out with
(37:38):
that dude someday. But no, that, that's, that means
a lot because I'm sure most people that bump into Glenn and
I don't want to assume, but I'm it's probably safe to assume
that most people that bump into him are just trying to take from
him and trying. And you know, and I get it.
Well, you know, like, well, how did you get your YouTube channel
to grow? How can I make mine grow?
And my how can I do this to my music?
(38:00):
And they're just wanting, wanting, wanting, Whereas Ken,
you just gave just by being you and not trying to like hustle
him for information, you know, for your own benefit, just being
there. I think that meant a lot to him
and just saying thank you. And like you said, having the
gratitude. I can tell you now, I mean, I
don't have the audience that Glenn has and nor does Metal
(38:22):
Mastermind. But anytime I get a thank you
and you know, I get emails quiteoften from folks and comments
that, you know, that tell me that one of my videos helped
them pick up the guitar again after 30 years or 40 years or
whatever, or, or for the first time.
And help them get over this hump, you know, and I appreciate
that, you know, Ken and I both, we appreciate that man, because
(38:42):
it just it confirms and, and I guess we all need this from time
to time, it confirms or reaffirms that I'm doing what
I'm supposed to be doing with mylife.
You know, and I'm sure that comment you made to Glenn just,
you know, reaffirm that it's like, OK, I'm, I'm helping
folks. This is what I wanted to do,
right? And I, I love, I love the fact
(39:04):
that his trolls give give him content to put out there because
a lot of time he can, he can turn that in.
He does as he turns that in to really answering someone's
question or many people's question by answering the
trolls. So it's pretty cool.
But yeah, man, just just being acool person.
I think, you know, when I, when I left my corporate job and I I
(39:27):
kind of stole this from another colleague of mine many, many
years ago. But yeah, four years ago and I
left my corporate job 4 1/2. Now I'm signed my e-mail.
Remember your ABC's always be cool.
I love that. I want to.
I'm going to take that. Yeah.
No, I, I I'm, I'm there with you, man.
(39:49):
You know, this this idea of being cool.
What does it mean to be cool? Right.
It's just, hey, you know, just be genuine, honestly authentic.
You know, I think that's one of the things that every time I
talk to my cousin who lives in LA, you know, I, I always
remember the time that I spent over there and she held a party
(40:11):
and it was like, you know, a bunch of her friends and stuff
like, but I always felt like everybody was trying to see what
they could kind of extract from each other.
And you know, I even when I talked to Alex.
We were talking about this too, just like, you know, the side
thing, it was just like, you know, LA or New York.
And I said, well, you know, people in New York, we're kind
(40:32):
of like, you know, maybe up front.
We, we, we feel a little bit notnice, but we're actually very
kind, you know, But I think that's really because New
Yorkers, we know how it is to like really go through it and
struggle and we're kind of all the unit, right?
So, you know, you bump into us and we yell at you, but really,
(40:53):
we'll we'll pick you up if you fall.
Yeah, you'll show them directions or whatever, right?
Yeah, exactly. And but you know, on the other
side, it's not really that way. It, it feels very much like
they'll be kind to you up front,you know, let's say maybe at the
party that I went to. But on the back end, they're
really like, no, I'm not really going to do that with this
person or help this person or I'm not, I'm, I'm, I'm being,
(41:14):
I'm saying even bad things aboutthis person.
So, you know, we kind of had share that same sentiment.
And actually multiple people in my, in my life that I've met who
spent time in, in Los Angeles versus New York, they say very
similar thing. And I don't know, maybe it's,
it's the whole Hollywood thing and it's just like trying to
move up the ladder, you know, But I feel like in, in New York,
(41:38):
moving up the ladder doesn't necessarily always mean like
shooting someone down. It just really means, you know,
if, if we can hang and be like genuine people to each other.
I, I mean, I've always felt thatway.
I've always seen that in New York.
So, but you know, that's, that'swhat I'm talking about.
I mean, with some of these things sometimes, like if you
(42:00):
want to go and you know, you want to move to a place to
advance your career, because youcan definitely, you know, New
York, you know, it's going to be, there's more opportunities
in New York than Minnesota. You know, it's just that's true.
That's just how it is. It's a Mecca, right?
So you come here, but then you have to really establish your
intentions and what are those intentions and how do they
(42:20):
affect people? How you, you know, exude that
kind of either ambition or your that, that energy like how you
do it is very important. And, you know, just learning,
you know, some of those social cues to be a really big
lifesaver for some situations where again, we're adapting,
(42:44):
right? That's that's what we do.
So if if you're, if you're growing, you know, you're
adapting along the way too. And I mean, even with, let's
say, you know, Jason, Jason had to adapt to being full time as a
YouTube from leaving corporate America.
I mean, that kind of jump very, very scary.
(43:05):
But you know, ever since then, you know, Jason's also grown his
career. So you can take so much from
just when you are in an uncomfortable situation, which
could be just as simple as meeting new people, right?
And how do you walk away winningfrom that situation?
(43:26):
Start start with just being yourself and being genuine.
You know, learning a little bit also about restraint is huge.
Like know when to stop maybe talking about yourself, right?
And really questioning someone else on what, what they're
interested in. Even even going further than
(43:49):
that is sometimes you might not need to talk much at all, right?
And all you need to do is listenand, and really listen like,
and, and I like have more input,less output.
Here's another way to phrase that, right.
Try not to think of the questionyou want to ask.
(44:11):
Try to just listen to what they're saying.
Like that's, that's, that's so interesting because it's like,
you know, before someone told that to me, I had this bad habit
of finishing people's sentences.And I think it was mostly
because of, of my father, honestly, because English was
(44:33):
his second language. He was, he spoke Spanish first.
So sometimes he's thinking of a word in English and you know, he
knows the word, but sometimes I,I know it before he does.
And I just beat him to it. So I just, I say the word and
he's like, yeah, that. And I might, I would do that
sometimes to other people. And then when I worked with a
(44:55):
very, you know, well known engineer who was tremendous, but
he was kind of a jerk. He, he actually put me on the
spot though. But which is one of the things
that actually I appreciated about this person that he would
do stuff like this because it taught me life lessons where he
would say, you know, he was going to say something and he
(45:16):
was thinking about what he was going to say.
And then I tried to finish that for him.
And he goes like, oh, so you canread my, you can read my mind.
You know what I'm going to say. So what was I going to say?
And he would just, he would justput me on the spot right there.
And I'd say, I don't know what you were going to say.
I was just maybe assuming this was what you thought you were
(45:37):
going to say. He was like, see, that's your
problem. And, and from that point on, he,
he, he gave me that lesson and Inever forgot it.
And to this day, I always try toremember those kinds of moments
of when I'm meeting somebody andmaybe they might be important,
that I'm just like, OK, more input, more input, more input,
(45:59):
you know, less output. Try not to ask the question or
think about the question I'm trying to ask because maybe some
other motive or anything else, you know, that's one way of
being genuine with somebody, notnot having an agenda already in
the back of your mind. It's just.
You can't let. Me, just be, yeah, just be in
(46:19):
the moment, right? Listen to what they're saying,
what they're telling you, and allow yourself to react to that
naturally. And, you know, take your time
with the reaction. You don't have to always like,
jump in, you know, try to finishsomebody's sentence.
Well, I think that's why so manymisunderstandings happened.
You know, it's, it's people. We have to develop a genuine
(46:40):
sense of empathy, meaning that we have a genuine, we generally
want to understand the other person.
And if you, if you do that, likeif you say, OK, well, I, I
really want to understand where this person's coming from,
regardless of what the conversation is about, then
you're not going to have other questions pop in your head
because you're listening. You can't possibly listening to
(47:01):
someone else what they're sayingand get the deep meaning of
that. If you're like you said, Ken, if
you're already forming the question in your mind that you
want to ask. So I think I think listening is
a valuable trait, man. You know, I also like Stephen
Covey's book, The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People,
where he talks about creating a win, win situation.
(47:21):
And that means even if I win andlike some deal I'm making with
someone or, or anything, right, If I win, but that person
doesn't win, I don't really wantto be part of that, to be honest
with you. I just don't, you know, I don't
want to go in and just take, take, take.
I also want to give value as well.
And again, this is where you create longevity.
(47:42):
This is where you create sustainability.
I think a lot of people want thequick result and I just get what
I need and move on. But that is not sustainable.
You're not going to get very far.
You may get, you may do OK in the interim, right or right
right now, but it's not going toget you longevity.
It's not going to build sustainability and it's
certainly not going to build your your reputation as someone
(48:05):
to be desirable to work with. Absolutely.
I, I, I resonate that with 100%.You don't want to only have, you
know, one side winning in that situation because it, that long
term relationship is what's going to be exhausted from that.
So you want to make sure that you're also giving value back
(48:27):
that helps the relationship continue to move forward.
People are excited to work with you just as much as you're
excited to work with them. It's, it's like, it's like
marriage, man. You got to both come in with
100% and, and really have at it together so that you can make it
work. Any relationship really, you
(48:48):
have to make sure that you're putting the other person in some
sort of priority so that there is a mutual benefit.
You know, and you know, all the things that we were talking
about on this podcast today are being genuine, being able to
adapt. That all comes part of it.
And your skill as being able to read people can come in very
(49:11):
handy for for those situations to know is, is this too much or
is this not enough, right? And finding that happy middle
ground to, you know, keep, you know, relationships and, you
know, people moving forward and happy and all that kind of
stuff. Yeah, yeah.
Networking is a skill all on itsown.
(49:33):
And I definitely think that people don't sometimes emphasize
it enough. It's one of the things that in
my, in my classes that I go overas an actual lecture because I
think it's like so important that people understand how to do
that. And I have my class actually,
they, they do these assignments of working on their own
(49:58):
business. So like a career presentation I
have them do where they, they take their, their, their idea
and they go into the front of the class and they do a little
bit of public speaking, you know, just to emphasize, Hey,
like, look at them, you know, oraddress person or someone has a
question that challenges you, you know, how do you go about
(50:19):
addressing that? You know, I've had students in,
in my class sometimes where theytake it and they, they, they
turn it around in a negative way.
And it's like, whoa, you know, like that's an example of what
not to do. You know, good thing you're in
school when you did that, right,Not in front of an actual
client. So those those are the
(50:43):
relational building skills. I feel like in some institutions
they need to be emphasized more because it really is a life
skill. And I would say one more thing
about networking is network the right way.
Don't just go into networking kind of the old school way.
We'll just network so you can, you know, rise up, network to
build genuine relationship. That said, Ken, do do you have a
(51:07):
metal song of the week? Yeah, actually one of my old
time favorite bands, Dream Theater, just released a new
tune. It's called Night Terror with
Mike Portnoy back on drums. And let me tell you man, he
really does all the Mike Portnoyisms and everything.
(51:27):
I really feel like it highlightshis percussion playing.
So glad to see Mike on the drumsagain.
Night Terror by Dream. I have got I ran across a new
band called Cemetery Skyline. I just randomly ran across them
on Instagram. Cemetery Skyline, they just
released their very first album here in 2024 called Nordic
Gothic. Very much.
(51:49):
I don't even know what compare it to, so I'm not going to do
that. Just listen to it.
I'm really getting into it. It's really cool.
It's very different, very gothic, but just just cool.
So yeah, Cemetery Skyline, theirnew albums called Nordic Gothic.
So yeah, that is the metal for the week guys.
And I'm having a bit of Internetconnection, so Ken and I have
(52:10):
had to stop and start several times and piece this together.
So on that note, we want to thank you once again for being a
part of Metal Mastermind. We deeply appreciate you guys.
Do check out all of our resources for metal musicians on
metalmastermind.com. And hey, share this podcast with
your friends if it helped you. Until next time.
(52:30):
Till next week, guys. Always create your own sound.
Guys welcome to another episode of Middle Mastermind.
I think this is episode number 78.
Here I am your Co host and Co founder of Middle Mastermind
Jason Stallworth, also the Co founder and Co host with me the
great. Ken Cadelis, thanks so much,
brother. It's good to see you safe and
sound, man. Tell me what happened.
(00:27):
Yeah, so, so by the way, we're filming this, we're filming this
on October the 13th, the 13th. It's always a cool number, man.
But yeah, we're filming this on October 13th, just a few days
after this huge hurricane hit us, man, this hurricane Milton.
So yeah, that was that was brutal, dude, We would.
(00:50):
Almost say that it it brought ona circle pit to Florida.
It really did, man, it really did.
And I, we were real fortunate though we were without power for
more than three days, almost four days.
We just got that turned on today.
So that was, you know, that was kind of, it really makes you
thankful and grateful when you do have certain conveniences.
(01:12):
You know, we think of power as anecessity and sure it is.
But us humans, we adapt, man. You know, my wife and I, we were
sitting on the patio during the day.
We did not have a generator. I know everybody probably should
have a generator in Florida. We don't have one.
Of course, all our food ruined in our fridge and freezer.
So we, we had to throw that out this morning.
(01:33):
Actually, you can feed that to pigs.
By the way, we actually took it to the Thai temple because they
will, they will burn it down andfeed it to the pigs.
Pigs have like something I just learned today.
So pigs have like this ability to not digest toxins.
So they can pretty much eat almost any.
There are a few things that are toxic to them, but but they can
(01:54):
eat like schlop and leftover food and whatever.
So in any case, it didn't go to complete waste.
The piggies are enjoying it. But yeah, living without power.
You know, we had the charcoal grill, so we were grilling some
things. And as the as the Publix opened
up, we're able to go get food and bring it back and, and
certain places would open up with generators and that sort of
thing. So we had food, we had plenty of
water. We have plenty of canned food
(02:15):
anyway, so we could survive for a lot longer.
But yeah, it was just, it was scary.
The night of the hurricane was, was really like, you know, if
you've got six hours of just like you're on an extreme roller
coaster or something, man, and you don't know what's happening.
It's of course these things tendto hit when it's dark.
They're like, hey, let's not hitFlorida during the daytime.
Let's do it at night. You know, no one can see.
(02:37):
But yeah, it was very intense, man, very intense.
Again, we're fortunate we didn'thave any major damage.
A lot of people obviously, you know, I'm in the Tampa.
For those who don't know, I'm inthe Tampa Bay area, technically.
Seffner, where obituaries from? I'm in the Seffner area and
Siren, the Brandon area, the vansirens from here to my good
(02:57):
friend Doug Lee. He's right down the road, the
lead singer for Siren. And I was actually on top of his
roof helping him put some tarps up that he already had up there
that got blown off. So, you know, a lot of people
didn't recover from the hurricane we had before
hurricane. I think it was Colleen.
So when this came through me andmy heart goes out though, all I
said, guys, I we're OK. My heart truly goes out to all
(03:19):
those impacted by the same man because it was really, it was
really brutal. I mean, just demolished so many
areas. My buddies in in the band Nasty
Savage, you know, they just, I think they just got back from
Germany. Plan to keep it true Festival.
They just released a new album after 20 years.
You know, they're a Tampa legendhere.
Yeah. You know, Yeah, dude, they're.
(03:39):
They're a legend here in Tampa. And so nasty Savage, their jam
room, the house they use for thejam room and I, I believe I'm
not if I'm not mistaken, Cannibal Corpse uses that too.
All their gear just went floating, man.
It just went floating 'cause they got flooded out and so.
You know, actually, I saw this on the newsletters from Metal
Sucks or Metal Injection. Yeah, they were asking for
(04:01):
support from their fans. That's horrible, man.
And I feel like you, I mean you,I think you told me right before
the show started. This is a pretty historic event
for the Tampa Bay area, right? When was the last time they had
a hurricane or storm this bad? It's it's been a while.
I mean this, what I'll say is I don't recall the exact year.
(04:22):
It's it's either since the early1900s or late 1800s.
This is, I think, the fifth timethat Tampa's had or this area
has had three hurricanes in the hurricane season that hit us
directly. So it was, yeah, it's
historical, you know, back-to-back like this.
It is a historical event. So, yeah, hopefully we're done
(04:43):
with this now for this year anyway.
But, yeah, I mean, we've had, you know, we had a bad
hurricane. I'm from Pensacola, FL, which is
a Panhandle, and I've seen a lotof hurricanes there.
Never seen one this bad or bad. Or maybe I was just too young to
remember. I do know in 1979, I was four
years old and this is a the little Jason days.
(05:05):
But in I79 we had a major hurricane, just really damaged
Pensacola in the Mobile, AL areacalled Hurricane Frederick.
And that was a historic hurricane.
I think it was a Cat 4 when it hit.
So that was a major, major hurricane.
But in my lifetime, I think thisis about as bad as I've I've
ever experienced. I've never been without power
(05:25):
this long. My, my parents are also in
Florida, as you know, but you know, some of my, some of the
folks here are middle master. We may not know.
They're in Winter Haven, which is just northeast of Tampa, but
it's right in the path of Miltonas well.
And it wasn't, it wasn't as bad as it was for you guys from
Tampa and Seffner. But you know, they actually also
(05:49):
have had experiences with hurricanes plenty of times
because they used to live in Puerto Rico.
So Puerto Rico was a, was a, wasa huge one.
One of the biggest ones was I think Hurricane Hugo back in
like the late 80s. I remember that.
And that one was a, that one wasbad for the island.
Usually hurricane canes in Puerto Rico are pretty horrific.
(06:11):
I think the last huge one that really affected them was
Hurricane Maria, which totally cut off power to like, half the
entire island. It was horrible.
Yeah. No, I mean hurricanes are
nothing to be toyed with. Or, you know, or typhoons or
monsoons, however you want to call.
Them. But they're a force to be
(06:33):
reckoned with, man, and you justreally feel so small against
them. It's just like you feel
helpless, dude. Yeah.
It's just like, I can't, I can'tdo anything about this.
You know, you just have to kind of bunker down and hope that it
doesn't, you know, completely tear you apart.
But like hearing about like tornadoes touchdown in Florida.
I mean, like, that's unheard of.Like you don't, you don't see
(06:53):
that in anywhere else except like maybe like the Midwest
where it's kind of literally called Tornado Valley or Tornado
Alley. And it's just like all that kind
of, you know, weather change pattern kind of stuff.
It just makes me wonder quite a bit.
You know, they, they predict, I don't know, like New York.
I mean, I'm, I'm here in, you know, right in New York City
(07:13):
where we have a lot of access towater and, you know, rising, you
know, sea levels and stuff like that.
That, that definitely puts a bitof a, you know, strain of
anxiety on, on things for the future.
How we're going to deal with stuff like that.
We're probably going to have to deal with like barricades and
dams and all that kind of crap. I don't know.
Who knows? Well, it's the same scenario for
(07:35):
and, and guys, we're not here totalk about whether the entire
time. I I want to share just a short
because Quinn, I called you Quinn.
Ken, you had a very exciting couple days, man.
We'll talk about that, but I want to share real quick on just
a couple things I learned from this hurricane that really
relates to to life and to to allof this, I believe.
(07:56):
But I was going to say about cities being underwater, my
favorite city in the whole world, Bangkok, Thailand, which
which I that's like my second home, maybe my first home soon.
But that place is, you know, people say it's going to be
underwater at some point in the future.
But you know, what I've learned is one that as humans, we have
this amazing ability to adapt and carry on.
(08:19):
And again, my wife and I, we didnot receive the worst of this
thing. But being without power and not
knowing and just hearing, you know, you just hearing these
winds just like hellaciously pound against, you know, your
house and everything around you is pretty scary.
And, and we felt pretty helpless, but we just hung in
(08:40):
there, you know, but we can adapt, you know, we started
cooking on the grill, boiling hot water on the grill, making
some oatmeal. We had plenty of canned goods as
places started to open up, you know, we get food, whatever.
Being without power, we just came accustomed to.
OK, I work during the daytime out in the yard because I had a
lot of cleanup to do. I went and helped some other
folks, you know, did what I could or whatever.
(09:03):
And, and at night time we sat onthe patio.
So I'm glad this happened in October and not in the middle of
like July, August, September in the brutal Florida heat, because
that would have been miserable. But in any case, we just, you
know, you, you adapt and you actually, you start becoming
used to a way of life. And I think, and I think, and
everybody listening, I think This is why, This is why
(09:26):
sometimes people will stay in bad situations, whether it's a
bad relationship, an abusive relationship.
And that could be a friendship, could be, you know, a marriage
or whatever, while you stay at ajob that you just hate.
And you're like, I, I got to getout of this place.
But we adapt to our environment and sometimes we can, it's
sometimes it's good, sometimes not so good.
(09:46):
We can become comfortable and just adapt and, and learn to
live that way. But I think we have to be
careful because there are thingsthat we might adapt to that we
shouldn't be adapting to, if that makes sense.
So I, I think there's a lot to be said for learning to adapt to
situations that are completely out of your control is like, OK,
well, I can't do these things, So what can I do?
(10:08):
Obviously we couldn't film our podcast on Friday because we
usually film these on Fridays, right?
And, and release on Wednesdays. But I couldn't, couldn't work.
I couldn't do my job like my jobis, you know, is I don't even
know what my job is, Ken, what is my job?
But I couldn't, do you know? Mastermind and Jason Stallworth.
Yeah, yeah. I really couldn't do much of
anything. So so I played acoustic.
I'm like, well, I can still playacoustic, you know what I mean?
(10:30):
I can still write and just, or still do vocal exercises and
just practice and and whatever Ican, I can read some books.
I read my favorite book now it'scalled Homemade.
And that book is by the man thatrescues dogs in, in Bangsen,
Thailand. He's his name is Michael Baines.
(10:51):
But yeah, he, he moved to Thailand from he he was, I think
he was, he's Scottish, Swedish. He was in Sweden, lived in
Sweden and he made his way to Thailand.
Long story, you'd have to get the book.
It was called Homemade. It's a beautiful book about how
he started this amazing dog rescue in Thailand.
So I, I got through that book. So, you know, you find things,
you adapt, you find things to doand, and find ways to just push
(11:13):
through. But again, it got me thinking
about, OK, well, there are certain situations that you
know, because we can become comfortable that maybe you don't
want to adapt to. So just knowing what to, you
know, when to go with the flow, but also when to push against
certain things in your lives. Like OK, I don't need to adapt
this crappy situation of your, Ineed to do something to change
(11:34):
it. That's a really, really powerful
statement. And, you know, sometimes I think
we forget about the situation that we're in and like you just
said, being comfortable, like even though it might not be good
for us, it's what we're familiarwith, right?
So we just kind of stay in that position and, you know, being
(11:54):
even in a situation that is goodfor us feels scary, right?
So that's something that we haveto definitely.
And I think it's a really good point to talk to walk away with
because when people tell me how,how to get into a better
position of either their career or, you know, maybe they even
like start asking about me and my relationship with Ellie or
(12:17):
something like that, Like how did, how are you in a position
to be in that way? And I always, you know, I said,
I don't know, like we just, well, one, we choose each other.
And I, I take that I took that advice from from Jason too.
It's just like choosing each other and making sure that
that's always solid. One of my students was having a
(12:38):
bit of a dilemma of his own and actually having that
conversation with him. He told me it set him back on
path to continuing his education.
He was about to quit that day before he had spoken to me.
So, you know, sometimes I think messages like these are, are
really well received in especially in a certain time of
(13:01):
manner of somebody's life. And you just never know how much
that kind of either like empathyor just I think you could just
call it wisdom can really affectsome certain people.
And I'm very glad that you said that because that kind of stuff
is when you're even in a situation of like like a
hurricane and trying to adapt tothat situation, you still can
(13:27):
think about the things that you're grateful for.
And, you know, have a little bitmore awareness about some of the
luxuries that we do have here inthe first world country like the
states versus somewhere, let's say, like Tajikistan, which is
all the way in the, you know, Asia and near Russia, which has
not even something like clean air.
So it puts things in perspectivea lot for you.
(13:50):
And you know, thank God that youguys are safe.
You know, my parents, of course I'm happy they're safe and other
family members. But you know, like you said,
some people are not not in a good position right now.
I almost feel like these are like great moments to learn for
people like Pat from CJ Ortiz's friend.
(14:13):
I'm sure you've, you've seen himaround a couple times, but Pat's
like an ex like like Navy SEAL or something like that.
And he's just like a survivalist.
He knows how to take care of allthis kind of stuff.
And I saw a recent video about how to weather a storm and it's
amazing how prepared some peopleare for things like this, which
they're adapting in a second. But it's like, you know, to me,
(14:38):
it's like, well, when you're at,when you're mentally like trying
to prepare for something like that, I feel like it takes many
years to just get that going andlike be totally like self
reliant. Like that's a full time job.
I think for some people of just making sure that everything is
good to go even when the world ends.
(15:00):
There's a lot to be said for that man.
Yeah, my neighbor, his name is Bob.
He goes by Taurus Bob. He plays out live solo gigs,
which I've got a gig tonight at Fenced Oxide, by the way.
So if this, well, you guys, thiswill be have already happened,
but it's Sunday, Sunday afternoon.
I'll be playing there because they're open in Apollo Beach.
But yeah, Taurus Bob, he he has a huge generator man.
He's he's all set. They are prepared and I'm I
(15:25):
could have prepared a lot better.
I think my wife was a little, I don't want to say aggravated at
me, but maybe just a little. I didn't because I am so
nonchalant and I've, I'm a native authority and I've been
here all my life. So it's like, OK, yeah, maybe we
lose power for a little bit or whatever.
At worst, you know, it'll be back on the next day or
whatever. So it's not that we weren't
prepared, but like things like window shutters and stuff like
(15:48):
that. So there, there are some notes
that we're taking more. So I'm taking, you know, the
that we know we need for the next time because there'll
probably be a next time. And the time that we're here,
I'm pretty certain of that. These storms aren't going
anywhere. But yeah, there there's
something to be said for that. Being prepared.
(16:09):
That's a weak point of mine thatmight surprise some people.
But yeah, it really is. I'm kind of nonchalant about it
and kind of like I I have a tendency when it comes to fight
or flight. I don't want to say I do one or
the other, but I'm probably a little too laid back about
things when it when it comes to stuff like this, I'm like, we'll
just, we'll wing it and we'll get by.
(16:30):
Well, you know, I think you can only prepare so much too.
So I think there are definitely priorities in life where, you
know, maybe the end of the worldis not necessarily supposed to
be one of them. But we, we do what we can,
right? So, you know, it is what it is.
But you know, actually Speaking of being prepared, I feel like
(16:54):
this is something where last week when I, I, I, when I
attended an event called Audio Engineering Society.
That's right. Tell us about this dude.
The AES, yes, it's, it's a great, it's a great place to go
and like one like see like otherpeople in the audio industry on
a global scale. But there's also any one of
(17:15):
these AES events you'll see likemanufacturers and they'll bring
their gear to show off what's new that year.
It's a really good time. And for students who are
learning audio and production, it's a great opportunity to just
like see the industry, kind of like a Nam, if you think of it
that way. But for audio engineers.
And if you're wanting to learn, there's a lot of events during
(17:39):
that time where there's a lot oftalks and panels.
And you'll get like famous engineers like Chris Lordalge or
Andrew Schepps or any of these guys, and they'll come on stage
and they'll talk about either the process or some experiences
that they've had. There were some events for
memorials of people who have passed away but had made a big
(18:00):
impact on the industry. So that was very cool too.
Those stories, some of them werereally crazy, but this is
Rock'n'roll, you know, in the sense right.
So sometimes there's always a really interesting story to say,
but I always feel like when we're talking about adapting, I
tell my students too, this is a people industry.
And you know, your, your technical skill is supposed to
(18:24):
be like the given, you know, you're like, learning the skills
is definitely important. But if you want to like progress
your, your career, you need to be in front of people and you
need to talk to people and you know, get to know them and you
know, they need to know who you are.
Actually a good friend of ours, David Notesy, who came on the
(18:47):
interview for our middle monster, my podcast a while ago.
He actually spoke about this on his channel saying, you know,
being a producer and engineer isnot just about how well you can
do it, but your personality and actually how you are as a
person. Just being able to hang around
with because. And he nailed it because it's
like really this industry reallyhas such a, you know, it's such
(19:11):
a service industry in a way thatyou know, you're supposed to
provide people with product thatthey're excited about, but at
the same time, it's a it's a relational thing where they have
to get to know who you are in order to be able to even trust
you with something like their art.
So if you're like this person, you know, I'm talking to the
(19:31):
listener now, if you are this person, if you want to learn
about, you know, audio and, and being a producer and getting
better and, you know, maybe you haven't been having bands come
by and work with you, go out to places like this, go out to
conventions, go to, you know, shows, go to bars and open mics.
(19:54):
You know, like Jason, he does this all the time.
These are ways that you can, Yeah, meet people, gain clients,
get exposure. I mean, that's really what it
takes. You have to be out there.
You can't be huddled up at home all the time.
Otherwise nobody's going to really.
You know, how many times are yougoing to, you know, misinterpret
somebody who's texting you, Right.
(20:15):
It's just like rather than just talking to them in person, what
I mean to say in that case is just it's so much easier to
build relationships when you meet people face to face.
And yes, it costs money and yes,it means you have to go out
maybe to California if you're from Florida, but you know,
these kinds of things are worth it because I can tell you right
(20:35):
now it's definitely helped my career.
I mean, one of the reasons why I'm even, you know, endorsed by
people like Antelope Audio or Odyssey headphones or anything
like that is because I go out tothese events and I need them
face to face and I build a relationship with them.
So go out there and network networking is a huge part of
(20:57):
this industry. If you're an artist, even
better. I mean, like it's like you could
put your art as a way to represent, you know, somebody
and even somebody can look at their your art and say it speaks
volumes about who they are, right.
So that's just a marketing lesson, if you want to really
(21:19):
put it that way. Branding, you know, we have to
really be aware of things like this.
And I know sometimes it's not really sexy to talk about
branding and stuff like that, but I, I get really excited
about that because it means thatyou have something that can
represent an ideal that people can relate to.
That means you can actually scale from that point.
(21:43):
So, you know, think about it. It's a serious thing.
And you know, AES was a really good time.
Actually, funny enough, I met our other good friend, Glenn
Fricker. I saw that.
Yes. And yeah, Glenn.
Glenn was just like, holy crap. Oh, what are you doing here?
This is awesome. And we actually ended up talking
(22:08):
with his team, a Spectre Media Group.
So like, I didn't last time I saw Glenn at an AES show, I just
met Glenn. But this time I actually saw I,
I, I saw his, his business partner too, Alex Naslow, who's
a very, very cool dude. And I met, you know, like a
couple of his other friends likeJesse.
And these are, you know, things that I was like, really, I felt
(22:32):
very grateful. You know, funny enough, also one
of those nights, every single night, I went to an after party
for AES. But one of these particular
nights, we went to Power Station, which is one of the
biggest, if not the biggest recording studio in New York
City. And Power Station has like, you
know, so many legendary acts. And so you're talking like
(22:54):
Michael Jackson, all those kinds.
They, they went to Power Stationand you can see in that room,
which is now, I think owned by Berkeley, I think Berkeley
College of Music owned power station, which thank God,
honestly, because it's like, otherwise they might have
closed. So thank God for an institution
like Berkeley to buy it out. But you know, you go and you see
(23:14):
this legendary room where they've set up a 714 Dolby Atmos
system in the live room and we're going to be listening to
Bob Clear Mountain's mixes and Bob Clear Mountain.
He's like, you know, a legendarymixer who's worked on like
Fleetwood Mac and you know, any all these types of.
People some Fleetwood dude, Yeah.
(23:36):
Yeah. And so he starts, you know, and
he, he's talking. He's all very, you know, he's
quiet. He's just like, yeah, yeah.
I don't know why, you know, people just don't mix like this
because it feels very natural. And I feel like all the
standards that people are looking up to, like why aren't
they using the subwoofer and all?
And I'm like, I'm like Bob, justplay some stuff, man.
(23:58):
Cuz like he's, he's, he starts talking and then all of a sudden
he, he, he plays some of his mixes and you're just like blown
away. I was like, Oh my God, this is
like so bombastic. He did this one thing with like
Queen and it was like I felt like I was literally at the
concert. It was so loud.
Like the pressure of hearing everybody around you was
(24:18):
incredible. It was that live anniversary
concert that they had not too long ago.
But anyway, this is the funny part is that I finish Power
Station and I walk outside because I'm like, I couldn't
find my friends After a while. I think I was like maybe they
left or something and I stuck around too long.
(24:38):
So funny enough, actually they still stay, but I walked outside
and I was like, let me just, youknow, start going home.
So I text Ellie and I said hey, I'm on my way.
And then literally I'm not kidding, like 2 minutes later
I've walked down the street and there's Glenn.
He's in, he's in the city, he's walking, it's late at night, you
know, and he's walking with his troop going to a bar.
(25:02):
And I'm like, wait a minute, you.
He goes like you, I was like, OK, where are you guys going?
He was like, we're going to go head up this place.
And I was like, well, can I come?
And he was like, yeah, sure, whynot?
So we end up hanging out at a place called Valhalla.
(25:23):
Really cool bar, lots of great beer.
And gosh, man, it was it was tremendous.
What a good time. Glenn's a really good hang.
I just want to say that, you know, Glenn, if you're listening
to this, thank you for the company.
It was a really, really good time to see you and Alex, you
too, everybody had a blast. So thanks for the invite.
(25:45):
But you know, these are the kinds of things where it's like,
again, let's talk about adapting, right?
You're you're in a situation where you possibly are meeting
someone who might have be of influence to you, right?
And how do you react, right? How do you get yourself into
that position and work with it? I mean, that's what we're
(26:09):
talking about when it comes to just developing yourself, even
as a person, even as a, as an industry, you know, person in,
in all of this. So when you meet people, it's
really important to, you know, recognize like who people are,
be very respectful and, and likebe around them to, you know, get
(26:33):
to know them. Like I, I feel like that's such
a thing that sometimes people miss out.
Like you don't have to always try to be advertising something.
You could just be around people just to get to know them and
your personality it it, it'll just exude what you're
passionate about. And if you're passionate about
something and you're not trying too hard, those things come out
(26:54):
naturally. And you know, it takes a little
bit of effort to kind of be in front of people, but it's worth
it. And, and, and networking is, is
a huge part. Guys, I, I, I want to really
stress this point. You really need to be networking
out there in order to get betterclients, better gigs and, and
grow and learn from people. People will be willing to share
(27:17):
with you information that they've learned over the course
of their career as you get to know them too.
So don't forget that. Yes, huge Ken, I'm you brought
up so many good points, man. So I would even say after, after
you guys listen to this, maybe go back and, and listen to it
again, you know, Fast forward past the hurricane talk and get
to this part because hey, it's it is I mean, it's monumental or
(27:39):
you can have monumental results for you.
And I would say, you know, don'tjust do it obviously for the
results. Don't go into networking saying,
well, I'm going to network so I can get ahead.
And that's, that's not what you're saying anyway, Ken.
But just be genuine, guys. Just be, just be your genuine
self and be willing to put yourself out there.
You made a huge point by saying you don't always have to be
(28:03):
marketing your product. Hey, I just put out my new album
or I've got my guitar course, you know, check it out or
whatever. You don't have to do all that
all the time either. Yeah, you want to let people
know about it at some point, butif you are the type of person
that's engaging with someone andyou're giving value in that
conversation and when you meet that person, they're going to
naturally want to dig in and andsee what you have.
(28:26):
OK, Well, what does this person do?
I like this person. They're they're cool.
They're respectful to me. And we talked about marketing,
just like you said earlier, Ken,you know, talking about branding
and marketing. That stuff isn't it's, it's not
something we all like to talk about and even really think
about because we're musicians, we're our creative side of the
brain wants to overtake everything.
(28:46):
And it's great. But at the same time, marketing
is to me, it's really just giving.
It's like what you just talked about.
It's going to these events and just being who you are and
taking a genuine interest in other people, right?
And just being a, a decent humanbeing, man.
And I think that will take you along way.
I see so many comments sometimescome across.
(29:09):
I've got a few videos out there on playing live solo gigs.
People, some people are kind of frustrated.
Well, you know, the audience hasengaged or I can't get gigs or
whatever, but I think you have to go into it with something of
value, not just, OK, I, I do this, check it out.
I need a gig or I need to do right.
It's going in there and establishing a genuine
(29:29):
relationship. And I'll say this too, Ken that
like if there's a place that I want to play at, you know, I'm
trying to get a gig somewhere or, or somebody I think I might
want to work with. If that person's a jerk, I don't
care how much that gig is going to pay me or how much I'm going
to get from that deal or whatever that may be.
(29:49):
I don't want to work with someone like that.
You know, I, I'll even go as faras to say this, you know, if
and, and I think this is sort ofrelevant, you know, you got some
of these doctors that are, they're sort of high and mighty
and they may be deemed the best surgeon in the world or
whatever, but they're, they're just crappy to their patients.
I don't think a lot of doctors are like that.
But you've heard of these. Well, the problem with that
(30:12):
mentality is, well, you, you come to me anyway because I'm
great at what I do. The problem is, though, if
you're a jerk to your patients, well, guess what happens to
those patients? Their cortisol levels are
raised. They're going to have a harder
time recovering because of you being a jerk to them.
OK, now that's a wild analogy there.
But take that and just insert that concept across the board.
(30:34):
If you're a jerk to work with, is, is somebody really going to
work with you? You know, I would rather work
with somebody that maybe isn't as great per SE is is some is
someone else in the industry. But they're easy to work with,
They're cool to work with. They're pleasant because I say
that because you can grow with them and they can grow if you
(30:54):
got to understand that where you're at right now and where
someone else is that you might want to work with where that
right now that's going to changeas people grow.
We all grow, we all evolved. So just because someone might
not, or even you and, and me myself, I might not be a certain
level today, but it doesn't meanI won't be there tomorrow,
right? So again, to Ken's point, I'm,
(31:16):
you know, elaborating on this quite a bit, but I, I think it's
so important that yeah, you needto establish genuine and just
solid relationships with people and really put yourself out
there. Yeah, 100%.
And I think that's like such a great way to summarize
everything I said because I saida lot.
But I think in your in your to that point being genuine, one of
(31:41):
the things that someone said to me at AES I you know, because
this person who I talked to, hisname is Alex Iwana, Great
person, great individual. And he actually helped me out
with the establishing relationships with Apogee.
And so I got a lot of credit forhim.
But I talked to him and I said, hey, dude, I just want to really
(32:01):
say thank you. Thank you for helping me back
there. It was, it was great to have
that and it did this for me XYZ,right?
And he goes like, dude, I think it was just your energy, man.
You know, like it, that says a lot.
You know, when somebody just just kind of just kind of tells
you stuff like that and it means, you know, a ton to me to
(32:24):
hear that from somebody who by the way, is like has a an entire
thing called audio kitchen, which helped me as a student,
right? So me telling him I was like,
dude, like, you know, basically how I looked up to his stuff and
he it was, it was very, very cool to hear that.
But it says so much, right? It means that when you are doing
(32:46):
your craft and you are passionate about your craft and
you also care about your relationships with people, those
kinds of things, I feel like things happen around that that
maybe are in a way inevitable because you just constantly are
keeping this energy of being again, passionate, but also
(33:11):
loving and endearing to people. People resonate with that.
People want to be around that. I found, you know, someone like,
for example, like Glenn Fricker,who is always on camera, like
looks like he's bashing people all the time behind the scenes.
Dude, the guy's like a frickin teddy bear.
(33:31):
He's, he's amazing. He's he's really, really kind
and he's super down to earth. He feels, I feel like for for
him, Glenn is definitely a no bullshit kind of guy, right?
He won't take any of that. But.
When you're when you're, when you're hanging around the guy, I
mean, what he really wants to talk about is just being Glenn
(33:55):
be in daily life, right? How he thinks about waking up in
the morning, you know, and not necessarily always talking about
numbers or anything like that. And I didn't, I don't think I
even asked him one question about his YouTube channel.
I think it was just like, you know, maybe stuff like, you
(34:16):
know, what kind of microphones are you using or something like
that? Because we're, we're talking
about audio and I'm an audio guyand he's an audio guy.
So we'll talk about stuff like that.
And when you start talking aboutthat for him, he loves it
because it's like for him, it's just genuine about a thing that
he's passionate about, right. But you know, we had a moment
about talking about trolls. Oh nice.
(34:39):
I told Glenn no, because this istrue too.
I mean, Glenn's been doing YouTube for a long time.
Probably about when you started,Jason.
Like, yeah, I started in 2010, dude.
So he's he's probably been the. Only one, I think he was like
20-12 maybe or something like that.
I think Glenn started something like that.
So anyway, I was telling him, I said, dude, Glenn.
(35:01):
I mean, like, I've been watchingyour stuff also when I was a
student. And yeah, you know, I think with
all the trolls that you have online, I mean, you're
definitely doing something, right?
Because you got to have people who will hate you in order for
you to be getting that kind of attention, right?
Because you're doing something and something's working, right?
And he said that's true. And then I also said, but, you
(35:23):
know, I know that sometimes thatcan be something that weighs on
you. And I would just want you to
know that you actually had a tremendous impact on my life
that I learned quite a lot from you while I was growing up in,
in audio school. And I wanted to say thank you
for that. And he was just like, fuck, man,
that means a lot. So, you know, like having a just
(35:48):
like, again, I mean, like, and this is not me like trying to
like sell anything, man. I mean, like, I'm really just in
a position of just gratitude to just tell someone like Glenn
who's been an influence in my life.
Thank you, right. You know, and you'll see, I mean
it, it goes a long way, man. Any, any sort of relationship
where you should show gratitude,I feel like that's, that's
(36:10):
always the best way. That's always the best way to
start. It's always the best way to end
having an appreciation for folksfor what they do or the kind of
value that they put out in the world too.
I mean, especially if there's someone like, you know, Glenn
Fricker or something like that, you know, you, they, they work
all the time. He told me it was like, you
know, next month I'm doing 30 days of videos.
(36:33):
I'm like, yeah, yeah, you're, you're freaking working, dude.
You know, makes. Me want to ramp mine up, man?
Yeah. Like he does videos every day,
Like he, that's what, that's allhe does.
He just works, works, works. And you know, you see the
results, right? That's that's what he does, you
know, but having come to AES, that was like a bit of a, a
(36:54):
break for him, you know, kind ofa vacation in a way for him to
also, you know, establish some relationships of his own.
I'm sure he's going there. He's talking to product
manufacturers. Maybe he wants to review the
next thing that they're doing. But, you know, here's, you know,
Ken Cadelis, you know, in Valhalla, you know, and just
asking how he's doing because sometimes maybe people don't ask
(37:17):
him those questions, you know, and he can finally just open up
about something and be just genuine about it.
Like those are the things, thoseare the moments, you know what I
mean, that matter to people. No, I'm glad and I'm so glad you
said that dude. And Glenn is cool.
I remember he was on the podcast, you know, he was of
course, Glenn on the podcast, but we got a chat before and
after too. And I'd love to hang out with
(37:38):
that dude someday. But no, that, that's, that means
a lot because I'm sure most people that bump into Glenn and
I don't want to assume, but I'm it's probably safe to assume
that most people that bump into him are just trying to take from
him and trying. And you know, and I get it.
Well, you know, like, well, how did you get your YouTube channel
to grow? How can I make mine grow?
And my how can I do this to my music?
(38:00):
And they're just wanting, wanting, wanting, Whereas Ken,
you just gave just by being you and not trying to like hustle
him for information, you know, for your own benefit, just being
there. I think that meant a lot to him
and just saying thank you. And like you said, having the
gratitude. I can tell you now, I mean, I
don't have the audience that Glenn has and nor does Metal
(38:22):
Mastermind. But anytime I get a thank you
and you know, I get emails quiteoften from folks and comments
that, you know, that tell me that one of my videos helped
them pick up the guitar again after 30 years or 40 years or
whatever, or, or for the first time.
And help them get over this hump, you know, and I appreciate
that, you know, Ken and I both, we appreciate that man, because
(38:42):
it just it confirms and, and I guess we all need this from time
to time, it confirms or reaffirms that I'm doing what
I'm supposed to be doing with mylife.
You know, and I'm sure that comment you made to Glenn just,
you know, reaffirm that it's like, OK, I'm, I'm helping
folks. This is what I wanted to do,
right? And I, I love, I love the fact
(39:04):
that his trolls give give him content to put out there because
a lot of time he can, he can turn that in.
He does as he turns that in to really answering someone's
question or many people's question by answering the
trolls. So it's pretty cool.
But yeah, man, just just being acool person.
I think, you know, when I, when I left my corporate job and I I
(39:27):
kind of stole this from another colleague of mine many, many
years ago. But yeah, four years ago and I
left my corporate job 4 1/2. Now I'm signed my e-mail.
Remember your ABC's always be cool.
I love that. I want to.
I'm going to take that. Yeah.
No, I, I I'm, I'm there with you, man.
(39:49):
You know, this this idea of being cool.
What does it mean to be cool? Right.
It's just, hey, you know, just be genuine, honestly authentic.
You know, I think that's one of the things that every time I
talk to my cousin who lives in LA, you know, I, I always
remember the time that I spent over there and she held a party
(40:11):
and it was like, you know, a bunch of her friends and stuff
like, but I always felt like everybody was trying to see what
they could kind of extract from each other.
And you know, I even when I talked to Alex.
We were talking about this too, just like, you know, the side
thing, it was just like, you know, LA or New York.
And I said, well, you know, people in New York, we're kind
(40:32):
of like, you know, maybe up front.
We, we, we feel a little bit notnice, but we're actually very
kind, you know, But I think that's really because New
Yorkers, we know how it is to like really go through it and
struggle and we're kind of all the unit, right?
So, you know, you bump into us and we yell at you, but really,
(40:53):
we'll we'll pick you up if you fall.
Yeah, you'll show them directions or whatever, right?
Yeah, exactly. And but you know, on the other
side, it's not really that way. It, it feels very much like
they'll be kind to you up front,you know, let's say maybe at the
party that I went to. But on the back end, they're
really like, no, I'm not really going to do that with this
person or help this person or I'm not, I'm, I'm, I'm being,
(41:14):
I'm saying even bad things aboutthis person.
So, you know, we kind of had share that same sentiment.
And actually multiple people in my, in my life that I've met who
spent time in, in Los Angeles versus New York, they say very
similar thing. And I don't know, maybe it's,
it's the whole Hollywood thing and it's just like trying to
move up the ladder, you know, But I feel like in, in New York,
(41:38):
moving up the ladder doesn't necessarily always mean like
shooting someone down. It just really means, you know,
if, if we can hang and be like genuine people to each other.
I, I mean, I've always felt thatway.
I've always seen that in New York.
So, but you know, that's, that'swhat I'm talking about.
I mean, with some of these things sometimes, like if you
(42:00):
want to go and you know, you want to move to a place to
advance your career, because youcan definitely, you know, New
York, you know, it's going to be, there's more opportunities
in New York than Minnesota. You know, it's just that's true.
That's just how it is. It's a Mecca, right?
So you come here, but then you have to really establish your
intentions and what are those intentions and how do they
(42:20):
affect people? How you, you know, exude that
kind of either ambition or your that, that energy like how you
do it is very important. And, you know, just learning,
you know, some of those social cues to be a really big
lifesaver for some situations where again, we're adapting,
(42:44):
right? That's that's what we do.
So if if you're, if you're growing, you know, you're
adapting along the way too. And I mean, even with, let's
say, you know, Jason, Jason had to adapt to being full time as a
YouTube from leaving corporate America.
I mean, that kind of jump very, very scary.
(43:05):
But you know, ever since then, you know, Jason's also grown his
career. So you can take so much from
just when you are in an uncomfortable situation, which
could be just as simple as meeting new people, right?
And how do you walk away winningfrom that situation?
(43:26):
Start start with just being yourself and being genuine.
You know, learning a little bit also about restraint is huge.
Like know when to stop maybe talking about yourself, right?
And really questioning someone else on what, what they're
interested in. Even even going further than
(43:49):
that is sometimes you might not need to talk much at all, right?
And all you need to do is listenand, and really listen like,
and, and I like have more input,less output.
Here's another way to phrase that, right.
Try not to think of the questionyou want to ask.
(44:11):
Try to just listen to what they're saying.
Like that's, that's, that's so interesting because it's like,
you know, before someone told that to me, I had this bad habit
of finishing people's sentences.And I think it was mostly
because of, of my father, honestly, because English was
(44:33):
his second language. He was, he spoke Spanish first.
So sometimes he's thinking of a word in English and you know, he
knows the word, but sometimes I,I know it before he does.
And I just beat him to it. So I just, I say the word and
he's like, yeah, that. And I might, I would do that
sometimes to other people. And then when I worked with a
(44:55):
very, you know, well known engineer who was tremendous, but
he was kind of a jerk. He, he actually put me on the
spot though. But which is one of the things
that actually I appreciated about this person that he would
do stuff like this because it taught me life lessons where he
would say, you know, he was going to say something and he
(45:16):
was thinking about what he was going to say.
And then I tried to finish that for him.
And he goes like, oh, so you canread my, you can read my mind.
You know what I'm going to say. So what was I going to say?
And he would just, he would justput me on the spot right there.
And I'd say, I don't know what you were going to say.
I was just maybe assuming this was what you thought you were
(45:37):
going to say. He was like, see, that's your
problem. And, and from that point on, he,
he, he gave me that lesson and Inever forgot it.
And to this day, I always try toremember those kinds of moments
of when I'm meeting somebody andmaybe they might be important,
that I'm just like, OK, more input, more input, more input,
(45:59):
you know, less output. Try not to ask the question or
think about the question I'm trying to ask because maybe some
other motive or anything else, you know, that's one way of
being genuine with somebody, notnot having an agenda already in
the back of your mind. It's just.
You can't let. Me, just be, yeah, just be in
(46:19):
the moment, right? Listen to what they're saying,
what they're telling you, and allow yourself to react to that
naturally. And, you know, take your time
with the reaction. You don't have to always like,
jump in, you know, try to finishsomebody's sentence.
Well, I think that's why so manymisunderstandings happened.
You know, it's, it's people. We have to develop a genuine
(46:40):
sense of empathy, meaning that we have a genuine, we generally
want to understand the other person.
And if you, if you do that, likeif you say, OK, well, I, I
really want to understand where this person's coming from,
regardless of what the conversation is about, then
you're not going to have other questions pop in your head
because you're listening. You can't possibly listening to
(47:01):
someone else what they're sayingand get the deep meaning of
that. If you're like you said, Ken, if
you're already forming the question in your mind that you
want to ask. So I think I think listening is
a valuable trait, man. You know, I also like Stephen
Covey's book, The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People,
where he talks about creating a win, win situation.
(47:21):
And that means even if I win andlike some deal I'm making with
someone or, or anything, right, If I win, but that person
doesn't win, I don't really wantto be part of that, to be honest
with you. I just don't, you know, I don't
want to go in and just take, take, take.
I also want to give value as well.
And again, this is where you create longevity.
(47:42):
This is where you create sustainability.
I think a lot of people want thequick result and I just get what
I need and move on. But that is not sustainable.
You're not going to get very far.
You may get, you may do OK in the interim, right or right
right now, but it's not going toget you longevity.
It's not going to build sustainability and it's
certainly not going to build your your reputation as someone
(48:05):
to be desirable to work with. Absolutely.
I, I, I resonate that with 100%.You don't want to only have, you
know, one side winning in that situation because it, that long
term relationship is what's going to be exhausted from that.
So you want to make sure that you're also giving value back
(48:27):
that helps the relationship continue to move forward.
People are excited to work with you just as much as you're
excited to work with them. It's, it's like, it's like
marriage, man. You got to both come in with
100% and, and really have at it together so that you can make it
work. Any relationship really, you
(48:48):
have to make sure that you're putting the other person in some
sort of priority so that there is a mutual benefit.
You know, and you know, all the things that we were talking
about on this podcast today are being genuine, being able to
adapt. That all comes part of it.
And your skill as being able to read people can come in very
(49:11):
handy for for those situations to know is, is this too much or
is this not enough, right? And finding that happy middle
ground to, you know, keep, you know, relationships and, you
know, people moving forward and happy and all that kind of
stuff. Yeah, yeah.
Networking is a skill all on itsown.
(49:33):
And I definitely think that people don't sometimes emphasize
it enough. It's one of the things that in
my, in my classes that I go overas an actual lecture because I
think it's like so important that people understand how to do
that. And I have my class actually,
they, they do these assignments of working on their own
(49:58):
business. So like a career presentation I
have them do where they, they take their, their, their idea
and they go into the front of the class and they do a little
bit of public speaking, you know, just to emphasize, Hey,
like, look at them, you know, oraddress person or someone has a
question that challenges you, you know, how do you go about
(50:19):
addressing that? You know, I've had students in,
in my class sometimes where theytake it and they, they, they
turn it around in a negative way.
And it's like, whoa, you know, like that's an example of what
not to do. You know, good thing you're in
school when you did that, right,Not in front of an actual
client. So those those are the
(50:43):
relational building skills. I feel like in some institutions
they need to be emphasized more because it really is a life
skill. And I would say one more thing
about networking is network the right way.
Don't just go into networking kind of the old school way.
We'll just network so you can, you know, rise up, network to
build genuine relationship. That said, Ken, do do you have a
(51:07):
metal song of the week? Yeah, actually one of my old
time favorite bands, Dream Theater, just released a new
tune. It's called Night Terror with
Mike Portnoy back on drums. And let me tell you man, he
really does all the Mike Portnoyisms and everything.
(51:27):
I really feel like it highlightshis percussion playing.
So glad to see Mike on the drumsagain.
Night Terror by Dream. I have got I ran across a new
band called Cemetery Skyline. I just randomly ran across them
on Instagram. Cemetery Skyline, they just
released their very first album here in 2024 called Nordic
Gothic. Very much.
(51:49):
I don't even know what compare it to, so I'm not going to do
that. Just listen to it.
I'm really getting into it. It's really cool.
It's very different, very gothic, but just just cool.
So yeah, Cemetery Skyline, theirnew albums called Nordic Gothic.
So yeah, that is the metal for the week guys.
And I'm having a bit of Internetconnection, so Ken and I have
(52:10):
had to stop and start several times and piece this together.
So on that note, we want to thank you once again for being a
part of Metal Mastermind. We deeply appreciate you guys.
Do check out all of our resources for metal musicians on
metalmastermind.com. And hey, share this podcast with
your friends if it helped you. Until next time.
(52:30):
Till next week, guys. Always create your own sound.
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