August 5, 2025 • 47 mins
🎙️ S5 E19 – The Game-Changer for Staying Motivated (with Johnny Fiacconi of The Dreamboats) In this episode of Musicians Tip Jar, we sit down with Canadian drummer, entrepreneur, and content creator Johnny Fiacconi of The Dreamboats. Johnny shares the real truth behind staying motivated as a working musician — and the simple daily habit that transformed his mindset, productivity, and long-term success. From band dynamics and business decisions to mentors and morning routines, this episode covers how musicians can build momentum, stay focused, and create a sustainable career in today’s music industry. 🔥 You’ll learn:
Instagram: https://instagram.com/johnnyfiacconi
Band: www.instagram.com/thedreamboats
Drumming: https://www.instagram.com/johnnygwiz
Visit MusiciansTipJar.com for more resources and tools to empower your financial journey.
Intro & Outro Music Donated by: The Magi https://www.themagimusic.comÂ
Intro Read by: David “DJ” Lee of The Magi
https://soundcloud.com/rockababyrockÂ
Pictures by: Kit Chalberg https://kitchalberg.com/
Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/musicians-tip-jar--4698023/support.
Visit MusiciansTipJar.com for more resources and tools to empower your financial journey.
Intro & Outro Music Donated by: The Magi https://www.themagimusic.comÂ
Intro Read by: David “DJ” Lee of The Magi
https://soundcloud.com/rockababyrockÂ
Pictures by: Kit Chalberg https://kitchalberg.com/
- The daily routine that keeps Johnny consistent and driven
- Why financial clarity is a creative advantage
- How to build a band that actually works
- The power of saying no to the wrong gigs
- Why “hope is not a strategy” (and what is)
Instagram: https://instagram.com/johnnyfiacconi
Band: www.instagram.com/thedreamboats
Drumming: https://www.instagram.com/johnnygwiz
Visit MusiciansTipJar.com for more resources and tools to empower your financial journey.
Intro & Outro Music Donated by: The Magi https://www.themagimusic.comÂ
Intro Read by: David “DJ” Lee of The Magi
https://soundcloud.com/rockababyrockÂ
Pictures by: Kit Chalberg https://kitchalberg.com/
Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/musicians-tip-jar--4698023/support.
Visit MusiciansTipJar.com for more resources and tools to empower your financial journey.
Intro & Outro Music Donated by: The Magi https://www.themagimusic.comÂ
Intro Read by: David “DJ” Lee of The Magi
https://soundcloud.com/rockababyrockÂ
Pictures by: Kit Chalberg https://kitchalberg.com/
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:01):
Welcome to the show that explores the methods and strategies
on rocking the financial side of your music business. With
over forty years combined experience, here are your hosts, Chris
Webb and Dave Damkin.
Speaker 2 (00:15):
Welcome to Musicians Tip Jar, where we talk about musicians
and money, where we want to remind you to never
limit your challenges, but instead challenge your limits. I'm Chris Webb,
joined by my co host who shows up weekly to
stretch his humor and never humorize his stretches. Dave Damkin.
Speaker 3 (00:32):
Talk to Vince this week about his episode and he said,
I'm so sorry. There are some of your jokes that
you just went over my head and I didn't realize
you were saying it at the time during our interview,
and I said, I it's just a bad habit. Please Fince,
don't feel bad. I should just stop these jokes altogether,
so we'll see how far I can stretch or not
(00:53):
stretch my humor.
Speaker 4 (00:54):
In this episode.
Speaker 2 (00:55):
Yeah. You know it's concerning though, when you have to
apologize to people later, like or they're apologizing to you
for not getting it.
Speaker 4 (01:03):
Like guess too.
Speaker 3 (01:04):
You're being interviewed by someone you don't normally talk to,
so you don't know their patterns or their sense of
humor or anything. And then you know, my stuff is
just so dry and stupid. Anyway, they probably like that
was stupid, and then they just keep going because it's
not funny, but they are pre approved funny by me,
so we'll see.
Speaker 2 (01:24):
Today we are giving the gift of what could be
the biggest game changer to staying motivated day in and
day out in your business. We also talk band dynamics
and the impact of a mentor all with our guest
Johnny Fiacconi. Today's quote comes from our guest Johnny. He said,
anything is possible. When you have a goal, you can
(01:45):
just work at it until it happens, and it will happen.
Speaker 3 (01:50):
This week, we want to shine a light on a
vital Canadian nonprofit called the Unison Fund. If you're a
musician in Canada, this is an organization you need to
know about. They provide a crucial safety net for the
community off and everything from emergency financial relief in times
of crisis, to free confidential counseling for mental health and
financial challenges. Building a career in music is tough, and
Unison is there to make sure no one has to
(02:10):
face those struggles alone. Please check them out, support their
work if you can, and most importantly, know that they
are there for you. Learn more at unisonfund dot Ca.
If you find this information useful, please rate and subscribe
to the podcast, and also slam that like button if
you're on YouTube, so we can help keep you up
on the finance side of your music business.
Speaker 2 (02:26):
Johnny Fiaccioni is a Canadian content creator, drummer, and entrepreneur
known for his straight talk insights on band life, the
music industry, and creative disciplines. His posts have amassed millions
of views on all platforms. As a drummer and a
co founder of The dream Boats, a retro rock and
roll band bringing the energy of the fifties and sixties
(02:47):
to modern audiences, Johnny has built an international career blending
high impact performances with behind the scenes strategy. Through his content,
he pulls back the curtain on what it really takes
to run a bit today, offering no fluff advice for artists,
musicians and creatives chasing big goals, which his mission. It's
to fire people up, lead by example, and prove that
(03:10):
the right mindset and work ethic. Anything is possible. Whether
you're an artist, a band member, or a creative entrepreneur,
Johnny Fiacconi is someone worth watching and listening to.
Speaker 4 (03:22):
So let's go.
Speaker 3 (03:38):
So, Johnny, welcome to the show. Thanks you taking time
out to have us.
Speaker 4 (03:41):
Thank you for having me.
Speaker 3 (03:43):
You had a late night last night? Where'd you play
last night?
Speaker 4 (03:46):
Last night? We were in Laguna Neguel, California. Yes, we
were playing five shows back to back. It was a lot.
So today I got to slightly sleep in, but you
can still see the bags under myne How are you
guys doing doing well?
Speaker 2 (04:02):
You know, it's been a while since I've talked to
somebody that has stayed up so late playing shows. I
feel like everybody in my world right now like play
shows till about ten and then we're like asleep by midnight.
I hear you pressed with your schedule.
Speaker 4 (04:15):
It's sure, well, our shows don't go that late, but
it's just that we always got to drive back and
we live outside of La so it's always a two
hour drive. I'm sure you can. You can get that totally.
Speaker 3 (04:27):
Yes, yeah, well, Johnny, sometimes Chris is like, oh nine
am works great for me, you know, And on a Saturday,
and I'll have to get up two hours before just
to get those lines, put some water on my face,
do some jumping jacks, feel somewhat normal, and he just
always shows up, so chipper, and then you go no
matter what time it is. So it's a good person
(04:48):
to have a podcast with.
Speaker 2 (04:49):
I'll tell you that the secret is having kids that
wake your ass up no matter what.
Speaker 4 (04:56):
Yeah, yeah, nature's alarm clocks. I guess.
Speaker 2 (05:00):
Yeah, you guys think of getting up by choice, but
that's not exactly what's happening.
Speaker 4 (05:04):
Well, for the record, normally I get up at a
reasonable hour. I get up at seven fifty every day
Monday to Friday even regardless. But Saturday Sundays I sleep
in that extra a little bit after the show night.
So I appreciate you guys working around my schedule.
Speaker 3 (05:22):
Why the fifty. Why seven fifty is that snooze snooze.
Speaker 4 (05:25):
Buffer that gives me ten minutes to be out of
bed and then I do a little run like first
thing in the morning. So the seven fifty has been
working well for me, and I still manage to get
some kind of sleep in there.
Speaker 2 (05:35):
I think.
Speaker 3 (05:37):
Our audience just heard all about you and we'd like
to go into a little bit from your point of
view on it, but I guess the first question we
wanted to talk about was what ignited this passion for music,
and if you could, like, what's the earliest musical experience
that set you on this path.
Speaker 4 (05:57):
I talk about this a lot with my friends. I
feel like, well, music and just entertainment in general, I
feel like it's something people are born with or aren't.
And the only reason I say that it's because I've
talked to so many people over the years, and just
so many people either afraid or they're just all in
on it. And I don't know where that came from.
It came about very naturally. I was always very musical. Yeah,
(06:21):
as long as I could remember. I remember just in
grade one, you know, with my buddies, we'd be I
remember just singing songs and like harmonizing songs, especially Everber
from the Lion King or something that Timon and pumba song.
Speaker 3 (06:33):
We're like.
Speaker 4 (06:34):
I just have these vague memories of like just singing
in front of people and harmonizing early on. I don't
know where it came from. It was just always ingrained.
I always had this passion for the drums. I have
the cliche videos, you know, my dad mom filming me
playing on the pots and pans, which is so cool
(06:54):
that I have that footage, you know, of me as
a little kid, couldn't even talk and I'm banging away.
So I don't know where it came from, but it's
been there since I was as long as I can remember.
Speaker 3 (07:06):
Did you always sing your great singer while playing drums
or did that come later?
Speaker 4 (07:13):
I never sang, although I just said that I sang
growing up like that was when I was seven. My
entire life, I was totally afraid of singing. I never
wanted to sing. It came about just in my band,
you know, we were just I felt like I had
decent pitch and range, and we were looking to expand
(07:34):
and get more harmonies. And it turned into me talking
on the mic, to me doing harmonies, to me, then
singing us song, then to me singing many songs. But
if you told me ten years ago that I would
be singing in front of a live audience, I would
not have believed you. And that is the honest truth.
Speaker 3 (07:52):
Now, were you singing and playing drums through college too?
I know you? You know for business but because you're
just saying that, you know, you recently started, but yeah,
and knowing how well you sing, it's just crazy that
you haven't been doing it longer.
Speaker 4 (08:06):
I appreciate that, you know. Yeah, I know at that point,
I wasn't. I was only drumming. I've been drumming for
for a long time, since I was probably about twelve
or so. But the singing came about very uh you know,
just like I said, it evolved. But then once I
started singing, it was like we played so much that
it was just I was singing every day. I went
(08:26):
from never singing to singing all the time. You know,
all these years later, it's just it's second nature. It's like,
you know, like riding a bike and playing the trumps
and singing and thinking the next song and just it's
just you're throwing in the deep end and then you
just wake up. At the end of the show, I'm like,
what just happened.
Speaker 3 (08:44):
We had a friend that used to ride a bike
and play the drums all the time, and then it
just you know, man had a hard time keeping up
with him.
Speaker 4 (08:52):
Yeah, I bet, yeah, he was.
Speaker 3 (08:58):
He was a roving musician.
Speaker 4 (09:00):
Yeah, I don't even know if you're joking or serious
right now?
Speaker 3 (09:03):
No, I'm sorry. I apologize.
Speaker 4 (09:04):
Is that possible? It could be possible.
Speaker 3 (09:10):
Sometimes, you know, especially just watching as many Instagrams as
I have of you over the last few months, there
is this kind of feeling of knowing you because you
speak so honestly. And we'll get to that. But the
joking thing is a bad habit of mine, and I apologize.
Speaker 4 (09:26):
I love it.
Speaker 3 (09:27):
I feel sometimes people should just know I'm joking, and
sometimes it's not the case.
Speaker 4 (09:32):
So I love it. I'm feeling you guys out.
Speaker 3 (09:40):
And the thing is, Chris won't edit any of this
out either, because he'll just bring it home that unless
you stop doing this, it won't change. I could you
tell us a little bit since we brought up college,
just between college and then your experience going into dream Boats,
what was that like, you know, prepper school and knowing
(10:01):
that you had a business background and wanted to go
into that to performing all the time. What were your
goals right out of.
Speaker 4 (10:08):
College, like the goals I went to. So I went
to university and I got like a degree there, but
I always knew I wanted to do music. So after
university I did a one year course Entertainment Business Management.
I wanted to get into the business side and managing bands,
you know. And then as soon as well, when that
year started of Entertainment Business Management, that was when my
(10:31):
band formed, like the dream Boats. We just all got
together and we had an impromptu jam that turned into
just playing all these retro tunes, and then me and
the singer were like, oh, let's do this, you know.
So it worked out really well because that started at
the beginning of this college course that I was doing.
And then so for the entire year, anytime there was
(10:51):
a project or an assignment that we had to do,
I would automatically default to just doing it for my band,
as opposed to other people maybe they had to find
a band to work with. I was like, I'm just
going to do it for my band. So it really
worked out well. You know it we're going to work
on an artist bio, and then I was like, oh,
do it for my band, or we got to do
a business plan, I'm like, do it for my band.
(11:11):
So it like it really worked out. And then all
the teachers and professors there were all people who were
very successful in the music business, specifically the Canadian music business.
Because I'm originally from Canada, I couldn't tell that. I
hear that all the time. So yeah, it came upon naturally.
And then as soon as that that year was done,
(11:33):
I auditioned for a band, this touring band that I knew.
I knew the old drummer and I knew they were
always too a bit of a an infamous band in
Canada called White cow Bell Oklahoma, And if you look
up the videos you will know what I mean. There's
like chainsaws and things get lit on fire. It's like
a whole rock and roll circus. I auditioned kind of
on a whim and then they were just like, oh,
(11:56):
you're a top contender, and I'm like, I wasn't. I
wasn't in anticipating that. So it literally went into well,
you know, I did a few more auditions. They're like, well,
here are the tour dates and we're hitting the road
and I'd never been on the road before, and I
just jumped into this like cross Canada tour right after
that college course. All the while the Dreamboats, my band
(12:17):
was in its you know, it was just being birthed
and it had only been under a year, so I
was juggling those two bands for a while, but the
dream Boats was always my baby. But that's what happened
right after that course, I just went right I hit
the road immediately. It was pretty cool.
Speaker 3 (12:34):
Well, definitely a different aesthetic from what you just described
to the dream Boats.
Speaker 4 (12:39):
Yes, but I totally. But I took so much from
White Cowbell Oklahoma because it's just all show and antics
and it's all about creating like stuff that people are
gonna be like, whoa, that guy just got stuff up
with a chainsaw, or like whoa, like that guy just
lit that thing on fire, or like we had three
guitar players with three Marshall stacks and it was It's
(13:00):
just it was a whole spectacle and you were encouraged
to do whatever was crazy, Like are the lead guitar
player would just bowl himself into my drums and just
explode the drums. So that whenever we would do dream
Boats stuff, i'd come back from tour, I'm like, oh, guys,
we gotta do this, or oh, merch idea or something.
So I took so much from that band. All of
(13:22):
the g rated stuff from that band I put into
the dream Boats, all of the PG thirteen and plus
stuff did not go to the dream Boats, and for
good reason, for good reason.
Speaker 3 (13:34):
So how did you go from that band to saying, Okay,
I'm going to have to put the PG. Thirteen stuff
aside now because now the dream Boats is starting to
take off.
Speaker 4 (13:47):
I just felt like, you know, what's so cool about
just everything I talk about is that when I was
with White cow Bell, I was not the leader. I
was just like the drummer, you know what I mean.
So I've experienced that side of being in a band.
And then with the dream Boats, like me and the singer,
we were the creators. So we were the ones calling
(14:08):
the shots, dreaming big, coming up with the goals and
getting excited about stuff. So I had that, and so
I've experienced both sides of being in a band, and
just with the dream Boats it is like it was
taking off more. We were more fired up, we were excited.
We were like, oh, we got to go, you know,
play in Liverpool at the Cavern Club because we're huge
Beatles fans. And then I was like, okay, let's do it,
(14:31):
you know, and then we book it and let's go
on a tour, and we would do it and we
were calling the shots and things just started really growing.
Whereas with the other band, like I said, I was
just a drummer. But I learned a lot from that too,
on how to just be reliable and learning my parts
and showing up in a good headspace and not causing
problems for the band leader, you know. So But yeah, eventually,
(14:53):
just the dream Boats were getting more gigs and I
was kind of screwing them over by going on tour
with the other band. You know, they would have to
scramble and find someone, and it didn't feel good. I
couldn't in the right mind feel like I was contributing
and being, you know, a leader of that band and
then going off and playing with another band. But this
was in the very early days of the dream Boats,
(15:14):
Like this was like a passion thing for us. This
was like a shameless, like favorite band of ours that
just started really growing, you know. So it's not like
it was I was abandoning anything major at that point.
But once I left the other band, the Dreams just
really started taking off. Just dedicating all my time to it.
Speaker 2 (15:33):
It's fun to talk to you a little bit about
the band dynamic, because you know, if you're looking at
original bands out there right now, nobody's making the charts anymore,
you know what I mean, Like it's it's harder, But
I do think live people still really love seeing a
full band. You know, there's that is really I think
where people really are going to keep the band thing
(15:53):
alive is because we enjoy that energy that's created by
the dynamics between musicians. You know, two questions I when
I ask about the band stuff. The first one is like,
how did you guys delegate roles? Like it sounds like
you It's not like you're like saying I'm the band
leader and they don't know it right, Like you guys
have set rules or roles for each of you. Can
(16:15):
we talk a little bit about how you decided that
and who was going to do what or did you
talk about it or did it naturally just sort of occur?
Speaker 4 (16:22):
It really naturally occurred, you know. Like I said, it's
been a progression. We've been doing the band for fifty
just over fifteen years at this point. I had hair
when we started put it that way, and the roles
just naturally kind of came, you know, Like I always,
I get really excited about things and I get fired up,
and it would just be like you know, I'd be like, hey,
(16:44):
I feel like doing this, or hey, we need to
do a vinyl and then I would just spearhead it,
you know, and I would you know, we need to
print a sell list, and I would just do it,
you know. But what happened with that is that I
ended up taking on just so many roles, and you know,
that can lead to burnout or that can lead to resentment.
And then, you know, just a lot of band meetings
(17:06):
would happen over the years where I'd say, hey, I
need help with this, or you know, could someone do this,
and then people would you know, volunteer and they would
do it, and you know, it would it would just
evolve in that way. But at the end of the day,
I would see myself as like the overseer at this
point because I just have such a grasp on the
(17:26):
whole business, all the finances, the visa being down here
in the States, just the back end of the website.
I've just and I like doing that stuff, but you know,
I think it's important to not burn out doing that.
And it's been hard for me to ask for help
over the years, but everyone pulls their weight, like our
bass player justin you know, he does a lot of
(17:47):
the logistics, like the tour logistics. Now our singer Chris,
He's more like the show, you know, getting things together,
the dance moves, working over the harmonies with people, and
then I'm kind of like, you know, starting to build
the team. We have an admin assistant now, we had
a merch person. We've been working through that. We have
a booking agent, you know, in different capacities. So I'm
(18:09):
more I'm always trying to be the guy who's doing
the vision and the long term stuff at this point. Anyways,
I don't want to be bogged down by the day
to day. But the roles just came about naturally. I
naturally just I was the first one to quit my
day job and be like, oh now I can really
get to work, you know what I mean, while people
were still working. So I've always just been that guy.
(18:32):
I get excited about things. If I see a path
and there's an idea there, I get really excited about it.
And yeah, so I kind of took a lot of
that on naturally.
Speaker 2 (18:44):
Yeah. Well, it sounds like even when you studied at
the university, you already knew that that aspect, the business
aspect was something you were going to enjoy doing.
Speaker 4 (18:53):
Yeah, Like, for whatever reason, I even the idea of
working with a band like that got me excited, and
I'm like, oh, I'm going to find a bin And
then I just feel like I could just work forever
and just think anything's possible. And I don't know where
that really came from or why that is, you know,
but yeah, I just And that's what I try to
(19:14):
talk about in the channel too, is just that I
feel like anything's possible. If you have like some kind
of goal, I just feel like you could just work
at it until it happens, and it'll happen. Maybe that's
naive of me, but it's been working.
Speaker 3 (19:29):
You know, Well, you manifested something we talk about a
lot too. You know what you're going to focus on
is what's going to happen?
Speaker 4 (19:36):
Yes, one hundred percent, one hundred percent. You know I
do that. I just post a video the other day
of just a cool new thing I've been doing is
just reading my goals like daily. You know, I have
a I got a little planner right on the floor
there next next to my bed, and I just every
morning I've been doing that and it's been over a year.
Now that I've been doing that and that just talk
(19:57):
about aligning stuff. It's like when you're constantly reminded, yeah,
I got to do that. At some point you're gonna
do it, you know that day you have off, it's like, okay,
now I got it. I got to do it. So
I'm all about that.
Speaker 3 (20:09):
I sent. I sent that post to Chris and he
finally had to say, I've been following him now too,
Please stop sending me all these posts like I'm seeing
them as well, Dave, I get it. Take any And
I said, well, it's nice he plans as goals, you know,
he has somewhere to put them, because we're just talking about,
(20:31):
you know, manifesting and you know, having like a dream
board or have expectations or things where you can visually
see something, which is what you're doing. And I always
go to Pinterest because I get to look at all
the tattoos that I want, and that always goes to
a different, you know, different story for me, and it's
like you can write it down, you don't have to
go on Pinterest. And I'm like, but there's no tattoos
(20:53):
in my journal, and I'm just glad that, you know,
you don't need that kind of motivation.
Speaker 4 (20:58):
Yeah, yeah, well I the thing is, I think it's
tough to like stay motivated. You got to come up
with these systems. And I'm always reading the books, you know,
like Atomic Habits. That was like a really good book.
I don't know if you've heard of it. I read it.
Speaker 3 (21:11):
Yeah, yeah, actually from he just lived in Boulder up Baseline. Yeah,
that's so cool in Colorado.
Speaker 4 (21:18):
Yeah, that's great. And I find like even with the
books too, it's like you can read a book, but
if you don't actually take the time to write down
something from that book, it's just going to be oh,
that's nice, that's nice, and then the book is done
and then you forget about it. But it's like actually
doing something is the thing that people most people don't
do and rightfully so it's very difficult. But if you
(21:41):
do care about doing something, you got to do it.
And it's like I think it was that book where
they were even Oh no, it wasn't that one. I
was another one I was reading. Is like having your
own personal like mission statement. It sounds cheesy, but it's
like I read that too. I got this, Like it's
like right here, I didn't even since we're since we're
getting right, Yeah, but yes, I got this, like so
(22:02):
this book that I fill out, it's like the Daily Planner.
And then I have this sheet now that I like
got to read to myself. It's all mangled, but it's
like it's long too. It's like then on the back
are the goals that I read right there. I know
it's it's I'm not I feel weird when I talk
about this stuff because I don't want people to think
(22:23):
like I'm trying to act like I'm better than anyone,
or have anyone figured out I said this in my video.
But all I'm saying is that it's helped me so
much to have no excuses about anything. It's just like say,
I'm gonna do it, and if I don't do it,
like how do I make sure it happens. I'm like,
I got to write it down. That's it. I don't
want to ever feel like someone could call me lazy
(22:47):
or unmotivated, or that I don't get things done. I'm like,
I'm afraid I'm gonna blink and wake up one day.
Like I said this in my video, It's true. I
just rant like this. I don't want to wake up
one day and feel like I'm I'm not and everything
blew by, and I was like, I didn't do that thing,
and it just because I like spent my day just
doom scrolling on my phone.
Speaker 2 (23:08):
You know, yeah, was this something that that but previously
you were like the opposite of was this something that
like you've learned the hard way over the years of
maybe looking back and realizing that this was something that
you needed to work on or were you always on
top of your shit like that?
Speaker 4 (23:22):
No, I wouldn't. I wouldn't do like a daily thing.
But I will say I've always been I was always
like when it came to school, my mom was a teacher,
and it was always like you got to get your
homework done, make sure it was done. Like I never
missed a deadline. I never like skipped. I was like
good student. You know. I didn't like it necessarily, but
I got it done. And I think, you know, I've
(23:44):
met a lot of musicians people skipping and doing all
that stuff, and I was like, you know, did I
really need to do all that or put all that
effort in? But I realized that that effort has translated
into me being able to hit like a deadline, and
I think that's a lot of things that a lot
of people can't do. And you know, once you start
hitting a deadline, you feel like, well, I can just
(24:05):
accomplish a lot of things. And so I've always been
able to get things done that I've really wanted to
but filling out a book, now this has enabled me
to get the things done that maybe I don't want
to get done, but that should get done necessary steps
to a next goal. So that's like amplified things huge.
Like the reason I started my channel is because I've
(24:27):
been writing it down and I have to get it done.
It's just it's part of the game plan for the
day and I have to do it. If you did
read Atomic Habits, it's about stacking these things. And just
the fact that I'm like, Okay, I can dedicate ten
minutes every morning to filling out this daily planner. From there,
then I'm like, oh, I can tag on another ten
minutes to do my run in the morning and i
(24:49):
can stack another little thing because I'm already it starts
getting nuts. And I think it's just important to start
with some formula that works for you if you want
to get things done, and if you want to grow something,
like you guys have something going here. You're doing this
podcast and it's growing. We get this awesome set up here.
It's like you guys are doing something that takes action,
(25:13):
and like it takes a lot of It takes a
lot of action and it's hard. So I respect you
guys for doing this, Like seriously, thanks.
Speaker 3 (25:21):
For saying that. It is one of the few things
that we show up no matter what it's you know,
not like it's paying the bills or anything like that.
It's something that it's just a genuine passion to show up.
Not only do we get to share these stories with
people that listen, but we're learning from you too, and
(25:41):
we're always learning. We're always trying to be better and
not so much in the way like you you said,
I think the only weird thing about talking about what
you just said about writing things down. The weird thing
is not more people, especially musicians talk, They don't talk
about it. That's weird to me because any product, any
business started with somebody saying, hey, I gotta write this
(26:02):
stuff down. Then it turns into something larger. But then
you have weekly meetings about this. Why is it so
weird that we want to do that for our own lives.
Speaker 4 (26:11):
Yeah, and I think I mean even just your whole podcast.
In general, it's like treating music as as a business.
That's always a tough Treating art in general as a
business is a tough thing to bring up. It's very
divided there, but at the end of the day, it
is a business if you want it to be your career,
(26:32):
you know what I mean. And I think to think
that it's not is very naive. You know, in terms
of the art itself, you can keep that true to yourself.
But then it's like you go down these little rabbit
holes where it's like, well, if I want to have
a career in this, then I got to create music
that people will like. So it's like at some point,
you know, you got to be true to your art,
but you also then either have to find people who
(26:53):
would listen to this noise that you're doing for seven minutes.
You got to like have that find that niche, so
you got to be a good marketer, or it's like
you got to do music that's a little more appealing
to a mass audience, and then you got to like,
at some point you gotta you gotta treat it like
a business, or you can just keep putting music out
and hoping. And as a mentor of our says, hope
(27:15):
is not a strategy, it's it's you can't. You can't
live off of that.
Speaker 3 (27:20):
Now, when you say a mentor, you say a mentor
of yours. We talk about that too in some of
our podcast Nice can can you expland on that? Is
that a close friend, someone you've known for a while,
or is that someone you follow?
Speaker 4 (27:32):
Yes, he's a mentor of the band we have, we
have three or four, it depends what era of the band.
But he was the reason our whole band moved from Toronto, Canada, Mississauga,
Canada to California. We're all living in this house together
out in beautiful Palm Springs, California because of this this guy.
He's he's the president of a countertop company and he's
(27:57):
like self made. You know, he's from Toronto as well.
His business does work down here in California, and he
brought us out here. His company sponsors a big event
down here. They're the main sponsor of Modernism Week. And
he was like he met us in Toronto. He's like,
how much is it going to take for you guys
to get down to California, and I'm like, yeah, how
many people have talked about bringing your band somewhere. We're
(28:19):
like okay, sure, buddy. So he's like, no, I'm serious,
give me a number. So I gave him a number.
It's pretty high, and he was like, done, make it happen.
I was like okay. So in him doing that, I
had to learn how to get a US visa. We
had to join the union, the AFM to get the visa.
It caused us to It forced us to form our
business like a bank account and like the actual like
(28:42):
legitimate business. So all these growing pains were forced to happen.
And then as soon as we got down here. He
has a house in California and in Canada. We were
sitting in his hot tub after that first show and
he was just like, boys, cancel those tickets home. We're like, like,
what are you talking about? We got gigs at home.
He's like, burn the boats down here, and we're like no.
(29:02):
So then every time that we started getting more work
and we would do fly ins back to California, and
every time he'd sit there, we'd be in his hot
tub and he'd have this like very inspirational chat and
you'd be like, boys, what are you doing in Canada?
And we love Canada for the record, but he's just like,
this is the entertainment capital of the world. You have
an end now. I gave you this in why aren't
you down here? And it was like took years and
(29:25):
then finally we came down here. And he's just been
one Mike Heatherman. He's been one of those guys who's
just constantly pushed us. Whenever we have a cool idea, well,
you know, we're hanging with Mike, we'll say it like, hey, Mike,
we're thinking of going to to ur like Japan or something.
He'd be like, why are you doing Japan? He's like,
the money's here, you know, what are you gonna? Are
they good opportunities? We're like, well no, He's like, so
(29:45):
you're going for fun. We're like yeah. He's like yeah,
but you could be doing here. The you know. He'll
just like always shake us up a little bit and
we're like, Okay, he's right, he's right. What right? But
he is right? He is.
Speaker 3 (29:58):
So, So, what are a few of the things you've
learned from that? As far as how do you decide
whether to take a gig or not.
Speaker 4 (30:05):
Yeah, you know, I talk about this on the channel
all the time. You know, taking a gig, it's either
opportunity or money. You know, at this point, I think
if you're a new band, it's like you kind of
are taking what you can get. You're building your profile.
You want to get shows, you want to get pictures
of you playing shows, you want to get confident on stage.
(30:25):
But at some point, I think there's bands that are
sometimes you know, like five ten years into it, and
it's just anytime someone calls them, they're just like, yeah,
let's do it. And it's some you know, I don't know,
some like outdoor like event where no one is there
and people are just walking past you, and that's. Look,
that's okay if you're a hobby band, but if you're
(30:46):
you got to be real with yourself. If you want
to be making more money or you want to grow,
It's like you have to have high expectations, set high goals,
and at some point, once you start hitting those goals,
you're going to have to say no to things, and
it's that's a very difficult thing. I remember when the
dream Boats were playing bars in the early days, it
was like I don't know here, but in Canada it
(31:08):
was like four to five hundred dollars a gig. That's
what it was. Everyone makes a hundred bucks Canadian, that's
like ten bucks here. But and I remember, I remember
the first venue. We were talking as a band. We're like,
we can't be doing these anymore. We got to be
making I remember seven hundred bucks. That was the number.
And this one venue, people would come out to see us,
and then the owner was like, can I book you again?
(31:29):
I'm like, George, we can't, can't do it, man. He's
like why. I'm like, well, there's other venues that are
gonna be offering us more and you're offering us five hundred.
I'm like, we just it doesn't make business sense. We
have to take these other gigs. And then he was
pleading with me. He's like, no, I'll do it. I'll
give you seven. I'm like yeah, but to be honest,
like in a year's time, we're gonna be hitting a thousand,
(31:50):
you know. And that was true because we'd start to
get into the private stuff. So then it not only
did he increase it, but I was like and just
you know, like this is just gonna be for a
couple of gigs and then it just really it really grew.
But we had the clout. We had people coming to
our shows. We were doing fifty sixties covers. People would
come out, and you know, we found a niche there
(32:10):
where we were a young band playing all these tunes,
whereas most of the all these bands were all these
older people doing it. So we found a niche. We
had people coming out, We were constantly improving, and that
was like a bargaining chip for us. So, you know,
we're just at the point now where it's got to
be it's got to hit our rates, or it's got
(32:33):
to be a really good opportunity.
Speaker 3 (32:50):
You know, Chris, your daily routine does not have to
be perfect, has to start with some little win. And
that's what Johnny does every morning ten minutes. It's key
to change the rest of your day. You get in
that routine. What's your next one? Just little habits of success.
Speaker 2 (33:08):
Yeah, I love those, And you can tell that it's
really made a difference for him, like he really has
gotten a lot out of it. And I found that
my routines are really sacred to me too, And that's
the hardest part about traveling actually, and I think what
he's picked is a good one because it's easy to
do no matter what if you're traveling or if you're
at home. As we know, a lot of artists are
(33:29):
touring a lot, and it can be harder to keep
certain routines like the ice bath I can't take with me, right.
You know, there's a thing that I do where I like,
this is gonna sound really silly, probably, but I smile
for like ten to fifteen seconds. I forced myself to
smile first thing I do in the morning. I don't
get out of bed for it, you know what I mean.
We've talked about these things and our routine before, but
(33:49):
that part of mine is to just smile because I
just think what you're doing. But Guru once said, whatever
you're getting back from life is what you're giving it
in the sense that to think of life as a mirror, right,
So it's not going to smile at you until you're
smiling back, right. So that's the concept there. But I
think that these kind of little things like this really
(34:10):
can build up to becoming something have that have a
larger impact that maybe you don't see it in the
initial effort, but you start to accumulate results from these things.
Speaker 3 (34:21):
I agree, there's plenty of science on that. You know,
just smiling triggers those chemicals in the brain to put
you in a good mood.
Speaker 2 (34:28):
Well, he started with this unique journey. I think this
is our first Canadian right we've ever had. We could
have a whole nother podcast. We never got to ask
him about how, you know, the immigration stuff really works,
and some ins and outs of that. We didn't get
talked about, about, you know, tax right offs and and
filing taxes as a Canadian citizen and working here in
(34:48):
the United States. So there was a lot we could
we could definitely circle back on with these discussions. I
really enjoy hearing how someone finds themselves becoming an artist.
And this is where of those things again where we
see this a lot that they all all the stories
are similar in that we don't really have a question
about whether or not we want it. We just sort
of find ourselves wanting it.
Speaker 3 (35:11):
Yeah, I couldn't agree more. And with that, he also
talked about where he started as a musician and that
even as he developed, he started new things and like
singing later in his career, which was nice to hear
because you like to make fun of me about all
my instruments that I don't know how to play in
this room. So you know, I just there's still hope.
Speaker 4 (35:33):
You know.
Speaker 3 (35:33):
Growth happens out of necessity and evolution within a band,
and then you can discover those talents and it doesn't
matter how old you are.
Speaker 2 (35:44):
Is it true that John Mayer didn't start playing guitar
until high school? I feel like I heard that.
Speaker 3 (35:48):
I'm not sure I'll call him after this.
Speaker 2 (35:52):
Okay, Well, I like that he went to business school.
I think that's a nice compromise to be like, I'm
going to study business but in the music industry. I
like that kind of compromise for people that aren't really
quite sure how they're going to end up in the
art world, but know the value that the business understanding
(36:13):
is going to bring them no matter what.
Speaker 3 (36:15):
We learn different sets of skills as we go through
this journey and figuring out how to market ourselves, how
to record things differently on our own rather than going
to studios. There's so many different facets to this career,
and we've talked plenty of times about how to take
(36:36):
those skills and expand them into maybe micro careers or
you know, microside jobs, just something to make an income
so you can continue playing music being that your goal.
So why not the opposite too, if you're doing other
things getting educated elsewhere, take that information and bring it
into your music career.
Speaker 2 (36:55):
And sometimes we don't even know how we're going to
end up using some of these skills, right, yeah, odd
jobs along the way. I think that a lot of
us they don't. We don't we really know what the
value of them is. And then down the road we're like, oh,
I'm so glad I learned all these sales techniques, or
I'm so glad that I, for him, studied all these
different aspects of the business end of things, because it's
really come and handy for this band that he formed.
(37:18):
And I think we are all going to be in
different groups along you know, the years, and we're going
to find ourselves in different dynamics. But there's so much
to finding a group of people that you work well
with if you're going to be in a band together,
and on top of that, you're going to live together
and all the other things they're doing.
Speaker 3 (37:33):
It's so crucial to be able to communicate openly about
not only the different roles that you play in a band,
but how you view things in your personal life, how
you support each other, how you're there when they need
you most, not just because you're have to get to
a gig. And I think we've said there's plenty of
times that being in a band is seventy five percent
(37:56):
hanging out, you know, and then the twenty five percent
is taking that energy and bringing it to the stage
and making good music together. And if you can't do
the seventy five percent, well, I'd hate to hear what
the twenty five percent sounds like.
Speaker 2 (38:11):
You know, the thing is for me? Like I think
if you ever say, oh, we should start a band
to someone that's a musician that you're impressed with, that
should be the first reason that you even think of this.
But if they say, well, i've never been in a
band before, I think you should run. I think you
should turn around and go away, unless you guys are
really young, because it's it's sort of like a relationship, right,
It's sort of like I mean, like a romantic relationship
(38:34):
in that you learn how to do this stuff right,
Like you learn how to commit to a group and
what it might take to be good fit for that
group and a good contributor to it, and so if
it's your first band, it's gonna be a rough rodeo.
Speaker 3 (38:54):
Well, chaed Zilla and I. The first time we met,
I asked him if you wanted to go grab some
brunch or lung to sit down, and he hadn't heard
anything of mine. I haven't ever heard him play. It
was just people telling us, Hey, you guys should meet,
and that was more important to me to see how
that flowed before I ever heard him play drums, And honestly,
(39:15):
I asked him, I'm like, hey, are you comfortable playing
this gig? And he said, yeah, sure, if you're comfortable
having me. It sounds like we like some of the
same music, we have the same work ethic. Let's show
up and do it. And neither one of us had
heard anything before, but we're like, hey, we believe in
the seventy five percent that we just hung out and
were able to get along. I'm sure we could put
something good together. And it's been years of great times.
Speaker 2 (39:36):
Right well, And if he had sucked, that would have
turned out a much different story. Yeah, I think, but
you knew what he didn't because his accolades were there.
Speaker 4 (39:46):
Yeah, yeah.
Speaker 2 (39:47):
Yeah, at twelve years old, when people are maybe starting
in a band, there's not many accolades to list true
church choir, So using other bands to learn how to
do what you're doing, and it is really a part
of the process. So I like that he talked about
that White cow Bell, Oklahoma group and how much he
learned from that before he was kind of ready to
(40:10):
commit to his other group. And I just think that's
a process. I think that is such a valuable part
of learning how to work in a group and learning
what works on stage and all of those things that
you just can't really get from school. You can't learn
those things until you try them or experience them.
Speaker 3 (40:30):
And being a part of a team is just as
important as trying to lead one. You need to know
how to work together, to learn a skill set, to
be able to push everyone forward. So through watching completion
of these professional tests that are going on around you,
not only until you see how it's done from someone
that you respect and can learn from, I think you
(40:53):
have the confidence to try it yourself and be successful
at it well.
Speaker 2 (40:57):
And it's true that living together it's really its own thing,
like it's having roommates is one thing and then working
together to thegether. That's why a lot of married couples
would never work together as well as be married, because
it's a lot to ask, It's a whole thing. Did
I ever tell you the story? Like when I first
came to Boulder, I was on tour with my band
(41:18):
from Chicago, and we loved Boulder so much that I
was like, we should move here, you know. And so
we had been together for years in Chicago doing well
as a band. When we moved to Boulder. The only
way to afford it was to live together. And I
think within two months someone was throwing a Christmas tree
(41:39):
through the front window of that place. Like that's not
an exaggeration. That happened. And yeah, the band disintegrated in
two months of living together. So it was like years
of constructive you know, there were always drama. There was
always drama in the band, but it never came to
a point where it was going to break up. Two
months and living together, it just fell apart.
Speaker 3 (41:59):
Not only are you going to part from a band
situation like that, but how do you guys move out
and get away from each other?
Speaker 4 (42:06):
After that?
Speaker 2 (42:07):
Yeah, it took months. I mean my girlfriend broke up
with me started sleeping with one of the bandmates in
the next room. It's just so cliche, you know what
I mean, Like, come on, like, how is this all
going down? That's why I was like, all right, fine,
I'm just gonna go back to school. That's when I
ended up going back and getting my degrees because I
was in Bolder and I was like, I might as
(42:28):
well go to school here because I had finished two
years in Chicago and then stopped from my undergrad So yeah,
it was like it was sort of like you better
come up with plan B or like dive into this
a little deeper because you learn so much on the road,
and a lot of times it's what you're learning is
what you don't know, right, It's what you're learning is
what you might be benefiting from learning. And that actually
(42:50):
is what brought me back to getting a degree.
Speaker 3 (42:52):
I would have thrown that roommate right out of the
window right after that Christmas tree.
Speaker 2 (42:57):
Yeah. Yeah.
Speaker 3 (42:59):
This episode ended with the idea of what he looks
at in order to take a gig, and a lesson
for all of us to have those values written out.
You know, what are you what's your goal from a
gig is it to make money, is it to get
exposure and it meets If it meets those financial requirements,
and you can say, hey, I'm going to get some
(43:21):
more fans out of this and push our career forward,
then yeah, let's do it. And if neither of them
are there, maybe you need to say no faster than yes.
Speaker 2 (43:32):
And that might have been part of the problem I
experienced when I moved to Boulders. We probably didn't have
very long of a list of like what our goals were.
We probably had like moved a Boulder and that was okay,
check and now what now we just started going at it.
You know. It's like you need to have these things
that these long term plans and goals so that you
can keep yourself focused, because it really will distract you
(43:53):
from the little stuff that can sometimes get out of control,
especially in your youth. So I liked his hope is
Now strategy. I liked that concept of using the mentor
to help clear your head, especially when you're younger. You
really don't see everything. You can't because you haven't been
through it yet. A mentor and you know someone that
(44:14):
has a strong sense of business or strong sense in
the music community, whichever you're needing or both. Is really
a huge assets as you are growing.
Speaker 3 (44:24):
And it keeps you focused on the business part of
it as well, because all your roommates, everyone that you
move from Canada to the United States, you have to
be on the same page to be able to pay
your bills together, pay rent, get to show on time.
All of those things had to be aligned. Otherwise you
don't have a sustainable career moving forward if you're not.
Speaker 2 (44:45):
And so this is going to be our action step
for the week. We want you to start your big
goal one sheet. We call it a one sheet because
it's supposed to be all on one piece of paper.
Start with what you have already conscious, easy stuff that
you know, and then right there down and let's just
start doing what Johnny said and read it every morning.
If this takes you ten minutes, you're gonna still survive.
(45:07):
In fact, the idea is it's going to maybe change
everything and cause you to make a lot more progress,
a lot quicker.
Speaker 3 (45:15):
Should we also say smile while you're doing that.
Speaker 2 (45:17):
For ten links, you should be smiling yes, yeah, or
the smile can take the ten seconds before that. Mine
is even shorter, ten times shorter. Is that ten times
or whatever. But the idea might be that making this
a part of your morning routine can all of a
sudden help you with your focus. In the show notes,
we also have a link to Johnny discussing this habit
(45:38):
directly from his post, so you can hear it directly
from him too. We know that your time is valuable
and we appreciate you spending this time with us and
being a part of this community. It is our hope
that you feel that sense of community here at musicians
tip jar and that you'll help spread the word make
us all stronger. If you'd like to get hold of
us or Johnny, what's the best way to do that.
Speaker 3 (45:57):
Check out musicians tip jar for tools, resources and discounts
built specifically to help keep you up on the finance
side of your music business. Reach out to us anytime
at musicians tip jar at gmail. We'd love to hear
your story. If this episode resonates with you, share it
with a friend, leave a review, or hit the like
button if you're watching on YouTube. It helps grow this
community and support musicians like you. Please check out Johnny's band,
(46:18):
The Dreamboats at the Dreamboats band dot com. You could
also find his band on Instagram, Forward Slash the dream
Boats and check out his from the front of his seat,
Coffee in hand, pointers, tips, whatever, you never know what
he's gonna say. Check out Johnny's Instagram at instagram dot com,
(46:44):
forward slash at Johnny FIACONI spell it johh n Y
fia Cco.
Speaker 2 (46:51):
And I as always thank you for joining us, and
remember there is already enough for everyone. You just need
to know how to get it. Until next time on
Behalf of David Champion, myself, Chris Websday, Happy, healthy and wealthy.
Don't watch the metronome do what it does, keep going.
This is Musicians Tip Jack.
Speaker 5 (47:20):
Nothing on this show should be considered specific, personal or
professional advice. Please consult an appropriate tax, legal, business, or
financial professional for individualized advice. Individual results are not guaranteed,
and all discussed strategies have the potential for profit. Last
those are operating on Behalf of Musicians tip jar LLLC
(47:41):
exclusively
Welcome to the show that explores the methods and strategies
on rocking the financial side of your music business. With
over forty years combined experience, here are your hosts, Chris
Webb and Dave Damkin.
Speaker 2 (00:15):
Welcome to Musicians Tip Jar, where we talk about musicians
and money, where we want to remind you to never
limit your challenges, but instead challenge your limits. I'm Chris Webb,
joined by my co host who shows up weekly to
stretch his humor and never humorize his stretches. Dave Damkin.
Speaker 3 (00:32):
Talk to Vince this week about his episode and he said,
I'm so sorry. There are some of your jokes that
you just went over my head and I didn't realize
you were saying it at the time during our interview,
and I said, I it's just a bad habit. Please Fince,
don't feel bad. I should just stop these jokes altogether,
so we'll see how far I can stretch or not
(00:53):
stretch my humor.
Speaker 4 (00:54):
In this episode.
Speaker 2 (00:55):
Yeah. You know it's concerning though, when you have to
apologize to people later, like or they're apologizing to you
for not getting it.
Speaker 4 (01:03):
Like guess too.
Speaker 3 (01:04):
You're being interviewed by someone you don't normally talk to,
so you don't know their patterns or their sense of
humor or anything. And then you know, my stuff is
just so dry and stupid. Anyway, they probably like that
was stupid, and then they just keep going because it's
not funny, but they are pre approved funny by me,
so we'll see.
Speaker 2 (01:24):
Today we are giving the gift of what could be
the biggest game changer to staying motivated day in and
day out in your business. We also talk band dynamics
and the impact of a mentor all with our guest
Johnny Fiacconi. Today's quote comes from our guest Johnny. He said,
anything is possible. When you have a goal, you can
(01:45):
just work at it until it happens, and it will happen.
Speaker 3 (01:50):
This week, we want to shine a light on a
vital Canadian nonprofit called the Unison Fund. If you're a
musician in Canada, this is an organization you need to
know about. They provide a crucial safety net for the
community off and everything from emergency financial relief in times
of crisis, to free confidential counseling for mental health and
financial challenges. Building a career in music is tough, and
Unison is there to make sure no one has to
(02:10):
face those struggles alone. Please check them out, support their
work if you can, and most importantly, know that they
are there for you. Learn more at unisonfund dot Ca.
If you find this information useful, please rate and subscribe
to the podcast, and also slam that like button if
you're on YouTube, so we can help keep you up
on the finance side of your music business.
Speaker 2 (02:26):
Johnny Fiaccioni is a Canadian content creator, drummer, and entrepreneur
known for his straight talk insights on band life, the
music industry, and creative disciplines. His posts have amassed millions
of views on all platforms. As a drummer and a
co founder of The dream Boats, a retro rock and
roll band bringing the energy of the fifties and sixties
(02:47):
to modern audiences, Johnny has built an international career blending
high impact performances with behind the scenes strategy. Through his content,
he pulls back the curtain on what it really takes
to run a bit today, offering no fluff advice for artists,
musicians and creatives chasing big goals, which his mission. It's
to fire people up, lead by example, and prove that
(03:10):
the right mindset and work ethic. Anything is possible. Whether
you're an artist, a band member, or a creative entrepreneur,
Johnny Fiacconi is someone worth watching and listening to.
Speaker 4 (03:22):
So let's go.
Speaker 3 (03:38):
So, Johnny, welcome to the show. Thanks you taking time
out to have us.
Speaker 4 (03:41):
Thank you for having me.
Speaker 3 (03:43):
You had a late night last night? Where'd you play
last night?
Speaker 4 (03:46):
Last night? We were in Laguna Neguel, California. Yes, we
were playing five shows back to back. It was a lot.
So today I got to slightly sleep in, but you
can still see the bags under myne How are you
guys doing doing well?
Speaker 2 (04:02):
You know, it's been a while since I've talked to
somebody that has stayed up so late playing shows. I
feel like everybody in my world right now like play
shows till about ten and then we're like asleep by midnight.
I hear you pressed with your schedule.
Speaker 4 (04:15):
It's sure, well, our shows don't go that late, but
it's just that we always got to drive back and
we live outside of La so it's always a two
hour drive. I'm sure you can. You can get that totally.
Speaker 3 (04:27):
Yes, yeah, well, Johnny, sometimes Chris is like, oh nine
am works great for me, you know, And on a Saturday,
and I'll have to get up two hours before just
to get those lines, put some water on my face,
do some jumping jacks, feel somewhat normal, and he just
always shows up, so chipper, and then you go no
matter what time it is. So it's a good person
(04:48):
to have a podcast with.
Speaker 2 (04:49):
I'll tell you that the secret is having kids that
wake your ass up no matter what.
Speaker 4 (04:56):
Yeah, yeah, nature's alarm clocks. I guess.
Speaker 2 (05:00):
Yeah, you guys think of getting up by choice, but
that's not exactly what's happening.
Speaker 4 (05:04):
Well, for the record, normally I get up at a
reasonable hour. I get up at seven fifty every day
Monday to Friday even regardless. But Saturday Sundays I sleep
in that extra a little bit after the show night.
So I appreciate you guys working around my schedule.
Speaker 3 (05:22):
Why the fifty. Why seven fifty is that snooze snooze.
Speaker 4 (05:25):
Buffer that gives me ten minutes to be out of
bed and then I do a little run like first
thing in the morning. So the seven fifty has been
working well for me, and I still manage to get
some kind of sleep in there.
Speaker 2 (05:35):
I think.
Speaker 3 (05:37):
Our audience just heard all about you and we'd like
to go into a little bit from your point of
view on it, but I guess the first question we
wanted to talk about was what ignited this passion for music,
and if you could, like, what's the earliest musical experience
that set you on this path.
Speaker 4 (05:57):
I talk about this a lot with my friends. I
feel like, well, music and just entertainment in general, I
feel like it's something people are born with or aren't.
And the only reason I say that it's because I've
talked to so many people over the years, and just
so many people either afraid or they're just all in
on it. And I don't know where that came from.
It came about very naturally. I was always very musical. Yeah,
(06:21):
as long as I could remember. I remember just in
grade one, you know, with my buddies, we'd be I
remember just singing songs and like harmonizing songs, especially Everber
from the Lion King or something that Timon and pumba song.
Speaker 3 (06:33):
We're like.
Speaker 4 (06:34):
I just have these vague memories of like just singing
in front of people and harmonizing early on. I don't
know where it came from. It was just always ingrained.
I always had this passion for the drums. I have
the cliche videos, you know, my dad mom filming me
playing on the pots and pans, which is so cool
(06:54):
that I have that footage, you know, of me as
a little kid, couldn't even talk and I'm banging away.
So I don't know where it came from, but it's
been there since I was as long as I can remember.
Speaker 3 (07:06):
Did you always sing your great singer while playing drums
or did that come later?
Speaker 4 (07:13):
I never sang, although I just said that I sang
growing up like that was when I was seven. My
entire life, I was totally afraid of singing. I never
wanted to sing. It came about just in my band,
you know, we were just I felt like I had
decent pitch and range, and we were looking to expand
(07:34):
and get more harmonies. And it turned into me talking
on the mic, to me doing harmonies, to me, then
singing us song, then to me singing many songs. But
if you told me ten years ago that I would
be singing in front of a live audience, I would
not have believed you. And that is the honest truth.
Speaker 3 (07:52):
Now, were you singing and playing drums through college too?
I know you? You know for business but because you're
just saying that, you know, you recently started, but yeah,
and knowing how well you sing, it's just crazy that
you haven't been doing it longer.
Speaker 4 (08:06):
I appreciate that, you know. Yeah, I know at that point,
I wasn't. I was only drumming. I've been drumming for
for a long time, since I was probably about twelve
or so. But the singing came about very uh you know,
just like I said, it evolved. But then once I
started singing, it was like we played so much that
it was just I was singing every day. I went
(08:26):
from never singing to singing all the time. You know,
all these years later, it's just it's second nature. It's like,
you know, like riding a bike and playing the trumps
and singing and thinking the next song and just it's
just you're throwing in the deep end and then you
just wake up. At the end of the show, I'm like,
what just happened.
Speaker 3 (08:44):
We had a friend that used to ride a bike
and play the drums all the time, and then it
just you know, man had a hard time keeping up
with him.
Speaker 4 (08:52):
Yeah, I bet, yeah, he was.
Speaker 3 (08:58):
He was a roving musician.
Speaker 4 (09:00):
Yeah, I don't even know if you're joking or serious
right now?
Speaker 3 (09:03):
No, I'm sorry. I apologize.
Speaker 4 (09:04):
Is that possible? It could be possible.
Speaker 3 (09:10):
Sometimes, you know, especially just watching as many Instagrams as
I have of you over the last few months, there
is this kind of feeling of knowing you because you
speak so honestly. And we'll get to that. But the
joking thing is a bad habit of mine, and I apologize.
Speaker 4 (09:26):
I love it.
Speaker 3 (09:27):
I feel sometimes people should just know I'm joking, and
sometimes it's not the case.
Speaker 4 (09:32):
So I love it. I'm feeling you guys out.
Speaker 3 (09:40):
And the thing is, Chris won't edit any of this
out either, because he'll just bring it home that unless
you stop doing this, it won't change. I could you
tell us a little bit since we brought up college,
just between college and then your experience going into dream Boats,
what was that like, you know, prepper school and knowing
(10:01):
that you had a business background and wanted to go
into that to performing all the time. What were your
goals right out of.
Speaker 4 (10:08):
College, like the goals I went to. So I went
to university and I got like a degree there, but
I always knew I wanted to do music. So after
university I did a one year course Entertainment Business Management.
I wanted to get into the business side and managing bands,
you know. And then as soon as well, when that
year started of Entertainment Business Management, that was when my
(10:31):
band formed, like the dream Boats. We just all got
together and we had an impromptu jam that turned into
just playing all these retro tunes, and then me and
the singer were like, oh, let's do this, you know.
So it worked out really well because that started at
the beginning of this college course that I was doing.
And then so for the entire year, anytime there was
(10:51):
a project or an assignment that we had to do,
I would automatically default to just doing it for my band,
as opposed to other people maybe they had to find
a band to work with. I was like, I'm just
going to do it for my band. So it really
worked out well. You know it we're going to work
on an artist bio, and then I was like, oh,
do it for my band, or we got to do
a business plan, I'm like, do it for my band.
(11:11):
So it like it really worked out. And then all
the teachers and professors there were all people who were
very successful in the music business, specifically the Canadian music business.
Because I'm originally from Canada, I couldn't tell that. I
hear that all the time. So yeah, it came upon naturally.
And then as soon as that that year was done,
(11:33):
I auditioned for a band, this touring band that I knew.
I knew the old drummer and I knew they were
always too a bit of a an infamous band in
Canada called White cow Bell Oklahoma, And if you look
up the videos you will know what I mean. There's
like chainsaws and things get lit on fire. It's like
a whole rock and roll circus. I auditioned kind of
on a whim and then they were just like, oh,
(11:56):
you're a top contender, and I'm like, I wasn't. I
wasn't in anticipating that. So it literally went into well,
you know, I did a few more auditions. They're like, well,
here are the tour dates and we're hitting the road
and I'd never been on the road before, and I
just jumped into this like cross Canada tour right after
that college course. All the while the Dreamboats, my band
(12:17):
was in its you know, it was just being birthed
and it had only been under a year, so I
was juggling those two bands for a while, but the
dream Boats was always my baby. But that's what happened
right after that course, I just went right I hit
the road immediately. It was pretty cool.
Speaker 3 (12:34):
Well, definitely a different aesthetic from what you just described
to the dream Boats.
Speaker 4 (12:39):
Yes, but I totally. But I took so much from
White Cowbell Oklahoma because it's just all show and antics
and it's all about creating like stuff that people are
gonna be like, whoa, that guy just got stuff up
with a chainsaw, or like whoa, like that guy just
lit that thing on fire, or like we had three
guitar players with three Marshall stacks and it was It's
(13:00):
just it was a whole spectacle and you were encouraged
to do whatever was crazy, Like are the lead guitar
player would just bowl himself into my drums and just
explode the drums. So that whenever we would do dream
Boats stuff, i'd come back from tour, I'm like, oh, guys,
we gotta do this, or oh, merch idea or something.
So I took so much from that band. All of
(13:22):
the g rated stuff from that band I put into
the dream Boats, all of the PG thirteen and plus
stuff did not go to the dream Boats, and for
good reason, for good reason.
Speaker 3 (13:34):
So how did you go from that band to saying, Okay,
I'm going to have to put the PG. Thirteen stuff
aside now because now the dream Boats is starting to
take off.
Speaker 4 (13:47):
I just felt like, you know, what's so cool about
just everything I talk about is that when I was
with White cow Bell, I was not the leader. I
was just like the drummer, you know what I mean.
So I've experienced that side of being in a band.
And then with the dream Boats, like me and the singer,
we were the creators. So we were the ones calling
(14:08):
the shots, dreaming big, coming up with the goals and
getting excited about stuff. So I had that, and so
I've experienced both sides of being in a band, and
just with the dream Boats it is like it was
taking off more. We were more fired up, we were excited.
We were like, oh, we got to go, you know,
play in Liverpool at the Cavern Club because we're huge
Beatles fans. And then I was like, okay, let's do it,
(14:31):
you know, and then we book it and let's go
on a tour, and we would do it and we
were calling the shots and things just started really growing.
Whereas with the other band, like I said, I was
just a drummer. But I learned a lot from that too,
on how to just be reliable and learning my parts
and showing up in a good headspace and not causing
problems for the band leader, you know. So But yeah, eventually,
(14:53):
just the dream Boats were getting more gigs and I
was kind of screwing them over by going on tour
with the other band. You know, they would have to
scramble and find someone, and it didn't feel good. I
couldn't in the right mind feel like I was contributing
and being, you know, a leader of that band and
then going off and playing with another band. But this
was in the very early days of the dream Boats,
(15:14):
Like this was like a passion thing for us. This
was like a shameless, like favorite band of ours that
just started really growing, you know. So it's not like
it was I was abandoning anything major at that point.
But once I left the other band, the Dreams just
really started taking off. Just dedicating all my time to it.
Speaker 2 (15:33):
It's fun to talk to you a little bit about
the band dynamic, because you know, if you're looking at
original bands out there right now, nobody's making the charts anymore,
you know what I mean, Like it's it's harder, But
I do think live people still really love seeing a
full band. You know, there's that is really I think
where people really are going to keep the band thing
(15:53):
alive is because we enjoy that energy that's created by
the dynamics between musicians. You know, two questions I when
I ask about the band stuff. The first one is like,
how did you guys delegate roles? Like it sounds like
you It's not like you're like saying I'm the band
leader and they don't know it right, Like you guys
have set rules or roles for each of you. Can
(16:15):
we talk a little bit about how you decided that
and who was going to do what or did you
talk about it or did it naturally just sort of occur?
Speaker 4 (16:22):
It really naturally occurred, you know. Like I said, it's
been a progression. We've been doing the band for fifty
just over fifteen years at this point. I had hair
when we started put it that way, and the roles
just naturally kind of came, you know, Like I always,
I get really excited about things and I get fired up,
and it would just be like you know, I'd be like, hey,
(16:44):
I feel like doing this, or hey, we need to
do a vinyl and then I would just spearhead it,
you know, and I would you know, we need to
print a sell list, and I would just do it,
you know. But what happened with that is that I
ended up taking on just so many roles, and you know,
that can lead to burnout or that can lead to resentment.
And then, you know, just a lot of band meetings
(17:06):
would happen over the years where I'd say, hey, I
need help with this, or you know, could someone do this,
and then people would you know, volunteer and they would
do it, and you know, it would it would just
evolve in that way. But at the end of the day,
I would see myself as like the overseer at this
point because I just have such a grasp on the
(17:26):
whole business, all the finances, the visa being down here
in the States, just the back end of the website.
I've just and I like doing that stuff, but you know,
I think it's important to not burn out doing that.
And it's been hard for me to ask for help
over the years, but everyone pulls their weight, like our
bass player justin you know, he does a lot of
(17:47):
the logistics, like the tour logistics. Now our singer Chris,
He's more like the show, you know, getting things together,
the dance moves, working over the harmonies with people, and
then I'm kind of like, you know, starting to build
the team. We have an admin assistant now, we had
a merch person. We've been working through that. We have
a booking agent, you know, in different capacities. So I'm
(18:09):
more I'm always trying to be the guy who's doing
the vision and the long term stuff at this point. Anyways,
I don't want to be bogged down by the day
to day. But the roles just came about naturally. I
naturally just I was the first one to quit my
day job and be like, oh now I can really
get to work, you know what I mean, while people
were still working. So I've always just been that guy.
(18:32):
I get excited about things. If I see a path
and there's an idea there, I get really excited about it.
And yeah, so I kind of took a lot of
that on naturally.
Speaker 2 (18:44):
Yeah. Well, it sounds like even when you studied at
the university, you already knew that that aspect, the business
aspect was something you were going to enjoy doing.
Speaker 4 (18:53):
Yeah, Like, for whatever reason, I even the idea of
working with a band like that got me excited, and
I'm like, oh, I'm going to find a bin And
then I just feel like I could just work forever
and just think anything's possible. And I don't know where
that really came from or why that is, you know,
but yeah, I just And that's what I try to
(19:14):
talk about in the channel too, is just that I
feel like anything's possible. If you have like some kind
of goal, I just feel like you could just work
at it until it happens, and it'll happen. Maybe that's
naive of me, but it's been working.
Speaker 3 (19:29):
You know, Well, you manifested something we talk about a
lot too. You know what you're going to focus on
is what's going to happen?
Speaker 4 (19:36):
Yes, one hundred percent, one hundred percent. You know I
do that. I just post a video the other day
of just a cool new thing I've been doing is
just reading my goals like daily. You know, I have
a I got a little planner right on the floor
there next next to my bed, and I just every
morning I've been doing that and it's been over a year.
Now that I've been doing that and that just talk
(19:57):
about aligning stuff. It's like when you're constantly reminded, yeah,
I got to do that. At some point you're gonna
do it, you know that day you have off, it's like, okay,
now I got it. I got to do it. So
I'm all about that.
Speaker 3 (20:09):
I sent. I sent that post to Chris and he
finally had to say, I've been following him now too,
Please stop sending me all these posts like I'm seeing
them as well, Dave, I get it. Take any And
I said, well, it's nice he plans as goals, you know,
he has somewhere to put them, because we're just talking about,
(20:31):
you know, manifesting and you know, having like a dream
board or have expectations or things where you can visually
see something, which is what you're doing. And I always
go to Pinterest because I get to look at all
the tattoos that I want, and that always goes to
a different, you know, different story for me, and it's
like you can write it down, you don't have to
go on Pinterest. And I'm like, but there's no tattoos
(20:53):
in my journal, and I'm just glad that, you know,
you don't need that kind of motivation.
Speaker 4 (20:58):
Yeah, yeah, well I the thing is, I think it's
tough to like stay motivated. You got to come up
with these systems. And I'm always reading the books, you know,
like Atomic Habits. That was like a really good book.
I don't know if you've heard of it. I read it.
Speaker 3 (21:11):
Yeah, yeah, actually from he just lived in Boulder up Baseline. Yeah,
that's so cool in Colorado.
Speaker 4 (21:18):
Yeah, that's great. And I find like even with the
books too, it's like you can read a book, but
if you don't actually take the time to write down
something from that book, it's just going to be oh,
that's nice, that's nice, and then the book is done
and then you forget about it. But it's like actually
doing something is the thing that people most people don't
do and rightfully so it's very difficult. But if you
(21:41):
do care about doing something, you got to do it.
And it's like I think it was that book where
they were even Oh no, it wasn't that one. I
was another one I was reading. Is like having your
own personal like mission statement. It sounds cheesy, but it's
like I read that too. I got this, Like it's
like right here, I didn't even since we're since we're
getting right, Yeah, but yes, I got this, like so
(22:02):
this book that I fill out, it's like the Daily Planner.
And then I have this sheet now that I like
got to read to myself. It's all mangled, but it's
like it's long too. It's like then on the back
are the goals that I read right there. I know
it's it's I'm not I feel weird when I talk
about this stuff because I don't want people to think
(22:23):
like I'm trying to act like I'm better than anyone,
or have anyone figured out I said this in my video.
But all I'm saying is that it's helped me so
much to have no excuses about anything. It's just like say,
I'm gonna do it, and if I don't do it,
like how do I make sure it happens. I'm like,
I got to write it down. That's it. I don't
want to ever feel like someone could call me lazy
(22:47):
or unmotivated, or that I don't get things done. I'm like,
I'm afraid I'm gonna blink and wake up one day.
Like I said this in my video, It's true. I
just rant like this. I don't want to wake up
one day and feel like I'm I'm not and everything
blew by, and I was like, I didn't do that thing,
and it just because I like spent my day just
doom scrolling on my phone.
Speaker 2 (23:08):
You know, yeah, was this something that that but previously
you were like the opposite of was this something that
like you've learned the hard way over the years of
maybe looking back and realizing that this was something that
you needed to work on or were you always on
top of your shit like that?
Speaker 4 (23:22):
No, I wouldn't. I wouldn't do like a daily thing.
But I will say I've always been I was always
like when it came to school, my mom was a teacher,
and it was always like you got to get your
homework done, make sure it was done. Like I never
missed a deadline. I never like skipped. I was like
good student. You know. I didn't like it necessarily, but
I got it done. And I think, you know, I've
(23:44):
met a lot of musicians people skipping and doing all
that stuff, and I was like, you know, did I
really need to do all that or put all that
effort in? But I realized that that effort has translated
into me being able to hit like a deadline, and
I think that's a lot of things that a lot
of people can't do. And you know, once you start
hitting a deadline, you feel like, well, I can just
(24:05):
accomplish a lot of things. And so I've always been
able to get things done that I've really wanted to
but filling out a book, now this has enabled me
to get the things done that maybe I don't want
to get done, but that should get done necessary steps
to a next goal. So that's like amplified things huge.
Like the reason I started my channel is because I've
(24:27):
been writing it down and I have to get it done.
It's just it's part of the game plan for the
day and I have to do it. If you did
read Atomic Habits, it's about stacking these things. And just
the fact that I'm like, Okay, I can dedicate ten
minutes every morning to filling out this daily planner. From there,
then I'm like, oh, I can tag on another ten
minutes to do my run in the morning and i
(24:49):
can stack another little thing because I'm already it starts
getting nuts. And I think it's just important to start
with some formula that works for you if you want
to get things done, and if you want to grow something,
like you guys have something going here. You're doing this
podcast and it's growing. We get this awesome set up here.
It's like you guys are doing something that takes action,
(25:13):
and like it takes a lot of It takes a
lot of action and it's hard. So I respect you
guys for doing this, Like seriously, thanks.
Speaker 3 (25:21):
For saying that. It is one of the few things
that we show up no matter what it's you know,
not like it's paying the bills or anything like that.
It's something that it's just a genuine passion to show up.
Not only do we get to share these stories with
people that listen, but we're learning from you too, and
(25:41):
we're always learning. We're always trying to be better and
not so much in the way like you you said,
I think the only weird thing about talking about what
you just said about writing things down. The weird thing
is not more people, especially musicians talk, They don't talk
about it. That's weird to me because any product, any
business started with somebody saying, hey, I gotta write this
(26:02):
stuff down. Then it turns into something larger. But then
you have weekly meetings about this. Why is it so
weird that we want to do that for our own lives.
Speaker 4 (26:11):
Yeah, and I think I mean even just your whole podcast.
In general, it's like treating music as as a business.
That's always a tough Treating art in general as a
business is a tough thing to bring up. It's very
divided there, but at the end of the day, it
is a business if you want it to be your career,
(26:32):
you know what I mean. And I think to think
that it's not is very naive. You know, in terms
of the art itself, you can keep that true to yourself.
But then it's like you go down these little rabbit
holes where it's like, well, if I want to have
a career in this, then I got to create music
that people will like. So it's like at some point,
you know, you got to be true to your art,
but you also then either have to find people who
(26:53):
would listen to this noise that you're doing for seven minutes.
You got to like have that find that niche, so
you got to be a good marketer, or it's like
you got to do music that's a little more appealing
to a mass audience, and then you got to like,
at some point you gotta you gotta treat it like
a business, or you can just keep putting music out
and hoping. And as a mentor of our says, hope
(27:15):
is not a strategy, it's it's you can't. You can't
live off of that.
Speaker 3 (27:20):
Now, when you say a mentor, you say a mentor
of yours. We talk about that too in some of
our podcast Nice can can you expland on that? Is
that a close friend, someone you've known for a while,
or is that someone you follow?
Speaker 4 (27:32):
Yes, he's a mentor of the band we have, we
have three or four, it depends what era of the band.
But he was the reason our whole band moved from Toronto, Canada, Mississauga,
Canada to California. We're all living in this house together
out in beautiful Palm Springs, California because of this this guy.
He's he's the president of a countertop company and he's
(27:57):
like self made. You know, he's from Toronto as well.
His business does work down here in California, and he
brought us out here. His company sponsors a big event
down here. They're the main sponsor of Modernism Week. And
he was like he met us in Toronto. He's like,
how much is it going to take for you guys
to get down to California, and I'm like, yeah, how
many people have talked about bringing your band somewhere. We're
(28:19):
like okay, sure, buddy. So he's like, no, I'm serious,
give me a number. So I gave him a number.
It's pretty high, and he was like, done, make it happen.
I was like okay. So in him doing that, I
had to learn how to get a US visa. We
had to join the union, the AFM to get the visa.
It caused us to It forced us to form our
business like a bank account and like the actual like
(28:42):
legitimate business. So all these growing pains were forced to happen.
And then as soon as we got down here. He
has a house in California and in Canada. We were
sitting in his hot tub after that first show and
he was just like, boys, cancel those tickets home. We're like, like,
what are you talking about? We got gigs at home.
He's like, burn the boats down here, and we're like no.
(29:02):
So then every time that we started getting more work
and we would do fly ins back to California, and
every time he'd sit there, we'd be in his hot
tub and he'd have this like very inspirational chat and
you'd be like, boys, what are you doing in Canada?
And we love Canada for the record, but he's just like,
this is the entertainment capital of the world. You have
an end now. I gave you this in why aren't
you down here? And it was like took years and
(29:25):
then finally we came down here. And he's just been
one Mike Heatherman. He's been one of those guys who's
just constantly pushed us. Whenever we have a cool idea, well,
you know, we're hanging with Mike, we'll say it like, hey, Mike,
we're thinking of going to to ur like Japan or something.
He'd be like, why are you doing Japan? He's like,
the money's here, you know, what are you gonna? Are
they good opportunities? We're like, well no, He's like, so
(29:45):
you're going for fun. We're like yeah. He's like yeah,
but you could be doing here. The you know. He'll
just like always shake us up a little bit and
we're like, Okay, he's right, he's right. What right? But
he is right? He is.
Speaker 3 (29:58):
So, So, what are a few of the things you've
learned from that? As far as how do you decide
whether to take a gig or not.
Speaker 4 (30:05):
Yeah, you know, I talk about this on the channel
all the time. You know, taking a gig, it's either
opportunity or money. You know, at this point, I think
if you're a new band, it's like you kind of
are taking what you can get. You're building your profile.
You want to get shows, you want to get pictures
of you playing shows, you want to get confident on stage.
(30:25):
But at some point, I think there's bands that are
sometimes you know, like five ten years into it, and
it's just anytime someone calls them, they're just like, yeah,
let's do it. And it's some you know, I don't know,
some like outdoor like event where no one is there
and people are just walking past you, and that's. Look,
that's okay if you're a hobby band, but if you're
(30:46):
you got to be real with yourself. If you want
to be making more money or you want to grow,
It's like you have to have high expectations, set high goals,
and at some point, once you start hitting those goals,
you're going to have to say no to things, and
it's that's a very difficult thing. I remember when the
dream Boats were playing bars in the early days, it
was like I don't know here, but in Canada it
(31:08):
was like four to five hundred dollars a gig. That's
what it was. Everyone makes a hundred bucks Canadian, that's
like ten bucks here. But and I remember, I remember
the first venue. We were talking as a band. We're like,
we can't be doing these anymore. We got to be
making I remember seven hundred bucks. That was the number.
And this one venue, people would come out to see us,
and then the owner was like, can I book you again?
(31:29):
I'm like, George, we can't, can't do it, man. He's
like why. I'm like, well, there's other venues that are
gonna be offering us more and you're offering us five hundred.
I'm like, we just it doesn't make business sense. We
have to take these other gigs. And then he was
pleading with me. He's like, no, I'll do it. I'll
give you seven. I'm like yeah, but to be honest,
like in a year's time, we're gonna be hitting a thousand,
(31:50):
you know. And that was true because we'd start to
get into the private stuff. So then it not only
did he increase it, but I was like and just
you know, like this is just gonna be for a
couple of gigs and then it just really it really grew.
But we had the clout. We had people coming to
our shows. We were doing fifty sixties covers. People would
come out, and you know, we found a niche there
(32:10):
where we were a young band playing all these tunes,
whereas most of the all these bands were all these
older people doing it. So we found a niche. We
had people coming out, We were constantly improving, and that
was like a bargaining chip for us. So, you know,
we're just at the point now where it's got to
be it's got to hit our rates, or it's got
(32:33):
to be a really good opportunity.
Speaker 3 (32:50):
You know, Chris, your daily routine does not have to
be perfect, has to start with some little win. And
that's what Johnny does every morning ten minutes. It's key
to change the rest of your day. You get in
that routine. What's your next one? Just little habits of success.
Speaker 2 (33:08):
Yeah, I love those, And you can tell that it's
really made a difference for him, like he really has
gotten a lot out of it. And I found that
my routines are really sacred to me too, And that's
the hardest part about traveling actually, and I think what
he's picked is a good one because it's easy to
do no matter what if you're traveling or if you're
at home. As we know, a lot of artists are
(33:29):
touring a lot, and it can be harder to keep
certain routines like the ice bath I can't take with me, right.
You know, there's a thing that I do where I like,
this is gonna sound really silly, probably, but I smile
for like ten to fifteen seconds. I forced myself to
smile first thing I do in the morning. I don't
get out of bed for it, you know what I mean.
We've talked about these things and our routine before, but
(33:49):
that part of mine is to just smile because I
just think what you're doing. But Guru once said, whatever
you're getting back from life is what you're giving it
in the sense that to think of life as a mirror, right,
So it's not going to smile at you until you're
smiling back, right. So that's the concept there. But I
think that these kind of little things like this really
(34:10):
can build up to becoming something have that have a
larger impact that maybe you don't see it in the
initial effort, but you start to accumulate results from these things.
Speaker 3 (34:21):
I agree, there's plenty of science on that. You know,
just smiling triggers those chemicals in the brain to put
you in a good mood.
Speaker 2 (34:28):
Well, he started with this unique journey. I think this
is our first Canadian right we've ever had. We could
have a whole nother podcast. We never got to ask
him about how, you know, the immigration stuff really works,
and some ins and outs of that. We didn't get
talked about, about, you know, tax right offs and and
filing taxes as a Canadian citizen and working here in
(34:48):
the United States. So there was a lot we could
we could definitely circle back on with these discussions. I
really enjoy hearing how someone finds themselves becoming an artist.
And this is where of those things again where we
see this a lot that they all all the stories
are similar in that we don't really have a question
about whether or not we want it. We just sort
of find ourselves wanting it.
Speaker 3 (35:11):
Yeah, I couldn't agree more. And with that, he also
talked about where he started as a musician and that
even as he developed, he started new things and like
singing later in his career, which was nice to hear
because you like to make fun of me about all
my instruments that I don't know how to play in
this room. So you know, I just there's still hope.
Speaker 4 (35:33):
You know.
Speaker 3 (35:33):
Growth happens out of necessity and evolution within a band,
and then you can discover those talents and it doesn't
matter how old you are.
Speaker 2 (35:44):
Is it true that John Mayer didn't start playing guitar
until high school? I feel like I heard that.
Speaker 3 (35:48):
I'm not sure I'll call him after this.
Speaker 2 (35:52):
Okay, Well, I like that he went to business school.
I think that's a nice compromise to be like, I'm
going to study business but in the music industry. I
like that kind of compromise for people that aren't really
quite sure how they're going to end up in the
art world, but know the value that the business understanding
(36:13):
is going to bring them no matter what.
Speaker 3 (36:15):
We learn different sets of skills as we go through
this journey and figuring out how to market ourselves, how
to record things differently on our own rather than going
to studios. There's so many different facets to this career,
and we've talked plenty of times about how to take
(36:36):
those skills and expand them into maybe micro careers or
you know, microside jobs, just something to make an income
so you can continue playing music being that your goal.
So why not the opposite too, if you're doing other
things getting educated elsewhere, take that information and bring it
into your music career.
Speaker 2 (36:55):
And sometimes we don't even know how we're going to
end up using some of these skills, right, yeah, odd
jobs along the way. I think that a lot of
us they don't. We don't we really know what the
value of them is. And then down the road we're like, oh,
I'm so glad I learned all these sales techniques, or
I'm so glad that I, for him, studied all these
different aspects of the business end of things, because it's
really come and handy for this band that he formed.
(37:18):
And I think we are all going to be in
different groups along you know, the years, and we're going
to find ourselves in different dynamics. But there's so much
to finding a group of people that you work well
with if you're going to be in a band together,
and on top of that, you're going to live together
and all the other things they're doing.
Speaker 3 (37:33):
It's so crucial to be able to communicate openly about
not only the different roles that you play in a band,
but how you view things in your personal life, how
you support each other, how you're there when they need
you most, not just because you're have to get to
a gig. And I think we've said there's plenty of
times that being in a band is seventy five percent
(37:56):
hanging out, you know, and then the twenty five percent
is taking that energy and bringing it to the stage
and making good music together. And if you can't do
the seventy five percent, well, I'd hate to hear what
the twenty five percent sounds like.
Speaker 2 (38:11):
You know, the thing is for me? Like I think
if you ever say, oh, we should start a band
to someone that's a musician that you're impressed with, that
should be the first reason that you even think of this.
But if they say, well, i've never been in a
band before, I think you should run. I think you
should turn around and go away, unless you guys are
really young, because it's it's sort of like a relationship, right,
It's sort of like I mean, like a romantic relationship
(38:34):
in that you learn how to do this stuff right,
Like you learn how to commit to a group and
what it might take to be good fit for that
group and a good contributor to it, and so if
it's your first band, it's gonna be a rough rodeo.
Speaker 3 (38:54):
Well, chaed Zilla and I. The first time we met,
I asked him if you wanted to go grab some
brunch or lung to sit down, and he hadn't heard
anything of mine. I haven't ever heard him play. It
was just people telling us, Hey, you guys should meet,
and that was more important to me to see how
that flowed before I ever heard him play drums, And honestly,
(39:15):
I asked him, I'm like, hey, are you comfortable playing
this gig? And he said, yeah, sure, if you're comfortable
having me. It sounds like we like some of the
same music, we have the same work ethic. Let's show
up and do it. And neither one of us had
heard anything before, but we're like, hey, we believe in
the seventy five percent that we just hung out and
were able to get along. I'm sure we could put
something good together. And it's been years of great times.
Speaker 2 (39:36):
Right well, And if he had sucked, that would have
turned out a much different story. Yeah, I think, but
you knew what he didn't because his accolades were there.
Speaker 4 (39:46):
Yeah, yeah.
Speaker 2 (39:47):
Yeah, at twelve years old, when people are maybe starting
in a band, there's not many accolades to list true
church choir, So using other bands to learn how to
do what you're doing, and it is really a part
of the process. So I like that he talked about
that White cow Bell, Oklahoma group and how much he
learned from that before he was kind of ready to
(40:10):
commit to his other group. And I just think that's
a process. I think that is such a valuable part
of learning how to work in a group and learning
what works on stage and all of those things that
you just can't really get from school. You can't learn
those things until you try them or experience them.
Speaker 3 (40:30):
And being a part of a team is just as
important as trying to lead one. You need to know
how to work together, to learn a skill set, to
be able to push everyone forward. So through watching completion
of these professional tests that are going on around you,
not only until you see how it's done from someone
that you respect and can learn from, I think you
(40:53):
have the confidence to try it yourself and be successful
at it well.
Speaker 2 (40:57):
And it's true that living together it's really its own thing,
like it's having roommates is one thing and then working
together to thegether. That's why a lot of married couples
would never work together as well as be married, because
it's a lot to ask, It's a whole thing. Did
I ever tell you the story? Like when I first
came to Boulder, I was on tour with my band
(41:18):
from Chicago, and we loved Boulder so much that I
was like, we should move here, you know. And so
we had been together for years in Chicago doing well
as a band. When we moved to Boulder. The only
way to afford it was to live together. And I
think within two months someone was throwing a Christmas tree
(41:39):
through the front window of that place. Like that's not
an exaggeration. That happened. And yeah, the band disintegrated in
two months of living together. So it was like years
of constructive you know, there were always drama. There was
always drama in the band, but it never came to
a point where it was going to break up. Two
months and living together, it just fell apart.
Speaker 3 (41:59):
Not only are you going to part from a band
situation like that, but how do you guys move out
and get away from each other?
Speaker 4 (42:06):
After that?
Speaker 2 (42:07):
Yeah, it took months. I mean my girlfriend broke up
with me started sleeping with one of the bandmates in
the next room. It's just so cliche, you know what
I mean, Like, come on, like, how is this all
going down? That's why I was like, all right, fine,
I'm just gonna go back to school. That's when I
ended up going back and getting my degrees because I
was in Bolder and I was like, I might as
(42:28):
well go to school here because I had finished two
years in Chicago and then stopped from my undergrad So yeah,
it was like it was sort of like you better
come up with plan B or like dive into this
a little deeper because you learn so much on the road,
and a lot of times it's what you're learning is
what you don't know, right, It's what you're learning is
what you might be benefiting from learning. And that actually
(42:50):
is what brought me back to getting a degree.
Speaker 3 (42:52):
I would have thrown that roommate right out of the
window right after that Christmas tree.
Speaker 2 (42:57):
Yeah. Yeah.
Speaker 3 (42:59):
This episode ended with the idea of what he looks
at in order to take a gig, and a lesson
for all of us to have those values written out.
You know, what are you what's your goal from a
gig is it to make money, is it to get
exposure and it meets If it meets those financial requirements,
and you can say, hey, I'm going to get some
(43:21):
more fans out of this and push our career forward,
then yeah, let's do it. And if neither of them
are there, maybe you need to say no faster than yes.
Speaker 2 (43:32):
And that might have been part of the problem I
experienced when I moved to Boulders. We probably didn't have
very long of a list of like what our goals were.
We probably had like moved a Boulder and that was okay,
check and now what now we just started going at it.
You know. It's like you need to have these things
that these long term plans and goals so that you
can keep yourself focused, because it really will distract you
(43:53):
from the little stuff that can sometimes get out of control,
especially in your youth. So I liked his hope is
Now strategy. I liked that concept of using the mentor
to help clear your head, especially when you're younger. You
really don't see everything. You can't because you haven't been
through it yet. A mentor and you know someone that
(44:14):
has a strong sense of business or strong sense in
the music community, whichever you're needing or both. Is really
a huge assets as you are growing.
Speaker 3 (44:24):
And it keeps you focused on the business part of
it as well, because all your roommates, everyone that you
move from Canada to the United States, you have to
be on the same page to be able to pay
your bills together, pay rent, get to show on time.
All of those things had to be aligned. Otherwise you
don't have a sustainable career moving forward if you're not.
Speaker 2 (44:45):
And so this is going to be our action step
for the week. We want you to start your big
goal one sheet. We call it a one sheet because
it's supposed to be all on one piece of paper.
Start with what you have already conscious, easy stuff that
you know, and then right there down and let's just
start doing what Johnny said and read it every morning.
If this takes you ten minutes, you're gonna still survive.
(45:07):
In fact, the idea is it's going to maybe change
everything and cause you to make a lot more progress,
a lot quicker.
Speaker 3 (45:15):
Should we also say smile while you're doing that.
Speaker 2 (45:17):
For ten links, you should be smiling yes, yeah, or
the smile can take the ten seconds before that. Mine
is even shorter, ten times shorter. Is that ten times
or whatever. But the idea might be that making this
a part of your morning routine can all of a
sudden help you with your focus. In the show notes,
we also have a link to Johnny discussing this habit
(45:38):
directly from his post, so you can hear it directly
from him too. We know that your time is valuable
and we appreciate you spending this time with us and
being a part of this community. It is our hope
that you feel that sense of community here at musicians
tip jar and that you'll help spread the word make
us all stronger. If you'd like to get hold of
us or Johnny, what's the best way to do that.
Speaker 3 (45:57):
Check out musicians tip jar for tools, resources and discounts
built specifically to help keep you up on the finance
side of your music business. Reach out to us anytime
at musicians tip jar at gmail. We'd love to hear
your story. If this episode resonates with you, share it
with a friend, leave a review, or hit the like
button if you're watching on YouTube. It helps grow this
community and support musicians like you. Please check out Johnny's band,
(46:18):
The Dreamboats at the Dreamboats band dot com. You could
also find his band on Instagram, Forward Slash the dream
Boats and check out his from the front of his seat,
Coffee in hand, pointers, tips, whatever, you never know what
he's gonna say. Check out Johnny's Instagram at instagram dot com,
(46:44):
forward slash at Johnny FIACONI spell it johh n Y
fia Cco.
Speaker 2 (46:51):
And I as always thank you for joining us, and
remember there is already enough for everyone. You just need
to know how to get it. Until next time on
Behalf of David Champion, myself, Chris Websday, Happy, healthy and wealthy.
Don't watch the metronome do what it does, keep going.
This is Musicians Tip Jack.
Speaker 5 (47:20):
Nothing on this show should be considered specific, personal or
professional advice. Please consult an appropriate tax, legal, business, or
financial professional for individualized advice. Individual results are not guaranteed,
and all discussed strategies have the potential for profit. Last
those are operating on Behalf of Musicians tip jar LLLC
(47:41):
exclusively
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