February 9, 2024 • 29 mins
Saxophonist Steven B performs in THE HAVEN and discusses his passion and process for writing contemporary jazz!
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Episode Transcript
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(00:18):
This is the ladies and gentlemen,Stephen B And and don't pay an a
(01:23):
b and and and the the thethe Bard that never have I was talking
(03:43):
about. Hello, dreaming people,and welcome to another day in the Haven.
(04:48):
Today I am joined by Stephen B. A local artist and saxophonist who
has a passion to spread what heterms as musical gospel. Stephen has performed
I'm along, signing l national recordingartists to include Jeffrey Osbourne, Gina Bell,
George Duke, Shirley Jones, GeneCarr, and a host of very
(05:09):
very talented artists. He's the frontman for the group Stephen Being Friends,
and he is here today to talkabout his love of music and his process
for making it. So now,without further ado, please join me in
welcoming Steven B. Thank you,Welcome to the Hay here. And you
(05:30):
know what, I am really reallyexcited to have you here. And I
know that our audience absolutely loved yourthe song that you just performed, Philly
Time, Philly Cool, Philly Cool, from your which album? Is this
my forthcoming fourth from your forthcoming album? But this is your latest album call
(05:53):
It's Time. Okay, I gotI'm getting it straight. M we wrote,
we gonna rote with it. I'mgetting it straight. I'm getting it
together. So phil beautiful song.What inspired it? It was written during
COVID and nothing in particular. Ijust dug the vibe and I guess being
from Philly, and then it justkind of remind me of Philadelphia. Oh
(06:16):
okay, and you're from Philly,yes, And so you know what,
this is a question that I havefor you guys who are musicians and there
are no lyrics in your song,how does the names come to you?
I mean this one you just explain. You know you're from Philly, it
was a Philly vibe, but youhave other songs, So how do you
(06:36):
determine what you're gonna call the song? I'm just so fascinated by that whole
problem. It's interesting because it it'sit's there's no limit of of avenues,
of different ways you can be inspired. It could be from a MILLI you
eight, it could be a personyou saw walking down the street. Uh,
a sermon you heard, or abook you read, a dream you
(06:59):
had, and it is endless.So that comes f a and the feeling.
So so those inspiring points come firstand then at what point does the
music start to evolve in your headto to match whatever it is that inspired.
(07:19):
Yeah, there's no order. Okay, it's different for every song.
Yeah, and for it, Iwould say every musician an artist. I
guess if you compare it to writinga book or writing a story, some
folks start the story from the endin the beginning and tell it backwards.
So it it, It all depends, Okay, So I wanna dig a
(07:42):
little bit deeper. So y,let let's let's take Philly cool. So
s I mean, you're from Philly, but I don't. You said you
wrote it during COVID, So isthere some synergy between where you were from
or where or where you are fromand that time period in which that particular
(08:07):
song came to you. I thinkfor me, COVID was like a cut
off of the switch, and itmade me sit down and be quiet.
And I have a saying that Isay, silence d definition by silence,
and in the silence you can heara lot. And it made me,
(08:31):
actually, I did a lot ofwriting of music, not to say cause
we weren't out playing so I hadtime to write. But I think it
just gave me introspective look into writingdifferently than prior times. Wow, okay,
th that's very very interesting and fascinating. I'm I'm completely enamored by musicians,
(08:52):
particularly jazz musicians, because you know, you just kind of vibe with
the It's not like a song withlyrics that you can relate to. You
know, you can relate to thefeeling and the emotion because of the words
of the song. And in thisway, you're still relating to the music
(09:13):
and the emotion, but it it'sat a different level. Yeah. I
think with jazz and and other improvisedmusic, like any it's a conversation m
between the musicians without words. I'mvery uh. I take a very spiritual
approach to music because I believe thatit's the most important thing next to breathing.
(09:35):
We're all are musicians, and Isay that because when you're born,
your heart beat mmmkay. Music isrhythm, melody and harmony, mkay and
harmony, people getting along with eachother, right, Okay, everybody's different.
(09:58):
So you have your own melody,but everybody has a heartbeat, which
is the rhythm, right right.So Steven being friends, well, first
long, First of all, howlong has your group been together. How
long have you been writing me?Oh? Well, the group consists of
my some of my very very closefriends that I've met since I've been here,
(10:18):
musicians I've played with, and wespiritually get along. Mm. Thus
that comes across and within the musicwhen we're playing. I would say,
my my keyboard player I've known foralmost thirty years of plus and uh,
(10:39):
I guess the rest are musicians withintwenty twenty five years I've known'em.
Yeah, so knowing them for aslong as you do, you you all
of you are vibing and you justknow, like when it's time for that
base to start, or when it'stime for the keyboard to maybe play a
riff or again. I'm fascinated bycause I I I can see you all
(11:01):
playing, and I can tell thatyou're vibing, and it's just so interesting
to see that everybody knows their partin that puzzle that you're all putting together
for the listener to hear and tosee. It's a conversation. If you're
talking with four or five different people, everybody can't talk at the same time,
so you know it just for theconversation to be effective, and it's
(11:24):
the same thing like on the stage. Yeah. Yeah, so you've collaborated
with some pretty heavy hitters in themusic industry. S I think was it
twelve years old when you started playing, yes, yeah, So talk to
me about your in was it?Is it just a saxophone or are you
doing other instruments as well? Well? I started playing the clearing that was
(11:48):
about five, I guess, okay, And I played that until about twelve.
Music I was in our f inour family. My father actually was
a semi professional saxophonist and he playedactually would You and Cold Dream back in
Philadelphia and the big bands during theforties. So that was always around music,
and I guess about twelve, theearly teenage years, I just picked
(12:13):
it up. I went from theclarinet to the saxophone. Is that like
a natural progression? Most kind ofthe clarinet is a little harder to play,
but it's a very good transition forthe saxophone. And I wound up
playing with a from friends, andwe did the R and B thing and
(12:35):
around town and had a band andand it just kind of went from there.
Just to add I also attended churchand I was also in the choir,
so I always was singing, sothat was that was a part of
the music for me too. Yeah, so do you add vocalization in your
(12:56):
I do? I do? Ido thatang? Okay I it's interesting and
I had to sit down and thinkabout this. There's some songs that I
don't hear playing the saxophone, butI hear it vocally. Mm. Then
there's some songs I don't hear vocallythat the saxophone for me speaks. That's
just so amazing. Yeah, Andyou have a lot of instrumentalists say that
(13:18):
their instrument is their voice. Ijust kind of got a hybrid of it,
I guess, you know. Andit's depends on the the music too.
Yeah. You know people like JonathanButler who do that very very well.
A few actually, I can thinkof some others who incorporate the two
instruments their voice and whatever else theinstrument they're playing. So I that's that's
(13:43):
a natural thing. But it atthe same time to know which is supposed
to be vocals and what's what's supposedto be an instrument, And sometimes it's
both just kind of hear it songy, you kind of feel it,
hear it, feel it, hearit. Hear it, feel it and
mm and it just what is soabstract? It's like the whole process.
You can't just like really nail itdown. It's it's not you know,
(14:07):
it's not like a book where youknow, beginning middle, well has a
beginning, middle end. Right.Music definitely does. But you know what
I mean, it's it's it's justit's very hard to It's the same thing,
trust me, it's the same thing. I just think it's in a
different atmosphere. Okay, that's all, okay, okay, alright. So
(14:28):
you started playing at thirteen, andthen you were playing with local groups and
for our dreamcatchers that are watching whoaspire to play on a l on a
to a larger audience, such asthe musicians that you've played with. What
treck did you take to get thatkind of visibility in order to be recognized
(14:52):
and say, Okay, I'd likefor this person to play in my band
while I'm in DC or you know, h just talk to us a little
bit of about how that worked.I I've I've always went around Miss Mary's
Barn to different stuff, Okay,I I d I've a detect always been
the type of person that I hadmulti talents, and I didn't do just
(15:15):
one thing. So sometimes I cando something over here that will relate to
something i'm'a do over here later mmand it kind of comes full circle.
There was no straight track for me, and I did not take a straight
track cause I can't give that kindof advice for information. But one of
(15:37):
the things w is networking. Yeah, you know, it's a powerful word,
networking. Networking quietly as well asbeing allowed there's times when you need
to be voice voicefous. Yes,then sometimes just to kind of just be
quiet and things are work themselves andcome around to you, you know,
(15:58):
and in a networking sir Okay,yeah, okay, that makes sense.
Yeah, and that that's something thatwe should all do and whatever profession.
Yeah, cause I think you're you'repersonality precedes your talent, okay, So
I try to make sure that myperson is always in the right and then
my talent to come through right.Absolutely absolutely. Who are some of the
(16:22):
artists that or musicians that you lookup to living or that doesn't have to
do definitely Jihan Coltrane. Okay,it's a multitude, you know. The
groove Washington, of course, alot of Philadelphia, local people that you
may not have heard of. Butnumber one was my father, I would
(16:45):
say, and then now t inthe industry today. Uh. I love
Leyla Hathaway, Gerald Albright, KirkRaylan. I called him my big brothers.
Okay, and the music, Uhyeah, there's so many people bad
(17:07):
yeah. F a preacher on thepreacher you know, yeah, yeah,
yeah. I had an opportunity towe did the show on one of the
jazz cruises, and I had aopportunity to talk to him about his artistry.
And he he's a bad brother,very deep, very deep. Yeah,
(17:29):
yes, gentleman, And that's whatcomes through his horn. And and
that's what I'm saying about your personality, you know, kind of pursuiting your
talent. Mm uh, because it'sthat horn is just that I make it
live. I'm I put the lifeinto it. Oh, same thing with
the pages of a book. Youhave to put the life on those pages
(17:51):
for it to come forth, rightright? Yeah? So do you for
the people that you named, includingyour dad, that influenced your your music,
d is some of their influence inyour music? I would say yes,
as well as everyday stuff. Okay, maybe how I wake up in
(18:15):
the morning or woke up yesterday,M and I had something on my mind
that can come and infiltrate itself intomy plane. I think as a musician
it's our job to make a listenerfeel here something different than when they came
(18:37):
into the room. And that couldbe make them happy, make them s
you know, you could maybe remind'em of something sad. Mm, you
can make them cry, you know. The I it's an emotion that I
want to send out to have comeback. Okay. So in some regard
your messenger, you're a uh cattle, You're a uh vessel. Absolutely.
(19:03):
I I always say it's to land I'm in this corner, so it
it comes down, okay, Yeah, it goes out, Yeah, comes
back to me and not send itback up. Absolutely. I love that,
M. I love that. That'sa really great analogy and a great
way way to see it. Soyou talked a little bit about your process
(19:23):
for writing music wa as abstract asit is, and I'm certain that different,
as you pointed out, different musiciansmay have uh a different way of
engaging in that. What are someof the challenges that you're finding in the
industry and and the I'll just openit up to whatever area you wanna speak
(19:48):
on, whether it's in getting theinspiration on paper or actually producing it or
distributing it or marketing it. It'sa very good question. Like writers get
writer's block, you do get musicianblocked sometimes until something maybe inspires you to
(20:11):
move you or you may write alittle snippet or something, put it away,
don't go back to it for years, and then all of a sudden
you have a different outlook on itwhen you hear it again, so then
you can write the whole song.You know, about the industry, it
definitely has changed now being where it'seasier to be independent, you don't have
(20:34):
to rely on record companies. Yeah, so it's it's it's whatever, and
whatever direction you need to go in, you can go into. But I
would say the most one of themost important things is research. Always research.
M You know, you have todo your own research and then filter
it down to the information that youhave, filter it down to what works
(20:57):
for you. Cause what's for youis for you, right, you know
you're not necessarily for that person,right, absolutely, So what's your next
project? Uh, next project musicwise or out? Well, let's talk
(21:18):
about music wise, I actually andand does it happen that way? Do
you do? You say wake upone day and say, you know what,
I'm gonna do a album. I'm'astart a new album today. I
mean, like, how does howdoes that work? I? I would
say yes, for other individuals,I'm not that How can I put it?
Art? Artistry, artist, arartsy art, spontaneous? Yeah?
(21:42):
It sometimes I have to kind oflinguish with it for a minute and then
sometimes it'll just come and you haveto go with it. I believe and
going with my spirit ye, causeI trust myself and you know, so
it'll take me where I need togo. And if it's a dead end,
it always shows me. Okay.Now now you can make a left
(22:03):
turn on you make a right turn. So yeah, And that can all
happen in a span of what sixmonths, a year, doesn't matter,
a week a week? Yeah,you can do like uh, and how
many songs do you feel most comfortablehaving on an album? I think unlike
back in the day where you wouldhave you know, twelve, thirteen,
(22:23):
fourteen songs. Mm, because themarket in terms of the buyer, they're
not necessarily buying CDs like that nowso they're buying singles. Yeah, so
when you do, I think aCD, you know, a good seven
or eight tunes. It's it's veryviable for today's market. You may sell
(22:47):
more singles than the CDs necessarily.However, CDs I don't think are gonna
disappear because they're good marketing tools.They're good for when you on your particular
gig or event, the good giveaways, you know, you keep your audience
engaged, right, and and pluspeople like tangible stuff. Yeah, yeah,
(23:07):
we do. Or or maybe it'sit's us because we're at a certain
age and and the younger people aredownloading everything, and so they would rather
have it electronic. Yeah, electronI get that, you know, I
d I. I can't tell youhow much I missed opening up an album.
Yeah yeah, no, no,I I get that. I get
(23:30):
that. So you mentioned the industrya minute ago and how easy it is
now to not necessarily have that bigproduction backing behind you. You can just
go out, you can produce ityourself and put it out. There are
(23:51):
there challenges in that that you see, there are? And like it's cause
it's it's so many different avenues orthings you could take every time, Dick
and Harry is now a online recordA and R person, you know.
So that's why I say, doyour research, you know, find out,
(24:15):
you know, what works for youand what you trust. Mm as
you know, the internet has hasits good side and has a bad side,
but as you could use it asa tool. So the A and
R people what what are they selling? What are they hiking? Now?
Well? A and R people areare people who are claiming that they can
get you this or get you tothe record labels for fee. Yeah,
(24:38):
oh of course that's what I'm saying. So do your research sometimes it it
it it works to you benefit.I'm finding for myself now venturing into this
full blown that do you it's it. It can be expensive, and it
could be time consuming, and andyou need to have patients and even if
(25:06):
you're not savvy and all that kindof stuff, find some folks that can
help you, you know, don'tbe ashamed to have folks back you up.
Yeah, yeah, that that soundsreally good, especially to avoid the
pitfalls. But you know, formy dream catches, cause I'm always looking
out for them who are just outthere trying to find a way to navigate
(25:29):
all of that are there any resourcesthat you could recommend anything, whether it's
bloggers or people or or if youwant to name drop a particular company that
you think is reputable. CD Babiesa very good resource. Disc Makers they
(25:52):
are actually manufacturers of CDs. Theydo LPs, they do still do LPs,
UH posters and all kinds of stuff. They're very good. They have
a house full of services that theycan offer at decent prices, and they're
legitimate. So that's city Baby andUH disc makers tried and tested. Yeah,
(26:15):
so absolutely, what advice would yougive to our artists out there?
Don't stop, don't stop, don'tstop, don't stop. UH. Music
is a gift that was given toyou for a purpose. Don't stop.
I didn't say it to you earlier. I actually stopped for about eight years.
(26:38):
And it's interesting because when I stopped, I did more singing than playing
MM. So the way I kindof filter it is, I learnt a
lot. So when I got backon the horn, I had a lot
more to say. MM. Youknow, yeah, but don't stop.
Don't start your journey to do thesong journey. If I could just say
(27:04):
there's a tune on here that Isubmitted to an organization, yes, ma'am
okay to an organization in uh Hollywood, and they called the Hollywood Independent Music
Awards, And one of my songsgot nominated. Okay, well, congratulations
which songs? Uh uh? InFlight? Which yeah? Which features Time
(27:27):
Brown? Okay remember Jamaica Punk?Yes, so that Time Brown? Oh
okay, Okay, Well that this. I can't wait to pop this open
and pop this into my CD player. Check it out, dream Catchers.
So so I'm gonna head out toLA next month to the ward show,
you know. So that's why I'msaying, don't stop. You never know
(27:48):
what door that's going to open,that I have something new for you,
a new experience, you know.Yeah, Well, thank you so much
for thank you, Thank you,beautiful pleasure having you, and Dreamcatchers,
thanks for tuning in and being abig part of why we do this.
It is my hope that you areinspired in your own writer's journey and that
(28:11):
this season will inspire you to continueto finish, whether it be pinning your
book, your script, or layingdown tracks like our artists today. You
can stream us on any of ournine streaming platforms, including iTunes, Spotify,
iHeartRadio, YouTube, and the numberone network on the content, the
American Legacy Network. For more informationon where to tune into our broadcast or
(28:33):
podcast, visit our website at wwwdot Writers Haven Show dot com and you
can also follow me on Instagram andFacebook at Arthur V. Helena. So
I want you to keep me postingon your progress, and perhaps I'll see
you in the Haven. Well,until next time, catch fire on purpose,
(29:04):
Chaps is natured, Things done.The note sag
This is the ladies and gentlemen,Stephen B And and don't pay an a
(01:23):
b and and and the the thethe Bard that never have I was talking
(03:43):
about. Hello, dreaming people,and welcome to another day in the Haven.
(04:48):
Today I am joined by Stephen B. A local artist and saxophonist who
has a passion to spread what heterms as musical gospel. Stephen has performed
I'm along, signing l national recordingartists to include Jeffrey Osbourne, Gina Bell,
George Duke, Shirley Jones, GeneCarr, and a host of very
(05:09):
very talented artists. He's the frontman for the group Stephen Being Friends,
and he is here today to talkabout his love of music and his process
for making it. So now,without further ado, please join me in
welcoming Steven B. Thank you,Welcome to the Hay here. And you
(05:30):
know what, I am really reallyexcited to have you here. And I
know that our audience absolutely loved yourthe song that you just performed, Philly
Time, Philly Cool, Philly Cool, from your which album? Is this
my forthcoming fourth from your forthcoming album? But this is your latest album call
(05:53):
It's Time. Okay, I gotI'm getting it straight. M we wrote,
we gonna rote with it. I'mgetting it straight. I'm getting it
together. So phil beautiful song.What inspired it? It was written during
COVID and nothing in particular. Ijust dug the vibe and I guess being
from Philly, and then it justkind of remind me of Philadelphia. Oh
(06:16):
okay, and you're from Philly,yes, And so you know what,
this is a question that I havefor you guys who are musicians and there
are no lyrics in your song,how does the names come to you?
I mean this one you just explain. You know you're from Philly, it
was a Philly vibe, but youhave other songs, So how do you
(06:36):
determine what you're gonna call the song? I'm just so fascinated by that whole
problem. It's interesting because it it'sit's there's no limit of of avenues,
of different ways you can be inspired. It could be from a MILLI you
eight, it could be a personyou saw walking down the street. Uh,
a sermon you heard, or abook you read, a dream you
(06:59):
had, and it is endless.So that comes f a and the feeling.
So so those inspiring points come firstand then at what point does the
music start to evolve in your headto to match whatever it is that inspired.
(07:19):
Yeah, there's no order. Okay, it's different for every song.
Yeah, and for it, Iwould say every musician an artist. I
guess if you compare it to writinga book or writing a story, some
folks start the story from the endin the beginning and tell it backwards.
So it it, It all depends, Okay, So I wanna dig a
(07:42):
little bit deeper. So y,let let's let's take Philly cool. So
s I mean, you're from Philly, but I don't. You said you
wrote it during COVID, So isthere some synergy between where you were from
or where or where you are fromand that time period in which that particular
(08:07):
song came to you. I thinkfor me, COVID was like a cut
off of the switch, and itmade me sit down and be quiet.
And I have a saying that Isay, silence d definition by silence,
and in the silence you can heara lot. And it made me,
(08:31):
actually, I did a lot ofwriting of music, not to say cause
we weren't out playing so I hadtime to write. But I think it
just gave me introspective look into writingdifferently than prior times. Wow, okay,
th that's very very interesting and fascinating. I'm I'm completely enamored by musicians,
(08:52):
particularly jazz musicians, because you know, you just kind of vibe with
the It's not like a song withlyrics that you can relate to. You
know, you can relate to thefeeling and the emotion because of the words
of the song. And in thisway, you're still relating to the music
(09:13):
and the emotion, but it it'sat a different level. Yeah. I
think with jazz and and other improvisedmusic, like any it's a conversation m
between the musicians without words. I'mvery uh. I take a very spiritual
approach to music because I believe thatit's the most important thing next to breathing.
(09:35):
We're all are musicians, and Isay that because when you're born,
your heart beat mmmkay. Music isrhythm, melody and harmony, mkay and
harmony, people getting along with eachother, right, Okay, everybody's different.
(09:58):
So you have your own melody,but everybody has a heartbeat, which
is the rhythm, right right.So Steven being friends, well, first
long, First of all, howlong has your group been together. How
long have you been writing me?Oh? Well, the group consists of
my some of my very very closefriends that I've met since I've been here,
(10:18):
musicians I've played with, and wespiritually get along. Mm. Thus
that comes across and within the musicwhen we're playing. I would say,
my my keyboard player I've known foralmost thirty years of plus and uh,
(10:39):
I guess the rest are musicians withintwenty twenty five years I've known'em.
Yeah, so knowing them for aslong as you do, you you all
of you are vibing and you justknow, like when it's time for that
base to start, or when it'stime for the keyboard to maybe play a
riff or again. I'm fascinated bycause I I I can see you all
(11:01):
playing, and I can tell thatyou're vibing, and it's just so interesting
to see that everybody knows their partin that puzzle that you're all putting together
for the listener to hear and tosee. It's a conversation. If you're
talking with four or five different people, everybody can't talk at the same time,
so you know it just for theconversation to be effective, and it's
(11:24):
the same thing like on the stage. Yeah. Yeah, so you've collaborated
with some pretty heavy hitters in themusic industry. S I think was it
twelve years old when you started playing, yes, yeah, So talk to
me about your in was it?Is it just a saxophone or are you
doing other instruments as well? Well? I started playing the clearing that was
(11:48):
about five, I guess, okay, And I played that until about twelve.
Music I was in our f inour family. My father actually was
a semi professional saxophonist and he playedactually would You and Cold Dream back in
Philadelphia and the big bands during theforties. So that was always around music,
and I guess about twelve, theearly teenage years, I just picked
(12:13):
it up. I went from theclarinet to the saxophone. Is that like
a natural progression? Most kind ofthe clarinet is a little harder to play,
but it's a very good transition forthe saxophone. And I wound up
playing with a from friends, andwe did the R and B thing and
(12:35):
around town and had a band andand it just kind of went from there.
Just to add I also attended churchand I was also in the choir,
so I always was singing, sothat was that was a part of
the music for me too. Yeah, so do you add vocalization in your
(12:56):
I do? I do? Ido thatang? Okay I it's interesting and
I had to sit down and thinkabout this. There's some songs that I
don't hear playing the saxophone, butI hear it vocally. Mm. Then
there's some songs I don't hear vocallythat the saxophone for me speaks. That's
just so amazing. Yeah, Andyou have a lot of instrumentalists say that
(13:18):
their instrument is their voice. Ijust kind of got a hybrid of it,
I guess, you know. Andit's depends on the the music too.
Yeah. You know people like JonathanButler who do that very very well.
A few actually, I can thinkof some others who incorporate the two
instruments their voice and whatever else theinstrument they're playing. So I that's that's
(13:43):
a natural thing. But it atthe same time to know which is supposed
to be vocals and what's what's supposedto be an instrument, And sometimes it's
both just kind of hear it songy, you kind of feel it,
hear it, feel it, hearit. Hear it, feel it and
mm and it just what is soabstract? It's like the whole process.
You can't just like really nail itdown. It's it's not you know,
(14:07):
it's not like a book where youknow, beginning middle, well has a
beginning, middle end. Right.Music definitely does. But you know what
I mean, it's it's it's justit's very hard to It's the same thing,
trust me, it's the same thing. I just think it's in a
different atmosphere. Okay, that's all, okay, okay, alright. So
(14:28):
you started playing at thirteen, andthen you were playing with local groups and
for our dreamcatchers that are watching whoaspire to play on a l on a
to a larger audience, such asthe musicians that you've played with. What
treck did you take to get thatkind of visibility in order to be recognized
(14:52):
and say, Okay, I'd likefor this person to play in my band
while I'm in DC or you know, h just talk to us a little
bit of about how that worked.I I've I've always went around Miss Mary's
Barn to different stuff, Okay,I I d I've a detect always been
the type of person that I hadmulti talents, and I didn't do just
(15:15):
one thing. So sometimes I cando something over here that will relate to
something i'm'a do over here later mmand it kind of comes full circle.
There was no straight track for me, and I did not take a straight
track cause I can't give that kindof advice for information. But one of
(15:37):
the things w is networking. Yeah, you know, it's a powerful word,
networking. Networking quietly as well asbeing allowed there's times when you need
to be voice voicefous. Yes,then sometimes just to kind of just be
quiet and things are work themselves andcome around to you, you know,
(15:58):
and in a networking sir Okay,yeah, okay, that makes sense.
Yeah, and that that's something thatwe should all do and whatever profession.
Yeah, cause I think you're you'repersonality precedes your talent, okay, So
I try to make sure that myperson is always in the right and then
my talent to come through right.Absolutely absolutely. Who are some of the
(16:22):
artists that or musicians that you lookup to living or that doesn't have to
do definitely Jihan Coltrane. Okay,it's a multitude, you know. The
groove Washington, of course, alot of Philadelphia, local people that you
may not have heard of. Butnumber one was my father, I would
(16:45):
say, and then now t inthe industry today. Uh. I love
Leyla Hathaway, Gerald Albright, KirkRaylan. I called him my big brothers.
Okay, and the music, Uhyeah, there's so many people bad
(17:07):
yeah. F a preacher on thepreacher you know, yeah, yeah,
yeah. I had an opportunity towe did the show on one of the
jazz cruises, and I had aopportunity to talk to him about his artistry.
And he he's a bad brother,very deep, very deep. Yeah,
(17:29):
yes, gentleman, And that's whatcomes through his horn. And and
that's what I'm saying about your personality, you know, kind of pursuiting your
talent. Mm uh, because it'sthat horn is just that I make it
live. I'm I put the lifeinto it. Oh, same thing with
the pages of a book. Youhave to put the life on those pages
(17:51):
for it to come forth, rightright? Yeah? So do you for
the people that you named, includingyour dad, that influenced your your music,
d is some of their influence inyour music? I would say yes,
as well as everyday stuff. Okay, maybe how I wake up in
(18:15):
the morning or woke up yesterday,M and I had something on my mind
that can come and infiltrate itself intomy plane. I think as a musician
it's our job to make a listenerfeel here something different than when they came
(18:37):
into the room. And that couldbe make them happy, make them s
you know, you could maybe remind'em of something sad. Mm, you
can make them cry, you know. The I it's an emotion that I
want to send out to have comeback. Okay. So in some regard
your messenger, you're a uh cattle, You're a uh vessel. Absolutely.
(19:03):
I I always say it's to land I'm in this corner, so it
it comes down, okay, Yeah, it goes out, Yeah, comes
back to me and not send itback up. Absolutely. I love that,
M. I love that. That'sa really great analogy and a great
way way to see it. Soyou talked a little bit about your process
(19:23):
for writing music wa as abstract asit is, and I'm certain that different,
as you pointed out, different musiciansmay have uh a different way of
engaging in that. What are someof the challenges that you're finding in the
industry and and the I'll just openit up to whatever area you wanna speak
(19:48):
on, whether it's in getting theinspiration on paper or actually producing it or
distributing it or marketing it. It'sa very good question. Like writers get
writer's block, you do get musicianblocked sometimes until something maybe inspires you to
(20:11):
move you or you may write alittle snippet or something, put it away,
don't go back to it for years, and then all of a sudden
you have a different outlook on itwhen you hear it again, so then
you can write the whole song.You know, about the industry, it
definitely has changed now being where it'seasier to be independent, you don't have
(20:34):
to rely on record companies. Yeah, so it's it's it's whatever, and
whatever direction you need to go in, you can go into. But I
would say the most one of themost important things is research. Always research.
M You know, you have todo your own research and then filter
it down to the information that youhave, filter it down to what works
(20:57):
for you. Cause what's for youis for you, right, you know
you're not necessarily for that person,right, absolutely, So what's your next
project? Uh, next project musicwise or out? Well, let's talk
(21:18):
about music wise, I actually andand does it happen that way? Do
you do? You say wake upone day and say, you know what,
I'm gonna do a album. I'm'astart a new album today. I
mean, like, how does howdoes that work? I? I would
say yes, for other individuals,I'm not that How can I put it?
Art? Artistry, artist, arartsy art, spontaneous? Yeah?
(21:42):
It sometimes I have to kind oflinguish with it for a minute and then
sometimes it'll just come and you haveto go with it. I believe and
going with my spirit ye, causeI trust myself and you know, so
it'll take me where I need togo. And if it's a dead end,
it always shows me. Okay.Now now you can make a left
(22:03):
turn on you make a right turn. So yeah, And that can all
happen in a span of what sixmonths, a year, doesn't matter,
a week a week? Yeah,you can do like uh, and how
many songs do you feel most comfortablehaving on an album? I think unlike
back in the day where you wouldhave you know, twelve, thirteen,
(22:23):
fourteen songs. Mm, because themarket in terms of the buyer, they're
not necessarily buying CDs like that nowso they're buying singles. Yeah, so
when you do, I think aCD, you know, a good seven
or eight tunes. It's it's veryviable for today's market. You may sell
(22:47):
more singles than the CDs necessarily.However, CDs I don't think are gonna
disappear because they're good marketing tools.They're good for when you on your particular
gig or event, the good giveaways, you know, you keep your audience
engaged, right, and and pluspeople like tangible stuff. Yeah, yeah,
(23:07):
we do. Or or maybe it'sit's us because we're at a certain
age and and the younger people aredownloading everything, and so they would rather
have it electronic. Yeah, electronI get that, you know, I
d I. I can't tell youhow much I missed opening up an album.
Yeah yeah, no, no,I I get that. I get
(23:30):
that. So you mentioned the industrya minute ago and how easy it is
now to not necessarily have that bigproduction backing behind you. You can just
go out, you can produce ityourself and put it out. There are
(23:51):
there challenges in that that you see, there are? And like it's cause
it's it's so many different avenues orthings you could take every time, Dick
and Harry is now a online recordA and R person, you know.
So that's why I say, doyour research, you know, find out,
(24:15):
you know, what works for youand what you trust. Mm as
you know, the internet has hasits good side and has a bad side,
but as you could use it asa tool. So the A and
R people what what are they selling? What are they hiking? Now?
Well? A and R people areare people who are claiming that they can
get you this or get you tothe record labels for fee. Yeah,
(24:38):
oh of course that's what I'm saying. So do your research sometimes it it
it it works to you benefit.I'm finding for myself now venturing into this
full blown that do you it's it. It can be expensive, and it
could be time consuming, and andyou need to have patients and even if
(25:06):
you're not savvy and all that kindof stuff, find some folks that can
help you, you know, don'tbe ashamed to have folks back you up.
Yeah, yeah, that that soundsreally good, especially to avoid the
pitfalls. But you know, formy dream catches, cause I'm always looking
out for them who are just outthere trying to find a way to navigate
(25:29):
all of that are there any resourcesthat you could recommend anything, whether it's
bloggers or people or or if youwant to name drop a particular company that
you think is reputable. CD Babiesa very good resource. Disc Makers they
(25:52):
are actually manufacturers of CDs. Theydo LPs, they do still do LPs,
UH posters and all kinds of stuff. They're very good. They have
a house full of services that theycan offer at decent prices, and they're
legitimate. So that's city Baby andUH disc makers tried and tested. Yeah,
(26:15):
so absolutely, what advice would yougive to our artists out there?
Don't stop, don't stop, don'tstop, don't stop. UH. Music
is a gift that was given toyou for a purpose. Don't stop.
I didn't say it to you earlier. I actually stopped for about eight years.
(26:38):
And it's interesting because when I stopped, I did more singing than playing
MM. So the way I kindof filter it is, I learnt a
lot. So when I got backon the horn, I had a lot
more to say. MM. Youknow, yeah, but don't stop.
Don't start your journey to do thesong journey. If I could just say
(27:04):
there's a tune on here that Isubmitted to an organization, yes, ma'am
okay to an organization in uh Hollywood, and they called the Hollywood Independent Music
Awards, And one of my songsgot nominated. Okay, well, congratulations
which songs? Uh uh? InFlight? Which yeah? Which features Time
(27:27):
Brown? Okay remember Jamaica Punk?Yes, so that Time Brown? Oh
okay, Okay, Well that this. I can't wait to pop this open
and pop this into my CD player. Check it out, dream Catchers.
So so I'm gonna head out toLA next month to the ward show,
you know. So that's why I'msaying, don't stop. You never know
(27:48):
what door that's going to open,that I have something new for you,
a new experience, you know.Yeah, Well, thank you so much
for thank you, Thank you,beautiful pleasure having you, and Dreamcatchers,
thanks for tuning in and being abig part of why we do this.
It is my hope that you areinspired in your own writer's journey and that
(28:11):
this season will inspire you to continueto finish, whether it be pinning your
book, your script, or layingdown tracks like our artists today. You
can stream us on any of ournine streaming platforms, including iTunes, Spotify,
iHeartRadio, YouTube, and the numberone network on the content, the
American Legacy Network. For more informationon where to tune into our broadcast or
(28:33):
podcast, visit our website at wwwdot Writers Haven Show dot com and you
can also follow me on Instagram andFacebook at Arthur V. Helena. So
I want you to keep me postingon your progress, and perhaps I'll see
you in the Haven. Well,until next time, catch fire on purpose,
(29:04):
Chaps is natured, Things done.The note sag
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