Nick Wiesner Breaks Down Touring Life, Recording An Album, & Premieres New Song | JustJoeBTS Podcast

and I remember thinking to myself like I am talking to one of my heroes right now and I'm drunk I was I was so mad I was like I had to like use so much brain power to not Oh yeah to focus to focus And and I found out that he actually wrote my favorite song Oh my gosh What's up everybody welcome back to the Just Joe BTS podcast Today we are sitting down with Nick Weezner Weezner Yes Okay Dude how long have you known me so I've been corrected I used to call him Weisner I thought that he was just wise but apparently that's not true I am really quite uneducated and that's why he's on the podcast today everybody So uh anyway setting the bar low Um so I want to introduce Nick Uh Nick is a very good friend of mine and musician Um one of the most talented people I know and he absolutely crushes it He has one album out already He has a new song premiering which we will hear today It's up to you I'm sure Yes probably Yes we will probably hear today So you guys will be the first ones Um besides his boss Yeah Who apparently beat me to it and already heard the song I'm not cool with that Um if you're watching this whoever his boss is Brenda Hi Brenda Brenda Not cool Brenda Um but yeah So today we're going to talk about um being a musician Kind of a little bit about your story kind of find out how you got to where you are um how you're winning in life and what is going on with you So uh welcome to the podcast Nick Thank you It's very good to be here I appreciate you having me on Of course Of course So um Nick you have a really interesting and cool story Um tell us a little bit about yourself for people who haven't known you for eight years Apparently I've known him for eight years I did the math Crazy Um well my name is Nick Um born and raised in Aurora Illinois I'm one of nine kids Um homeschooled until I was in high school What number out of nine i'm number six out of nine That's crazy Yeah it's nice But right in the middle Maybe you got to bleep that out I don't know Yeah I know Um yeah So I middle kids syndrome goes hard on me for sure as most of my life And just starting to get over that hump of like I don't really care what happens to me you know as long as everybody else is happy everything's fine That is not voted well for me um in terms of overall life development Um but yeah so he you know my whole family kind of grew up doing music We were all homeschooled and so like our extracurricular was choir So um how was it being homeschooled sorry I mean to keep it No you're good You're good Interrupt all you want Uh terrible Terrible for me Other people liked it For me it was not the move I I need to be around people that are not my family all the I love my family don't get me wrong But when you spend 24 hours a day with just your family it's gets a little old after 15 years you know so to wear on you right especially when you're the middle kid you know it's just a lot of things Um I mean there were good things for sure Like I got to spend a lot more time with my family and a lot of time outside I was very lucky to grow up in a house that had a huge yard and lots of trees and um so that was really good for like you know imagination and and that was a huge part of my childhood for sure Um like the joke was that like as a kid I always had like a stick that I would find that was like oh this is a sword Yes it is You know like like stuff like that and that was just kind of my thing So and that was fun Like I loved that U but that was my compromise for not having any real friends So so um which kind of goes into why I started writing music All right Let's hear it Let's hear it Yeah Well yeah So like I said we all started um we all started with choir Um Young Neighborville Singers is the choir that we all went through Um and I hated it at first I was like "This is stupid This is dumb Like this is just like fake school Nobody really wants to be here You can tell everybody's here because their parents want them to be," which wasn't true A lot of people wanted to be there Um and so you really hated homeschooling I yeah it was bad It had a bad impact on my life especially when I was like five to six was when I started started when I was five and I was just a nasty child Um like I remember myself like thinking back like man that's just not who I am now Like we we'd have rehearsal and I would be like you know like all slumped over rolling my eyes like you know very much just not willing to participate at all Um and so like the next year I was like I don't want to do this anymore So they let me not do it and I was the only one in my family who didn't And then I of course had major FOMO and well and it was at that time that I discovered my that favorite band um the AIT brothers Okay Were amazing if you haven't listened to them They're just great Not really familiar Yeah You've probably heard one or two of them probably Yeah Um you I'm sure you probably heard me play some probably Um Yeah And they're just like you know like Americana folk rock Okay Um with the burp Okay Excuse me Um and and there u there was a particular album of theirs that we were listening to because when it was coming out and so I was like I need to learn guitar I need to learn banjo I need to learn it all I just need to do it Yeah And so then I was like all right I want to choir again I want to learn how to sing I want to do all these things Um so then I started taking piano lessons which I also kind of or no I'm wrong I took piano lessons before I made that revolution revelation And so then I was like okay piano school And then I started learning guitar banjo didn't start writing until I was 16 So I Oh wow Yeah It was just like I just want to learn A Brother songs and play April songs That's all I wanted to do Didn't know any other musicians really Like I knew of them but I was just not real music which is hilarious now because um you know now John Mayer is my absolute favorite artist and it's not so different but it's pretty different So but yeah you know I went to I ended up going to high school and I started playing in like this um it was this folk this folk group every Wednesday There was an open mic in Ballet Doyles or at Bal Doyles in Aurora and I never went to the open mic like my siblings would and I went to there's this little back corner room with like probably like 15 just old people like upper 70s playing old folk music So I was the youngest person there by like 60 years like you know and I went every week and it was so fun and and then I started hearing people that were writing their own songs and I was just like oh I wish I could do that Never thought I could And then and then the classic first heartbreak happened in my sophomore year of high school Well really at the end of my freshman year and and you know was crushed So dramatic Looking back now I was like "Oh my god." Like Taylor Taylor Swift has built a multi-million dollar industry off of it True This is true This is true Um this is probably like much less of a big deal than most of her breakups based on but yeah So I wrote first song over the summer Took me the whole summer and it was it's actually still like for my first song it's it's not my worst which is kind of cool What was it called um what was it called uh Runway I think it was on my first demo album Okay Flight which I ended up taking down because it was not very good Uh you know it was pretty immature writing I mean I was 16 so I don't really blame myself but that's not bad But that's when I started And um shortly after that I met my friend Mirabel Skipworth and she's you know the reason I became a musician like yeah she uh hosted an open mic at uh Treadwell coffee in Aurora which is unfortunately no longer a thing but um you know at that point I started going to open mics and then the one at Bad stopped and so we were like ah where else are we going to go found Treadwell she was hosting I played um an A Brother song which she actually happened to know who the A Brothers were so she had a good appreciation for it She's cooler than me Yeah Well and I didn't have any idea what like being a local musician meant Like I thought like if you could get a gig and get paid for music then you were famous Like you had to be And so she she gave me her card at the end She's like "Hey you have a really nice voice I really like your sound I I could get you some paid gigs if you want." I was like "Oh my gosh that would be awesome." Like

whoa Like "Oh my gosh I'm going to be a musician This is so cool." And sure enough she got me a gig at Treadwell Um and that to to date that is one of my most attended gigs Oh wow It was on First Friday so nobody there knew it was me playing but it was packed the whole time The mayor at the time actually was there It was pretty cool Oh wow That's very cool Yeah And I was just like "This is awesome." Like wow Playing music for money What and like people like it and like I like apparently people think I'm good Like it was cool So I I really just kind of did local music Of course that's when I quickly realized that that's not does not make you famous But um but yeah that's when I just started playing locally a ton Made that album Um and it was kind of stagnant for a while I went through high school you know graduated went to college I really started writing like more seriously um about some serious things That's when I started writing the songs for my current album Okay Um the one that's currently out Yes Yeah Valerie Blaine Yeah And um you know started to like experience the real world a little more actually And uh you know so that that was a huge thing because I I was trying to be a music teacher at the time and um you know was very poor and very depressed at the time too So it was just a bad mixture of things but it made for some pretty decent songs I think So yeah Um ended up being too poor had to drop out of college uh right after the transfer deadline So I couldn't Yeah it was a weird like like that's brutal My school upped their tuition like right when it was too late for me to transfer And I was like well I can't afford this So had to drop out Um you know first quarter life crisis Um I was like I don't know what I'm doing with my life You know I like I don't have the money to go to school I don't like anything other than music Music can't pay the bills you know And so then I was like well I worked all summer for a bunch of tuition money I'm I'm going to use it So the band I was playing with at the time it was a country band It was just for extra money They were playing at the UK like and they were like "Yeah it was pretty cool." Like he knew a guy who knew a guy and it was crazy And I was like "Oh I'll be in school I can't go." And so I was like "Hey is it too late for me to get a ticket?" He's like "They're expensive but if you want to go yeah." And so I dropped like $1,500 on a

ticket to because I had it you know that was one tuition payment for me I was like "Whatever." Buying one math book Yeah Yeah Yeah Exactly So you know so I was like screw it I'm going to go to England and play music That's awesome And I did and it was awesome It was really cool What part of England uh we went to um Anic which is like 45 minutes north or south I forget of um Newcastle Okay Um and so and that was awesome We went to We stayed at um I forget what it's called but it's like a Harry Potter themed hotel Oh wow Okay It was really cool Um it was awesome We were only there for five days So it was really like like we played like every night and like and we get made like a little local following like by the end of the end of the trip like people from couple bars ago were like we were just playing at pubs and stuff but it's where I had my first legal drink cuz I was 20 at the time and there you go 18 over there So it was it was really fun I was like "Yeah I can do this." But then I realized how much I hate being away from home I was like now to be fair a lot of like medical emergency stuff happened while I was gone and I was just like I need to get home Yeah everybody was okay Of course thank God But um but yeah I was like well and I at this point I'd made plans like all right well if I'm not going to be in school for the next year I want to record these songs you know spend this money investing in my career Yeah So I got back from uh the UK and then I um spent like a month and a half in Pittsburgh Okay Um with Mirabel She had moved to Pittsburgh at this point She still lives there now Um I'm actually getting ready to go to Pittsburgh Yeah you are Yeah Nice Where are you going like what whereabouts no idea Okay I just know that I have a shoot and it's going to be in Pittsburgh I'm pretty sure it's Pittsburgh Dude Pittsburgh is a cool city If you haven't been yet it's I haven't It's so cool It's like a It's like a pocket size city Like Oh it's just I don't know I'm not a huge fan of huge cities Like I just get kind of claustrophobic Do you like Chicago no I I'm It's growing on me Like I used to hate it I used to like just like visit every once in a like maybe two or three years and it's cool but like more than five hours in Chicago I'm like I need to get out of here Oh okay Yeah Now part of that's the air quality I have asthma so like I start to and I'm sure I get used to it if I like lived there but yeah you build up a tolerance or something Yeah But I've been to Chicago like three or four times in the last six months and it's been more and more enjoyable each time Okay Which is crazy because like three of those times it was like four degrees out So But yeah so I like Chicago now but Pittsburgh like in particular I just love it because it's like small Like if you don't want to be downtown it takes 10 minutes to drive all the way through downtown Oh wow And then it's surrounded by mountains which are beautiful And like the Alagany River goes around The bridges are so cool It's just awesome And like the community there is sick Like everybody there is so like they're just chill And like there's so much to do There's so many great bars Like so many great the music scene there is awesome That's kind of why me moved there Okay Um yeah I really recommend Pittsburgh I recommend Mount uh Washington I think is what it's called Mount Washington It overlooks the city You can take pictures I'm sure you'll probably go there It's awesome That's sick Um but yeah so so yeah Mirbo moved there So I I made some connections through her for recording and then I recorded my first album in two trips It was a month and a half from like November to December and then I came back in January and finished it in February And um yeah it was like all in all it was like $9,000 which is pretty cheap for Wow for for an album Yeah How much can an album cost to make oh gosh I mean depends on who you ask I'm sure Taylor Swift spends hundreds of thousands of dollars at her you know if I had to make a very uneducated guess But um if you want it to be like good you know if and if you don't play every instrument in the world super like professionally Yeah It's like 20 to 30 grand if if you have like a full album with like full production and full marketing and everything like wow Yeah it's a lot So um and that was everything Like I finished it and then I was out of money Like I had I think I had $90 in my bank account That's crazy So while I was in Pittsburgh I was like I got to apply for jobs So I applied for where I work now HelloFresh I worked in pip for the warehouse Oh there you go So I was like I need to fund advertising between now and when I'm releasing this album And so then I got home I started working and started advertising And then album came out in June of 2023 And it's kind of taken a pretty steady decline since then Okay Sort of I guess that's not true I toured in in I toured in 2022 with Mirabbel as a supporting act Like I was just playing bass for her but then I like toured the album in 2023 Um which was awesome Where did you go i could talk about the places you go to Um oh gosh I think it was like 13 or 12 or 13 cities 12 stops I think it was 12 Wow Um it was a lot We started in Columbus Ohio Okay Um which was awesome and we met some really cool people there But then we went back to Chicago and then we went to Murray Kentucky and then we did all of the um Tennessee Nashville Memphis and Knoxville Um or whatever order that is I forget Going from West and then we went uh to Charlottesville West Virginia or is it just Virginia i don't know I forget We went all over the place The reason I can't remember this very well is because right smack dab in the middle of that tour I had an abscess tooth Um which I think is a huge portion like a huge factor as to why I am like not super passionate about performing music at the moment Every time you go away to perform music it doesn't sound like it ends well dude And and Mirabel in particular she's like I am an unlucky person to tour because with Mirabel she's like uh Julia Julia Kapuzi is my producer They have toured together as well She's like she got like deathly ill when we toured together like somebody else going through there and they had like just like this medical emergency with like their throat or something My god it's crazy They're fine But like yeah she's like "Man I just have bad luck on people cuz we were in the middle of the Appalachian Trail We were staying at an Airbnb there It just amazing." But I was like "I can't think cuz my face was just and I didn't never had an absess tooth before I just thought like it was something with my retainers or whatever." And so then we get to Philly and this this definitely would have been one of the greatest nights of my life probably still was but it was just like the pain was unbearable And so it was this house show this great big house with the most amazing people I think I'll probably ever meet Like they're just so awesome And um uh Adam Monaco is this guy's name He's also a musician He's really really phenomenal His wife made this sangria because she heard that I had mouth pain She's like "Well this is one way to" And it did It helped but it was like dang dumbs it a little bit Yeah I just like I was like the only way I can be here performing and not being in immense pain is if I'm like you know drunk out of my mind And so um and that's what happened Um and I ended up meeting quite the performance thing Dude like people really liked it I got some really nice you know um I tried to space it out a little and then you know make it feel better more after I was done But but it was wild It was like I I ended up meeting Are you familiar with Gregory Alen Isacov no Okay Well he's like a pretty popular like folk musician He just makes like really chill good He's good You should listen to him Um one of my favorite artists and I ended up coincidentally meeting his brother Oh wow Yeah Very cool He was at the show He he watched me play and was like "Dude you're really good." Like and we're like friends now Like he's awesome His name's Alain And that's amazing It's actually Isikov The way I found out he was like "Hey like your stuff's really good Like where's your inspiration from?" I was like "Oh brothers down mayor Greg Alan Isacov." He's like "Oh

it's actually Isikov." I was like "Oh really how do you know that?" He's like "Oh he's my brother." I was like And I remember thinking to myself like "I am talking to one of my heroes right now and I'm drunk." I was I was so mad I was like I had to like use so much brain power to not Oh yeah to focus To focus And and I found out that he actually wrote my favorite song Oh my gosh His brother did Yeah Cuz he's a musician as well He was Yeah And I was and like the song's called Second Chances and it's amazing Absolutely great song And we were talking I was like "Wait a minute Like did you happen to write the song Second Chances?" He's like "Yeah I did." And I was like like favorite song like of all time at the time and it's up top three for me right now Like it's just so great Yeah It's it's just a beautiful beautiful song And I just all of a sudden I was talking to the author of one of my favorite pieces of art Yeah On planet Earth And just just like that Like I was like "What the heck is It was amazing That's so cool." And so we

talked about the song which I'm sure he's done a million times Like I felt so bad for him because I'm like man that's probably an annoying life to live Yeah he's my brother Yes I wrote that song You know but he was so nice He was just like and it still has been like he's he's great He's just a wonderful wonderful guy So that's awesome Anyway so the next morning there were these two moms at the show and I forget their names and I feel so terrible Um but they were like at the end of the show they're like "Hey Nick we're two concerned moms and we just want to make sure you don't have a a toothache or an abscess tooth." Oh So So we're going to take you to the dentist tomorrow and you paid for it everything Oh my gosh It was so great They got an X-ray and everything And this is where the dentist like really screwed me over Okay Dentists are scary man Yeah I mean she was really nice but she was like "Yeah dude You need to get a root canal." Um which was true but she was like "But you'll be fine." I told her I was like "I won't be home for another 3 weeks." And she's like "Yeah you'll be fine Here's some antibiotics It'll take it down." Have you ever had a

root canal before not before that I hadn't Okay And so I was like "Great." You know not excited but I was like "Whatever Antibiotics will kick in It'll take the pain away." They did for like you know four days Yeah Or like a week or something And then they didn't give me enough and I couldn't get a refill And so then we made it to New York and it was like terrible I mean it was the worst pain I think I've ever been in my entire life I remember like finding parking in Brooklyn which was just my gosh Like thinking about it makes you want to throw up It was terrible And like we get and this was crazy because my dad used to work for um hedging a hedge fund Okay Um and they were based in New York but he used to work in Chicago So he'd work with New York people all the time And I get to this venue It's like a nicer place like kind of harder to get into More like intentional Okay It was like exciting to play there Oh that's awesome And I'm like getting ready in all this pain like getting all my stuff together This guy's looking at me He's like "Oh my god are are you Nick Weezner never seen this guy in my life before." Yeah

You know a thousand miles away from home Like I was like "Oh my god is it happening?" Like "Did I become famous overnight or something?" And I'm just too much in pain to like While you were at the dentist Yeah I was like "Did something?" I was like "Yeah how do you know that?" And he's like "Oh I work with my dad." Are we dying no we're good Oh cool It's just my computer Nice But yeah he's like "Oh I work with your dad." I was like "Oh oh nice Well thanks for coming I appreciate it." I was like "Well bummer but okay That's fine." Um still nice He said "Hi." Yeah

But the pain was so bad I don't I remember getting on stage and then I remember walking off stage and then as soon as Mirabbel got up to play I like went to the bathroom and I just like crashed out like I I I don't I was like it was like an out-of body experience in the worst way possible Yeah I was just like I just need to like if I had a pair of pliers I would have pulled my tooth out No problem I'm not even kidding Like it was just so bad Um couldn't speak to anybody Like you could talk to me and it was just like it's like no Yeah I was It was just so bad So um that night we were staying with I don't know if this team but you know whatever Sure why not we were staying with musicians They were so great They were like hey um we have some weed gummies It's the only thing I have for pain that I think would help And I was like at this point I will try anything please So took some and it was oh my gosh it was like it was like Jesus himself came down and kissed me on the forehead I was like I could it's the first time I'd slept all to her Oh my gosh I like had a wonderfully great dream I woke up feeling so well rested I was not in pain I was like oh my goodness Like there's still hope There's still hope And and so yeah so that tied me over um you know to when I got home and I was able to get it taken care of But like you know we had two more shows after that and it was just uh it was a lot So So what ended up fixing it uh well I had to get a root canal I got home Oh Oh Oh Oh So you didn't get the root canal when you were at the original no it was it was I got back I I called them and I was like "Hey I'll need a root canal to get home." They're like "Okay cool." I get there and the doctor was like "Dude why did you not get this done?" Yeah She said "I can wait." She's like that she ought to lose her license Like if you waited another day you might have been dead Like dang He might have been being dramatic but I mean he was serious He's like this was really bad You had to do it in two Well yeah You can't leave an absess to I didn't realize that until then but he's like this brain right here Heart right there Like an infection gets there you're you're a goner You go septic you know Yeah I was like geez So he was did it immediately and he had to stop because it was too infected to do all of it Oh So he had to put me on like these massive antibiotics and like come back in a week Yeah And just hope that it Yeah It was a big deal like because I ended up getting dental work done this past fall and and the dentist like with a new dentist The new dentist she was like "Did you by any chance to have an abscess tooth up here?" I was like "Yeah like a year ago." She's like "Yeah it hasn't healed yet." Oh my god I was like

"What?" Because your mouth is like one of your most regenerative like Yeah it heals pretty quick It heals quickly So I was like "It's been 13 months since then." She's like "Yeah that was some trauma Like that must have been really bad." I was like "It was Do you know what caused the absess tooth?" It was just a I have you know genetically bad teeth It was decay and I had a feeling that was too deep like a year before and it just got there So Um I didn't take care of my teeth then and then that happened And so that's why I got all this dental work done last year and now I'm decay free $8,000 later Yeah The $8,000 smile Yeah You know it is what it is It's that or be dead So you know I'll take it I guess But not a bad trade-off Yeah You know but yeah it was it was it was interest Like I remember when I was getting that that procedure done they didn't Well thing about me is I have a ridiculous metabolism when it comes to painkillers and Novacaane And so they put Novacaane in waited like 15 minutes and then they were like drilling the core of my tooth out and the Novacaane like didn't work And so this inflamed infected nerve of my tooth just drill right into it It I shrieked like an infant child Um and it was only for a second but it was it was like Yeah No that's it was the most intense pain I will probably ever feel Yeah It was like my body went into shock Like I started sweating immediately My arms like started shaking and I was like couldn't feel I went limp and I was like it was crazy It was and they were like "Okay um we're just gonna come back in 30 minutes." And and then it was you know didn't feel anything after that but oh my gosh it was very painful Anyway needless to say that whole experience mixed with touring So music I got Yeah I got back and I was like I am done with music I am not touching my guitar I'm not I'm not playing one of my stupid songs I was just so tired of it Like it was so exhausting and I missed my family so much So like just associating my music with being away from the people I love was just like I can't you know So it was eight more months before I played another show again And that that eight month mark was about a year ago now And I only played four shows last year and they were fun but it was like I just I just I don't know It's like performing is not at the top of my priority I have to burp again Okay Not at the top of my priority list right now And um and I don't know it's like I'm kind of cool with that because for a while it was like my dream like yeah I want to be a musician and obviously I still love music Like we talk about started writing again and I have a new song that I I'm really proud of Yeah Um I think it's important to write for yourself especially as an artist like usually it's like oh I wrote this song for my mom or you wrote this song for this group of people or this thing you know Sure Or about this thing Um and this song is like one of the first ones I've written for myself you know Um and and you know it's nice It's like yeah I I owe it to myself to to share some of my own art you know recreationally So Um so I still do that and I've kind of been doing that but even even my writing kind of took a pause from that because I was just like tapped out And I realized that like my dream in life is not so much to be a That's so annoying to me That's all right Um a reality check you know really quick Yeah But um yeah my dream in life is not it's not really to be a musician It'd be awesome if I could go play music for a living Great But like my dream in life is to have a family and be able to support them Chances of that happening with like local musicians income is so next to zero So it's really interesting that you bring that up because um probably the Yeah actually the podcast that will premiere the week before this one Mhm Um I interviewed another friend of mine who's a musician and he had the exact same answer Yeah But slightly different but um he said something that was really interesting which was um you know his dream is to not necessarily to be rich and famous and musician right but to be a musician recreationally Mhm be able to share music with the world Yeah And with his family but the most important thing to him would be to have a family Absolutely Which I found really refreshing because most people you talk to that's nowhere near their priority list You know it's make money be successful be famous right maybe have a family someday But like your job comes first Yeah Which I thought was really interesting And it's so ironic that you have the exact same um view in the same field So right Sure Yeah Yeah And it is like often times like and a lot of the people I know who are musicians like you know obviously right now they're not famous but like you know they love it and they would do it for a living if they could but they're like yeah I mean obviously it's not the most important thing because I love my life right you know I love playing music like I do but I'm not touring the world you know right and you know and I wouldn't want to because I'd have to like displace my family or or be away from my family you know that's one of the things I respect and kind of pity most about my favorite artists Um really just the A Brothers because they like they're two brothers they're married they have kids and their tour all the time Oh really and like Yeah And so like they're away from home like most of the time And I'm like man you just like I can't imagine how much you're missing And I'm sure they are you know aware of that and I'm sure like they've written about it and like you know it's a very valid thing to be sad about but obviously they're doing what they love Like they would they're old enough now made enough money now they could retire if they wanted to Yeah Um like I just I don't think I could ever do that you know like I'd have to be like "All right you guys are coming with me." But that's

not fair you know this is this is my dream It's not all theirs you know and it's like not my you know I don't know I was just like that's not that's like an added risk that I'm not really willing to take when it comes to like because it's already a risk to have a family you know like you're risking everything when you get married as you know you when you decide to have kids like you're you're sacrificing a whole new piece of your life whenever you make a step like that Oh yeah And so like you know and you're like do that and then you're willing to put all that on the line just because you want to go play music for people You know if they're all great cool with that then that's fine But like right that's a tough lifestyle I did it for three weeks and it almost like I was like I don't want to do this ever again And like you know that's like a nothing tour for most people who are like actually you know Yeah If you're touring full-time right so I'm like yeah I don't know After that I was like just get me a steady job where I can support put food on the table and see my family If I can buy music on the side awesome Great I'll still write I'll still release But that's not that's not what I'm wanting to do with with my whole life you know So I I want to circle back to that but I feel like that's a that's more of where I want to end is okay More towards our mindset and like where you're going right forward with things Um but I do want to ask you about what it's like to record your first album Let's say someone's listening to this who has you know all the dreams and aspirations and has never recorded a piece of music before I I have no idea what even goes into it Yeah Walk me through what recording a song is like Sure I mean truth be told I don't I feel like I don't even really know what goes into it either I was kind of you know I I was uh along for the ride Yeah Along for the ride you know very much playing with what I had available to me um which really were just a lot of amazing people who sacrificed a lot of their time you know Um um my my recording experience was an experience for both me and my producer Like she was like she was very gracious like didn't charge me all that much because she really wanted to practice cuz I mean she went to Berkeley for music She knows what she's doing She's phenomenal She actually went to school with Lizzie Mc with Lizzie Mccalpine Um Okay nice Which is pretty cool But yeah she's like I don't really know how to record this kind of music because her style is different than mine So she's like but I want to learn So it was kind of a learning experience all around Um but the biggest thing I would say is it's it's far more important to find people that you can work with easily than to find people who are like the best at what they do Obviously you want to work with professionals Like you don't want somebody who just doesn't know what they're doing to you know put put who just don't want to put your name on that right yeah Exactly Like listen to their stuff and make sure you know they're legit but like if you can't work well with somebody or you don't communicate well with them um it's not going to go well Like do you think you have to have the same style as the people you work with oh definitely not really No it helps you know if especially if you can drive some inspiration from each other but um and that also might just be I guess got lucky that people I know are so versatile they can do anything Yeah Um but like the drummer who did the tracks like he's played metal before I think that's his preferred you know genre but he like he also has played in symphony orchestras So like he's he's like a a professional Um and he's probably one of the best drummers I'll ever meet but but yeah definitely not his kind of music but he totally loved it Um which is awesome you know that's awesome So how do you how do you find the people to record with you networking Networking is huge It's so important You have to network and you have to like if you're in the Chicago area it you really just got to get in Chicago Um I haven't even really done that because it's like I started in the suburbs and truth be told there's there's not much to like there are people who run music in the suburbs They're great They're lovely people I know many of them love them dearly But if you want to like elevate and like you know move around you got to go to the big cities really Um and it's just about who you know Like literally ask your parents your work colleagues like co-workers like "Hey do you know anybody who's you know in marketing or in promoting or who has anything to do with any sort of art or creation or booking or anything like that?" Yeah And you just put a list together LinkedIn is huge Honestly LinkedIn is amazing LinkedIn is huge You got to use But yeah marketing is is all of it And then if you can you know like I got very lucky Mirabbel is like one of the most prolific networkers I think you on the planet Like she just constantly is like how do I outreach to as many people as possible That's amazing And you know selfishly I've been able to kind of like leech off of that Yeah I just not Yeah piggyback And it's not intentional but it's just kind of like she's like you know that's great though Oh it's awesome And you know if I had half the amount of motivation she did I you know I I would be so much further along in my career But um she's doing really well too Like she's she's making moves But um yeah networking is huge You know you just have to know a lot of different people because even if you know like all of the right people for one like I need five people for this project and you know five people like what if one of them isn't available or one of them is out of town you know yeah You just you got to know people and like branching out for different ideas or you know ways to execute things like like Mirabbal has a band and um and I for the most part wanted to do all the tracking myself because like money and I had a pretty clear vision of what I wanted Yeah Yeah And so I did that and I was like something's just not quite right And so I was like asking the guitarist of a band like hey what do you think about this tone um and he's always you know super nice Oh I think it's great I was like "Well can you do something with it?" And it was so much better you know and it was nothing I ever would have thought of and nothing I ever you know would have like if I had those as an options coming from myself I never would have chosen it But it is objectively better than what I had And so yeah just networking with enough people is huge Um it's a really big thing and and trusting them and trusting their musical expertise especially when you don't trust your own like just take risks with that because the more musical diversity you get into your work the more diverse it of an audience it's going to like reach in my experience anyway Like the songs that have more of a diverse approach genre are the ones that I get better feedback from I think So okay Yeah that's interesting I mean I I could see that cuz I feel like every artist even the most mainstream artists like Taylor Swift or whoever um write some very you know personal songs They're not you know the mo they're a little more artistic is what I would say Yeah Um and they're kind of doing a little more self-expression but they don't seem to resonate as well as like I just broke up with someone you know like yeah all of a sudden that blows up right um and yeah and that's kind of the interesting and sad thing about art is in a way you can only reach so many people when you're being your true self and really personal and everything else and then you become kind of generic and all of a sudden that sells right and so it becomes do I be myself or do I sell well you know um which is kind of an interesting thing Where do you where do you land on that i I mean I'm all for be who you are you know and if it's meant to be it's going to attract the people it needs to be But you should never you should I'm a huge I don't know I guess I go back and forth Where I'm at right now is like you should play music because it's what you want to do Yeah Not because anybody tells you you should do it you know like if you want to do that you do it and you do the music you want to do Yeah Yeah Yeah I tend to like to write really sad music because that's just kind of the way that my artistic brain works It's like I I just can't really get things going when it comes to writing things that are happy And it's not that I'm not a happy person Didn't used to be but like even now I think my I have my life together a little better Um but still like it's it's just not the way my brain is wired And you know the constant piece of criticism I get is like you need to write some happy songs And it's like 20% a joke Like people are like "Geez it's so depressing." But I'm like you know um Bon V doesn't have hardly any happy music and or you know that you can think of because his famous music is the really sad stuff you know right and it's because unfortunately the reality of it is the world is kind of a tough place to live in at times and and you need some you need music that you can relate to You need justification for whatever the mood is Yeah Exactly You know and there's time and a place for happy music If you just got married you're not going to want to listen to you know uh what's it called tears in heaven You know you're not gonna want to listen to like song about death or anything But you know if you've just had a really hard week work and you know or whatever you know something bad you want to feel justified in that So my experience is that when you're feeling happy you don't feel the desire as frequently to be justified in your happiness versus when you're sad there's at least for me there's always a desire to feel justified in your sadness so that you feel better about being sad you know that's actually so interesting Thank you I appreciate that That's the argument Never really thought about it but yeah Yeah Well I've had to think about it a lot because everybody's like "You need to write happy music." I'm like "It's not good." You know like not happy music

isn't good My happy music is not good I've written maybe one or two that like like Yeah And it's I wouldn't even say happy just like hopeful you know like like like things aren't great now but they might be later or they will be later Every nothing lasts forever you know like I said two or three Let's not get excited now But um but yeah I'm just like look it's just not it's not what I'm built for you know that's fine You know your strengths right like not every runner is a longdistance runner Not every you know Yeah Yeah Yeah You know what you're good at You know where your creativity lies right for sure Yeah Um so I kind of want to ask you a little bit about that Um you touched on something where you said like you know everyone tells me you got to have happier music or whatever Um what's the worst um feedback you've ever gotten either whether you asked or you didn't ask Like because we all get feedback right everyone around you constantly wants to help you Um in the film industry the like notorious line is like the friends and family everyone's like "Oh so you're actually making money off of that now?" Or like "How's your little film project going?" Like what's the worst feedback you've ever gotten from people around you like most insulting or just like that's just not right Um let's try both Okay I'm interested Um honestly I don't really remember being insulted I guess Do you ever get heckled when you play yes all the time Okay What's the worst heckling and then we'll go with Yeah sure most uneducated feedback Yeah The heck the worst heckling I got was from a very intoxicated individual who hap ended up randomly being my neighbor Like it was crazy It's It was my first gig back in like dude I It was It was nuts It was in 2020 so like pandemic Okay Okay first gig back outdoors I hadn't played in four months I was so nervous It was there's been like three or four times I've been nervous while playing It was my first gig It was like at my release show Okay Um one other time I was following me and then at this first show back after my like my calluses were gone my hands were weak my joints were hurting and so I was like three hours that's it I'm tapped out which is a long time to play music Three hours Good chunk of time Yeah I don't do that anymore And so then like the time was up and I was like exhausted my you know my voice was all horse everything and this guy's like "You're not done yet." And you know with profanities mixed in I was like "No I'm I'm done sir." And he's like "Hey you're really good and I'm paying you $20 to keep playing." Oh And I was like "Well

sir I mean I'm playing for the restaurant Like they're closed soon I can't just keep playing you know?" He's like "I'm paying you $40 to keep playing." So there's all this financial pressure And I was like of course not wanting to make me I was like "Dude I can't play any longer physically I'm ded out I'm done." Like you know also like they have to close Like the hours were all weird at that point You know like they couldn't afford to be you know staying late to pay their employees overtime or you know there's a whole lot of factors into it right and he's like I think we're neighbors right be a neighbor And he was just he was just like not backing off So that was like the worst actual heckle Did you do it no I didn't The first time I think I ever Did he still give you the money yeah I mean he was too drunk to realize he gave it to me in the first place but there you go Yeah I was like you know I'll I'll sit through that situation for 60 extra dollars but um so that was like the worst like actual like when I'm playing and my family's there they will My dad is pretty bad but it's like fun you know like I'll play try to embarrass you or something Yeah and he's like "Who's the lucky girl?" And it's like a breakup song or something I'm like "Thanks Dad." You know like so that's you know fun But that's great But yeah uh when it comes to like feedback I don't think I'm like the best singer in the world but I you know I've been told I have a pretty good voice You're very talented Thank I appreciate it Thank you Um and I know I can always get better but there was I used to work at this coffee shop in Yorkville and I played a show there at one time and one of the other regular musicians who albeit has an amazing voice very very good singer a nice guy and he was giving me like some some good advice you know about like you you know don't be afraid to be louder things like that Yeah But then he was like he said he's like once you get your voice figured out you'll be good I was like what i didn't say that but my I was like damn that kind of cut deep Like ouch Oh my god And like you know like I said and my voice has has matured since then Like sure Sure And and I'm sure that's all he meant it but I was just like yeah like you know everybody's got some maturing to do but like that's not a great way to word that So mean So yeah that was that was pretty insulting Not intentionally but I you know I had to try hard not to take a certain kind of way Yeah And then like um I think this was last summer I had a show at the venue in Aurora and I didn't have a keyboard and one of my song Dear Blue is a song that that you know that we've talked about Personal favorite actually He is um one of my personal favorites I should say No I appreciate it Um Sun Song is another huge favorite of mine I like that one too Um but yeah he has promised me that he will let me make a music video for that this year That's true I had to get into recording it because it's already a third of the way done But um but yeah it's it's it's one of again one of my more well-liked songs Yeah And it's a keyboard song It just is you know Yeah And so like couldn't get a hold of of a keyboard this show I was like it's on the set list I told some people I was going to play it you know i like I'll just wing it on guitar I think Grace pressured you into it I think you're right Yeah On the night of I remember her Yeah I do remember this Yeah And it was a good call like because it it went well but face pressure He's a nice guy Anyway um No it went well It was you know an electric guitar I tried to make it as like ambient as possible I thought it was great Thank you I It was like It went a lot better than I thought it did Yeah Um but but it's still in my mind just objectively better on the piano Yeah And at the end of the show one of the the volunteers really nice guy Um and he's had some of the nicest things to say about music and that's his favorite song of mine I played it the year before and he was like he he was somebody who asked me before the show are you gonna play that song i don't have a keyboard but I'll try He was like that song is great Um it really needs to be on an acoustic guitar though I was like I would have like if you said it needs to be on a keyboard Yeah I think I'd agree But on an acoustic it's like you're not keeping any of like the you're losing a lot of the like um the like singing of the instrument Yeah It's very and it sure be fine but like it needs to be very spacey very loose and very like not metallic Yeah And steel string acoustic guitar is is not the furthest thing from that but I don't have like a nice pedal board to make it you know and like I would be interested in hearing you play it on an acoustic guitar though Yeah I mean I just to like see what that sounds like right i think I tried it and it was fine but like it's definitely not the same No you need reverb and I don't again I don't have a reverb pedal so it like Yeah I don't know It was the thing I was just like really like I disagree 100% But you know I'll take it into consideration Yeah But now there's like four different versions of that song and like you know there's like regular piano then there's like electric keyboard and there's like organ and you know electric guitar now apparently acoustic guitar So it's like I guess anything at this point Yeah You know so I don't know That was probably like the most like I don't think you're right about that But you know everything else like people like Yeah You know I think you're probably right I I that's something I should improve you know but I've been very lucky Do you How do you deal with criticism do you take criticism well do you find it like insulting everyone's different with it Yeah I mean I always Do you like very straightforward like blunt criticism or do you like very like soft beat around the bush criticism if if I had it my way it would always be beat around the bush just because I'm a bit of a coward Okay fair enough But I acknowledge that the best like if I was blunt with you right now would you like get really upset right now i I would appreciate it I've I've I've come a long way Like when you were starting out yeah When I was starting out I couldn't I would be like "Oh you're right I'm a terrible you know bad speaking bad about myself." Now I'm like like blunt

criticism can be like "Okay well that's a little harsh." But yeah you're right you know I appreciate like you know and and now my my job all things in my life I I wouldn't say blunt but directness like you don't have to butter butter it up You don't have to sugarcoat it Just tell me what you think I need to do better You know be polite Don't don't insult me of course Yeah Um but yeah like like I think being blunt is is more effective Um Okay But there's a time and a place you know Yeah If somebody just like you know was crying on stage because they had like a really emotional you know it might be like "Hey you need to um be more on pitch." You know it would really tighten up your set Just be more on pitch Like okay thanks I'll do that You know like you can't place But right Um but yeah I think like if everybody could effectively deliver perfect criticism in a beat around the bush way that would be amazing That'd be great That's not how the real world works So no So I think Yeah I think um like direct sometimes blunt especially maybe not so much in music but just in life like when you're you're doing something over and over again and it's just not good for you Yeah You sometimes you need like that friend to be like "Dude what the hell are you doing?" Right Like get your head out of your ass and like sorry that's fine And like you know pull your bootstraps up and get to work Like what are you doing with yourself you know like sometimes you just need that you know you do Yeah you know and even if it's blunt it's like comes from a place of love you know So right Yeah I think that's very important to have um friends who are willing to give that blunt criticism and just be honest with you Yeah Um cuz oh my gosh I mean just even social media these days Yeah Nobody's honest about like their lives or any of their intentions It's like Yeah Yeah It's crazy Um but yes being kind while also delivering honest feedback is really the the fine balance of it It's a tough skill to have but it is There was uh the first the first job I ever had um in sales back when I didn't work for myself Um they asked me on the first day like "What kind of feedback do you want?" I never had that question Yeah Um and being in the creative field for years I was like well I mean I don't know Um I've had kind of both And I was so I just told them I want blunt you know just honest feedback right away Um they're like "Okay." And the first time they gave me blunt honest feedback I was like "Who are you stop You're so mean." And then I was like "Oh wait I told them Like I signed up for that do that And I was like I actually started to appreciate it I was like okay Cuz you don't have to worry about like did they mean that as like constructive criticism or are they just kind of being like snarky or like that kind of thing Um and I've come to actually really appreciate it But it's always interesting to ask people like different questions like that like how that how that works So okay Um kind of moving off of that um I want to talk about mindset Um what what drives you every day uh what gets you out of bed what gets you excited about what you do i know you're working at HelloFresh It's probably not I mean maybe it is Who knows it might be your dream job It's not Okay I've talked to you about this before so I kind of figured it was that but um like uh what what drives you though what still gets you out of bed with that fire like "All right I'm going to go to work and I'm going to have a great day and I'm going to win today and I'm going to have whatever your successes." How do you break up your day to make your day less monotonous because you're doing the same thing over and over again what are some of those like strategies that you have sure Um the big one for me is medication You're by far the first person to ever say that on this show It's It's funny because it's it's so true I was not expecting that I was like well thinking like what's the most effective thing that is You answered that pretty quickly too It wasn't like there wasn't a lot of time to think about it cuz it's it's so blatantly true I mean it's a lot of things but but yeah I mean to put in pers

2025-04-23 17:41

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