Episode 278
The Making of a Musician: From Jealousy to Mastery
This podcast delves into the transformative journey of a musician who began their musical endeavors at the tender age of five, initially engaging with the drums before transitioning to the guitar and subsequently the bass. The narrative elucidates the pivotal moment when the speaker seized the opportunity to learn the bass guitar amidst a pressing need within their church community, ultimately leading to their debut performance within a mere two months of practice. This experience catalyzed a profound passion for music, prompting the speaker to explore various opportunities, including participation in summer camps and a formal music education at the University of North Alabama. As the episode unfolds, the speaker recounts their evolution from a novice to a professional musician, highlighting the importance of determination, practice, and the serendipitous connections made within the music industry. Through this exploration, we gain insight into the dedication required to cultivate one's musical talent and the unpredictable paths that can lead to success.
Takeaways:
- The speaker commenced their musical journey at the tender age of five, initially learning the drums, which laid the foundation for their passion in music.
- Transitioning from drums to guitar occurred when the speaker's sister received an acoustic guitar, igniting a competitive desire to surpass her skills.
- At the age of twelve, the speaker began playing in a church setting, where they seized the opportunity to learn the bass guitar amidst the need for bass players.
- The speaker's determination led them to practice diligently, resulting in their debut performance within just two months of learning the bass guitar.
- The speaker's academic pursuits in music commenced at seventeen, which subsequently introduced them to the professional music landscape.
- Through networking and connections made in Nashville, the speaker's career evolved, culminating in their decision to relocate to further their aspirations in music.
Companies mentioned in this episode:
- University of North Alabama
- Chrisette Michelle
- Tasha Cobbs
Transcript
Honestly, you know, back when I was about five years old, that was like, when I first started learning how to play the drums.
Speaker A:And then I went from the drums to guitar.
Speaker A:My sister got this acoustic guitar, and I was kind of.
Speaker A:Be honest, I was a little jealous.
Speaker A:I was just like, oh, I want a guitar.
Speaker A:I think that's cool.
Speaker A:You know, whatever.
Speaker A:And then I was just like, all right, I'm going to try and learn this, you know, and try and just see if I can learn more than my sister.
Speaker A:And then.
Speaker A:And then, like, I started.
Speaker A:I started playing it, and I was just like, oh, this is.
Speaker A:This is actually pretty cool.
Speaker A:And I started.
Speaker A:I grew up in church, and so when I was about 11 or 12, I was playing guitar and a little drums, you know, in church and stuff.
Speaker A:And my music pastor at the time, like, was like, man, we got our bass player.
Speaker A:All of our bass players are moving away or something like that.
Speaker A:And they were just like, man, we really need some bass players.
Speaker A:And we have, like, a Baptistry, like, at our church, like, in a back closet stuff as well.
Speaker A:And there was, like, all these, like, random bases back there.
Speaker A:And I was like, what are all these back here for?
Speaker A:And so, like, I asked my pastor.
Speaker A:I was like, hey, you care if I, like, take one of these home and just try and learn how to play it?
Speaker A:Because I know we need bass players.
Speaker A:And he was just like, yeah.
Speaker A:He's like, man, that'd be awesome.
Speaker A:He's like, you know, in six months to a year, you might be playing in a service.
Speaker A:And I'm like, prophesied, gosh, that's no pressure.
Speaker A:That's a long time to me.
Speaker A:I was like.
Speaker A:I was like.
Speaker A:I thought I was just gonna pick it up and just start playing the next service, right?
Speaker A:But, like.
Speaker A:But like, he says six months to a year.
Speaker A:And I was just like.
Speaker A:I took that as a challenge.
Speaker A:And so I literally started practicing, like, day in and day out, and I was up there in two months, start playing my first service.
Speaker B:Oh, yeah, he took it there.
Speaker B:Okay, Turkey.
Speaker B:That gives you about what?
Speaker A:Yeah, not even, like, six days.
Speaker A:I'm in trouble.
Speaker A:Oh, my God.
Speaker A:Wow.
Speaker A:Two months.
Speaker B:That's crazy.
Speaker B:Well, we got.
Speaker B:We got a master teacher here, so hopefully, Travis, you're gonna break it down.
Speaker B:Show us some of your strategies to take us from drummer like Matt to bassist in two months.
Speaker B:That's.
Speaker B:That's exciting.
Speaker A:Oh, so you're a drummer?
Speaker A:Musician.
Speaker B:Matt's a drummer slash engineer slash professional microphone recognizer.
Speaker B:For those who don't know, Drakey is A budding pianist.
Speaker B:Relax.
Speaker A:Well, you are pianist.
Speaker A:All right, fair enough.
Speaker B:You got a better word?
Speaker A:Learning piano.
Speaker A:Oh, man.
Speaker A:Budding pianist that just.
Speaker B:And myself.
Speaker B:I'm a bass player like you, man.
Speaker B:So I'm interested in talking to you for sure.
Speaker B:Yeah, yeah, yeah.
Speaker B:So take us.
Speaker B:Continue the story.
Speaker B:So you're 12 years old, pick up the bass.
Speaker B:Two months, you're playing live in front of audiences.
Speaker A:So, yeah, that was my first time playing in church and everything like that.
Speaker A:And so from then on, this, like, kind of love or like hunger for music started to come, which I had it when I was playing drums.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker A:But honestly, whenever I started playing bass, it was just like another.
Speaker A:A whole nother level of it.
Speaker A:And so whenever I started doing that, I started playing at little camps here and there, A little, you know, little summer camps and little conf.
Speaker A:Little conferences.
Speaker A:And when I turned 18.
Speaker A:Well, when I turned 17 years old, I went to college for music.
Speaker A:And.
Speaker A:And so, like, that was when I started getting to the professional side of things.
Speaker A:And I went from.
Speaker A:I went to this school called University of North Alabama because I'm originally from Birmingham, Alabama.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker A:And so I'm.
Speaker A:I moved there to the school and I also.
Speaker A:I was homeschooled my whole life.
Speaker A:And so that was the first time going to public school.
Speaker A:I mean, that's probably the reason why I, like, had time to be able to learn how to play the bass.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker A:Yeah, no kidding.
Speaker B:That's the secret.
Speaker B:Sorry, guys.
Speaker A:That's.
Speaker A:Yeah, that's the two month secret.
Speaker B:Well, you know, it is a good time for that.
Speaker B:So homeschooling and all that's going on.
Speaker B:Good time.
Speaker A:Well, and then I think I just kind of got tired of being home.
Speaker A:And so I was just like.
Speaker A:I found a school that did music.
Speaker A:It was like the top school in Alabama music.
Speaker A:I mean, I don't know how.
Speaker A:I don't know how big of a deal that is in Alabama, but.
Speaker A:But that was like where I went.
Speaker A:And.
Speaker A:And so I took some music in like, some music technology classes, production classes and stuff there.
Speaker A:And I halfway through.
Speaker A:I was like.
Speaker A:I was halfway through my bachelor's and I realized a lot of my friends were moving away, getting gigs and starting to play with artists and stuff.
Speaker A:And I was just like.
Speaker A:And I.
Speaker A:And I was kind of in the business side because I was.
Speaker A:That was like, what I was doing a lot of was like, managing and marketing, that kind of stuff.
Speaker A:And so I was like, oh, man.
Speaker A:Like, I don't.
Speaker A:Do I need to be like, trying to get a gig or do I need to be, like, trying to go out and do something?
Speaker A:And so I started.
Speaker A:One of my friends from school got on this.
Speaker A:The show the Voice, and he got pretty far on there.
Speaker A:And there was this one.
Speaker A:We had this one time he had it.
Speaker A:Like, a lot of the contestants were, like, close to Nashville that he was on that season with.
Speaker A:And so they had this, like, Voice party, like, where they were.
Speaker A:Where they.
Speaker A:Because they all had it pre recorded until, like, the very finale.
Speaker A:The finale.
Speaker A:So, like, all of them had already, like, been up there to LA and everything like that.
Speaker A:And so they wanted to all watch it together when it first came on.
Speaker A:And so I went there, and I immediately met, like, all these, like, people who are just, like, you know, just starting.
Speaker A:And like, usually they're just, like, on the.
Speaker A:You know, about to break out into, like, you know, being an artist and all this kind of stuff.
Speaker A:And.
Speaker A:And so, like, I.
Speaker A:I went there and I connected all these people and started playing with, like, three or four of them and.
Speaker A:And then started managing a couple of.
Speaker A:A couple of them.
Speaker A:Okay.
Speaker A:And playing as well.
Speaker A:And that kind of took me into, like.
Speaker A:And that was here in Nashville.
Speaker A:I was coming up.
Speaker A:I was like, literally driving up here every week.
Speaker A:Like, every week and then.
Speaker A:And I never had a desire to move to Nashville.
Speaker A:Like, it wasn't like this childhood dream.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker A:But I literally went.
Speaker A:I kept going up there.
Speaker A:I was like, you know what?
Speaker A:If I'm working, I'm up here all this time.
Speaker A:Like, I might as well move up here.
Speaker A:And, like.
Speaker A:And.
Speaker A:And that was, like, kind of what got me.
Speaker A:Really took me to that next point in my career, and.
Speaker A:Because I finally made the move up there.
Speaker A:And then I got a job at a management.
Speaker A:A management company, working as an intern at first and then kind of taking it into a little bit as a job.
Speaker A:And then I realized I didn't like the business side of stuff.
Speaker A:I was just.
Speaker A:I don't know, it's just like.
Speaker A:I think for me, I wanted to be more creative, and I realized how cut.
Speaker A:Cut through the business side is too.
Speaker B:And I was gonna talk about that.
Speaker A:A bit, for sure, but, like, that was.
Speaker A:And then from there, I just, like, you know, I was like, you know what?
Speaker A:I have this little YouTube channel that I, you know, started when I was like, I don't know, when I was like, a teenager, and I was like, I mean, let me just.
Speaker A:Let me just start throwing some videos on there.
Speaker A:And I just, like.
Speaker A:And it just.
Speaker A:I wasn't.
Speaker A:It was no strategy and Then from then on, it's just like started to become a thing.
Speaker A:Like, it was only a couple of years ago I actually started to take it seriously.
Speaker A:And so.
Speaker B:But yeah, were these playing videos at first or tutorials?
Speaker A:It was playing videos now.
Speaker A:Oh, my gosh.
Speaker A:I don't.
Speaker A:I don't even know if I should say this, but whenever I would, when I was my first videos on there.
Speaker A:So there's one video is me and my sister and our, like, my sister's piano teacher.
Speaker A:We had like this little groove.
Speaker A:I was playing the bass.
Speaker A:I knew, like, for.
Speaker A:I knew this progression and I was just like, oh, yeah, this sounds killing.
Speaker A:We're playing this.
Speaker A:This song called Love is yous by Chrisette Michelle.
Speaker A:Oh, yeah, okay.
Speaker A:And like.
Speaker A:And that was like the vibe.
Speaker A:And I was.
Speaker A:And that was like the first video that was ever of me on YouTube.
Speaker A:It's no longer on there.
Speaker A:Let you know.
Speaker A:But then I started cut to that.
Speaker B:Video right now, I think.
Speaker A:I think it was on my sister's channel.
Speaker A:And she just kind of like took it down.
Speaker A:And then from then I got.
Speaker A:I started posting like these dumb, like, acoustic videos.
Speaker A:My parents used to live on a lake, and I would just sit out on the pier and I would just record these acoustic on the sunset.
Speaker A:Oh, my gosh.
Speaker A:It was so stupid.
Speaker A:I took those down immediately.
Speaker A:Let me tell you, there are no.
Speaker B:Secrets among us here.
Speaker B:You can say whatever you want.
Speaker B:You can share videos.
Speaker B:Stay with us just a little.
Speaker A:But that was like.
Speaker A:I started posting that and then like, when I was in college, I posted.
Speaker A:I was like, oh, let me try and do this cover in my.
Speaker A:I just like, I was playing with this gospel choir.
Speaker A:I was like, in rehearsals with this gospel choir.
Speaker A:Yeah, and at the school.
Speaker A:And they.
Speaker A:We did this song called Happy by Tasha Cobbs.
Speaker A:And.
Speaker A:And I was like.
Speaker A:I was like, oh, man.
Speaker A:Like.
Speaker A:And I thought I was gonna be playing it.
Speaker A:And then all of a sudden they're just like, oh, we're gonna hire this.
Speaker A:Hire a bass player to play with us at the concert.
Speaker A:And I was like, what?
Speaker A:And I was like.
Speaker A:And I was practicing with them all semester.
Speaker A:And I was just like, man, I got.
Speaker A:I spent all this time learning this song or learning these songs, and I was just like, you know what?
Speaker A:I'm just gonna record a video of me doing it.
Speaker A:And literally that video was what got me into, like, wanting to put videos on YouTube because it was Happy by Tasha Cobbs.
Speaker A:And it was like on my old, like, ESP Ltd, it's like a six string bass and, like.
Speaker A:And my friend who was, like, just kind of learning, producing and stuff like that, he was like, oh, bro, you got to record the audio.
Speaker A:You know, you've got to.
Speaker A:And then that's how I learned about, oh, I got to.
Speaker A:Audio is important.
Speaker A:You know, I can't just, like, record it from, like, my computer speakers and stuff like that.
Speaker A:And then so.
Speaker A:And that just literally just sparked it.
Speaker A:It just sparked, you know, the whole YouTube thing and everything.
Speaker B:So that video went up on your channel, too, or was that kind of just what sparked the idea?
Speaker A:It would have on my channel.
Speaker A:It's still up there.
Speaker A:Like, I was.
Speaker A:I mean, I was actually really surprised on the quality.
Speaker A:Even to this day.
Speaker A:I was like, man, the fact that.
Speaker A:Because I think I just did it on my computer or my iPhone or something.
Speaker A:Like one.
Speaker A:It was like an iPhone, like, four or something, like, super old.
Speaker A:But the quality, I was actually.
Speaker A:With the audio, I was actually really still impressed with today.
Speaker A:I was like, wow.
Speaker A:I mean, of course, I was like.
Speaker A:I was definitely not as mature when it comes to, like, being a musician at that time.
Speaker A:Right.
Speaker A:But.
Speaker A:But, like, it was.
Speaker A:Yeah, it was just kind of that spark.
Speaker A:Yeah.
