Episode 280
Unveiling the Journey of a Musician: From 1,200 Followers to Influencer
The primary focus of this podcast episode revolves around the transformative journey of a musician who initially underestimated the impact of his online presence but gradually recognized the potential of sharing his knowledge through digital platforms. We delve into the evolution of his YouTube channel, where he began posting instructional videos that resonated with a substantial audience, ultimately leading to a significant increase in subscribers and engagement. This realization prompted him to adopt a more serious approach to content creation, including striving for higher production quality and sharing unique insights from his experiences as a musician. The discourse further explores the importance of imparting knowledge that genuinely enhances the lives of fellow musicians, reflecting a commitment to fostering a supportive community within the music industry. Through this episode, we aim to illuminate the profound influence that thoughtful and intentional sharing can have on artists and aspiring musicians alike.
Takeaways:
- The speaker experienced a significant realization when observing their substantial subscriber count on YouTube.
- They began creating educational content after recognizing the potential to positively impact other musicians' lives.
- The speaker emphasizes the importance of sharing knowledge and experiences to foster growth in the music community.
- They highlight the transformative advice received from a successful investor regarding making impactful investments in life.
- The speaker's journey into serious content creation was motivated by a desire for stability as a musician.
- An essential lesson learned is that technical proficiency in music should not overshadow emotional expression.
Links referenced in this episode:
Companies mentioned in this episode:
- Pino Paladino
- John Mayer
- D'Angelo
- Justin Timberlake
- Shaquille O'Neal
- James Jamerson
- Ringo Starr
- Adam Blackstone
Transcript
And I was like.
Speaker A:I was like, hold on.
Speaker A: I have a: Speaker A:1200 people are following me.
Speaker A:And I was like.
Speaker A:And I was like, what?
Speaker A:Like, literally, that was just like, okay.
Speaker A:And then I started looking at some of my videos, and I didn't really realize that some of my videos were getting as many views as, like.
Speaker A:And I was like, oh, wow.
Speaker A:I had no.
Speaker A:No idea at all.
Speaker A:And so from then I started, I was like, you know what?
Speaker A:Maybe I should, like, start putting some stuff out there.
Speaker A:And I start putting out little lesson videos.
Speaker A:And the first video that kind of, like, went was like, the most viewed video for the longest time.
Speaker A:Was this so dumb.
Speaker A:It's like this video that's like.
Speaker A:It's three bass, simple bass grooves.
Speaker A:It's like I recorded on, like, my iPhone 4.
Speaker A:It looked.
Speaker A:The quality is awful.
Speaker A:Oh, my gosh.
Speaker A:And, like, and it was.
Speaker A:It was just like, through my phone speaker and phone mic and everything like that.
Speaker A:And for some reason, like, I think, like, I think it was the most viewed video until, like, this year, because it was like, it was.
Speaker A:Had like.
Speaker A:I think it has, like, 800 something thousand views or something like that.
Speaker A:And I was like, how.
Speaker A:Like, I have no, like, no reason.
Speaker A:Like, but then I, like, two years ago, whenever I, like, was.
Speaker A:I was about to get married and everything, I was like, one that, like, I was thinking to myself, I was like, you know, I'm a musician, and my wife also, she's a songwriter.
Speaker B:Okay.
Speaker A:And so, like, I was like, man, I need to find, like, something that's gonna, like, sustain me, like, when gigs are not there.
Speaker A:I mean, this was.
Speaker A:This is the way before the pandemic ahead.
Speaker A:And so, like, I was just like, you know, this YouTube thing, you know, it could grow somewhere.
Speaker A:It could possibly grow somewhere.
Speaker A:And I was just like, you know, let me just.
Speaker A:Just start doing it.
Speaker A:And then, like, I started getting more serious about it.
Speaker A:Started learning about how to record, like, you know, in 4K on my phone.
Speaker A:And then, like, learning all these little tips and tricks and stuff.
Speaker A:And also I'm like, learning how I'm producing and doing stuff like that.
Speaker A:So my audio knowledge is growing like crazy.
Speaker A:And so I.
Speaker A:About two years ago is when I, like, kind of like, was like, you know, I'm gonna.
Speaker A:I'm gonna really push for this and start trying to get, you know, all this kind of stuff going.
Speaker A:And.
Speaker A:And honestly, that's when things I start.
Speaker A:My.
Speaker A:My subscriber count started to jump more.
Speaker A:Because my thing is, I don't ever like, to like, look at my subscriber count a lot.
Speaker A:Because I don't want it to be about that, you know?
Speaker B:Right.
Speaker A:I wanted to, because there is a.
Speaker A:Shaquille o' Neal did this.
Speaker A:He was talking about.
Speaker A:He was in this interview or something because he, like, ever since he left the NBA, he's like this huge.
Speaker A:He's like a big investor now.
Speaker A:Like, he's investing a whole bunch, and he's like, making more money now than he's ever have in his whole career.
Speaker C:And I was a big investor.
Speaker A:Literally.
Speaker A:Literally.
Speaker A:But, like, he said something that kind of just transformed my life.
Speaker A:He said he learned from.
Speaker A:I could forgot who it was.
Speaker A:He was just like that.
Speaker A:He's like, whenever it comes to making an investment, he said, this guy told him, he said, only invest in the things that are going to change people's lives.
Speaker A:You know, something that you believe are going to change people's lives.
Speaker A:And he said ever since he did that, he.
Speaker A:He, like, may always made wise investments, you know, he always made, you know, good investments in things that he truly believed that would change people's lives.
Speaker A:And so whenever I thought about that, I started thinking to myself, what can I do that would change musicians lives that would really help, like, bass players or even musicians in general to, you know, to kind of get this, to get the sense.
Speaker A:And so, so I started posting more lessons, I started posting more vlogs, giving insight that nobody really is really giving.
Speaker A:And because for some reason, I.
Speaker A:I've been, you know, blessed to have these opportunities that like, a lot of people get, but nobody documents or talk.
Speaker A:Talks about, you know what I'm saying?
Speaker A:Playing on the.
Speaker A:Playing on the road, going to the studio, you know, and.
Speaker A:And so, like, that's literally, you know, how it got to, you know, I guess where I am now today.
Speaker B:Amazing dope.
Speaker B:As a.
Speaker B:As a bass player, do you catch yourself listening to music differently?
Speaker B:Like, are you more like focused on just the bass parts when you listen to music?
Speaker B:Or is that something that idiots like me think bass players do?
Speaker A:No, I would.
Speaker A:I would say you're like, that's the bad thing.
Speaker A:Like, I do.
Speaker A:I will say at the beginning, like, of course I'm drawn to the bass part.
Speaker A:More so like when.
Speaker A:Initially when I'm hearing something, but I think the producer in me, like, I hear.
Speaker A:I hear like, what the thing, the elements that make me feel something.
Speaker B:Gotcha.
Speaker A:You know, like, so, like, if it's the bass part that makes me feel something, like, I connect to that, or if it's the Keys part.
Speaker A:Or is the.
Speaker A:Or is this, like, some sample that's, like, you know, that's been done a certain way that makes me feel something?
Speaker A:That's literally what my.
Speaker A:My ear goes to first.
Speaker B:Okay, so you're a normal person.
Speaker A:Okay.
Speaker D:Yeah.
Speaker D:And you're a multi instrumentalist, and also.
Speaker D:So that might contribute to that, too, because you play drums.
Speaker D:You play some acoustic guitar in front of water and stuff like that.
Speaker D:So that could be a part of that.
Speaker D:One last time by the lake.
Speaker D:That was the last shot, man.
Speaker D:I apologize.
Speaker A:You good?
Speaker A:You good?
Speaker D:I'm howling at my own jokes.
Speaker B:If you could have let me.
Speaker B:I got one more story, Anthony.
Speaker B:If you could have lunch with any bass player, dead or alive, who would you want to have lunch with?
Speaker A:Ooh.
Speaker A:All right.
Speaker A:I think this actually might be pretty easy for me.
Speaker A:Pino Paladino.
Speaker B:Can you say who that is for our audience?
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker A:So Pino Paladino is probably one of the best, like, R and B bass players like, that I've.
Speaker A:You know, at least in my opinion.
Speaker A:He started off playing with the whole.
Speaker B:Right.
Speaker A:And then he went from there, and he started playing with a lot of other artists.
Speaker A:He became, like, a real big session musician.
Speaker A:Right now he's, like, big for playing with d' Angelo and also, like, John Mayer.
Speaker A:The John Mayer Trio.
Speaker A:He's the.
Speaker A:The tall, lanky, like, bass player.
Speaker B:Yeah, I've seen that.
Speaker D:You see dope?
Speaker D:Yeah.
Speaker B:Definitely see them.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker A:And so, like, he.
Speaker C:He.
Speaker A:His, like, man, his groove and, like, everything.
Speaker A:I have no idea.
Speaker A:I'll be honest.
Speaker D:I have no idea.
Speaker B:He looked old when I saw the trio video.
Speaker D:Yeah, he's definitely up there, but still holding it down like nobody else.
Speaker D:It's crazy.
Speaker A:He's a legend.
Speaker D:Yeah.
Speaker D:That's a great choice, man.
Speaker C:Okay, well, same question, but dinner.
Speaker A:Dinner time.
Speaker B:You might want to talk to someone else.
Speaker C:Who's your second choice?
Speaker A:Oh, my God, man, that's.
Speaker A:Now, that one would be kind of tough because there's a lot of people.
Speaker C:You have to spend more time with them.
Speaker C:There's more courses.
Speaker D:Yeah, Yeah.
Speaker A:I would say, like, probably someone who's passed away would be James Jamerson.
Speaker A:I would love to, like, pick his brain about, like, just, you know, how.
Speaker A:How he thinks about music.
Speaker A:Because I.
Speaker A:Honestly, the thing is, is that when it.
Speaker A:What I've learned, when it comes to teaching and when it comes to learning music, it's not necessarily about the.
Speaker A:The how good you are at a technique, but about what, you know, emotion it conveys.
Speaker A:And so something that I've learned With him and with a lot of bass players like him, is that, like, he.
Speaker A:He just.
Speaker A:He may be, like, technically good, but he.
Speaker A:That's not what.
Speaker A:That doesn't hold him back.
Speaker A:It only strengthens, like, his, you know, the.
Speaker A:His, you know, creativity, you know, And I would love to know, like, how.
Speaker A:How do you.
Speaker A:How do you choose that?
Speaker A:How do you think in your head?
Speaker A:Like, you know, this is the kind of vibe that I'm going for.
Speaker A:And what do you, you know, how do you make those choices?
Speaker C:You know, being overly technical does seem to be a hindrance for some people, right?
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker C:Knowing too much and they don't know what to pick from their bag of tricks or they're always trying to do a bit too much.
Speaker C:So that is probably the most valuable skill.
Speaker C:Hence, Ringo Starr.
Speaker C:People don't give enough credit.
Speaker A:Well, you know, what's crazy, you know, on that same note, is that, like, when it comes to, you know, thinking about, like, the technical aspects, you know, of music, it's like, people.
Speaker A:I get so, you know, sad for people and musicians that, like, feel like they have to hide their.
Speaker A:Their, you know, their licks and tricks and stuff like that, because it's just like, honestly, is that, like, even if you don't show somebody your licks and tricks, there's going to be somebody that's going to come up and pass you up either way.
Speaker A:You know what I'm saying?
Speaker D:Sure.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker D:Right.
Speaker A:And also, like, when it comes to that, I feel like for me, as a creative, as a true creative, you're always learning something new and you're always creating something.
Speaker A:So, like, that's the reason, like, on my channel, I, like, I give, like, literally everything I give is.
Speaker A:This is literally the way I learned it and the way I thought of my head of, like, what makes more the most sense.
Speaker A:And like, even though, like, for some people, like, oh, my gosh, you just gave away, like, the lick, you do it all the time.
Speaker A:What that tells me is that, all right, Travis, it's time for you to go learn some new licks.
Speaker A:You know what I'm saying?
Speaker A:It's almost like I'm accountable to the people that I'm teaching, you know?
Speaker A:It's like, all right, now I've got to keep growing, you know?
Speaker B:That's incredible.
Speaker B:I have one more silly question to ask you, Travis, and then we'll get you out of here, but can't wait.
Speaker B:If you could sub in as a bass player for any band right now, actually any band ever in life, who would you.
Speaker B:Which one Would it be.
Speaker B:Which one would you want to sub in for?
Speaker C:1 preference for morning gig, 1 preference for evening gig.
Speaker D:It's a great question.
Speaker A:These are actually a good question.
Speaker B:I'm not even back.
Speaker A:Great question.
Speaker A:You know, because I do like gospel, R and B, and like funk a lot on my channel.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker A:People probably wouldn't think this, but like, my number one would probably be like John Mayer.
Speaker A:John Mayer would probably be like my number one.
Speaker A:Like my first, like, go to my, you know, my lunch.
Speaker A:My lunch.
Speaker B:You know, so the warm up and.
Speaker A:Then I would say like somebody like, man, who is it?
Speaker A:I was just thinking about somebody like.
Speaker A:Like Justin Timberlake.
Speaker C:Yeah, that's a good.
Speaker B:The Tennessee boys.
Speaker B:Tennessee kids.
Speaker B:I think they're called Tennessee kids.
Speaker A:Like, I mean, honestly, it's because my thing is that even though I play gospel and I play R and B or I play like, you know, a lot of.
Speaker A:A lot of my stuff on my YouTube is like a lot of traffic, church stuff.
Speaker B:Y.
Speaker A:But like, I will say, like, I don't feel like I'm necessarily a true, true gospel player.
Speaker A:Like, I can play gospel, but like, it's not like the thing that just.
Speaker A:I just absolutely love, but like grooms and stuff like that kind of like, you know, that John Mayer kind of feel and stuff like that.
Speaker A:That's.
Speaker A:That's kind of like my.
Speaker A:My vibe.
Speaker A:Like my true, like inner, you know, creative.
Speaker A:That's where I like to lean towards, you know?
Speaker B:For sure.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker D:Yeah, yeah.
Speaker B:That's dope.
Speaker D:I like it.
Speaker D:You'd have some nice shoes to fill with JT too.
Speaker D:Adam Blackstone, right?
Speaker A:Oh, my gosh.
Speaker D:Yeah.
Speaker D:That's his bass player and musical director of many stars.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker A:The main music director for everything, everybody.
Speaker D:Like the NFL, the NBA, the Grammys.
Speaker D:It's just.
Speaker B:No way.
Speaker B:Really?
Speaker D:Yeah.
Speaker D:Super Bowl.
Speaker D:Good choice.
Speaker B:Great choice.
Speaker A:No wonder.
Speaker A:That one.
Speaker A:Holy.
Speaker C:So wait, was he.
Speaker D:Was he.
Speaker C:Was he playing on.
Speaker C:On basically Justin's team and the NFL's team during that Janet Jackson mishap?
Speaker D:I'm not sure.
Speaker A:I don't think.
Speaker A:I don't think.
Speaker D:Not always with these down questions.
Speaker D:You're always so deep, man.
Speaker D:That's a great.
Speaker B:It is a good question, though.
Speaker B:I wonder.
Speaker B:I didn't even think about that.
Speaker B:Look where his brain goes though, right?
Speaker C:It's always about difference for me.
Speaker A:What's so funny is I think he.
Speaker A:He was like.
Speaker A:Because I forget just JT did that.
Speaker A:Like, he was on the super bowl twice, you know?
Speaker D:Yeah, right.
Speaker A:I didn't even.
Speaker A:I didn't even real.
Speaker A:I forget that all the time.
Speaker C:That was his last.
Speaker D:Yeah, it's amazing.
Speaker D:Oh, man.
Speaker D:That was a great question, Travis.
Speaker D:Thanks so much, man.
Speaker B:Really, really appreciate it.
Speaker B:It was dope.
Speaker D:Super insightful.
Speaker D:Super insightful, man.
Speaker D:I loved it.
Speaker D:Check out your channel.
Speaker D:You had a video, I think, I don't know, one or two so far that have crashed, crossed, not crassed, crossed.
Speaker D:The one crashed the 1 million viewer mark.
Speaker D:So congrats on that.
Speaker D:Seeing great success.
Speaker D:Keep doing what you're doing, man.
Speaker D:Can you shout out your socials?
Speaker D:Shout out your YouTube channel.
Speaker D:How to find you?
Speaker A:Honestly, if you just search my name, Travis Dykes.
Speaker A:D, Y, K, E s like on YouTube.
Speaker A:Should be able to find find now.
Speaker A:Or if you go to my Instagram, it's Dykes.
Speaker A:Just my first letter of my name and then my last name and then.
Speaker A:Yeah, that's pretty much the two socials that I go by.
